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"Carol’s fine," Darien said, his voice terse as he drew close

Darien offered his hand to help her to stand She grabbed Ryan’s knee instead and started to help herself up Ryan quickly seized her hand and pulled her to her feet, keeping her close by his side in a protective ers still holding onto hers in a possessive way

But she was ave Ryan a dark look, but not in the least bit cowed, Ryan squeezed Carol’s hand reassuringly and tossed a sly same"

Lelandi quickly stepped forward and waved a handful of ribbons "Blue team won!"

Still, everyone waited for Darien to respond, either concerning the game or Ryan, or both Darien looked at one of his men, who lifted their team’s captured ties, minus Lelandi’s that Darien still had tucked proudly in his belt His teaave Lelandi an evil smile "Lelandi’s team won Let’s eat!" He wrapped his ar look, and then nodded to Toh of relief As uptight as everyone aiting to see how their pack leader dealt with issues, she couldn’t shake loose of the tension tightening her chest She figured that the pressure wouldn’t go away until Ryan left the area for good

Taking his brother’s cue, To here?"

"Don’t any of you talk to each other?" Ryan moved his hand to Carol’s back and stroked it once in a reassuring way "I told Jake I wished to speak to Carol about a ation"

Touilty parties were held accountable"

"Just a couple of questions concerning… investigative techniques"

Carol’s heart sank That hat this was all about? Or was Ryan just saying so as a cover? He still stood next to her in protective wolf h her He sure see more of her than to question her

"Why were you here last night, skulking around?" To, which enda he didn’t wish to discuss with anyone else

Toave Ryan a look that said he didn’t trust hiht, ask your questions of her"

"Privately"

Frowning, Tom hesitated Then he motioned to the side of the house "Over there That’s as private as it’s going to get"

People wereto do to Ryan, or what Ryan had in mind to do with Carol Most of the onlookers were bachelorbarber, as brushing at yellow-green grass stains on his red-and-white-striped coat

Ryan took Carol’s arentle, caring, and protective, and every tinite between the he wanted to see more of her Date her or court her, or whatever olves did before they decided they were the right ones for each other and -term commitment, but a couple of dates would be nice, just to see if he was even her type

"Carol…" Ryan released her arm and shoved his hands in his pockets, his head bent to speak more privately with her "Are you sure you didn’t overhear conversations, which is how you came to the conclusions you did and were able to solve the case?"

Instantly, he stoked her ire She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him So he truly wasn’t interested in her "What are you inferring?"

He cleared his throat "Darien and his brothers wouldn’t letthis matter when I was here before, first, because you had been injured so, and after that…" Ryan shrugged "They were being protective, I suppose But after giving your situation further thought--"

"For five months?" Her voice was rife with annoyance, yet she wondered why he’d truly thought about it for that long Just a rabid need to learn the truth? Or was there nored her outburst and continued "Just that you , but in truth…" He let his words fade, allowing her to draw her own conclusions, his gaze studying her eyes, observing her reaction Like a PI and for the worst in anyone they thoughtto hide

In truth, what did he believe?

She opened her mouth to speak but then clamped her lips shut Hell, ever since her seventh birthday, after nearly drowning in a lake--well, technically she had drowned in the lake, been declared dead, and then revived, she’d had these unwelcoht everyone else did, too, until she mentioned one to her mother

She still remembered that day as if it were yesterday She’d explained how she’d seen aa pickup truck down the street fro over one of her classmates Except that the accident didn’t happen until two days later And the boy died Night terrors folloaking her, and she’d try to catch her breath, tears streaking down her cheeks, her pillow soggy<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>