Nyght's Eve Read Online Free PDF Page B

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Miles and his sister Carly.”
    “If you’re training with Hammer, you’re
training with the best,” Dare said as he finished cleaning the wound. He chose
a large bandage from the box. Opening the package, he peeled off the backing
and placed the bandage on her knee. “All done. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
    “It was.” She looked down at the plain beige
bandage with a little frown, then blinked up at him with big eyes. “My mom
always gives me Hello Kitty ones when I hurt myself.”
    “Hurt yourself often, do you?”
    “She’s a klutz,” Miles responded with a smile
“We both are, aren’t we Carly?”
    “Yep!”
    Dare looked around the room for a moment,
then moved to the counter to pick up a permanent marker. Walking back over to
the little girl, Dare pulled off the cap and leaned down to draw a lopsided
happy face on the plain bandage. “There.”
    Carly tilted her head as she studied the
drawing, then looked up and smiled. “Thanks!”
    Dare scrambled back a step as she lifted her
arms to him. Christ, did the kid want a hug or something? Nope. Not going to
happen. He had trouble peeling her off of him once already. Instead, he reached
out and awkwardly patted her on the head. “Ah...okay then. I gotta go now.”
    He turned toward the door and made a quick
escape, exiting the clinic almost at a run. When he got outside he took a deep
breath. Kids and puppies. He was surrounded in this place and needed to get
back to the sanctuary of the boarding house. But first for his run. He’d only
taken a few steps when he heard a noise behind him. Spinning around, he barely
held back a scowl as he saw Nate had followed him outside. “Need something, kid?”
    “I...ah...I was just wondering how long
you’re planning on staying here.” Nate stuck his hands in his pockets and
looked as decidedly uncomfortable as Dare felt.
    “I’m not sure yet.”
    Nate opened his mouth to speak, then seemed
to hesitate. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around. Thanks for taking care
of Carly.”
    “No problem.” Dare could tell that Nate had
wanted to say something else, but had held back. Feeling like an asshole, Dare tried
for a friendly smile as he said, “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around here or at
the gym. Maybe we can spar sometime.”
    That perked Nate up. “Great! See ya around.”
    With that, the teen hurried off, leaving Dare
to make his way to the path surrounding the large pond. Now that there were no
other distractions in sight, Dare took the time to stretch out in peace. Really
it had been his own fault. No one had made him volunteer today. He had enjoyed
himself, but there was only so much socializing he could take at the moment.
    The sound of laughter had him looking back
toward the center, and he saw Nate, Shane, Miles and Carly were playing with
two little dogs out in the yard. Carly looked over and waved her hand
vigorously at him. Dare lifted his own hand in response, then let out a curse
as she got up from where she had been sitting on the ground.
    Kids
and puppies.
    Feeling like a coward, Dare turned away and
ran as if the devil was on his heels.

 
    Chapter Three
     
    Oh,
wow...
    Evie tried to pay attention to what her accountant
was saying to her, but she knew she was failing miserably. Instead, her rapt
attention was fixated on the man running around the pond at a brisk pace. Dr.
Daryk Nyght—or Dare as he had told her to call him—was a fine specimen of a
man.
    The golden skin of his bare chest glistened
with sweat in the sunlight, emphasizing his spectacular physique that she
wouldn’t have thought typical of a doctor. Sure, he had been in the Army, but
Dare was cut . Even from a distance,
she could see the definition of his abs and the contours of thick, corded
muscles over his body.
    Just the sight was enough to make her drool.
    Evie had been in her office in a meeting with
her accountant when her cell phone had started pinging repeatedly with incoming
text messages.