Unmasked by Ingrid Weaver

Author:Ingrid Weaver
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Man-woman relationships, Romance: Modern, Single women, Hotelkeepers, Fiction, Romance, Louisiana, Fiction - Romance, Kidnapping, True Crime, New Orleans (La.), Adult, Romance - Contemporary, Travel, Inns & Hostels, Murder, Historical, Romance - General, American Light Romantic Fiction, Contemporary, General, Hotels - Louisiana - New Orleans, Love stories, Hotels
ISBN: 9780373389452
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-01-09T14:40:36.238000+00:00

THE CRAMPED RESEARCH lab on the top floor of Tulane’s medical building was silent apart from the snick-click of the computer keyboard Dr. Yves Fortier hunched over and the muted beeps as the machine registered another reading. Yves’ wife, Marie, hovered beside the table where Jackson was seated, her brow creased in concentration as she monitored his pulse and the current that was going through his hand.

Charlotte understood the procedure wasn’t painful, but it would be uncomfortable. Tiny pads with electronic sensors had been placed over every millimeter of Jackson’s hand, trailing fine wires that bristled outward like a bizarre metal glove. One by one and then in carefully determined sequences each electrode was stimulated and the level of response to the charge was recorded. The data was being fed into a computer program that would build a three-dimensional map of the wound and the degree of damage to the affected nerves.

Watching the slow, methodical process was frustrating for her, so she could imagine how agonizing this must be for Jackson. Every tingle he felt—and especially every tingle he didn’t feel—was like the vote of a jury that would determine his fate. She could see his tension in the stiff set of his shoulders and the angle of his jaw, yet each time he met her gaze, he managed a smile.

He’d warned her the tests could be lengthy and had been prepared to leave her at the hotel and come back for her when they were done, yet she hadn’t considered letting him go through this alone. Lending him moral support was the least she could do, given how generously he was involving himself in her problems.

She shifted on her chair, uncomfortable with the excuses she was continuing to make. Her reasons for being here weren’t that unselfish. In spite of what she’d told Renee, and all the warnings she tried to give herself, she wanted to be here. She liked being around Jackson, regardless of why.

She liked his friends, too. Yves and Marie had greeted him like a brother. Their affection had shone through Yves’ gruff joking and Marie’s bossy instructions as she’d helped position the equipment. They’d been surprised to see Charlotte but had accepted her presence with good grace, happily finding her a spot in the corner where she could remain without getting in the way.

The husband-and-wife team appeared to be in their fifties and worked together with the ease of lifelong partners. They reminded Charlotte of her parents, since their careers had meshed with their marriage. Unlike her parents, though, the Fortiers had no children, so they were both free to travel the world, dedicating their time to helping others. Their relationship had worked because they shared the same goal and the same dream.

And if the looks they exchanged were any indication, they also shared a deep tenderness for each other.

How different might things have been if Charlotte had gone with Jackson twenty years ago instead of choosing to marry Adrian and build her life here?

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