Page 53 of You Betrayed Me (The Cahills 3)

Her smile faded a bit. “You don’t remember?”

He could recall walking into the hotel and still being in a bad mood. His house was a disaster, his computer, laptop, iPad, and phone all missing, compliments of the police; he was under suspicion in Megan Travers’s disappearance, and he couldn’t recall seriously important pieces of his life. He did remember that he’d found Rebecca Travers in his house, though, that and the fact that he’d consumed two—or was it three?—drinks in quick succession had probably contributed mightily to the headache that was pounding behind his eyes.

“Oh. Well . . .” She eased to the side of the bed and actually blushed. “I’ll leave.”

“Look, I’m just messed up.”

“I was hoping to help with that.” She glanced at him but, when she realized he wasn’t going to tell her to stay, reached for her clothes. “I thought maybe I could take care of you while you were recuperating.” She slid into a skimpy bra, then pulled a thong up over her shapely legs before standing and snapping it into place over a perfectly round rump.

She was beautiful.

Gorgeous.

A fact, he was certain, she was very aware of.

“I would’ve stayed with you at your house, or you could have bunked at my apartment.” She tugged a gray turtleneck over her head, then pulled her hair out of the neckline. “You could use some help, someone to take care of you.”

“I’ll be okay.”

She shimmied into a short black skirt. “If you stay here, I suppose.”

“I do have a house.”

She was fastening her hair back into a ponytail. “But I heard it’s a wreck.”

“Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

She glanced at his sling, left on the side of the bed.

“Well, eventually, I’ll be able to handle it,” he said.

“And in the meantime? You lucked out that there was an unoccupied room here, but I checked, and the inn is booked up. Solid. Until the week after New Year’s. So are you going to throw out paying customers to keep this room?”

“Someone will cancel.”

“If you say so. But the invitation’s open. You can come to my place, and I’ll look after you, and when your house is ready and you’re, you know, better, maybe not using a sling for your arm, you can go home. Or any time, for that matter.”

The offer made sense, but he didn’t want to commit.

She saw his indecision. “Hey, fine. Do what you want.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, she slid one foot into a knee-high boot, wincing a little as she forced her foot into the leather. “I was just trying to help.” She zipped up the first boot, then did the same with the second, before reaching for a wool coat that she had tossed over the back of the single chair in the bedroom. “But if you don’t want it, that’s cool.” As she wound a red scarf around her neck, she flashed a quick, knowing smile. “I’ll see ya,” she promised, as she bent over the bed to look him directly in his eyes. “Let me know if you need anything. Anything.”

“I will.”

She kissed him lightly, then straightened and, without another word, opened the door to the living area and swept past Ralph, who’d been lying on the other side. The dog barely glanced up as James heard the click of the front door close behind her.

He didn’t know whether he felt relief or disappointment or a little bit of both.

CHAPTER 14

The Isolated Cabin

Cascade Mountains

Washington State

December 15

There has to be a way out of here. Has to!

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