Page 30 of Dead Bled Ringer
There was a little bruise on his strong jawline where the intruder had hit him.
Would Henry have ever defended me like that? His remark about the company made me bitter. Was the only reason Henry had married me the inheritance he expected me to get when my grandfather died?
It was looking more and more likely that was the case. But, although my parents were both gone, my grandfather was still strong as a horse and was currently doing a hiking tour of Switzerland.
How could I ever have confused Hunter with Henry? But god, he was stubborn as a mule, so big he was literally filling the whole opposite side of the table, one of his massive legs on either side of mine.
I tightened my thighs and tucked my toes primly up on the seat. If Hunter wasn’t going to answer me, I was going to ignore him. But it was hard not to remember what those hands and lips had done to me, and impossible to forget what he was packing in those tight jeans.
The chipped plate of waffles, eggs, and bacon placed in front of me made my mouth water. And damn if he wasn’t right. They did taste delicious, and suddenly I was ravenous.
What was my plan? How was I supposed to get away?
What did Hunter want with me?
My stomach did a little uncomfortable flip-flop.
“There’s no point in kidnapping me,” I said as I popped the last piece of bacon in my mouth. “I’m divorcing Henry, no matter how much you beg me to get back with your brother.”
He cut a piece of waffle, then drenched it in syrup.
“But I’m enjoying kidnapping you,” he said mockingly. “And I have no intention of begging you to stay with my brother. I never wanted you to be with my brother.”
Wait, what wasthatsupposed to mean?
Did I even want to know the answer? I had to get out of here.
I had a sliver of a plan to escape. Wasn’t a very good plan. But I couldn’t think of anything else. Still. It rested on a few guesses about Henry.
Guesses I wanted to be wrong about. Guesses I was afraid of. But I had to try something.
“You’re a natural on the bike,” Hunter said as he filled up my cup with coffee.
“Yeah, takes real talent to sit on my ass,” I retorted.
But still I felt that weird, squirmy sensation again as he chuckled. It sounded like gravel breaking but Henry never thought anything I said was funny. I had stopped even trying to joke together less than a year into our marriage.
No. I couldn’t let my mind go down that path.
Now this plan assumed that Hunter had. . .certain depraved desires. That he would do something when Henry wasn’t even here to tell him to.
If I was wrong, it was going to be embarrassing. But at least I’d be able to escape.
Before I could think too long and scare myself, I suddenly bolted for the door.
Now, there was no reason for him to chase me. No reason at all to exert himself. No one was here threatening him.
No reason at all for him to care.
But as my feet pattered hastily to the door, I heard movement behind me.
“Angel.”
My name sounded like a dirty word in his mouth, and I ignored the twisty squirmy feeling again, the way my nipples rubbed against the silky fabric at his voice.
I ran faster, bursting through the doors and into the cold night air, fleeing with boots on my frozen feet into the dark, twisted trees.
My heart began to pound as I heard the door slam open again behind me, and I tried to tamp down the shiver of excitement at the sound of his steps, the branches snapping as he pursued me deep into the woods.
