Rescued by Larynn Ford Page B

folks near. That much was genuine.
    “I’m sorry to hear that. It must be difficult for you to be here all on your own.” Susan reached out and patted Rose’s arm.
    “I’m getting used to it. Graduating college was my daddy’s dream for me and I want to make his dream a reality. Plus, I love what I see here.” She glanced around the table at each girl. “The good work you all are doing. I want to be able to help kids, too.” Rose blinked a couple of times and dabbed her eyes with her napkin, smiling at Susan.
    “Time to decide on a movie, guys.” One of the house dads came out the backdoor with a bag of DVD’s from the local movie rental store. “Comedy, adventure, or horror?”
    No surprise on the selection. The majority decided on a teen horror flick and headed toward to living room to get everything set up.
    Rose hung back and began to clear the table.
    “Oh honey, you go on in with the others. We’ll get this,” Mabel said.
    “My mama taught me when I was invited to eat at a friend’s house, I should help clean up the mess.” She continued to collect the dishes to move into the kitchen. She hoped to get a look at any correspondence left lying around and the kitchen was as good a place as any to start.
    She carried a bowl into the kitchen with the cooking utensils from the grill when Marty rounded the corner and smacked into her causing a major collision. The bowl tipped and started to fall to the floor, scattering the contents. Rose grabbed for the falling objects and nicked the end of her finger with a paring knife. “Oh no.”
    Marty caught the bowl, set it aside on the counter, snagged a paper towel, and wrapped it around Rose’s finger. “Sorry. Sorry, ma’am. I didn’t know you were there.”
    “Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” She snapped, covering her bleeding finger tighter with the paper towel.
    Marty turned on the water in the kitchen sink.
    Susan took out a first aid kit. “Dry it. I have the antibiotic cream and a bandage ready.”
    “Please, let me. I’d like to help since all this is my fault. I’m such a klutz.” Marty took the first aid kit and hovered just a bit. If anyone else witnessed the rapid healing of her wound, there would be questions. Questions Rose wasn’t prepared to answer.

Chapter 14
    Rose turned to Marty to help shield her finger from any human eyes while he dabbed on some antibiotic cream and wrapped an adhesive bandage in place. She didn’t need to worry about infection. Her finger had stopped bleeding and begun to heal, but she couldn’t afford to let their secret out. She needed the cut covered to prevent any questions when her injury disappeared in minutes instead of days.
    “There. Better?”
    Rose glanced his direction and locked eyes with her mate. She read his passion. She had only a few seconds of will power left before she melted into those blue eyes and destroyed their cover story of being strangers. She jerked away from their shared gaze. “Thanks, Susan. It’s better already. Really.” Rose smiled at the bandage wrapped around her finger hiding their secret.
    “You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you two go on in and enjoy the movie. See, the last of the dishes are loaded and we’re about to turn on the dishwasher.”
    “I really am sorry. Rose, isn’t it? I’m Marty.” He smiled and offered his hand.
    His apology fell on seemingly deaf ears. She had to keep her cover story intact. Rose shoved the paper towel stained with her blood into her pocket and pushed past him into the living room to find Wendy. Physical contact with her mate at this point would be a bad idea. It would take time to learn to control those urges.
    Marty followed, leaving the two women in the doorway. They turned back to the kitchen and shared a glance. Susan nodded toward the floor in front of the sink. A single drop of Rose’s blood had congealed on the floor after the incident with the paring knife. Mabel took a piece of gauze from the first aid