Free Dancing with Deception by Avery Gale Page B

to provide her a with a world class paddling right in her own front yard if she didn’t stop babbling about moving and start packing whatever she’d need for the next few days. Joelle appreciated the fact they hadn’t followed her around her house while she gathered up everything she needed. They’d probably known she had things hidden in her home…things she’d need to take with her and their respect for her privacy had gone a long way in convincing her to follow their damned edicts. Yeah, and the fact they are both hot former Special Forces operatives trained to keep entire countries safe didn’t play into it at all—get a grip, Joelle.
    One of the flash drives containing her information about the formula was nestled inside her purse. It wasn’t an ideal hiding place, but it was better than taking a risk and leaving it behind. Joelle was still grateful for her uncle’s series of clues that had eventually led her to the small safe hidden beneath the floorboards in her bedroom. Without the clues he’d left her, Joelle doubted she’d have ever found the in-floor safe. Her mother’s only brother had obviously been more than a little paranoid, but he’d also been brilliant in his own way. The historical fiction books he’d written were so full of detail she knew he had to have spent years researching each of the novels he’d penned. And leaving the royalties from those books to the history department of a local college had been a gift she knew would fund several scholarships for years to come.
    Joelle leaned her chin on her hand to keep from laying her head on the Morgan’s kitchen table. She blinked her tired eyes in an attempt to bring her surroundings into focus while trying desperately to stay awake as five Morgan men discussed what she was going to do. What the hell am I, fucking invisible? God save her from a roomful of alpha males. If they kept yakking much longer, she was going to be comatose. Damn, she was tired. There was a small part of her that knew she was straddling a blurred line between being fully asleep and alert, but it seemed like too much effort to nit-pick so she let it go.
    She felt her chin slip from her palm and yelped when it hit the table with a solid thump. Damn, damn, damn, that hurt. She was on her feet before she realized she’d even stood. The thump of her chin on the wood and the scraping of her chair across the floor drew the attention of the men across the room. Ryan was the first to reach her, his strong hands cupping her shoulders as she shook her head in an effort to push the exhaustion aside. Brandt stepped up to her, concern etching his gorgeous features…or at least, she thought it was concern. It was hard to tell because her vision was blurry from exhaustion. God, she needed to get some rest, since she couldn’t even see clearly. Her attention shifted between Brandt and Ryan as she asked, “Can someone please show me to my room? I’m really tired.”
    Ryan tipped her chin up and running his fingers along the underside, and frowned. “Christ, at least, you didn’t split it open. Stitching up this pretty face definitely wasn’t in my plans for tonight.”
    Colt Morgan’s voice sounded from across the table, “Yeah and it’s all about you, Doc.” The sarcasm in his voice was tinged with enough respect and humor to make Joelle smile. When she looked up at the second Morgan brother, his smile was sweetly indulgent. “Sweetie, please sit down before your knees fold out from under you.” When she dropped back into her chair, he nodded. “Better. Now, if one of these jokers doesn’t take you to Brandt’s suite in the next couple of minutes I’ll take you to one of the guest suites—how’s that sound?”
    “Thanks, I appreciate your hospitality.” She saw the corners of his mouth turn up in a grin, and knew he was deliberately taunting his brother and cousin, but if it helped her find a place to crash she didn’t care. She’d barely gotten the words out