Free Harlequin Heartwarming May 2016 Box Set by Rula Sinara

he’d heard this story more times than he cared to.
    â€œLet him finish,” Kesi said.
    â€œOkay, so we did call out—not that it helped,” Mugi confessed. “I called and asked if he needed assistance. Surrounded by hungry, thirsty wild animals and blocked by a river that most certainly hid jaws of death, Mac answered that he had everything under control, but thanks, anyway. So we watched him strut back and forth assessing the situation and too stubborn to admit he needed help. That’s when the lion roared less than ten yards away.”
    This wasn’t funny anymore. Tessa parted her lips, but Nick jumped in.
    â€œFor real? What happened?”
    â€œHe wet himself,” Mugi said.
    â€œAs in he fell in the river?” Tessa asked.
    â€œNo. As in, he wet himself,” Mugi repeated.
    Everyone burst out laughing. Even Tessa couldn’t hold it in, but the best part was seeing Nick relax.
    â€œDid not ,” Mac said. “I got splashed when the herds panicked.”
    â€œYou say that if it makes you feel better.” Mugi sniggered.
    â€œDid you kill it?” Nick asked. “The lion?”
    Mac’s face sobered.
    â€œI don’t kill anything unless I’m forced to put it out of pain and misery,” Mac said.
    â€œNot even for food?” Nick asked.
    â€œNot even for food anymore. I have nothing against anyone who eats livestock raised humanely and taken with gratitude, but I personally have seen so much merciless killing that I’ve lost my taste for meat. Now, if I were forced into a situation of self-defense, that would be another matter.”
    â€œBut you were in danger,” Tessa said.
    â€œI was unprepared. No gun. No tranquilizers.”
    â€œNo way,” Nick said. “How could you be so stupid?”
    â€œHey. Watch what you call me, huh?” Mac said, then he grinned. “I was very stupid.”
    Nick smiled right back and pushed his hair out of his face.
    â€œSo what did happen? After he wet himself,” Tessa asked, raising one brow at Mac. He’d never live that down. Indiana Jones and the Moment of Doom.
    â€œHe was rescued by a woman,” Mugi said.
    â€œOoooh, shame!” Nick hooted and clapped.
    Tessa looked at Kesi in surprise.
    â€œYou swam across the river and rescued him, Kesi?”
    â€œNo way.” Kesi laughed. “Mugi wasn’t really just watching. He had a radio on him and had called a researcher we knew was studying elephants in the area and who we’d heard, over the air, was nearby that day. She drove up in her jeep just in time, but Mugi did have his rifle ready and aimed just in case.”
    â€œWow,” Nick said. Tessa shuddered at the scary, albeit funny in retrospect, situation Mac had been in. But she’d always known that he’d wanted adventure. Even in high school he’d loved adrenaline rushes. He used to skip school just to go for a swim that involved diving off cliffs; there was the time he’d taken off in his father’s car before he had a license to drive. All of it used to fry her nerves. Especially when her sister went along for the fun of it. But Tessa knew he also took risks just to rebel against his dad and to prove he didn’t care what anyone thought of him. He’d wanted a life where he’d be putting his life at risk. The exact opposite of what Tessa had always wanted. They still were opposites, which was why raising Nick together was so impossible.
    â€œRescued by a woman.” Tessa folded her arms and shook her head.
    â€œDr. Anna Bekker isn’t just any woman, though,” Mac said defensively.
    A twinge of jealously she had no right to feel pinched Tessa’s chest. More of an insecurity, really. Mac had no respect for her or her lifestyle, but this rugged, elephant-rescuing Dr. Bekker wasn’t just any woman .
    â€œHe’s right,” Kesi added, turning to Tessa. “There’s nothing ordinary