Page 46 of Claimed
“I understand,” I whispered as our mouths slowly moved toward each other.
Then Jasper pulled back, rubbing hischin. “You’re addictive.”
I chuckled as I smashed my finger against my chest. “Me?” I pressed my finger against his chest. It felt so solid, even through his sweater. “Youare.”
He captured my hand and did his customary kiss to the back of it and then the palm. I beamed at him, wondering if he would do that even when we’re old and gray and still in love. Suddenly, my father’s facecame to mind. I closed my eyes gravely. When he got out of jail, he would surely get in the way.
“What was that expression about?” Jasper asked.
Of course, he was always noticing. I didn’t want to mention Harper until it was absolutely necessary.
“It’s nothing, babe,” I said. “I’m just tired.”
Jasper eyed me suspiciously. “Should you be starting your period soon?”
Finally, he’d said something in front of his security guys that embarrassed the hell out of me. My face warmed as I looked down at the back of the front seat. “It’s coming.”I hope… or maybe not.That was a pretty stupid thought. Jasper and I had been captured by the euphoria of new love. Having a child now would not be smart. We had to start using protection, and all the time.
“ButI should consider some form of birth control,” I said.
When I turned to him, he was watching me in that puzzled way of his.
“Are you even sure Bryn is still at the motel?” I asked in an effort to change the conversation.
“She arrived forty-three minutes ago.”
The quizzical look on his face hadn’t changed. I squirmed in my seat. “Then you have eyes on them?”
“Sort of. I can’t get too close to Bryn. She’ll get spooked and do something impulsive.”
One of the security agents handed Jasper a headset. “Sir, we’ve arrived.”
Jasper ripped his attention off me to take what was being given to him. I sighed with relief when the car pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be the standard sort of motel for exhausted motorists. I had stayedin many of them over the years. While on the road, chasing down stories, all I needed for lodging was a bed that could have been lumpy, hard, or too soft—I wasn’t particular—and a clean toilet and shower. I never cared if the neighbors were fucking so loudly that it felt as though I was in the room with them. A noisy television didn’t bother me, either. When I was on the road, the dirtier, dingier,and smuttier the hotel was, the closer I felt to discovering the truth about what I was investigating.
The hotel we were at wasn’t the worst of its kind, but it wasn’t the best, either. The building was clean but plain. Our driver parked far from the edifice even though the parking lot wasn’t that full. I noticed a satellite truck, which was an odd thing to see on a day and in a place likethat. Perhaps a news crew from a different city was in town and hunkering down for the rest of the day. The driver turned off the engine.
Jasper unwrapped his arm from around me. “Stay here.”
I quickly seized him by the arm as he turned away to hop out of the vehicle. “Jasper?”
He faced me.
“Are you serious?”
“Stay here. It’s safer for you. I’m trying to keepyou safe,” he said tetchily.
“You use that word a lot—safe.”
The men up front opened their doors, and cold air flowed in from outside.
I shook my head, frowning so hard that my face ached. “But I don’t needyouto keepmesafe. I put myself in more dangerous situations than that involving a runaway heiress.”
Jasper sighed impatiently. “Holly, this is not up for debate.”
I shook my head like a rattle.Is he for fucking real?“I agree,” I hissed then opened my door and hopped out into the parking lot.
I slammed my door closed. There was no way he was stopping me. It might have been warmer in the vehicle and perhaps securer, but I was agitated by the fact that he was treating me like a weakling.
It didn’t take long for Jasper to show up on myside. He looked furious, but I was furious too. Our stare down was an extravaganza of sheer will, and it wasn’t our first. I had easily won our initial battle, which occurred on the day I spent at the Christmas mansion, but I wasn’t sure I would triumph this time around.
