Page 66 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

“Hey, you don’t have to buy all our dinners.” She tried to take the check from him, but he held it up high, out of her reach.

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” He handed Stephanie a credit card.

“New Colton rule,” Aiden said. “First time one of us brings a new date to our secret dinners, the newbie gets the check.”

Matti rolled her eyes for the three hundredth or so time since sitting down. “Why would we do that?”

“So we can see if they pass the test. If they do, we’ll keep them.” He lifted his beer glass toward Ryan. “We’re keeping the doc.”

“I like it,” his twin said. Dylan finished his last swallow of beer, then stood. “Gotta go. Thanks for dinner, and welcome to the madhouse, Doc.”

As he walked away, Aiden kicked Dylan’s butt.

Dylan turned and glared at his twin. “The hell, man?”

“You forgetting something?”

Dylan glanced around. “No?”

“Yes,” Aiden said, then sighed. “Me. You’re forgetting me, twinnie. I rode with you.”

“So you did.” Dylan laughed. “Come on, then, time’s a wasting.”

“It’s been fun, kids,” Aiden said, then hurried after Dylan.

“And that’s your initiation into the family, Ryan,” Kelly said. “Hope we didn’t scare you away.”

“Not even close, but I will say that as an only child, I find you all fascinating.”

“I’m often fascinated myself,” Kelly said. “I’m pretty sure I was adopted.”

“She started saying that from the time she was seven years old,” Matti said.

Wyatt nodded. “She just can’t believe she shares the same DNA as the rest of us screwballs.”

“I offered to give her a DNA test to prove she belongs to us, but she refused,” Cal said. “Think she’s afraid to find out she’s not adopted.” He gave Kelly a smack on her cheek.

Kelly laughed as she pushed him away. “Stop it, you fool.”

“It’s been fun,” Wyatt said. He stood and moved behind her and Ryan, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “You two stay aware.” Then he stepped to Kelly. “And you, you’re working too hard. We need to see more of you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kelly said.

Cal pushed away from the table. “I’m outta here, too. We really need to do this more often.”

Matti thought so, too. “I’m all for that.” She and Ryan walked out with Kelly. “Wyatt’s right, you do work too hard. You need to take some time for yourself.”

“And what? Sit around and watch TV? I’d be bored to death.”

“You need a boyfriend.”

Kelly snorted. “I’ll pass, thank you.” She smiled at Ryan. “It was great meeting you.”

“The pleasure was mine, Kelly.”

Kelly hugged Matti and whispered, “I like him. I think he’s a keeper.”

If only he wasn’t a doctor.