Page 54 of Spy With Me
She walked past Tim and toward the bar. Asshole thought hecould kidnap her? Well, she wasn’t going through that again. She was throughher kidnap-me era and into her girl-who-doesn’t-get-kidnapped phase. Yeah. Andshe needed to train because this was a dangerous world, and she hadn’t kept upher work-out routine lately. Though lifting feed bags was a great arm workout.
“There you are.” Lacey stood at the bar, frowning, a bagover her shoulder. “Where were you?”
If she went into the whole might-have-been-stalked thing,she would definitely never leave the farm again. Also, she handled it. Well,she and Tim handled it. She glanced back and Tim wasn’t there. Must have neededthe loo. He was a nice kid, but it was time for her to go. “Just visiting theloo. I’m ready if you are.”
Lacey stared her up and down. “You know you don’t have towiggle out of the loo window. If you’re ready to escape…”
She knew this one. She rolled her eyes and started for thedoor. “The sea is that way. I’m not walking into the sea, Lace. If we hurry, Ican be home in time to watch a bunch of celebrities I don’t know answer quizshow questions. It’s celebrity week onImpossible.”
And that meant something to her now. Strange world.
She let go of all of her worries but one as they made it tothe Jeep.
How to get Zach to put his hands on her.
Did she want his hands on her? It was casual. She could staycasual.
As they started to drive away she could have sworn shecaught sight of the man from earlier. Watching her.
The danger, she feared, was far from over.
Chapter Ten
Devi walked out toward the barn, curious at the note left onthe middle of the bed. It had been sitting there when she returned, folded withher name written in a neat, masculine hand. Lacey had informed her that she wasgoing to be on the secure line for the next hour or so. Something to do withthe package she picked up in town.
She was getting way too comfortable with criminal shit goingon around her. It felt almost normal. She planned to put on a kettle, grab acouple of biscuits, and watch sometelly.
She was becoming so British.
And then she found that note.
Come to the barn if you want to play.
The words had sent a thrill zinging through her body. Herdamn nipples had gone rock hard, and she’d known that she wouldn’t be shoutinganswers at the quiz shows this afternoon.
The rain was down to a light drizzle, and she could see thegoats resting under the big poplar tree in the distance. The horses were out inthe field along with the super-cute Highland cows, who almost never were morethan a couple of feet from each other. Those cows had gone through something,and it seemed to have bonded them.
Like her parents went through something terrible. Her momhad found the courage to have a baby and build a life after she thought her dadwas dead.
Zach was alive.
Maybe it was the fact that one of her best friends wroteromance novels, but she was starting to wonder if feeling the loss of Zachlater would be better than this numbness she had been living in. Would she beless angry if she had a few weeks with him? Maybe she would realize it neverwould have worked long term, and he could be the passionate, wild affair of heryouth. The one that taught her what she honestly wanted was stability.
The trouble was if one took out the Interpol Red Notice, thewhole world wanting to drag him into an interrogation room thing, Zach wasstability personified. In a brief time, he’d gotten to know her likes anddislikes and made sure she had the things she wanted. He was on time, alwaysconscientious about her feelings.
Except for the whole lying thing.
She hesitated, standing outside the barn doors.
First because she had to think about what this meant. Heused the wordplay, and she knew what he meant. D/s sex. He was theDominant and she the submissive. He would treat her like his sub.
Wasn’t that what he was doing already? He took care of her.He made sure she had “wellies” when it rained, and when she complained abouther feet hurting because she spent hours standing while helping Arthur with oneof the sheep giving birth, he’d shifted and gotten them in his lap and rubbedthem until she sighed. He cuddled her and made sure she was comfy.
If she walked through that door, she was giving him theright to do all of those things. Up until this moment she could fool herselfbecause the permission was implied, not spoken out loud. She wasn’t his sub.She was his… She couldn’t even say prisoner since at least once a day hiscohort asked if she wanted to go to the sea. There were no locks meant to keepher in, no cuffs to shackle her.
But there would be if she walked through that door. Therewould be a contract between them. Oh, it wouldn’t be signed and witnessed andfiled in The Hideout’s office, but it would be there.
What made him change his mind?
