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The pro, narrow room at the rear of the reception desk Rylan Bennet didn’t know much about the art world, but he had soon learned that it was a luxury for visiting artists and their ers to be provided with an area of their own in which to work He figured it was because this gallery was located in a former warehouse, where space wasn’t an issue

Rylan seemed to be the only person involved in the prospective shoas interested in taking advantage of the hospitality provided by Bree Colton, the gallery owner Most of the time, he had the office to hih he are of the curious glances directed his way by the gallery staff They were obviously wondering what he found to do there all day, every day

If he was going to be convincing in his role as a roup of local artists, he clearly needed to work harder on his disguise His initial goal had been to get through the door and establish contact with Bree After all, she was the only reason he was here But now that he had gotten to know her, he needed to maintain her trust

Deceiving her didn’t feel comfortable to Rylan, but his old army buddy Blaine Colton had been resolute He’d told Rylan that his kid cousin was in danger, and he needed someone he could count on to watch over her While Blaine was in DC, getting his discharge finalized, his uncle Calvin and aunt Audrey, Bree’s parents, had contacted him

A week ago, a gallery show at Wise Gal had been interrupted by soth frontKendall, as married to Decker Colton, another of Bree’s cousins, was hit in the face and seriously injured Shaken by the incident, Bree admitted to her parents, and her brother, Trey, as Bradford County’s sheriff, that she had been getting threatening enoring the probleo away

Calvin and Audrey were going crazy orry about their daughter, but according to Blaine, Bree had refused their requests to return home and stay holed up at their faruard, someone he trusted to keep her safe The only problem? Rylan, the person Blaine had selected to be her protector, orn to secrecy about his role If Bree found out, she would point-blank refuse to let the situation continue

Reluctantly, Rylan had agreed Although he’d recently sold the private security consultancy he’d been running since he left the army, he had the skills and experience to watch over Bree He also lived close to Roaring Springs Add in the fact that he owed Blaine a few favors frohanistan

The only minor difficulty had been his cover story Fortunately, Bree’s las Colton was an attractive African A spirit shone through in equal measures The day after Rylan had expressed his doubts about his ability to blend into an artistic setting, Audrey had called him with a solution

“Bree’s next show is called Spirit It’s a celebration of African American art A friend of mine is a professor at the University of North Colorado School of Art and Design She has a group of graduates who are looking for someone to promote their work”

When Audrey outlined her plan for hier of the artists in question, Rylan had expressed his reservations “I don’t want these people to get their hopes built up I have nothing long term to offer them”

“No one loses fro African Aious gallery Wise Gal is beco very well known” There had been a note of pride in her voice “All I ask of you is that you do your best to promote their art to a wider audience”

Since he was planning on being in the gallery anyway, that seemed like a reasonable request He would have time on his hands, so he may as well use it productively Then Rylan met Breeand reasonable became a distant memory

Because, for the first time in his thirty-four years, a woman had taken his breath away He’d seen her forallery’s website when he had done some research In it, she appeared cool and quirky, with a distant expression and a bohemian dress sense In reality, she was a ray of sunshine, with a huge sht shyness in her h