Page 17 of Love Undercover
He narrowed his gaze on her face, suspicion sharpening his features. “You don’t like coffee?”
She shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth to avoid answering.
“Free-range coffee isn’t a thing,” he said mildly, raising a brow.
She choked on the eggs as she laughed. “Um. No.”
“But?”
God, he was going to make her say it. And, admittedly, it sounded so absurd, and it made her seem so high maintenance because of all of the things she’d said already.
Given her situation, though, she shouldn’t be complaining about anything he was giving her. Because he’d kidnapped her.
Maybe if she said it to herself enough times, it would stick.
“Sadie?”
Her name on his tongue sent a jolt through her. It was so bizarre because he’d never once said her name in high school. They’d never had a class together and hadn’t run in the same circles.
“Coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops with pesticides,” she said around a mouthful of egg.
He pressed his lips together against a threatening smile as he nodded slowly.
He thought she was stupid. But he’d asked, and, sure, she could have just said she didn’t like coffee and left it at that. But that wasn’t even true, so why bother lying? Especially when his opinion literally did not matter.
Except that it did.
Which made zero sense considering the situation.
This absolutely unbelievable, unreal,insanesituation.
“Can really taste the cage in those eggs, huh?”
She jerked to look up at him.
He’d leaned back against the counter, arms folded over his chest while his coffeemaker sputtered and bubbled behind him.
“No, I. . . “ She looked down at the eggs. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around being abducted by the nicest and most accommodating kidnapper that probably ever existed.”
His expression tightened at the same time the corded muscles of his arms contracted. Her words bothered him, but weren’t they the truth?
She tilted her head. “And it’s the most confusing situation because you clearly want me to think you didn’t, but then why would you tie my hands and stuff me in the trunk?”
He ground his teeth together, but he stared very intently at her like he was willing her to read his mind. Which she would absolutely be down for if it were possible.
But she couldn’t. And so they stared at each other.
He’d claimed it was to keep her alive earlier, but the fact remained that he wasn’t telling her why.
She’d overheard his phone conversation the night before. He’d asked about breaking protocol, and part of her hoped that meant he was not the bad guy his actions would lead her to believe.
She dropped her fork with a clatter and held her head in her hands. “This is so confusing.”
“Sadie, listen.”
She lifted her eyes to him, and an intensity vibrated off him that made her fingers want to curl into her palms. The effort it took to hold back while wanting to tell her was obvious as he moved toward her cautiously.
“Those guys that broke into your house—“
