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Vicki’s mouth tre in the other wouessed that Vicki wasn’t being entirely truthful But she didn’t probe

“Thanks, Charity That means a lot” Vicki’s voice was thick with tears Her eyes and nose burned with them She refused to shed them until she was alone

Charity’s beautiful dark eyes were bri Vicki to shut the door

Charity was co down the hall as Ty hastened toward Vicki’s rooet away fro stories for the last ten minutes In the end, he’d brusquely excused hiet to Vicki Neither of the other men had seemed to notice how upset Vicki had been when she’d left, but Ty could not shake theeyes

He should have told her Why hadn’t he fucking told her? He’d been too damned chickenshit, that’s why Chickenshit and in denial Delaying the news by an hour, then a day, then a week

She’d been upset before Miles had dropped that bomb on her, but afterward…

The hurt in those lovely gray eyes was seared into his brain It just about killed him to think of it

“Vicki’s not feeling too well,” Charity told him, as they drew abreast of each other in the hallway She hooked her hand in his elbow to halt his forward momentum

“I wanted to see if she needed anything,” he prevaricated hastily

“A little beyond the scope of your usual duties, isn’t it?” she asked, with a skeptically raised brow “She’s safe under her brother’s roof No immediate threat to life or limb I would think you’d want to enjoy the free time”

He had no real comeback to that

Charity sighed and shook her head, looking disappointed…

In him

Shit

“I don’t think she wants to see you right now, Tyler”

Yeah, she definitely knew so between Ty and Vicki

His throat worked as he tried to figure out what to say He couldn’t think of a single thing and mutely stared at her It felt like he had been sliced open and his guts were painstakingly being picked apart by curious onlookers