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I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again. Last night was the best I’ve felt since leaving the Corps. You’ve given me a purpose. You give me hope. I’ve got a ways to go before I’m close to being whole again—and I’m never going to be 100%. But I’m not going to screw this up. If you think you can handle a beat-up old warhorse like me, I’m yours.

Polly’s heart blossomed at his heartfelt words.

Wow. That was REALLY nice. So, if I want you to talk and share your feelings, I need to do it via text?

Maybe. ;)

FYI, I think I can handle you.

Feeling better?

Yes. I can’t wait to hold you, either. Maybe a kiss, too?

You got it. Keep your distance from Creepy Guy. I’ll see you later.

Bye, Daniel.

Later, Sunshine. Count on it.

She would. She absolutely would.

By the time she reached the cafeteria, Polly’s pulse had finally steadied and she could smile again. She was fine. Tate was just socially tone-deaf, not dangerous. Daniel had declared that he wanted to be hers, carefully avoiding using the word mine and claiming she was his. Everything was—

A reflection in the stainless steel counter of the serving line froze her mid-step. A man stood in the hallway behind her, just beyond the open door. His face was masked by the scarf tied around the neck of his insulated hoodie, his stocking cap drawn low over his forehead. Although the image was blurred, the details matched the description given by the woman who’d delivered that disturbing note at the clinic yesterday. His skin was pale, his eyes—watching.

“Tate?” she whispered, suddenly wanting that man to be someone she could put a name to. Had he changed and followed her?

But by the time she spun around to identify him, he was gone.

Chapter Eleven

“Maybe Gerald’s not crazy, and there is a ghost haunting me.”

Polly’s fingers flexed in the crook of Daniel’s elbow, silently transmitting the tension that had been radiating off her since the moment he’d stepped foot in the ER to let her know he and Pirate would be waiting out in the lobby. Still gloved-up from her latest patient, she’d run across the room, thrown her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, whispering how glad she was to see him and that she could breathe easier now that she knew he’d be close by. He’d felt her literally shaking as he wrapped his arm around her back and held her close.

After several moments that had ratcheted up his own concern, he’d leaned back just enough to drill her gaze with the silent question, What happened?

She’d told him she’d seen the guy who’d sent the note to the clinic near the hospital cafeteria. Watching her.

Daniel had wanted to take her home right that second, but she cupped the uninjured side of his jaw and reminded him that she still had another hour left in her shift. “And Creepy Guy?” he asked out loud. “He keeping his distance?”

At that very moment, a male nurse who was handsome enough to star in his own TV series came up behind Polly and extended his hand. “This must be the boyfriend. I’m Tate Emery.” Judging by the way Polly stiffened against him, he knew this was the guy who’d been hitting on her and making her so uncomfortable. “And you are…?”

“Daniel Travis.” Pretty Boy did the juvenile thing and squeezed Daniel’s hand in a lame show of male dominance. The guy had a strong grip, but Daniel hung on just as tightly and tugged him half a step closer. “You see a guy in a hoodie, hiding most of his face behind a scarf, here?”

The other guy chuckled. “No. We’ve had a busy day today. Must be the full moon tonight bringing out the crazies. I’ve seen a piercing gone wrong, a DIY handyman who superglued his hand to a toilet seat, and a lady with several deep scratches who fell out of a tree trying to rescue the neighbor’s cat. But nobody like that.”

If Daniel didn’t already have an issue with Tate Emery harassing Polly, he would have disliked the guy immediately for the callous way he joked about his patients. With Emery’s ego, he wasn’t sure if he’d been able to intimidate the guy. But it didn’t matter. Daniel had positioned himself to keep Polly in his line of sight, and all it had taken was standing up and making eye contact with the guy to keep him from approaching her for anything other than a work-related reason.

Now, as they rode up the elevator to the third floor of the parking garage, he realized that, other than when she’d been called to work with a patient, she’d been touching him somehow. Touching his shoulder, squeezing his hand, bracing her hand against his thigh to help herself stand after squatting down to greet Pirate.

“Do you really believe there’s a ghost haunting you?”

“No. But at least I’d have an explanation for why this is happening to me.”

“We’ll figure it out. And stop it.”

“Promise?”