When You Wish (Contemporary Romance) by Lori Handeland Page A

a man to be silenced for any reason—especially when he believed inappropriateness was involved. Sometimes she wished she’d never taught him that word.
    Dan shot her a look that plainly shouted, “Help!” But Grace just spread her hands. He was on his own.
     
     
    Dan watched Grace shrug and turn him over to the monster in the white muscle shirt. This was what happened when you followed your instincts, kicked off your shoes, danced in the mud, and lived a little.
    You ended up beaten to a pulp by a masseur.
    “Hold on.” Dan held his hands out, palms up, toward Olaf. He hoped it was a gesture of surrender, or stop, even in Norwegian. The man stopped. Dan took a deep breath. “I admit I kissed Grace.”
    Olaf hissed. Dan wished he’d stop doing that. It was distracting.
    “But she kissed me back. Tell him, Grace.” She didn’t say anything. Dan glanced her way. “Grace?”
    She stared at him with an odd expression, as if she couldn’t quite figure out what species he was. The look made him as nervous as Olaf s hovering fists. “Grace. Tell him. Don’t lie.”
    Dan suddenly hung a few inches above the ground by his shirt. He’d seen people hanging from their shirts before, usually in Lethal Weapon movies, but he’d never actually had the procedure done to him. He doubted anyone but Olaf could manage it.
    “Gracie does not lie,” Olaf said.
    “Of course not,” Dan agreed, as if he were talking to an insane person, which he was starting to think Olaf was. “Grace?”
    “I kissed him back.” She didn’t sound happy about it. Both Olaf and Dan frowned.
    Olaf released him and Dan rubbed his neck. How was he going to keep Olaf from killing him over the next few weeks, which he must spend with Grace? They were only supposed to be working together, but the way things were going, Dan didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep from touching her again—even if touching her wasn’t healthy.
    Olaf turned his back on Dan as if he weren’t there. To tell the truth, that was a bit insulting. Dan was a big guy. Not as big as Olaf, but he could do some damage. If he wanted to. He just didn’t want to. But Olaf acted as if he had nothing to fear from Dan Chadwick. Dan sighed. He honestly didn’t have a single killer instinct. His instincts had always leaned more toward life. He couldn’t help it.
    “Gracie, what are you thinking kissing one such as this? Don’t you remember what happened the last time?”
    The last time? What last time? Dan went still as a mouse, hoping they would forget he was there and keep on talking.
    There was no moss on Grace, however. She looked at Dan over Olaf s shoulder, glared at him, then snapped at Olaf. “Of course I remember. This is different”
    “How different? He seems the same to me.”
    “Maybe so. But I’m not the same.”
    Grace stalked by Olaf and headed for the car. “I’ll be back in the morning, Doctor.” She threw the words over her shoulder, as if she couldn’t wait to be gone from here, from him. Maybe she couldn’t. “We can work th en. My afternoons and early evenings are booked by the tourists.”
    “Work? Work? Work at what?” Olaf thundered.
    Dan kept his mouth shut. Let Grace handle her bodyguard, bodybuilder.
    Grace stopped halfway between the car and Dan, and the beam of the headlights showed him every expression on her face. Right now she looked tired and a bit sad.
    “Mrs. Cabilla has asked me to help Dr. Chadwick with his research,” she said. “In turn Dr. Chadwick will help me with the hospital administrations.”
    Olaf let out a stream of guttural gibberish that made Grace flinch, then blush. “There’s no cause for that language,” she said.
    “You understand Norwegian?” Dan couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice.
    “And Gaelic, French, English, and Ojibwe.”
    “French?” Dan gritted his teeth. He sounded like a damned parrot.
    She reached the car, opened the door and turned, placing her arms along the top of the