Julie Garwood - The Ideal Man

“Why not?”

“I like to be ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Ready to pick up and leave at a moment’s notice,” she snapped back.

“Where are you going?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He stopped pacing and was now standing over her, making her extremely nervous. How could she have ever thought he was relaxed? She was beginning to think she should confess something just to get him to stop interrogating her.

Ben was watching the exchange, astounded by Max’s aggressive behavior. Had he been alone with his partner, he would have asked him what in God’s name was wrong with him. He was acting as though he were about to pounce on her.

“You must have some idea where you’d like to go,” Max challenged.

“No, I don’t,” she answered sharply. “Is there any other personal information you need?”

Seeing Ellie’s indignation and suddenly realizing he’d sounded as though he were grilling her, he said, “I guess I’m not very good at small talk.”

That was small talk?

“No kidding,” Ben drawled.

Max could see the scowl deepening on Ellie’s face, and he could almost feel the fire flashing from her eyes. He would have laughed had she not looked so annoyed. When he’d first met her, his opinion of her had been rather indifferent. Of course, he’d noticed that she was a beautiful, sexy woman he would love to take to bed. Nothing unusual about that. But then he’d watched how great she was with Sean Goodman. She was so calm and reassuring as she worked on him. Maybe it was all part of her job, but her kindness seemed genuine. Then, when she went back to the hospital to perform Sean’s surgery, Max’s impression of her expanded. Not only did he want to go to bed with her, he admired her as well. And when she gave him a little attitude in the stairwell and let him see her sense of humor, he realized he actually liked her… and wanted her. Nothing unusual about that.

He saw everything in a different light, however, when he’d checked into her background. Not quite everything, he qualified. He wanted her in bed-that didn’t change-but he was filled with an overwhelming need to protect her. After reading her file, which was only a small portion of what she had gone through, Max felt great empathy for her. She had been powerless back then, with no control over what happened to her. He knew all about that, and that was why he wanted to help as much as he could. Ellie had been through enough. She didn’t need more heartache. And if she testified…

Max didn’t respond to Ellie’s question. Instead, he surprised her by sitting down next to her on the sofa. He was so close, if she moved, she’d be glued to him. Ellie was confused. What was he doing? There was a perfectly good overstuffed chair he could have taken, and yet he chose the sofa. What did that mean? Ellie didn’t know how to react. Should she move away? She didn’t want to, but should she? Just as she was questioning his motives, Max took a digital recorder out of his pocket. Oh. Now she understood. He had to sit next to her so that the recorder could pick up the conversation. Bummer.

“Ben, are you ready to get started?” Max asked.

“Sure,” he replied. “I’m the less experienced agent,” he explained to Ellie. “By eleven months.” He turned in the swivel chair and accidentally knocked the desk, starting an avalanche of papers to the floor.

Ellie rushed to help pick up. “It’s a mess, I know, but I haven’t had time to go through everything. Most of it can probably be thrown away.”

“I’ve got this, Ellie. Go sit.” He scooped up several papers, straightened them, and made a pile against the wall. “They can stay on the floor, right?”

She smiled. “Right.”

Max grabbed another stack of papers that was headed to the floor and put a heavy anatomy book on top to keep them from falling again.

“What’s this?” Ben held up several sheets that had been stapled together.

“What is it?” Max asked.

“Restraining order.”

“Yeah?” Glancing at Ellie, Max walked around the desk and took the papers from Ben. Just as he expected, they were orders against Evan Patterson. He quickly flipped through them and handed them back to Ben.

Ben looked over the documents while Ellie remained silent, hoping he wouldn’t read through them.

“Who is Evan Patterson?”

“Oh, those papers are old,” she said.

“Uh-huh,” Ben agreed. “Who is he?”

She had the feeling changing the subject wasn’t going to work. Ben was FBI, which meant he was trained to get people to answer questions, but she wished he’d leave this alone. The subject of Evan Patterson was very difficult for her to talk about or even think about. She wanted the nightmare to stay in the past.

Ellie settled back on the sofa and pulled a pillow onto her lap. “I went to Sacred Heart High School for two years. He was there.”

“Did he leave high school, or did you?” Ben asked, curious.

“I was the first to leave… it was a long time ago.”

Ben glanced at Max, knowing that he had also picked up on Ellie’s reticence.

“Where did you go after that?” Ben asked, thinking she had either transferred to another high school or perhaps been homeschooled to get away from Patterson.

Ellie hesitated before answering. “I was in college.”

Ben tilted the chair back. He could see her embarrassment.

“So you’re smart, huh?”

She smiled. “And poor.”

“But real smart?” Ben asked.

“Prod,” Max said. “Chief of surgery calls her Prod.” He turned to her. “That’s short for prodigy, isn’t it?”

She didn’t look happy that he had shared that information.

“Just one more question. Where’s Evan Patterson now?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. If he was to come back to Winston Falls where my family lives, my father would let me know.” She lifted the pillow and squeezed it to her chest.

Max could tell she hated talking about Patterson. That was obvious. “I’ll find out where he is now,” he said.

Frowning, she asked, “Why? Why would you do that?”

Because I know what he did to you, he thought. “It will give you a little peace of mind knowing exactly where he is, won’t it?” he asked.

“Yes, of course, but…”

“But what?”

“My father has friends in the FBI. Neither one of them could find Patterson. Why do you think you can? Do you think you’re better at it than they are?”

Did she realize she was repeating the same question the chief of surgery had asked her?

He decided to answer in kind. “Absolutely. I am better.”

She suddenly got it. “You’re as arrogant as I am.”

“When it comes to the job, yeah, I am.” He continued to stare into her gorgeous eyes as he asked, “Do you want me to find him or not?”

“Yes, please, but…” She started to say something more then changed her mind. “Thank you.”

“Hold on,” Ben began. “Catch me up. Did Patterson just decide to leave your hometown, or did something happen?”

She sighed. And here she thought the conversation was finished. “Yes, something happened, and he was committed to the Stockton Institute, for a time anyway.”

“What’s the Stockton Institute?”

Max answered. “A state-run facility for the criminally insane. Patterson attacked her, damn near killed her. Read the reports. That will answer some of your questions.”

Ellie frowned at Max when she said, “You knew all about Patterson before Ben saw the restraining order, didn’t you?” Before he could answer, she continued, “Of course, you did. My God, it’s only been what? Four? Five hours since we met?”

“Longer than that.”

“How did you get all that information so quickly?”