Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“You’re smart.”
“You say that like you’re surprised,” she huffed.
“That’s because I am,” he replied.
Rude.
And now she was done talking.
“How long am I going to be here for? And when am I going to see Jared?”
“Do you want to see Jared?” he asked.
What kind of weird question was that?
Of course she wanted to see Jared.
See him.
Not interact with him. Not go near him. Not scent him.
Not . . . kiss him.
“You’re very loyal to Jared, aren’t you?” she asked. “He must be a very good boss if you’re so loyal that you’d kidnap helpless, sweet women right out of their houses.”
“You’re helpless and sweet?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m helpless and sweet.” She scowled at him. “How dare you imply that I’m not!”
“Helpless, yes.”
Implying that she wasn’t sweet?
“I’m not completely helpless!” she protested. “Why are you saying that?”
“Um, I’m agreeing with you.”
“Right, you’re agreeing that I’m not completely helpless. In fact, I might be a bad ass.”
“You’re a bad ass?” he asked, looking her over.
“Yes, a bad ass in disguise as helpless.”
“So when are you going to demonstrate this bad ass behavior? Or was that when you kicked the door and hurt your toe?”
Which was still throbbing . . . ouch.
“No, that was just to get your attention. And it worked. Now, you’re here and you’ve told me where the key is. We’re all alone. Perhaps I’ll attack you, grab the key, and run.”
“The door is unlocked,” he told her. “You don’t even need the key.” He leaned back against the closed door and raised one eyebrow.
Whoa.
He was just throwing facial expressions around like they were candy in a candy shop, wasn’t he?
“You need to stop being so emotional,” she told him. “It’s freaking me out.”
“Listening to you is very tiring.”
“You should just give up, then,” she said with hope filling her. “Give up and let me go. Tell your boss that you tried but you couldn’t capture me because I’m too much of a bad ass.”
He eyed her for a long moment. “There’s so much wrong with that sentence I don’t even know where to begin.”
What?
“One, there’s no way he’d ever believe you were a ‘bad ass’ as you put it. Two, he knows I’d never use the phrase, bad ass. Three, he also knows that if I wanted to capture you, then I would do that and I wouldn’t rest until I had.”
Sheesh.
Way to rock her confidence.
“And lastly, Jared doesn’t know that I have you. He never asked me to grab you.”
“But . . . but you said he had!”
“No, that’s not what I said. What I said was that I kidnapped you for Jared.”
Huh? Isn’t that what she just said?
“I never said he knew about it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t expect that you do,” he replied quietly. “I took you for Jared. Because you’re something he wants and I like to give him whatever he wants.”
“Why would Jared Bartolli want me?” she whispered, feeling weird inside.
Her stomach was a mix of butterflies and warmth.
What exactly did that mean?
“I have no idea,” he replied coldly, running his gaze over her.
Ouch.
9
“You are going to remain here until I decide to tell Jared that I have acquired you for him.”
Acquired her? Like she was some piece of real estate? She glared at him.
“You can’t go around kidnapping helpless, sweet women!” she cried.
“Ahh, your bad ass period was short lived then?”
“It was not!” She knew it was now or never. She might never get another opportunity.
With a yell, she launched herself at him. It was risky. It was crazy.
But inside she was certain she could take him down.
Her certainty turned on her within about two-point-three seconds, which is approximately how much time it took him to overpower her and pin her down on the bed.
He leaned over her, his legs bracketing hers and his hand pressing her wrists to the bed. His free hand leaned on the mattress as he placed his body over hers.
Holy. Crap.
How was this . . . hot?
What was wrong with her? She wasn’t attracted to North, was she?
North was . . . scary.
She didn’t know what had happened to him between when she’d first met him until now.
But the guy was an emotional vacuum.
He didn’t even seem like he was a real person. He was a robot.
Terrifying and dark.
But right at this moment, she felt the urge to rip off his clothes, roll him onto his back and have her wicked way with him.
You are losing it.
You do not want North. You like Jared.
No, no, no.
She didn’t want to like either of them.
“I want to die an old maid.”
“What?” North asked.
“I want to die an old maid. I mean, I can’t. Since Fergus . . . well, I don’t want to talk about that.”
“No,” North said in a cold voice. “We shouldn’t talk about that.”
His tone and face gave away none of his feelings . . . but she almost thought . . . no, she had to be imagining that.