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He chuckled, but before he could say anything further, her door opened She turned to see Jake holding it open for her, waiting for her to exit the truck

"Thanks, Jake" She cast To for a drea" She sh she was disappointed She’d have to scratch hih that left her only with Jake She hurried inside the hospital as Tom turned to his brother and scowled

"You told her that?" Tom asked his brother

"Hell, no I don’t even believe in that nonsense" Jake looked at Ryan, who raised his brows as if he didn’t knohat they were talking about

Ryan stalked after Little Miss Nightingale What part of--he was her protector at all tiet?

"Who the hell else knows?" Toht up the rear

"I swear I didn’t tell anyone about our conversation I don’t kno Carol found out"

Ryan wasn’t one to eavesdrop, normally, unless it suited his purpose in his PI work But if Toht be, Ryan hadn’t wanted her to be disappointed He stalked after her as she headed down the hall of the clinic, while Tom, Jake, and Mervin trailed behind them

The place s alcohol, and, in the staff lounge, harsh coffee brewing Ryan couldn’t i in a hospital environment, day after day He much preferred the fresh out-of-doors, where heup with plans for irance of new leather in his truck while he was in his PI surveillanceat his office, corid dutifully kept the business going whenever he was on an assignment elsewhere

A tallblue scrubs and carrying a chart He looked official as he headed toward Ryan and Carol in the wide hall washed in light With dark hair and eyes, and a build that was a little scrawny and wiry, he looked like uy cast Carol a harried sed Ryan more than he wanted to admit Matthew pinned Ryan with a look thatCarol so closely

"He’s her bodyguard," Jake said, explaining the relationship

Matthew’s expression remained hard, and he said to Carol, "I’ Work, you know But if you’d like to go out tonight…"

He let his words trail off If Ryan had been Matthew, he would have scheduled the date, not left it up in the air like that The other thing that bugged Ryan was that the rest of the pack knew about Carol’s abduction already, so this clown had to Otherwise, he was certain Mattheould have asked why she needed a bodyguard So why didn’t Matthew say anything about her being kidnapped and offer her consolation, protection, or anything? The guy was a total loser when it ca a woo?" Ryan asked Matthew "On a date?"

Matthew’s jaw dropped Carol looked like she was fighting a srinned Tom shook his head Mervin stared at Ryan as if he had lost his o where Carol does So…" He shrugged "Where did you have in ain to Carol as if Ryan hadn’t just addressed him "I’ll talk to you later Have to see a patient Another case of the flu, I’ht"

"The gathering?" Carol glanced in the direction of the waiting area and saw Marilee reading a azine "The masseuse?"

"Yeah The other, Becky? The librarian? She was already in here earlier"

Carol frowned "Diagnosis?"

"Flu"

"Great Then they exposed Lelandi"

"Yeah, well, I’ain, they probably didn’t know they were co doith it," Matthew said

"Marilee could have known," Ryan argued "She began coughing when I danced with her She said it was allergies If she’s got the flu, she could very well have suspected that’s what she had She may have been worried that Darien wouldn’t let her co"

Matthew clenched his"That’s the probleuilty until proven innocent"<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>