Read Kilty Pleasure for Free Online Page A

“I don’t think we can get to the hospital fast enough. My arm is going to fall off.”
    “It’s not going to fall off, Em.” He tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice. Were all children this prone to dramatics?
    “Your uncle’s right,” Hailey jumped in with a laugh. “I know it might feel like it could actually fall off—because it’s swollen, throbbing and just sore, right?—but I promise you it won’t.”
    “I know.” A tiny sniff accompanied his niece’s words.
    Shite, how did he handle this? Surely he’d have to call Ian and Sarah and explain that their daughter had been hurt on his watch. Clearly, he’d failed at his uncle duties.
    “Here’s my car.” Hailey paused after opening the back door. “Does she still need a booster seat?”
    “No. I’m way too old for those.” Emily slid out of her uncle’s arms and scooted into the backseat.
    “She’s of age,” Colin agreed, only knowing the child-seat laws from when they’d come into play during his job. “She could probably go either way, though, because of her size.”
    “Don’t call me short.”
    The glower Emily gave him was a perfect match for Ian’s.
    “Petite is a much nicer term,” Hailey agreed as she helped the little girl buckle up. “I claim it all the time. Hang on a second.”
    She disappeared to open the trunk and then returned a moment later with a pillow.
    “Go ahead and rest your arm on this and try not to move it, okay? We want to keep it stable.”
    “Okay.”
    Colin sat on the passenger side and spared a quick glance over his shoulder. Emily nursed her right arm with her left as she stared out the window. Fortunately she seemed much calmer.
    Despite his dislike for Hailey personally, one thing could be said about her. She certainly knew what she was doing and seemed right decent with children.
    “You’re parked up near the bridge?” Hailey asked.
    He turned in his seat and found her gaze on him. There was wariness there, along with confidence and a fuck-off attitude that he actually somewhat respected.
    “Aye. On the island side of the bridge.”
    “Can she go to the hospital with us, Uncle Colin?”
    He stiffened at his niece’s innocent question, biting back a string of curses in his head.
    “Ah, lass, I’m sure she has plans—”
    “Do you, Hailey?” Emily interrupted.
    “Um, well, no,” Hailey seemed reluctant to admit. “Today’s my day off.”
    “You’ve already done enough.” He held her gaze, narrowing his own.
    “Pleeeease, I like her.”
    Emily hadn’t had much decent male influence in her life until Sarah and Ian had reunited, and he could well understand that she might be seeking out gentle female reassurance when she was injured. Unfortunately, that female came in the form of Hailey at this moment. Too bad Kenzie was at work.
    “I don’t mind, and it might be better to not move her again and just keep her arm stable.”
    Her gaze drifted away, and he sensed that although her words agreed she could go with them, she wasn’t thrilled to be spending this much alone time with him personally. Well, the feeling was certainly mutual.
    “Yay, you’ll come then?” Triumph sounded in Emily’s words.
    “Aye, she’ll come.”
    Hailey’s eyes narrowed, and he knew his tone was terse. He could almost hear her silently telling him where he could go shove it. Instead, she turned and started the car, pulled out of the parking lot, and he was left studying her profile.
    She had a cute, upturned nose with a smattering of freckles on it. The same faint freckles that lightly decorated her shoulders and the hint of cleavage he’d seen below the neck of the halter. Would there be more freckles on other parts of her body?
    Fuck it all, where the hell had his mind just gone? He shook his head, clearing it from the insanity that had just taken hold.
    He’d been observing Hailey’s body, not as if forming a detailed description of a suspect, but more in the form of assessing a potential