Page 9 of Trapped

Chapter Three

As Sophia waited to find out what would happen, contingency plans raced through her head.

Centuries dragged by as the guard—it had to be one of the guards—inspected the room and lingered in the doorway. What if he found her here? How was she going to explain what she was doing in Cash’s room? In his bed, no less.

She had a cover story. Now it seemed ridiculous that she could be here as part of an oversight team to make sure Montgomery was doing his job. But that was the best she had.

To conquer her fear, she tried to focus on Cash. The physical sensations would have swamped her if she didn’t have something else to worry about. She could feel Cash’s naked chest through her uniform shirt. Feel his broad shoulders and his hard thighs.

He was giving a good imitation of a man sleeping, his breath deep and even. But she knew from the tension in his arms and shoulders that he was ready to spring up if the guard came closer.

Long seconds ticked by. Finally, the invader backed up and closed the door, and she heard footsteps continue down the hall.

She let out the breath she’d been holding, then pressed a hand against Cash’s shoulder. “You’re crushing me.”

“Sorry.” He rolled to the side, keeping his arm across her middle. “You know who that was?”

“The guards here make random checks. Don’t you remember seeing any of them before?”

He made a frustrated sound. “No.”

“You’re having trouble with your memory?”

Instead of giving her a straight answer, he asked, “Why do you think so?”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. She didn’t want to alarm him any more than she had to. Not yet. But she knew saying too much or too little could get them both killed.

Before she decided how much to tell him, he asked another question—this one more direct. “Are we in Thailand?”

His voice was full of urgency. But the only answer she could give him was, “I can’t tell you.”

His hand tightened on her waist. “Can’t or won’t.”

“It’s not a good idea.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s better if they think you believe what they told you.”

He muttered a curse.

To give him another focus and because she needed to know the answer, she asked, “What do you remember about the days just before you came here?”

He rolled to his back and pulled his arm away, and she breathed a small sigh, relieved that they were no longer lying quite so intimately, because the contact made it hard to think. But the bed was narrow, and there was no way to get any distance from him.

In the dark, she reached into her pocket, then slid her hand down beside the bed, her knuckles hitting one of the slats.

“What was that?”

“My arm slipped off the bed.”

In the darkness, she could see only Cash’s profile, but she remembered how he had looked at her a few minutes ago. The image merged and shifted—overlaid with her memories of him.

Ten years ago, he’d worn his dark hair a little too long. Now, of course, it was much shorter. Probably it had been military length, but it had grown out in the weeks he’d been here. His eyes were the same. Those dark eyes that she’d always thought could see right into her head. The blade of a nose. The strong jaw. The lean hips.

She pulled her mind back from below his waist and focused on his profile.

It looked like he was staring up into the darkness. Finally, he said, “You’re really Sophia.”

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