Distraction
If he kept himself busy, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. And the sooner he got DA Charlie Lane off his back, the sooner he’d be done with Terri.
Taking his phone from his pants’ pocket, he made two calls—one for a breakfast delivery and the other to his Ho Chi Minh assistant, asking him to pick up Terri’s belongings from the hostel.
As he pocketed the phone, it occurred to him that Terri didn’t have anything to change into. At least not until his assistant retrieved her belongings.
He was considering running down the street to the clothing store on the corner when his bedroom door opened. Out stepped Terri.
While the waist-length hair she’d gone into his room with had magically turned into chin-length hair, it was still black and wavy. The makeup had been scrubbed from her face, save a bit of mascara that was smudged under her eyes.
The thing that really made him stare, though, were her clothes. A very familiar dark blue T-shirt and running shorts, to be precise.
She leaned against the doorjamb, looking bashful. “I hope you don’t mind that I went into your closet. I would have rather gone naked than put that dress on again.”
A half a second after the words left her mouth, she turned bright pink.
She must have been determined to prove she hadn’t embarrassed herself, though, because she straightened her back and strode into the living room.
“It’s perfectly fine,” he rasped. His mouth had gone dry, and it showed no signs of changing. “Someone will bring your things here shortly, and breakfast is on the way as well.”
“Okay.”
She paused in the middle of the room, near the couches. Despite her confidence a moment before, she looked out of place and unsure again.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked. “How about some water?”
She twisted her lips. “Sure. Thanks.”
He fetched her a big glass of water from the kitchen, and they settled onto the catty-cornered couches.
Elbows propped on his knees, Logan leaned forward and rubbed his palms.
“I’ve been thinking about it, and we should probably stay close to my place for a few days. We can go out and do things but not leave the city. Sending someone to your hostel is suspicious enough. It wouldn’t be in our favor for your kidnappers to see you walking around a free woman, on your way back to America.”
She took a long sip of the water, set the glass on the coffee table, and stared at him a long time.
“And do you know who my captors are?” she asked. “Their names.”
“No.”
It made him feel a bit guilty, but he was also partly glad he didn’t know. That made it easier to wash his hands of the situation.
Whoever ran the trafficking ring, they were probably loosely connected to Logan, at least through a string of associations. If he went after them, they would return the fire with due fervor. Not exactly what he wanted while being suspected of illegal activities.
Instead of deflating at his answer, she kept looking at him, like if she stared enough he might crack and reveal the truth. Eventually, she must have decided to believe him, because she looked away and took another drink of water.
“I’m a paralegal in Chicago,” she said. “Well. Was. Before I quit to travel around the world.”
“You followed your older brother into law.”
Her gaze cut sharply to him. “Something tells me you already knew that.”
“I have people who find out things that I need to know. I wasn’t stalking you.”
“It sounds like stalking.”
“Everything I know about you can be found on the internet.” He leaned back into the cushions and draped his arm across the back of the couch. “Where you went to school, the last place you worked. Even the neighborhood you live in. You’re not very shy on social media.”
“And yet you still decided to have someone tail me?”
“No. I had a private investigator look into everyone close to Charlie. Don’t worry. There was nothing immoral involved.”
She guffawed and rolled her eyes. “You keep telling me not to worry. Like you know damn well I should be worried.”
Logan’s lips twitched upward. It was a lot of fun verbally sparring with her.
“Anyway.” She scrubbed a hand across her face. Even with bags under her eyes, she was beautiful. He wondered if she knew it, if every time she looked in the mirror it became painful to look away. “You think we should stay around here for a few days? Huh. There go the rest of my travel plans.”
“I’m sorry, but…”
“It’s okay.” She waved her hand, smile tight. “I’m not trying to be an ass. It just came out that way, probably due to exhaustion. I didn’t get much sleep last night, on account of being kidnapped and auctioned off.”
Her voice softened at the end, and she stared at the floor.
Logan’s throat felt thick. “I’m sorry.”
She lifted her face to eye him. “I didn’t see any other women there, but I can’t help but think about them. There must be others.”
He couldn’t hold eye contact. “I’m also sorry about your trip being cut short. This is for the best, though.”
“Yeah. I know.” Her lips twisted. “Purely out of curiosity, what if I did try to leave? What would you do?”
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It was a question he really didn’t want to answer.
“I guess you’ll be keeping an eye on me, then,” she said.
Damn, she was good at putting him on the spot.
Luckily, he was good at dancing around matters. “I would like to trust you.”
“You’d like to trust me,” she said slowly, rolling the words over for inspection. “But you can’t yet. As it stands, I’m still your captive.”
“No,” he said, quick as lightning. “You’re not.”
“And yet you’ll be keeping an eye on me. Constantly.” Her emerald eyes flashed. “Like you own me.”
“I promise I will make it as painless as possible.”
Even from several feet away, he saw her pupils dilate. With that came the flush of her cheeks.
Hold on. Was she… attracted to the idea of him keeping a tight hold on her?
Heat flared through his body.
A second later and the doorbell rang.
“That should be breakfast.” Jumping to standing, he rushed to the door.
Sweet distraction.
Or maybe not. Could be that having Terri around would turn out to be one of the greatest challenges of his life.
One thing was for sure, though. Her presence would make their time together anything but dull.