Page 76 of The Rescuer

One eyebrow dipped, and a tiny smile quirked one side of her mouth. “You sure I can be trusted not to run off and hock them myself? I could always use the money for the clinic.”

“I thought you had some unexpected deposits coming in that were helping you make ends meet. Are they not enough to cover the difference?”

“Well, there is the little matter of the damage someone did to the clinic.”

“But that’s covered by insurance, right?”

“Right.” She suddenly straightened and blinked. Three times. “How did you know about myunexpecteddeposits? I don’t remember telling you.”

He blinked right back.Oops.

Chapter 20

Connecting Dots

Neve sat dumbstruck. WasReeceher secret benefactor? It made sense, in a way—except for the money part. Did he have the kind of bank balance that would allow him to throw cash at her clinic? Well, he wasn’t really sweating the outlay for the rings, now was he?

Another deposit had arrived in her account only yesterday, and she had puzzled over why Leo would continue bankrolling her when they’d broken it off over that niggling little detail of her marriage to the man currently seated across from her—the one who was so obviously squirming in his seat. Was guilt making him fidget? And—a question that had been eating at her for a while—why would someone like Leo, who didn’t have pets, put money into a vet clinic? He was a highly successful businessman. It wasn’t as if her struggling practice was going to give him anysort of ROI—unless he needed the tax write-off. Furthermore, while Leo was a nice guy, she hadn’t seen any evidence of altruism in the short time she’d known him.

Reece Hunnicutt, though, was one big well of generosity, especially when it came to his time. He gave that away by the bucketfuls, so why not money too, assuming he had it to give?

She narrowed her eyes on him as she leaned in on her forearms. “Spill.”

“No, I’d rather drink my wine than spill it, thank you very much. It’s a decent bottle.” He reached across the table, plucked up the bottle, and emptied it into his glass. “Didn’t mean to finish it off. Want me to open another one?”

She covered her wineglass with her hand. “No, thanks. I’d rather be one hundred percent present. Look what having too much alcohol led tolasttime.”

He raised his glass to her. “Point taken.”

“You’re evading.”

“No, I’m really not. I’m just thinking of the best way to phrase this so I don’t embarrass you.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You know these walls are really, really thin, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Well, did you also know you talk in your sleep?”

Her nerves fluttered. “What? I do not!”

“Yeah, you do. I’ve been learning all kinds of interesting things about my roommate and boss.”

Oh. Shit.If he was telling the truth and she reallyhadtalked enough in her sleep to give him an idea about her finances, what other secrets had she revealed? Oh, this was not good.

To mask her discomfort, she scoffed. Loudly. “Even if Idotalk in my sleep, I can’t imagine I’d have an entire conversation about my bank account.”And please don’t let me have said anything about jumping your very fine bones.

“Well, not anentireconversation. But you definitely hollered out a few phrases that planted the idea in my head. And from what you said, it’s obvious you’re not comfortable with whatever or whoever is behind it.”

“Whatelsedid I say?” Assuming he wasn’t making all this up, of course.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “All kinds of interesting things. I had no idea, Doc.”

Her blood fizzed with embarrassment, and her face caught fire. Damn it!

Once more dumbfounded, Neve stared at him, searching his face for any trace of guile. He was the master of blank expressions, and right now he was as blank as a brand-new patient’s folder. Reece wasn’t inherently dishonest, but she’d watched him lie with the best of them, and she couldn’t tell if his regaling her with her nighttime conversations was a fabrication. She could only pray that it was.

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