The Bounty Hunter's Forbidden Desire

“You let me worry about that.”

But he looked down at his gauge. And, hallelujah, the gas must have been just low enough for him to decide it might be smart to conserve it. That was what the expression on his face seemed to register, anyway.

Come on, McKinley, act. Don’t just think about it. Do it.

She restrained herself from a sigh of thanksgiving when, after lowering the window on his side, he turned off the engine.

The keys sat there in the ignition, beckoning to her.

Perfect. Or would be, if—

Ah, another break. He had his head out the window, muttering as he tried to see around the line in front of him in an endeavor to learn what was holding them up.

This was the moment she’d been waiting for. And feared she would never get. But somebody upstairs must have been listening to her prayers. Haley didn’t hesitate.

Unsnapping her seat belt, she leaned forward, snatched the keys out of the ignition and, with a pitch worthy of the Seattle Mariners, sent them flying out the open window, managing to just miss his head. With satisfaction, she heard them striking the pavement.

“Whoops.”

Chase’s ears were red with righteous anger when he withdrew his head. “Why, you little—”

He must have choked on whatever would have followed, because she never heard it. He couldn’t have been thinking clearly, or for that matter thinking at all, when he opened his door and exited the SUV. On the other hand, there was no other way for him to recover the keys. Haley had counted on that.

Chase was quick, but she was quicker. Before he could get the keys and stop her, she was out the door on her side, dashing across the shoulder, plunging into a ditch and scrambling under a rail fence. She was busy losing herself in the pine woods on the other side before it struck her that he had her purse. She had no money. No cell phone. What was she going to do on her own in a place where she knew no one?

Her escape hadn’t been so clever after all.

* * *

Chase ignored the blasts of the car horns behind him. Now that his brain was functioning again, he figured those blasts meant the traffic was rolling once more but the vehicles stuck behind his SUV weren’t.

Too bad. Let them squeeze around the SUV when they got the chance. He had a task more important than going back and moving it out of the way. He had Haley Adams to hunt down. When he caught up with her, and he would, he was going to blister her with language she wouldn’t forget. And that was the very least he was going to do.

She had disappeared into the woods on the other side of the fence. He had seen that much and was able to enter the forest at the same spot. Beyond that, he didn’t know. From here she could have chosen any direction, weaving her way through the ranks of the tall pines.

He looked for some flash of movement ahead of him. There was none. That slim figure was nowhere in sight.

Where are you, Haley?

The dense canopy of the trees cast a cool, damp shade below. Chase stood still, hoping to catch some sound that would betray her. All he heard was the distant call of a dove. Sounded like a dove, anyway. But what did he know? He had a limited knowledge of birds.

Silence followed. Nothing to hear now. And nothing to smell but the sharp fragrance of the pines. So it was his sight he needed to depend on.

Training in the army rangers had taught him tracking. He used that now, walking in a circle, gazing down at the forest floor for signs. It wasn’t long before he picked up the partial footprint of a tennis shoe in the moist earth. The toe pointed the way for him.

After that he was able to spot other signs, several places where the pine needles had been recently disturbed, sticks just as recently snapped underfoot, more prints where there was clear earth.

He figured she wanted to leave the forest behind her as soon as possible. It looked like once she’d chosen her direction, she had managed to stick to it. It didn’t take Chase long to discover bright sunlight ahead of him.

Clearing the last of the trees, he reached another rail fence. On the other side was an open pasture. He was disappointed not to see her in the pasture or the field beyond it. Damn. Had he lost her altogether?

He stood there, trying to decide what to try next. Off to one end of the pasture was a horse shelter, enclosed against the weather on three sides, with the fourth side left wide-open for the animals to enter.

No sign of any horses in the pasture now, just the silent shelter. Chase wondered. Did it bear investigating? With no other alternative, it seemed like a good idea.

Hand on one of the fence posts, he vaulted over the top rail, cleared the barrier and strode toward the shelter. The dung in the pasture, though not recent, was evidence horses were grazed here at one time and apparently had been moved elsewhere.

He reached the shelter and looked inside. It was deserted. Nothing in there but a stack of hay keeping dry under the roof. Wasted moments, he told himself. He needed to get back to his search.

Chase was just turning away, ready to look elsewhere, when out of the corner of his eye he saw the hay quiver slightly. Or had he imagined it? Must have. All the same...

He went back inside and squatted on his heels beside the mound, waiting quietly. There was no further movement. He was about to get to his feet when he heard it. A faint rustling inside the pile.

Probably a small creature. Maybe a mouse. At least he hoped it was nothing large.

