Tempt Me

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So that when Bowen did return—and she would, by God—he’d be ready to make nice, to channel some of his brothers’ winning ways with women and try to forge a bond between them, however slight.

But then, slight was all he needed. His goal, after all, wasn’t to become her best friend or her lover. It was simply to get her to stick around long enough for him to regain control of the situation. To regain control of her.

He didn’t have a doubt in the world he could do it. God knew, he’d faced far tougher situations doing recon missions in Afghanistan. And while the make-friends, play-nice-with-others thing wasn’t going to be easy, nothing that mattered ever was.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he had to share his life story with her. Or talk about anything he cared about. Like being banished as a kid to Blackhurst. Or the disaster at Zari Pass, which had put an end to his military career—and been the last time he’d allowed anyone to call him J. T.

No, his personal private business could, and would, remain just that. Personal and private.

All he had to do was be nominally civil. To offer Bowen—no, Genevieve, he admonished himself—the proverbial olive branch until either she lowered her guard enough for him to get the drop on her or he figured out how to free himself. As for payback…he’d see to that later.

For now, all he needed, all he wanted, he thought, finally giving in to the hammering in his head and letting his eyes drift shut against the fading light, was for this frigging headache to take a one-way hike.

And for Genevieve to be predictable for once and walk back through the door.

Nighttime fell like a heavy ebony cape.

Caught midway along the track that led to the cabin, Genevieve slowed the pickup to allow her eyes time to adjust to the swift slide from hazy dusk to inky darkness.

Despite the choppy rumble of the engine, she could hear the wind as it surged restlessly through the towering evergreens around her, making the snow-shrouded trees sway like uneasy ghosts. Overhead, a pack of marauding clouds took ever bigger bites out of the sky, obliterating the moon and swallowing stars a constellation at a time.

A shiver skated down her spine. She tried telling herself she was just chilled—she hadn’t been kidding earlier when she’d told Taggart the truck’s heater didn’t work, and in the past ten minutes her fingers, nose and toes had started to go numb—but she knew that wasn’t all it was. There was simply something spooky, a sort of bone-deep dread, that came with being alone in the dark, surrounded by an untamed wilderness, with the threat of a storm lurking in the wind.

Add to the cold and the declining weather the fact that she was tired, as much from the stressful events of the day as the three-mile hike through the snow she’d made to complete her errand, and it was no wonder she was ready to get back to the cabin.

Even if that meant having to share space with one John Taggart Steele. Whose complete name she now knew courtesy of the registration in his rig, which she’d confirmed by finally taking a look at the ID in his wallet, which she’d liberated when he’d been unconscious.

Not, she told herself hastily, that she cared what he called himself. Except for a mild curiosity about his aversion to being referred to as J. T, which, as it turned out, really were his initials, it was no skin off her nose if he went by Bozo the Clown.

What did matter was her discovery that he and the firm he worked for carried the same name. It might not be a hundred percent proof-positive, but when factored in with his relentless, self-assured personality, it made her strongly suspect that he was a principal in the enterprise rather than simply an employee.

If that was true, it was good news for her since it meant he had not just power but autonomy, and that made it a lot less likely anyone would be checking up on him anytime soon or expecting him to report in regularly.

It wouldn’t be smart to count on it, however, she reflected as the truck shuddered over the last rise and the cabin came into sight. Grateful that she’d had the foresight to switch on the stove and porch lights before she left, she drove down the shallow hill and parked, muscled open the badly dented driver’s-side door and headed inside, his lightweight pack slung over her shoulder.

No, she was a firm believer in hoping for the best but doing whatever was within her power to make things go her way. Which was why, she thought, as she climbed the cabin steps, retrieved the distributor cap from her pocket and dropped it with a satisfying thunk behind the wood pile, Taggart was going to have to make a trip to the auto parts store in the near future if he wanted his big black SUV to run. Of course, first he’d have to find it in the abandoned barn where she’d hidden it.

Stomping the snow off her boots, she said a sincere thank-you to the book gods for Alan’s Guide to Auto Engine Basics. Then she pushed open the door and stepped inside, mentally straightening her spine as she braced to go another round with her less-than-charming captive.

To her surprise, no sarcastic remark greeted her return. Instead, except for the faint hiss and pop of the fire, the dimly lit room was eerily quiet.

Her heart stuttered. In the space of time it took her to toss away his pack and pivot toward the bed, her imagination conjured the worst possible scenario: Taggart had somehow gotten loose. Any second now he was going to explode out of the shadows, wrap his iron-banded arms around her and yank her against his big, hard-as-steel frame—

But no. No. Relief sucked the starch right out of her as she made out the solid, long-legged shape sprawled on the bed. Locking her shaking knees, she fought to regain her composure, only to abandon the effort as fear for her safety reluctantly gave way to concern for his well-being.

She felt a stir of alarm at his continuing silence. Driven to make sure he was still breathing, she crossed the room and crept as close to the bed as she dared. To her gratification, from her new vantage point she could see his chest in his gray flannel shirt rising and falling as steadily as a metronome.

The breath she hadn’t known she was holding sighed out while her legs once again went as weak as spent flower stems. In need of a moment to regroup, she marshaled her strength and prepared to step away and leave him to sleep.

Before she could do more than think of retreat, up snapped Taggart’s eyelashes—thick, black as the night outside and the only part of his angular face that could possibly be described as soft looking—and then she was trapped in the pale-green tractor beam of his eyes.

“Hey.” For all the intensity of his gaze, his voice was as rough as a weathered board and more than a little groggy. “You’re back.”

“Yes.”

He glanced beyond her toward the darkened windows and frowned. “What time is it?”

“A little past seven.”

“Huh.” He raised his unfettered hand and she prepared to lunge for safety, but he only scrubbed it across his face. “Feels later.”

“It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah. I noticed.” His hand fell away and something she couldn’t define flickered in his eyes. “You had me worried.”

She wondered what he expected her to say. I’m sorry? Not a chance. Good, it serves you right? Well, that might be closer to the truth, but it wasn’t in her nature to gloat. Even if he so richly deserved it. She gestured toward the pack she’d deep-sixed near the door. “I brought your things.”

His gaze flicked over, took note, came back again. Speculation flashed across his face, but he didn’t say anything.