“I can’t until we fix this.”
“There’s nothing to fix. I’m fine,” Inez lied glibly. “You go on and fly to Amsterdam.”
“I can’t. I want to explain everything to you so that you won’t be afraid or freaked out anymore,” he said quietly.
“I’m not freaked out,” she lied again.
“Right,” he said dryly.
“Okay, maybe I’m a little freaked out, but I’ll be fine,” Inez assured him and then held her breath, praying he’d just go away and leave her alone. She’d slip out and call the police…No, she couldn’t do that, they’d think she was mad. Maybe she should go to her church. Surely the church knew about the evil living in the bosom of London?
“Inez, I can’t just go away.”
She closed her eyes at his unhappy words, and then opened them again and suggested, “Okay, so explain.”
“I can’t do that either. Not right this minute anyway, it would take too long and we have to catch that flight to Amsterdam.”
“We?” she echoed with alarm.
“Yes. Won’t you please come out of there and fly to Amsterdam with me so that I can explain matters to you? I promise not to bite you again.”
Inez didn’t say anything, but she was shaking her head with certainty. There was no way she was going anywhere with the man. He’d bit her, for cripes sake. Asking her to accompany him was like asking her to get in the back of a van with a rabid dog. How stupid did he think she was?
“Inez? You were here all day and were perfectly safe. If I’d wanted to harm you, I could have done so first thing this morning when we were alone in the suite, but I didn’t, did I? Instead I drew you a bath and ordered you a breakfast, and—”
“And then you bit me,” Inez snapped, interrupting him before his words could remind her of the kinder feelings she’d had for him earlier in the day. And she had most definitely had kinder feelings all day for the man. She had luxuriated in her bubble bath, thinking what a wonderful, thoughtful, sweet man Thomas Argeneau was. She’d eaten her breakfast, every bite giving her fonder and fonder thoughts of the man. And the tea? The first sip of the golden nectar had nearly convinced her Thomas was a God among men.
After her bath, Inez had gone out, looked down at his sleeping face and noticed just how handsome and sweet he looked in sleep. She’d wanted to touch his soft, dark hair and brush it away from his chiseled features softened in sleep. She hadn’t, but she also hadn’t had the heart to wake him, and had set up shop in the suite’s bedroom to avoid disturbing him as she made the calls, first arranging for the car to be brought into the city from the warehouse, then calling hotel after hotel, and then car rental agency after car rental agency, stopping only to walk out and moon over the pretty man asleep on the sofa and ponder how wonderful it would be to have a handsome, thoughtful man such as he in her life.
Every time she’d been placed on hold as she made her calls, Inez had found herself sitting there, fantasizing about what it would be like to have a man like him to come home to at the end of a long hard workday. She’d imagined him greeting her at the door with a kiss, the smells of scrumptious cooking drifting to her as he kissed her hello, his hands moving over her body, stripping away her clothes and then caressing every inch of skin revealed…
Oh, yes, Inez had woven a lovely little fantasy in her mind and had been happy when he’d woken up and come to join her…right up until he bit her.
“I won’t hurt you,” Thomas said solemnly through the door. “I could have broken down this door if I wanted, but I haven’t, have I? I don’t want to hurt or frighten you, Inez. Once we leave this suite, you’ll be surrounded by people in the hotel, the taxi driver in the car, the people at the airport and on the plane, and you’ll have your own room at the hotel. You only have to see me in public where you feel safe so I can explain everything. Surely you’re curious to know about us?”
Inez scowled at the door, cursing herself for being tempted by the promise of an explanation.
“Please,” he said quietly, and then added, “You’ve worked for Bastien for…how long now?”
“Eight years,” she admitted reluctantly.
“Right. Eight years. And he says you’re one of the best employees he’s ever had. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”
“You just told me not five minutes ago that he told you to bite me,” she pointed out dryly.
“Yes, but he didn’t think it would hurt you, or that you’d even remember it. I was supposed to wipe it from your memory.”