Undercover Passion

“Of course. Just turn the TV to my favorite soap and I’ll be out like a light in no time.”

If only he could believe it was really that easy.

He headed down the hallway toward the elevator, punching the button and looking up as the doors opened to reveal the very attractive redheaded nurse already ensconced.

He hesitated. There was something about the look in her eye that reminded him of a cat with a captured mouse.

“Come on in,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “There’s plenty of room.”

He nodded to her warily and stepped into the opposite corner of the car. She immediately moved toward him, and as the doors closed again, she reached out and fingered the fabric of his suit coat.

“Nice,” she said softly.

He frowned at her, unable to believe this. “You like this suit?” he said incredulously. It was off the rack at a discount store.

She smiled up at him seductively. “I like what’s in it.”

He stared at her, aghast. Now that just wasn’t natural. Nice, but not natural. And when the doors opened again, he escaped as quickly as he could.

Abby was just passing through and she really didn’t have time for this. That was what she told herself as she stepped lightly down the hall in search of Room 707.

She’d stopped by the nurses’ station to pick up some reports and they had told her of a lady who wanted more information about the clinic. That wasn’t really her function, but she didn’t want to be rude. She supposed she could drop by and be friendly at least. If she could only find the room.

There it was.

She stuck her head in and found a little gray-haired woman dozing in her bed.

“Hi, there,” she said brightly.

The woman looked up and smiled a welcome. “Hello.”

“Are you Phoebe—” she glanced at the chart on the wall “—O’Callahan?” She turned and stared at the woman, suddenly remembering the O’Callahan she’d met the day before. Frowning, she decided there must be a lot of O’Callahans in the city. Funny coincidence, though.

“The nurse at the station told me you were asking about the Healthy Living Clinic, and since I’m spending some time on this floor, I thought I’d stop by and see if I can answer any of your questions. I’m the public relations representative.”

Phoebe beamed. “Well, thank you, dear. Come right in.”

Abby made her way to the side of the bed. “I wish I had some literature to give you, but we’ve recently revamped the brochure and new ones won’t be available until later this evening. But I’ll be sure to have some sent over for you.”

“Isn’t that nice of you.” Phoebe gestured toward the chair. “In the meantime, you just come and sit right down here where I can look at you and you can tell me everything.”

Abby laughed, pulling the chair over and dropping down into it. “Everything? Well, the clinic was started—”

“No, honey. That’s not what I mean.” Phoebe’s eyes sparkled. “First off, are you married?”

“Married?” Abby was startled by the question. “Why, no.”

“How nice. Got a fella in mind?”

“N-not really.”

“Wonderful.” She was grinning ear to ear. “Now tell me about your job. How did a nice girl like you get mixed up with that bunch?”

“Mrs. O’Callahan!”

“Call me Phoebe. And tell me what that good-looking Dr. Richie is really like.”

Abby laughed. “Well…”

Half an hour later they were still chatting, though Abby was beginning to glance at her watch. She was just getting her things together and preparing to say goodbye when a figure appeared in the doorway. Looking up, her smile froze on her face.

Darn! This was the same O’Callahan after all.

The man had been plaguing her mind for the last day and a half. Whenever she got a moment of rest, his image came back to her and she found herself wondering what his visit to her office had been all about. His attitude had been so strange and his requests sort of oddball. She’d tried hard to accommodate him, to the point where Dr. Richie had thought he had to give her what she considered a humiliating reprimand. But now that she thought it over, she knew her employer was right, and she also knew that Daniel was someone she should avoid.

Now here he was again, looking tall and lean and somehow vaguely dangerous in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It was definitely time for her to take her leave.

Daniel was staring at her in surprise that quickly turned to suspicion. Again. What did the man instinctively have against her? It was so strange. People usually took her at face value, and her value was pretty high, if she did say so herself.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Her chin rose. The man had a lot of nerve. “What are you doing here?” she countered.

He nodded toward Phoebe. “This is my grandmother.”

That was too bad. She’d really liked the older woman a lot. Now she was going to have to be careful to avoid her.

“Well, that’s something I guess the poor dear can’t be cured of, isn’t it?” she said, then recoiled, immediately wanting to bite her tongue for using such a sarcastic tone. But the man had asked for it.

“Children, children,” Phoebe scolded. “I see you already know each other, so I won’t introduce you. But I may have to give you a quick lecture on playing nicely with each other.”

Abby turned apologetically and took Phoebe’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. We’ve had such a nice talk and I hope we get a chance to do that again. But I’m overdue at work. I must get back. There’s a staff meeting at eleven.”

Daniel snorted. “Poor old Richie Strong is probably wandering the halls like a lost puppy, looking for you right now,” he said.

Throwing him a poisonous look, Abby smiled at Phoebe. “I’ll be back in the morning with those brochures.”

“Ah, the famous brochures,” Daniel said softly.

She blinked and forced herself to smile even more broadly. “What time does your grandson usually come to visit?” she asked Phoebe as she turned to go. “I want to be sure to miss him.”

“I don’t want you coming back here at all,” Daniel said, his voice pleasant, but his eyes steely.

“Daniel!” Phoebe was outraged.

“I mean it, Gram. I don’t want you dealing with stuff from that clinic. They’ve got some kind of voodoo vibe going on over there, and I don’t want you involved.”

“You are impossible,” Abby said through clenched teeth.