Page 37 of Elusive Promise

He glanced toward the bedroom door. Parisa had been on the phone a long time. She'd probably heard about the ransom demand. That should give her some relief. Jasmine was still alive—and they had time to find her.

As the minutes ticked by, he began to worry about Parisa.Why hadn't she come back after her call?It had been almost thirty minutes. Surely, she wasn't still on the phone.

He walked over to the bedroom door and knocked twice. There was no answer. When he opened the door, he saw Parisa on the bed—fast asleep.

The news about a ransom demand had probably allowed her to let down her guard for a minute, and she had to be tired. He wasn't feeling too energetic at the moment, either. He'd gotten even less sleep than she had the night before, because he'd been watching the building where she'd been hidden away.

Of course, he couldn't lay down next to her. That wouldn't be appropriate in any way.

But as he gazed down at the splay of long, brown hair across his pillow, Parisa's beautiful face, the tender bruising around her eye, and the curve of her lips, he found himself filled with all kinds of terrible ideas. He could still feel the heat of her lips against his, the whisper of her breath on his cheek, the fervor of her kiss. What had started out as a cloaking move earlier had turned into a lot more.

He should not feel this way. He'd kissed plenty of women in his life, some for very similar reasons—to maintain a cover, to get a job done.

But Parisa—she was different. He couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't know why he felt connected to her. They barely knew each other. But he didn't just feel desire; he also felt protective, and that was another unwelcome feeling.

He was on a mission to find the Paris bombers, and even though he was willing to put it on the back burner until Jasmine was safe, he couldn't lose sight of it. It was too important.

Unfortunately, he was out of leads for the moment. He needed a way to get to Ben. Hopefully, Ben's parents would be reachable at some point. They were probably his best bet, unless Gary could pick up Sara's trail somewhere else.

Turning around, he went back into the living room, closing the door behind him, needing that barrier to help him put Parisa out of his mind.

He sat down on the couch and turned on the television, perusing the local news, but it was Saturday and there wasn't much on. He wanted to be doing something proactive, and he was frustrated not to have all of his usual resources available to him, but at the moment he was going to have to wait for something to break.

He settled on a basketball game, hoping for a little distraction, but as the ball moved up and down the court, he felt his lids getting heavy. He laid down on his side and closed his eyes. A little catnap was all he needed.

Nine

It was dark when Parisa woke up, and she jerked up on the bed, jumping to her feet, as she tried to remember where she was. Then she realized she was in Jared's apartment. The clock on the nightstand said eight fifteen. She couldn't believe she'd slept for five hours.

As she walked across the room, she wrinkled her nose at the appealing smell of garlic.

Opening the door, she was more than a little surprised to see Jared cooking in the kitchen. Something was sizzling in a frying pan on the stove, and there was an open bottle of red wine on the counter.

"You're cooking?" she asked in amazement, as she moved over to the counter.

"I got hungry. I figured you'd be, too, once you woke up."

Guilt ran through her. There was so much to do. It felt wrong to have fallen asleep. On the other hand, she'd desperately needed the rest. "I am hungry," she admitted, her stomach rumbling as she contemplated the steak filets in the frying pan. "It smells good."

"Almost done," he said, popping open the oven and pulling out two baked potatoes and a pan filled with roasted brussels sprouts.

"Hmm, now I know why I smelled garlic," she said.

"I hope you eat meat."

"Definitely."

"Help yourself to some wine, if you like." He pulled a wineglass out of the cabinet and set it on the counter in front of her.

"Looks like you've now familiarized yourself with the kitchen."

He smiled. "I must admit I haven't done a lot of cooking here."

"Where did all the food come from?"

"There's a market downstairs."

"Handy."

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