It Had to Be Love (An It Had to Be Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page B

needed to stop the bleeding that wasn’t letting up.
    “Let me see.”
    He shook his head and walked away. “I’m fine.”
    Tara caught up. “Please?”
    Huffing out a breath, he stopped and lowered the cloth.
    She winced. “We need to get you to the clinic.”
    “I’m good.” He tossed the blood-soaked cloth into a nearby trash can. Then he lifted his favorite T-shirt over his head and balled it up, jamming it under his nose. “See you.”
    Tara caught up with his long strides and laid her soft hand on the lower part of his bare back for a brief moment before she yanked it away again. “Ryan, I think I broke your nose. You really need to go to the clinic.”
    He was sure it was broken, dammit. He hated that he’d have to tell his brother how it happened. “I’ll go to the clinic. You need to get to work or something, right?”
    She shook her head and kept walking beside him. “Not for a bit. I want to be sure you make it okay.”
    “I’m not going to pass out or anything.”
    “You could. The angle of that punch is designed—”
    When he sent her his best “stern cop” look, she snapped her mouth shut.
    They walked beside the lake for a few more minutes until she broke their silence again. “I’ll pay your medical expenses and replace your shirt too.”
    “You can’t.” He increased his pace as his nose swelled even bigger and pounded harder with each step. They were almost to the clinic and he hoped to God his brother could make the pain stop.
    “I insist.”
    “This shirt is from the Rolling Stones’ farewell tour. Can’t be replaced.”
    “Now I feel even worse. But haven’t they had like five farewell tours already?” Her face brightened. “Maybe they’re having another one? I’ll see if I can buy you tickets so we can get you a new shirt.”
    He shook his head. “Not likely. Mick Jagger is really old, something like . . .”
    “Seventy. You’re right.”
    As they approached the clinic, Tara moved ahead to get the door. Couldn’t the woman leave him with even a shred of his manhood?
    He lunged forward and beat her to the handle. Swinging the door open for her, he said, “After you, Kung Fu Panda.”
    “Thank you.” She smiled at him for the first time and a wave of warmth shot through his chest.
    Tara was the prettiest woman he’d ever met. Weirdly, he admired the way she’d beaten the crap out of him.
    Too bad she had her eye on his brother. Tara might have been the one woman able to tempt him to break his in-town dating rule.

T ara felt horrible about hitting Ryan. Who would have thought she’d be able to do that much damage with one punch? But the dentist in her needed to know his teeth were all right, so she quietly followed behind Ryan and the nurse who’d sent her a scowl after they explained what had happened.
    Once the nurse got Ryan onto his back with an ice pack on his face, she turned to Tara. “You aren’t family, so you can’t be in here.” She placed one hand on her hip and the other pointed to the door. Her name tag read “Joyce” and she looked about as old as Mick Jagger.
    “I just wanted to check his mouth. I’m the new dentist in town.”
    Joyce raised a brow. “I know who you are, young lady, and I don’t appreciate sass—”
    Ben walked in. “She can stay. I do my best work with pretty ladies around to impress.”
    Ryan and Joyce both grunted.
    Joyce shook her head and stood silently by Ryan, like she was protecting him from her.
    Then the door opened and Ryan’s sisters, Casey and Meg, flew inside. Casey said, “We heard Ryan broke his nose.”
    Casey, tall, elegant, and willowy, ran the hotel. Meg, short and cute, was opening a lodge across the lake. Both were pretty brunettes with big smiles just like Ryan’s.
    Ryan groaned. “It’s no big deal.”
    Ben turned to Tara. “See what you got yourself into, moving here? Word travels fast.”
    Meg said, “Yeah, Joyce called and told us Tara beat you up, Ryan. We wanted to see for