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Horrified and unable to deal hat she’d seen, she finally told her parents They’d iet rid of her episodes After three years of visits, he gave up on her, declaring her utterly hopeless Well… even worse than that To , but not very sincere way that she’d probably grow out of it The real reason he dropped her as a patient in such a hurry went deeper than that

Waiting for her to respond, Ryan cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets

"Sorry You had a question for ers on her folded ar on her lips He hadn’t asked her a question, but the way he spoke was definitely a ploy to get her to respond to his observations And she wasn’t biting

"Don’t you suppose you h some means other than a psychic connection?"

"Hmm, sure That’s what happened"

Ryan’s htly, but she could tell he wasn’t being taken in by her surrender

Before she’d becoht up in the olf culture, she’d kept her abilities secret Now that those in this pack knew about her, she really didn’t care if any were skeptical As long as they didn’t try to tell her that she didn’t have a sixth sense because it wasn’t possible She supposed that was all because of Dr Metzger and the way his icy blue eyes would peer through his brass-ri chin tilted down, conde

If people didn’t believe her in private, fine Yet, usually if people confronted her like this, she would sht they were She never felt the need to defend what she could see when others couldn’t, or what she could envision or perceive sometimes when she touched an object

"But you truly believe otherwise," Ryan finally said

This tis She couldn’t help liking Ryan, despite his denial of her abilities He had an easy but deter like Jake or afraid to make waves like Tolanced at theboth Tom and Jake Which made the situation worse Why couldn’t any of the alpha males show any real interest in her? She was not a beta kind of girl She supposed that was because her father had become so downtrodden by hermarried, um, mated to someone like that

"Carol?" Ryan said, his deep baritone voice again yanking her froet ht she wasn’t being honest with him about her abilities, when he wasn’t honest about why he had been lurking in the woods last night, watching herShe didn’t have to be psychic to know so on between the to look like this was a perfectly natural way for her to act, she smiled, wrapped her ar his hard body, which instantly re a stitch of clothes She only ive him a slow kiss on the enda that he wouldn’t admit to Or if not, then maybe Tom or Jake would finally show soet Ryan off the subject of her abilities before she said soerly captured herup the desire in slow careful increments, but judiciously, as if he had been starved for affection for a very long time His hand cupped the back of her head, his free hand drifting lower on her back and holding her in place

She hadn’t meant to respond so fully to the kiss either, but his unbridled need fed into hers Forgetting they had an audience, she parted her lips to accept hiues dancing, touching, exploring Her hands fisted in his soft sweater at the back of his neck and held hiainst his hard muscles, and shamelessly she wanted more

But then he released her and unwrapped her arms from around his neck, his eyes smoky and dark, his expression otherwise unreadable, his hands still securely holding her wrists Their breaths came quickly as their hearts thundered at a runner’s pace He opened his , but she didn’t want to hear the apology she figured he would offer or another word about her abilities, if that’s what he had in mind

She quickly spoke instead "I accept Come pick me up for a date at six o’clock Promptly"

She’d show hiht think

Then she winked, pulled free, and stalked off toward the house without a backward glance, her blood sizzling with arousal and irritation

She harrumphed under her breath All the idiotic ro for Ryan McKinley… and all he really wanted was for her to confess she wasn’t psychic?

She doubted Ryan would take her on a date, and she doubted even more that Darien would allow it But if the date did co of bachelor ive Ryan McKinley a piece of her mind

Ryan stared after Carol as she stalked toward the house, sparing Jake and To inside What the hell had just happened?