Willing to take the risk, he plunged his hands into the stack, where his fingers probed around in the vicinity of the rustling. Almost immediately he encountered warm flesh. Yep, something wild had burrowed into the hay all right. Except it was of the human variety. No doubt of that when his hands closed around a pair of very nice, smooth-skinned ankles.

Grasping them tightly, because the body they were attached to began to resist, he dragged Haley Adams out of the hay where she’d been hiding.

“Now just look what we’ve turned up here,” he gloated.

He was pleased with what he’d hooked, but once she spit the bits of hay out of her mouth, she was anything but a docile catch. Managing to twist her legs free of his grip, she flipped over on her back, and when he tried to grab her again, she fought him like the animal he’d been worried about.

She kicked, she clawed, she punched, she jabbed, she writhed and rolled and heaved. She even managed to yell language at him that he hadn’t heard since the army, though never from the women in the ranks, tough as some of them were. No question of it. Haley Adams was one pissed-off female.

The only way Chase could subdue her in the end was to pin her down by lowering his body full length on hers. She went totally still then. Maybe because she was as instantly aware of their intimate contact as he was. And God help him, that soft, womanly flesh beneath his weight not only felt good, it smelled good.

There was a long silence. Their gazes met and locked in a battle of wills. Or was it that? Was it maybe not so much a conflict as it was a shared desire? Chase’s gaze drifted down to her parted lips. He might not have even considered kissing those lips if she hadn’t used that moment to start squirming.

It was a bad movement. He felt himself beginning to grow hard.

“Let me up,” she whispered. “You’re suffocating me.”

His only defense against her breathy plea was a dry “You could have suffocated inside that hay.”

“The hay wasn’t heavy. You are.”

He was suddenly angry with his arousal. Angry with himself for his urge to kiss that seductive mouth just inches under his. And angry because he had to remind himself he’d forgotten to give her hell for her escape.

Levering himself off her, he got to his feet. Once he was standing, he reached down, caught her by the wrist and pulled her up.

“You can let me go now.”

His laugh was a husky one. “What? And watch you take off again?”

“Oh, now, you’re not going to hang on to me all the way back to the car.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do, sweetheart. Only it’s not going to be by the wrist.”

Before she could object, Chase shifted his grip higher on her arm, whirled her around, bent his knees low enough to collect and balance her weight and slung her up and over his shoulder.

When he came erect again, she was swinging headfirst down his back with her lower half dangling down his chest. It was a maneuver he’d learned in the rangers and used effectively a couple of times to transport wounded soldiers to the nearest dressing station.

Holding the load in place was achieved by splaying the fingers of one hand firmly over the rump. It was just a position when it came to a wounded buddy, but it took on a whole new meaning with this cargo. Haley Adams had one hell of a spectacular bottom for a man to hold on to.

“I’m not going to ride like this! Put me down!”

“Not a chance.”

He struck off across the pasture, knowing she couldn’t be comfortable bouncing along with each of his steps. Too bad. She didn’t deserve comfort.

“How you doing back there, Haley? Comfy enough?”

He missed her muffled reply, but from the sound of it, it couldn’t have been very friendly. Managing to scramble across the fence while still bearing her over his shoulder, he achieved a more or less direct path through the woods. She was just as tightly in his possession when they crossed the second fence and arrived back at the highway where his SUV safely waited for them. Thankfully, the cops hadn’t gotten there yet to tow it away.

Nor did he release her until his free hand produced the keys from his pocket, unlocked the doors, opened the front passenger one and flung her down into the seat with a warning.

“You try any more dumb stunts like that, and I’ll handcuff you.”

* * *

His promise had merit, Haley reluctantly decided when they were rolling up the highway again. It had been stupid of her to make a run for it without money, then hide in a pile of hay like a child.

She would do better the next time. Like, for instance, avoiding his body on top of hers. There had been something much too effectively sensual about both that and his hot hand pressed against her backside afterward. She much preferred him in an unpleasant mood. Safer, right?

But she wasn’t certain of that. There was an element of danger about him.

It was better not to look at him. She turned her head away, staring out the window. Off both sides of the four-lane were high, forested slopes. Even though many of them had been denuded in long, vertical swaths by lumbering, there was a beauty about them enhanced by the majestic Cascade Range behind them.

“You feeling okay?”

He hadn’t spoken a word in miles. His deep voice coming out of nowhere like this startled her. She stole a glance at him. The man had no heart, and yet she swore she could see a guilty expression on that square-jawed face.

She assumed he was referring to the way she’d been treated when he caught up with her at the horse shelter. “How would you feel if you’d been tossed around like a sack of potatoes?”

