Chapter 48

“Put it down,” the stranger demanded of her, then said softly. “I’m one of Hunter’s friends.”

“Yeah? Me, too.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest.

The stranger took a menacing step closer. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t feel too friendly toward you, since you’re trying to get in his wife’s panties.”

Kata stood and faced the guy. “I don’t know who the hell you are or why you’ve come, but you don’t get to strut in here and threaten my friends.”

A dirty smile lifted his lips. “Actually, I do. Your husband sent me. I’m Jack Cole.”

TWENTY minutes later, Kata still stared at Jack as he lounged against the sterile hospital room’s wall and sent her an unnerving glance. Ben had left for the moment, ostensibly to call in sick to his bartending job, but she didn’t doubt for a second that he’d also gone to move his truck.

“You don’t have to hover,” she told Jack.

He shrugged. “Occupational hazard.”

Everything about Jack Cole unsettled her. His ever