by Roxy Wilson
For what felt like a full minute, he stared at her as if she’d sprouted horns on her head. “Are you kidding me? You kidnapped me so you can find out the reason why…”
“Yes, dammit.”
“Have you lost your mind?” He folded his arms across his chest. “Or maybe you were this mad when we got married, but I just didn’t realize it until now?”
“Probably yes to both questions.” She placed pinwheel sandwiches on a plate. “Would you like some lunch? A bowl of soup may not be enough.”
“You…you…what,” he sputtered. After directing a fulminating glare at her, he strode over to the door, opened it, and stormed outside. His incredulous stare proved that he didn’t expect to discover that she hadn’t locked the door.
Brielle didn’t make a move to chase after him. Instead, she used that time make a fresh garden salad and then to prepare a Southern baked chicken casserole. She was tempted to wait on Toby to return, but she heeded the rumblings in her stomach.
She shrugged her shoulders. Might as well have my lunch.
An hour later, he stomped back into the cabin.
“Your lunch got cold,” she announced when he banged the door shut.
His glare was scathing. “Where the hell are we?”
“A long distance from the city. If you decide to walk, it might take you two days to get there,” she announced in a calm voice. His face grew as red as a beetroot. He opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut. Walking over to the stool, he sat and pulled the tray towards him. “You might want to wash your hands before you eat that.”
In response, he glared at her and dug into his food. After one bite, he stopped. “Is this sprinkled with another drug?”
Brielle laughed. She had to give him points for intelligence. The man was sharp. “No. I have no intention of tying you to the bed.” Her neck and face grew impossibly hot. She’d unintentionally conjured images of the fun things they used to do with ropes in bed, and judging by the smirk on his face he remembered those times only too well. The air was charged with sexual undertones. “I…I…didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Thank you so much for your consideration.”
She flinched at the sarcasm in his voice. What had she expected? He was entitled to such behavior, given the circumstances. “Now that you’ve seen that there’s no way out of this place without a car, I suggest you tell me what I need to know. I’ll call a cab and you’ll be able to go back to your place before it gets dark.”
Rather than answer the question, he finished his lunch. She handed him a hot cup of tea. “Where’s my phone?” he asked again.
“Where you can’t find it.” Brielle chuckled. “Trust me, it’s safe, but I switched if off. I promise you’ll get it when…”
“…I answer your question,” he interrupted. “Yeah. I get it.” He nodded. “Did you really drag me all the way to this godforsaken place so that I can tell you what you already know?”
She picked up her cup of coffee. “I don’t know. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have done something so stupid just to have this insane conversation with you.”
“At least you admit that you’re insane,” he countered.
She bit down the retort that sprang to her lips. Seeing him so agitated was an unknown experience. The Toby she knew was calm and collected, and he rarely ever lost his temper. But it was obvious that he was on edge. Since she never saw him like this before, Brielle wasn’t sure how to best handle the situation.
Obviously, kidnapping him wasn’t one of her best ideas. It riled him up—as it would have done to anyone. But it was the only idea she had, and she ran with it. It was too late to regret her moves now. “You can be on your way in five minutes,” she said.
He stood and stretched. For a moment, he stared at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. “Whose cabin is this?”
This wasn’t the reaction she expected. Why the hell wasn’t he telling her what she wanted to know so that he could go his merry way? Why was he tormenting her? “Don’t you want to leave?”
“I do. If you give me my phone, I’ll call a cab.”
Was this his way of telling her that he wasn’t going to answer her question?
What was wrong with this man?
Why was he behaving like this? How difficult was it to explain the reason for a decision he made four years ago?
Or was he so ashamed of himself for deserting her that he couldn’t bring himself to explain?
She glanced in his direction. He cocked an eyebrow. Damn him! He wasn’t ashamed or sorry. The man was actually enjoying this charade.
Two could play this game. “Lexi, Janay, and I bought it together. It’s our winter retreat. Usually we all come here before or after Christmas, but this time around they couldn’t join me as they had other plans,” she said. Not that she needed to tell him any of this, but it might make him realize that she could dig in here for days if he didn’t cooperate. “I’ve got groceries and stock that would last for weeks.”
He didn’t appear concerned. “So you were coming here in any case? I thought you planned it on the spur of the moment.”
“No, I wasn’t planning to bring a guest along,” she said. “You just made me so mad that…” She stopped. Why the hell was she telling him all this? And why was he prolonging this agony for both of them? Surely, he wanted to go back quickly. Why couldn’t he answer her query and return to his amazing life that he’d made without her?
“So, Lexi got hitched?”
“Yes, in June. Her husband, Cole, is an author.”
He nodded. “And Janay?”
“She’s still free and single.”
He cleared his throat. “And you?”
“That’s none of your business,” she shot back. How dare he ask her that? What did it matter to him? He left her, not the other way around.
“I was just wondering what your better half would make of this situation.” He spun his finger around as he sauntered back to sit on the stool. “Won’t he be suspicious when he finds out that you’re shacking up with another man?”
