Jared's Runaway Woman

Jared’s voice. No doubt about it.

Kinsey crouched lower, trying to make herself as small as possible. The door closed. She was trapped.

Trapped inside a hotel room. Good gracious, what had she been thinking? Kinsey silently berated herself for her decision to come here. But he’d been on his way to breakfast—she’d seen him with her own eyes. Why would he come back?

Did he suspect her of doing exactly what she was doing? Had he planned this, set a trap for her, somehow expecting to find her here?

Maybe he hadn’t slept well. The thought flew through Kinsey’s mind like a welcomed cool breeze. Maybe he simply wanted to go back to bed—

What if he went back to bed? What if he took off his clothes?

Heat coursed through Kinsey like ripples through a pond.

What if he took off his clothes?

She leaned forward—just a little—and peeked around the corner of the screen. Jared stood at the bureau, muttering under his breath, fumbling with his gun and holster.

All his clothes on.

Kinsey’s cheeks flushed and she ducked back, silently willing him to leave the room. The wood floor was coarse and bit into her palms. Her knees hurt and her back had started to ache.

To say nothing of how hot the room had become.

Then, to her immense relief, she heard Jared’s footsteps. The door opened, then closed. The room fell silent.

Still, Kinsey waited. She didn’t dare move for fear of making a noise that might drawhim back into the room. She gritted her teeth and silently counted to one hundred—twice. Unable to bear another second on the floor, she got to her feet and heaved a sigh. She pressed her hand to her lower back as she listened at the door for a moment, then, hearing nothing, slipped into the hall.

Arms circled her waist from behind and hauled her back into the room before she could let out a scream. The door slammed shut and she was dropped crossways on the bed. She bounced on the soft mattress and looked up to find Jared Mason towering over her.

Kinsey launched herself off the bed but he caught her again. Their feet tangled and he fell down on the mattress with her.

Her heart pounded as Jared lay on top of her, pinning her to the bed, one of his legs between her knees. She took a swing at him but he caught her wrists and pressed them down, inches from her head. His weight, the heat of his body, soaked into her.

Another few seconds passed before Kinsey realized that he looked as startled as she. His face, hovering just above hers, was taut. His breath quickened. His body tensed.

Then a little smile quirked his lips. “I figured you’d do anything to keep Clark’s son, but I never counted on this.”

Her cheeks flamed, bringing on a wave of anger. “Oh! You think I came here to—! How dare you!”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s not why you’re here?”

“Of course not! Get off of me!” Kinsey struggled, trying to free her arms and kick her feet, but he held her easily.

“I’ll scream,” she threatened.

“Go ahead,” he said. “Scream all you want. We’ll get the sheriff up here and you can explain to him—and the whole town, who’ll hear about it before noon—why you’re in my room.”

Kinsey pressed her lips together, the gravity of her circumstances weighing more heavily than Jared atop her. She tried another tack.

“Would you please let me up?” she asked.

He held her, still, just to show her that he could, she suspected.

“You’re hurting me,” she told him.

Jared released her so quickly it startled her. For a man so big he moved with incredible speed, even grace, pushing himself off her and to his feet in an instant.

Kinsey sat up on the bed, yanked her skirt down and straightened her blouse, attempting to do so with a modicum of dignity and self-respect. But when she tried to get to her feet, Jared stepped close again, keeping her in place.

“What are you doing in my room?” He nodded to the dressing screen. “I saw you hiding back there.”

Heat filled her cheeks again, but she pushed up her chin and glared at him. “I came to find out exactly who you are.”

That seemed to surprised him. Obviously, as a member of the powerful Mason family, Jared wasn’t used to having his word questioned.

“I wasn’t about to let you anywhere near Sam without knowing if you were who you claimed to be,” Kinsey told him.

His surprise turned into something else—respect, maybe?—and he nodded slowly.

“Did you find out what you wanted to know?” he asked.

“Yes.” Kinsey sighed. “Unfortunately.”

“So you’re ready to talk about you and Sam coming back home with me,” he concluded.

The notion of living in the Mason’s New York home, the confines of the hotel room, and Jared’s great height towering over Kinsey caused everything in her to rebel.

She glared up at him. “Move out of my way.”

The words came out in her sternest “mommy voice,” the one that stopped Sam—and any other children with him—in his tracks. It had that effect on Jared, too, because he stepped back, more a reflex than anything.

Kinsey got to her feet and rubbed her wrists where he’d held her on the bed.

“I have to go to work,” she told him, her tone suggesting that she didn’t have leisurely hours to while away, as he did. “We’ll talk later.”

“When?”

“After dark when Sam goes to bed.”

He studied her for a moment, as if he wanted to protest, but he didn’t. Kinsey moved around him toward the door, but he blocked her path.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said softly.

Jared lifted her hand and pulled back the cuff of her sleeve to reveal her wrist. He did the same with the other wrist, holding them both in front of him.

He gazed at her and the moment seemed to stretch into forever. Jared leaned forward and brushed a kiss on one wrist, then the other. A firestorm ignited in Kinsey, threatening to consume her, but holding her in front of him.

Jared seemed unable to move either. He eased closer. So did Kinsey. She rose on her toes, until their faces hovered just inches apart and she felt his hot breath against her lips.