Passing His Guard

“Ouch, goddammit! What’d you do that for?”

“If you call me ‘baby girl’ one more time, Aiden Kruze, the next blow is going to be below the belt! I am not one of your cage-banging whores whose bra size is larger than her IQ. For your information, I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here. But I don’t have a choice—hence you don’t have a choice. Believe it or not, I’ve got bigger problems to deal with than tracking down some spoiled, self-entitled rich boy who’s run away from home because he had a spat with his mommy and daddy. Seriously! Grow the fuck up!”

Every muscle in his body turned to stone. That cute-as-hell smile on his handsome face was instantly replaced with lines of tension bracketing his mouth. His amber eyes were so golden, they looked almost otherworldly, extinguishing any softness and leaving him with a deadpan glare of serious badassness. This was the face of the man in that picture, the lawyer—hard, unbending, merciless, and intimidating as hell. She pitied any attorney going against him in a courtroom. For a moment she knew a brief twinge of guilt at being the one to flip his switch, snuffing out that irresistible light that attracted his fans, men and women alike. It was as if there was a stranger sitting in the seat beside her—and she didn’t like it. Flirty and cocky she knew, that she could handle, but this . . . ? Lord help her, if she could call back those hurtful words, she’d do it in a heartbeat.

“You don’t know the first thing about me, Rya

CHAPTER

10

Wow. That took a lot of goddamn nerve. At the brief flash of regret in her eyes, he’d wondered, for a moment, if she was going to apologize—as she well should. But then she turned her attention back to driving, checking behind her before pulling onto the road. He had no clue where they were, and combined with the roofie hangover he was sporting, the effects were pretty disorientating.

As Rya

No, he decided, watching her from the passenger seat. Rya

Rya

Up ahead, he spotted a truck stop and, miraculously, it was still open. The parking lot was empty, except for a few semis parked at the far end and two cars, one by the door and one in the employee section by the side of the building. As she cut the engine, he leaned forward and turned, presenting her with his cuffed wrists, anxious to get these things off and stretch his arms. He’d hyperextended his right shoulder in the fight last week and this position wasn’t doing it any favors.

“I don’t think so, Aiden. I’m sorry. You’re going to have to step through those cuffs to get your hands in front of you.”

Bloody hell . . . He shot her a dark look over his shoulder. “You can’t seriously plan on keeping me bound the entire trip back to New York. Listen, I’ll make you a deal. You uncuff me, and I promise I won’t ditch you. How’s that? Besides, where the hell would I go? It’s freezing outside, I don’t have a coat, and we’re in the middle of bumfucknowhere. Where could I possibly run?”

“You could overpower me—”

A tempting thought, that. “Sweetheart, I’m a submissions artist. Like I said before, if I wanted to take you down, I wouldn’t need my hands free to do it.” Okay, did that sound as hot to her as it did to him? Because he was imagining so many ways he could pin this woman right now. “You’re operating on a false sense of security here, baby gi—” He stopped short and cleared his throat. “Umm . . . Rya

At his correction, her triumphant grin hit him harder than that punch she’d laid on him earlier. He wasn’t cowing to her demands, per se, he just didn’t see how it’d be beneficial at this time to antagonize the woman who held the key to his freedom. “The only reason we’re even having this conversation right now is because I don’t want to hurt you, Rya

She stared at him, unmoving, as if she couldn’t quite make up her mind what to do. But he was a lawyer, a pro at convincing people to do what he wanted, so he wasn’t sweating it. She just needed one more nudge in the right direction. So he did what any good, self-respecting lawyer would do in his case: He lied his motherfucking ass off.

“Look, I’ve been thinking about what you said—about how I need to man up and face my parents. And you’re right, about everything. If you take these cuffs off and if you promise not to roofie me again—and by the way, I’m still pissed about that—I’ll go back to Manhattan with you, Rya

The hope blooming in her emerald eyes killed him. This woman was too beautiful for her own good. He could feel his will bending to hers; the unexplainable desire to ease the burden she carried on her slight shoulders was now weighing heavy on him. What was her story? How had she gotten mixed up with his mother? All questions Aiden was bound and determined to get answers to before reaching New York, and none he would discover if he couldn’t gain this woman’s trust.