“We’re not shacking up,” she protested, incensed by his choice of words. Did he think she brought him here to sleep with him?
“Still, he might think…”
“If you must know, there’s no one else at the moment.”
“I have a girlfriend,” he announced in a pleasant voice. “And she’s not going to be happy at my unexplained absence.”
Was that a pang of pain in her heart? Why should she care if he had a girlfriend or not? They weren’t together anymore. He wasn’t her husband. “In that case, you should try to leave as soon as possible.”
“She might even complain to the police if I don’t call her tonight,” he said. “They could track us here.”
That gave her cause for concern. Images of her being locked in a small cell flashed across her mind. With an effort, she curbed the storm of fear that spiraled inside her and twisted her intestines into a knot.
“It’s entirely up to you as to how long you want to make her wait,” she said.
“You really expect me to believe that you had no ulterior motive other than to hear why I ended our marriage?”
She didn’t understand what the hell he was getting at. “What other motive could I have?”
“Money.”
She gaped at his accusation. “How dare you?”
He raised a hand as if he couldn’t bear to hear her protest. “Spare me the indignation.” “How do I know that you haven’t already sent a ransom note to my girlfriend or to my office?”
“I didn’t do it for money.”
Brielle moved from behind the counter and walked to the bay window. How could he think that she would do something so vile? Of course, he had no reason to trust her. She stared out the window into the circular clearing. Full-length pine and spruce trees provided shade over the grass and shrubs. In the summer, jasmine grew in thick clusters and scented the mountai
n with its sweet fragrance. But winter was particularly beautiful too. The refreshingly cold air, the naked beauty of rocks that dotted the clearing, and the graceful trees more than made up for the lack of green plants. This was one of the most beautiful places that she’d ever visited. Generally, she took a great deal of delight in her time here. It was a way to cut off from her hectic routine and focus on that which was inside her. Being here was peaceful—but right now, she wasn’t feeling any peace at all.
Perhaps bringing him here wasn’t the best thing she could have done. The man was spoiling this vacation.
He lifted the cup to his lips and drank the remainder of his tea. “So did one of my competitors hire you to do this so that they can submit an alternative proposal?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She turned to face him. “But I brought you for the reason I told you. You’re wasting time by having this silly conversation. You can leave as soon as you give me the answer I’m looking for, and we won’t ever have to see each other again.”
Would he tell her what she needed to know now?
Would her curiosity finally be sated?
Brielle waited for his answer. Soon, it would all be over. He would be able to go back and she would get ready to face the storm he would surely unleash when he got out of here. But at least, she would know that which plagued her for the past four years. And finally, maybe, she would be able to regain some peace in her life.
Chapter Four
His ex-wife had developed claws that she never had before. Was this who she really was or had she changed over time? The Brielle he thought he knew well would never have done something risky, illegal, and downright crazy. She was always cool, level-headed, above reproach. Having nerves of steel that could lead her to kidnap a person was not something that he or anyone who knew her would associate with her personality. Toby shook his head, in an attempt to chase away any doubt he had about his ex-wife’s personality. Of course, she must have been this daring back when they were married. After all, she got away with cheating and he never would have known until…
“I think there’s a storm brewing,” she said as she stared out of the window. “You should leave as soon as possible if you want to get to the city before it hits us here.”
Toby strolled over to the window to peer outside. Charcoal-grey clouds hovered in the sky. The wind appeared to have picked up, judging by how the branches swayed to and fro. If there was indeed a storm, he didn’t want to be stuck inside this cabin. Not with her. Because to top off his chagrin at being kidnapped, it was mortifying to discover that he was just as attracted to her as before. Desire and need careened through his veins every time he glanced at her. She was beautiful, devastatingly so. And his body craved hers with just as much intensity as it did before and after they were married. His fingers itched to run through her hair, and his lips ached to kiss her. And it wasn’t just her good looks, but also her graceful, serene demeanor and the quiet strength that was hard to ignore.
Toby was more than a little frightened of the passion that lurked in his heart. He didn’t want it. And yet, he couldn’t get rid of it. The easiest thing to do was to tell her what she wanted to know and get away with his pride and sanity intact. But he also didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she achieved what she set out to do. Giving in to pressure wasn’t his style. What’s more, his ego couldn’t take the hit. He would absolutely not tell her what she wanted to know.
And why the hell was she pretending that she didn’t have a clue as to why he left her? What was there to explain? Surely, she knew.
This was just a ploy to annoy him, although he didn’t as yet give up on the possibility that she may actually be working for one of his competitors. What if she was getting paid to keep him away from work? Or what if she was actually out to steal some information from him? She already had his phone. God knew what she was doing with it. But still, he was intrigued by her gutsy demeanor and badass attitude. During their marriage, she never openly displayed such guts. She was always compliant and accommodating. Despite his irritation at her, this was a Brielle he couldn’t help but admire.
