Double Dealing (2013) by Linda Cajio Page B

white shelves held stacks of sheet music.
    He stood in the doorway and watched her as she sat motionless on a chesterfield sofa and gazed out the French doors to the terrace. Her chin was thrust out in stubborness, and her eyes were wide and unfocused. Her slender body was relaxed, yet there was an inner tension about her. Lord, she was beautiful, he thought. Outwardly cool and elegant, but inside all fire that ignited a man until he burned out of control.
    With a silent chuckle, he remembered his shock of the night before when he realized she was actually serious about kidnapping him. He still couldn’t quite believe that he had been shut up in a huge room full of stuffed game animals and one live spider in a glass aquarium. The only other pieces of furniture had been two sets of bunk beds. Burrows told him the game animals were the victims of Merriman’s hunting days and the bunks were for Rae’s nephews who occasionally stayed overnight. Jed grinned, thinking that thousands of boys would have traded their Rambo toys for a night in that room. Likewise, he wouldn’t trade a night in the trophy room for a month at the Warwick—unless, of course, Rae was with him.
    Sobering, he wondered if Rae’s initial anger had cooled, or if it was still boiling. Maybe he shouldn’t have waited until after breakfast to go looking for her. At the time, though, it had seemed better to let her be alone for a while. She had to accept that he was staying put. A man would be a fool to walk away from such a beautiful and intriguing kidnapper.
    She turned suddenly to face him. Immediately, he smiled and walked into the room. “Burrowsis leaving to get the car. Any last-minute instructions?”
    “I can think of several,” she said in a dry tone. “None of them repeatable in mixed company.”
    “I should be the one to be angry, Rae,” he said, taking a seat next to her on the sofa. He made no comment when she adjusted her body none too subtly away from his. Instead he added. “I was the one who was kidnapped, not you. And I’m going to stay kidnapped.”
    She frowned at him. “You’re not behaving like a proper kidnap victim, Jed.”
    “I must have skipped the etiquette chapter in the Kidnap Handbook,” he replied.
    “No kidding. Well, since you insist on staying, you are now considered a guest.” She made a face. “You might as well be, after the breakfast you had. You may come and go as you please, and the sooner you please to go will suit me fine. I feel like I just let the enemy into the general’s tent.”
    “Rae, you can’t change the game plan halfway through the first quarter,” Jed said, not sure he liked being thought of as a guest. As a kidnappee, there would be all sorts of possibilities to be negotiated. But as a guest, the rules for good manners were already laid out. The last thing he wanted to be with her was on his best behavior.
    She gave him a sugary smile. “Jed, I am the kidnapper, and as such I am the one who decides how the victim will be treated. I firmly believe my victims should be given all the comforts of home, with as little intrusion on my part as possible. I’m sure you’ll find everything you could possibly want or need.” She rose to her feet. “Oh, and feel free to use the phone. For anything.”
    He reached out and pulled her down onto his lap. He grinned as she squirmed to free herself from his tight embrace. “Keep that up, and I know the first thing I’m going to require.”
    She froze, but there was an angry green fire in her eyes. “Why do I have the feeling you’re going to be as hard to get rid of as ‘Red Chief’?”
    “Why do you keep trying to walk away in the middle of a discussion?” he asked in return. “The Rae I remember couldn’t stop talking. I’d be clipping hedges, and you’d be right beside me jabbering away about anything and everything.”
    “Maybe I’m all talked out,” she said, arching an eyebrow.
    “Maybe you’re lonely,” he countered, gazing