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Unimpressed with the need for stealth, Tammy went on "It’s pretty damn impressive, really Didn’t know you had it in you I mean, your last boyfriend was that stuffy accountant fro about him hat you saw in him"

"You were here last weekend when he came in," Mallory said

"The accountant?"

"My date"

Ta on Mallory’s last nerve It hat she did And this wasn’t going well

"So is it a silly rumor?" Tammy asked "Or a real date?"

"Neverabout him?"

"Like…?"

Lucille was nearly falling off the couch now, trying to catch the conversation Mallory turned her chair slightly,her sister "Like his na way "Wait a minute You don’t know his nahty, Mal You haven’t done naughty since you were sixteen and turned yourself in for shoplifting Now you uy whose na cry for attention" Ta all of this, Lucille?"

"Oh, you know I a keys with her thuood; keep talking"

Mallory dropped her head to the table and thunked it but unfortunately she didn’t lose consciousness and she still had to finish her shift

After work, she drove hohbor’s flowers because Mrs Tyler heelchair-bound and couldn’t do it for herself Then she watered her grandma’s beloved flowers She fed the ancient old black cat that had come with the house, the one who answered only to "Sweet Pea" and only when food was involved And before she showered to get ready for the night’s dinner and auction, she clicked through her e-ed on Facebook

Make sure to buy tickets for tonight’s elegant foranized by the nurses and spearheaded by Mallory Quinn, all proceeds will go into the Hospital Foundation’s coffers toward the Health Services Clinic that Mallory’s been working on shoving down our throats (Just kidding, Mallory!)

And speaking of Ms Quinn, rumor is that she’ll ‘maybe’ have a date for the event after all, with Mysterious Cute Guy!

Go Mallory!

ps Anyone at the event with their cell phone, pictures are greatly appreciated!

Chapter 4

Chocolate will never fail you

Ty’s routine hadn’t changed ot up in the yer and the guy ned the ’72 GMC Jio SWAT, but before that he’d been in the Navy He and Ty had gone through basic together

When Ty had injured his leg again, Matt had coaxed hiun range, butthe shit out of each other on theside by side on their backs in the gym "Another round?" Matt would ask

"Absolutely," Ty would say

Neither of the okay?" Matt would then ask

"Don’t want to talk about it," Ty would say

Matt would let it go

Ty would hit the beach, swi until the exhaustion nearly pulled hih rocky beach just to prove he could stay upright He’d started out slow--hell, he’d practically crawled--but he could walk it now It was quite the feat Or so his doctor kept telling hio, he’d nearly lost his left leg in the plane crash thanks to a post-surgical infection

Which was a hell of a lot less than Brad, Toht of that ti seized his gut He hadn’t been able to save a single one of them He’d been trained as a trauma paramedic, but their injuries, and his own, had proven too ed and he’d walked away froiven anyone soin the private sector had proven to be a good fit for hi enlisted, except the pay was better and he got a say in his assign him think too much He wasn’t used to this down ti His entire life had been one base after another, one et back to that world

He needed to get back to that world, because it was the only way he had of

But Dr Josh Scott, the e of his medical care until he was cleared, took a weekly look at Ty’s scans and shook his head each ti, empty house that Matt had leased for hiet Far away frorown up, froone noay His dad had been killed in Desert Storo With his closest friends resting beneath their ton, there was no one else: no wife, no lover, no kids

It made for a short contact list on his cell phone

Instead of thinking about that, he spent his ti cars instead of people--Matt’s 1972 Jimmy, his own Shelby--because cars didn’t die on those they cared about

On the day of the big hospital auction, after replacing the transreased and showered, as always Unlike always, he passed over his usual jeans for a suit, then stared at hi back at him He still had stitches over one eye and a bruise on his cheek fro side of a haircut, and he’d skipped shaving He’d lost soles of his face more stark His eyes seeht be slowly getting back into lean,shape, but he had some work yet to do on his soul He shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out the ever-present Vicodin bottle, rolling it between his fingers

The bottle had been eive his left nut for a refill He had two refills available to hiht on the bottle But since Ty had started to need to be nu desperation--he’d quit cold turkey

This didn’t help his leg Rubbing it absently, he turned away fro to the auction

Except he did He was going because the entire toould be there, and in spite of hiain, his bossy, warm, sexy nurse

Which was ridiculous It’d been so dark the night of the storm that he honestly wasn’t sure he even knehat she looked like But he knew he’d recognize her voice--that soft, warm voice It was pretty , the way it’d soothed and calh the bedrooun for the night although he’d ht of it His cell phone was up to fifty-fivein, he called voice mail and waited for the inevitable

"Ty," said a sexy female voice "Call me"

Frances St Claire was the hottest redhead he’d ever seen and also the es went back a month or so