“You saying the merchandise ended up bruised?”

“Let’s just say it’s a bit tender.”

She hoped she was wearing a wounded look on her face. There was nothing frail about Haley, but he deserved to think he’d been too rough on her.

“I did warn you.”

She kept up her pretense, this time with a martyr’s sniff. Had she gone too far? Was that suspicion she read in his sidelong gaze?

They were silent again. Haley returned her attention to the view. They didn’t go far before Chase spoke up once more.

“I’m pulling off at the next exit.”

“Is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, my stomach. It’s empty. I can’t remember when I’ve last eaten. How about you? You hungry?”

Haley admitted she could do with a meal. Counting the long backup with the construction tie-up and her break for freedom, they had been on the road for hours. They had left Portland this morning, and it was now midafternoon.

She wondered at first if this stop would provide another opportunity for her to escape. Not a chance, she quickly realized, because it was a fast food restaurant he selected. They never left the car. Chase ordered takeout from a drive-up window. They ate their food in the parking lot.

He was working on fries and a hamburger when, looking at her thoughtfully, he asked, “Is it true you’re self-employed?”

“How did you hear that?”

“I have my sources.”

“Uh-huh. So, tell me, is it part of a bounty hunter’s job to know what the FTAs he grabs do for a living?”

He shrugged. “It can be.”

He was being evasive, Haley thought, inserting the straw into her drink and drawing on the soda.

“What is it you do specifically?” he wanted to know.

She had no reason to conceal anything. “I’m an independent contractor.” The expression on his face told her he thought she was messing with him. “No, not that kind of contractor. What I construct I do at home on my computer.”

“Such as?”

“Whatever I’m hired to do. Like, for example, report development for public school systems or creating detailed websites for professional, private outfits looking for my kind of training and certification.”

“How do these people find you?”

“Online, of course. Most frequently on sites where you post things like your training, your credentials and your recommendations.”

He actually looked impressed and that pleased her, although she couldn’t exactly say why. Maybe just because it would make him question whether someone with her record would have needed to post a bond for breaking the law and then failed to appear in court. On the other hand, she supposed anyone could be guilty of something like that.

Letting herself be pleased by this man for any other reason was not a good idea.

“Satisfied?” she asked him.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Haley wanted him to know she wasn’t hiding anything about herself, but that wasn’t true of him. There was a secretiveness here, as if this sexy roughneck was protecting something. And that’s when it struck her again. Crazy as it seemed, he was somehow, someway familiar.

* * *

Haley seldom traveled in this direction. When she did, she always hoped to see that Mount Rainier for once was free of cloud. It never was on any of her visits.

She was prepared to be disappointed again, and instead was treated by nature to a splendid sight. Twilight was already closing in, but still some distance away, far off to the right, the head of the perfect cone that was Rainier was bathed in a golden glow. Haley was enchanted.

She turned her head to see Chase’s reaction. He had none. She could only suppose this meant he lived in Seattle and Mount Rainier was a familiar sight. Or maybe he simply wasn’t moved by nature. Either way, there was no reason why it should make any difference to her.

What did matter was the decision he made fifteen minutes later. “I’m taking us off at the next exit.”

“Are you hungry again?”

“No, sleepy. We’ll spend the night at a motel.”

“We are what?”

“You heard me. It’ll be morning before you know it.”

Haley knew it was true that early summer at this latitude meant long days and short nights. But even so...

“I don’t want to spend the night at a motel,” she announced stubbornly.

“Oh, you don’t? I suppose instead you’d have me fall asleep at the wheel.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ve been dozing, and I’m perfectly capable of taking a turn at the wheel.”

“While I what? Go bye-bye?”

“Why not?”

“Sure, why not? Listen, sweetheart, we both know what destinations you get off to when you’re turned loose.”

“All right, you don’t trust me. But Seattle can’t be far now. Can’t you just go on?”

“It’s farther than you think. We’ve still got the traffic of Olympia, then Tacoma, and after that the whole long urban crawl into Seattle. And all after dark. No, thanks. We’re going to a motel.”

The last faint glow of twilight was leaving the sky when they exited the interstate. There were three motels to choose from. Chase selected the nearest one, pulled up in front of its office and shut off the engine.

Haley drew back when he reached for the glove compartment, holding her breath as his hand brushed across the side of her breast. As brief and innocent as the contact was, it was like a flame licking across her.

When she was breathing normally again, he had extracted a pair of handcuffs from the glove compartment. Haley stared at them. This was going too far.

