Free The Renegade Returns (Mill Town Millionaires) by Dani Wade Page A

still lingered on a face already going soft around the edges. No one else seemed to notice.
    Luckily, Aiden walked through the door just then. As he paused beside Jacob, Luke wanted to laugh. He’d never understood how those two could look so comfortable in their suits, even though Aiden still maintained a messy artistic style to his hair. Just the thought of wearing a suit jacket every day caused Luke’s throat to start closing.
    “Well, ladies, we don’t want to keep you from your lunch,” Jacob said, much to Luke’s relief. He was ready to get the espionage part of his visit over, so he could see Avery.
    He simply couldn’t get her out of his brain. Her soft hair, silky skin and eager kiss. He had every intention of going to the therapy center this afternoon. No appointment. No reason for going…except for not being able to forget the taste of her tongue. Her sweetness flavored her, and had given Luke a contact sugar rush. He could tell himself he simply wanted to invite her out on an adventure, but deep down, he knew he was lying to himself.
    “We do need to head out,” Clara said softly. “I don’t want to get caught in that bad weather coming in this afternoon.”
    “Oh, I think it will be this evening before that hits,” Aiden said. “Y’all will be safely home before that.”
    “Most definitely,” Jacob agreed. “We want everyone to be safe.”
    The significance of those words wasn’t lost on Luke as he gave the ladies a quick goodbye, then followed his brothers out the door. What they were doing here today, and in the days to come, was about the safety of everyone involved with Blackstone Mills—both employees and family.
    Still, Luke tried to keep it light. “Let’s get on with this,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I’ve got places to be—”
    “Places more important than this?”
    Luke didn’t care much for Mark’s hard tone, so he slowly swiveled his head to stare at the man who had followed them out of the office. “As a matter of fact, yes. I have plans for Avery tonight.” Only she didn’t know it yet.
    The flush that swept over Mark’s jaw and neck was satisfying to Luke, even if it was petty of him.
    “Let’s head over to the manufacturing floor, then back this way,” Jacob suggested.
    “I’ll catch up with you when you get to the accounting office,” Mark said. “I need to check out a computer problem over there.”
    “Good deal,” Jacob said on his way down the hall. “We need to go over the plans for the computer system in that department anyway.”
    Aiden and Jacob were gone in seconds, but Luke couldn’t stop himself from looking back. He glimpsed Mark’s face blazing with an inordinate amount of fury before the other man turned away, leaving Luke to wonder if he had pulled a tiger’s tail with his needling remark.
    He followed his brothers over to the manufacturing part of the plant, easily slipping into his public persona as he greeted acquaintances. He may not truly be joining the company as a full partner, but he cared about these people.
    He’d do whatever was necessary to ensure their safety.
    Dealing with people had always come easy to him. Until his accident, he’d been quite the extrovert. The dark period following his accident had birthed an extreme need for solitude. Slowly exposing himself to people again was going okay, as long as it wasn’t a big crowd.
    Today was working well for both purposes.
    Talking with people in small groups of two or three, casually leaning on his cane and offering his TV-interview smile, allowed him to be accepted, to let down guards and to see what more familiar eyes might miss. After a couple of hours, he hadn’t found anything suspicious. But at least they’d accomplished the first step: making his presence at the mill a natural occurrence.
    For everyone except Mark, at least. Luke could still feel his resistance when they met up again near the accounting department. He knew things were about to get