Shocked by the direction in which his thoughts were spiraling, he stood perfectly still. What the hell was he thinking? The woman kidnapped him. How could he admire anything she did? Nothing had changed; she still managed to have that effect on him. It was like a disease or a spell. Every time he was in her presence, she spun some kind of a charm and entrapped him in her honeyed web.
He shouldn’t allow himself to be taken in anymore.
He should leave.
She was right. It did look as if a storm was fast approaching the mountains and he didn’t want to be stuck in this cabin. But his ego clashed with his reasoning. He absolutely didn’t want to give her what she wanted. It was obvious from her ploys that she wanted to engage him in a discussion regarding their marriage.
Did she want him back?
Is that what all this was about?
But why now?
Was it because he had amassed some wealth.
No. he quickly chased the thought away. In spite of everything else that may have gone wrong in their marriage, he knew that once upon a time, Brielle had loved him. A time when he didn’t have much to his name, except for his broken-down jalopy that barely managed to get them from one place to the next, and the few well-worn clothes he owned.
He didn’t grow up with much, but what he lacked in material possessions, he received in the form of the love and affection his parents lavishly showered on him. So, yeah. Brielle didn’t marry him to get what he had, because there was nothing of significance she could have taken. They didn’t have a penny to their names, but they were happy. Or at least, he’d thought so. Obviously he was wrong about that.
Toby clenched his forehead in a bid to stop the pounding that was driving him nuts. He needed to get out of this place fast. He’d had enough, and reminiscing about their past wasn’t helping matters one damn bit. Screw his phone! He’d leave the cabin without it.
“I’ll walk down,” he announced.
“It will take two days if you’re lucky.”
“I’ll get a lift.” He doubted it. But anything was better than being stranded in this place with this woman who still held the reins of his heart in her hands. He couldn’t allow her to know that.
“I doubt it.” As she opened the door, the first fat snow flake fell down in front of the patio stairs.
“Shit.”
“I didn’t conjure this storm,” she lashed out. She shut the door. “Contrary to what you may believe, I don’t have superpowers.”
“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be stuck here.”
Her gaze flicked to the fireplace. “I wasn’t expecting this storm to hit till late night. There isn’t enough wood.”
“Don’t tell me you want me to chop wood.” He was feeling too warm, a contrast from the weather outside. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “I’m not doing anything. This is your show, baby. You run it.”
“Fine, I will,” she huffed and stomped inside her room.
Maybe, he should change his mind about his earlier decision. Why not tell her whatever she needed to hear and get the hell out of this place? He didn’t want to remain inside with her for a long time, because he wasn’t sure he would be able to resist touching the curve of her spine where her tight behind and her back met, or sucking the almond-brown nipples that his eyes couldn’t seem to avoid seeing because of the lightweight sweater she wore. And besides, it looked as if the storm would swirl a while over this area.
A few minutes later, she marched back out, carrying a bunch of keys and wearing sturdy boots. “I’ll take the ax from the shed and cut the wood my damn self.”
“If I call a cab now, how long would it take for it to get here?”
“I don’t think any driver is going to head this way.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We might be stranded here for days.”
“Damn.” He didn’
t know what to say. The woman was impossible.
She yanked the door open, stepped outside—her eyes shooting daggers at him—and banged the door shut. Striding over to the window, he saw her grappling with the keys as she seemed to struggle to insert the key into the keyhole of a shed that could barely be seen behind a copse of trees. Finally she swung the door open and trudged inside, A few minutes later, she emerged carrying an ax. He had to hand it to her, Brielle was a determined woman, and a part of him enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game they were both playing. But as much as he hated this scenario that was happening in front of his eyes, at the moment, there was no way he was going to let her do manual work when he was around. He grabbed a worn coat he saw hanging on the ledge of the door earlier and, with long strides. went to meet her. Without saying a word, he took the ax out of her grasp. “I’ll do it.”
With eyes that were brimming with suspicion, she stared at the way he held the ax. “You’re not going to…”
“Contrary to what you may believe,” he said, mimicking the very phrase she’d used on him a few minutes earlier, “I’m not going to take this ax and chop you into a million pieces.”
A smile suddenly lit across her face. “I doubt any murderer has claimed that before doing the deed. If you’re up for it, I would like a Christmas tree and some firewood.”
“Why?”
“We’ll need more wood to replace the logs that I’ve already placed in the fire.”
He shook his head. “No. Why do you want a tree? It’s just the two of us, and I’m leaving soon.”
“It’s Christmas. Plus, it’s our tradition. I would have done it even if I was alone.” She shrugged. “After you’re done, leave half of the logs in the shed. We’ll collect them tomorrow.” He watched as she trudged towards the cabin, stopped in midstride, and made an about-turn. And smiled. The kind that always made his heart cave in and then melt into a puddle at her feet. “Thank you, Toby.”
He nodded, all because he didn’t want her to see how much she was affecting him with such little effort. He quickly got to work.