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Of course he wasn’t asking her out She’d taken a long look at herself, and she didn’t find the final product all that iular robin with plenty of beige and brown, splashed with that garish red dress across her"Sure I should meet everyone and dispel rumors I wouldn’t want to ruin your reputation"

"I’ his forehead, then turned back to the counter "First, we have to take care of food now Is there anything you can’t eat? Any allergies I should know of?"

She thought of the EpiPen she kept close This seelanced over his shoulder "Excuse "

"Okay" His brows ed "Then it’s leftover stew Any problems with that?"

"I don’t know"

He pivoted on one heel to face her, a tic starting in the corner of one eye "Don’t feel obligated to stay for dinner if you’re too hung over froht out"

This wasn’t going well at all "That’s not what I meant"

"Then feel free to explain what you did mean"

"That’s just it I don’t know" She braced her back against the chair "The first thing I re"

Jacob’s whole body straightened into a steely line of tension Muscles rippled beneath his Air Force T-shirt

Her hands clenched so tightly the alu reverberated in the silence If he didn’t talk soon, she would snap "Well?"

"That son of a bitch"

What? "Who?"

"Your ‘Mr Smith’" Jacob stothy paces before kneeling at her feet "We have to get you to a doctor, s You were sick earlier, and you’re pale You may not be over the worst" He scrubbed a restless hand over his military-short hair "Damn it, I wonder if he used Rohypnol or GHB"

His words offered a flicker of hope Could that be it? "As?"

"Yeah, episodic amnesia meds Creep in a bar drops one in a woets what happened to her the night before"

Disappointhly That happened to the girlfriend of soo The experience really put her through hell" He cleared his throat "I’ll get somebody in here to handle the desk while--"

"Jacob"

"--I’one I’ll throw the truck in four-wheel drive, and we’ll--"

"Stop!"

"What?" He pressed a broad palm to her forehead "Are you ill?"

The coround, but she couldn’t afford to weaken now "I haven’t just forgotten a few hours I can’t re hand froer "I can’t fill this out because I don’t knowabout aze shifted fro?"

"I’ blue Then he laughed

"Did you hear h rolled free, a dark ru stor at myself, not you"

"Soht now"

Jacob pulled the bubbling stew from the burner and pitched the pot holder into the sink "You’re saying you have a"

"That’s a good one" He lounged against the counter "You’ve got a buht?"

She reached to feel around under her loose hair and yeah, the tender spot was still there A luh to tell, but maybe that was the cause "As a matter of fact, I do"

"Of course" He nodded, obviously doubtful "I would have chosen the alien abduction route Hasfor fun"

Her hand drifted to her sto well of panic She’d thought through a thousand scenarios where soe of her vulnerability, but she’d never considered she wouldn’t be trusted "I’ash on my head to offer as proof But you have to believe er she could ill afford right now

His chest rose with each steady breath "You know, Dee S that absolutely pushes my buttons, and that’s soed the form back to her "If you want to keep your job, you’ll have to come up with a better story than that"

"You don’t believeliars His father had backed out on prorandiose schemes, flat out fabricated too many times A need for truth, people he could trust, had driven Jacob to join thethe world, he’d seen it all But in all that time he hadn’t come across a Dee Smith yet "Do you really think I intend to pass out a pay slip without running a background check or filing paperwork?"