“Oh, you’re not going to—”

“Handcuff you to the wheel here while I go into the office? That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“But that isn’t necessary. Just take me with you.”

“And have you make another break for it the minute I turn my back? I don’t think so. Of course, I could always handcuff our wrists together and drag you in there. Might scare the attendant, though. Nope, you’re safer out here.”

Before she could raise another objection, he had snatched up her hand and clicked one of the bracelets over her wrist and the other one to the wheel. It was a humiliating situation, made worse when he removed the keys from the ignition and dangled them in front of her nose with a little grin. He was reminding her of earlier when she’d thrown away the keys, taunting her.

Haley fumed while he was gone. She had counted on this mix-up getting settled sometime today. Then she might be released so she could go home. Now that wouldn’t happen before tomorrow. The more she thought about it, the more insane the whole thing seemed. None of it made any sense.

When he finally emerged from the motel office, he was carrying a plastic sack loaded with something. Opening the door on her side, he dumped the sack into her lap.

“Here, you take charge of it,” he ordered as he leaned across her to unlock the handcuffs.

Whatever the sack contained, the lumpy contents weren’t heavy enough to crack him over the head with. Because that’s what she would have liked to do to this insensitive gorilla.

“I suppose it won’t be enough to just lock me inside my room. You’ll insist on handcuffing me to something in there, too.”

“That won’t be necessary. We’ll be sharing a single room.”

“Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Naw, just kidding. I was able to get you a room of your own with no windows and only one steel door I get to lock from the outside. Kind of like a cell.” His voice changed instantly then from pleasantly jocular to something that sounded like the crack of a whip. “One room, Haley. That’s what we’ve got. And guess what? It has only one bed, too. Should be fun, huh?”

Chapter 3

Like most motels, there was little to distinguish it. Clean and impersonal. And, as promised, just one bed.

Chase had brought his athletic bag in from the car. A wary Haley watched him place it on the desk chair, open it and remove a tube of toothpaste and an unopened toothbrush.

“Here,” he said, holding them out to her.

She hesitated to accept them.

“Go on, take them. I have a spare toothbrush for me.”

“Thank you,” she murmured coolly, taking the two items.

She watched him cross to the bathroom and spread the door wide, his hand reaching around the jamb for the light switch. He looked inside without going in. He’s checking to make sure I can’t get out.

He must have been satisfied, because he stepped to one side, sweeping a hand in the direction of the open doorway. “You take it first.”

Chase could have given her a little more room to enter—but he didn’t. The man knew that any contact with him, even a slight one, made her nervous.

“And don’t lock the door behind you,” he called after her. “Unless you want me busting in there on you.”

Jerk!

Even if she’d wanted to escape, Haley realized she couldn’t have managed it. The solitary frosted window was too high and too small. She used the toilet, cleaned up at the sink and brushed her teeth.

When she emerged from the bathroom, he was seated on the edge of the bed. “Join me,” he said, patting the spread on his side. “Come on. You’re safe.”

She wasn’t so sure of that, but she didn’t want him to think she was afraid of him. Nervous, yes, but not afraid. She sauntered over to the bed. He’d left room for her between himself and the railed footboard. She perched on the spot, making sure to leave several inches between them.

“I have a little job for you,” he said before she could ask him why he wanted her sitting here. “Something to keep you occupied while I take my own turn in the john.”

That’s when she noticed he had the plastic sack she’d brought in from the car. Turning it upside down between them, he dumped its mystery contents out on the spread.

“I’m afraid it’s the only supper we get. You get to divide it out for us.”

This was the explanation for his long absence in the motel office. There must have been snack and soda machines in there. It looked as if he’d bought at least two of everything.

“And while you divide and I visit the john...”

The hateful handcuffs, of course. She should have realized he wouldn’t leave her alone in here without cuffing her to something. In this case, it was the footboard rail, leaving her with one hand to divide the haul and the other hand secured and useless.

She was half-afraid that when Chase reappeared a little later, he would be stripped down to his underwear, ready for bed. Or something more extreme. Because there was the possibility he was in the habit of sleeping in the raw, in which case... Well, in other circumstances, that might have been an interesting, even enjoyable spectacle. But not in her current situation, even if she still didn’t feel afraid of sharing a room with a stranger.

As it was, she needn’t have been concerned. He was fully dressed when he walked out of the bathroom. And eager.

“Time to eat!”

Haley rattled the handcuffs. “Do I rate both hands for that?”

“You do.”

He unlocked the cuffs from her wrist and the rail, pocketing them along with the key. Together, they carried their separate piles of food to a table beside the front window, seating themselves in chairs across from each other.

“Not exactly a nutritious meal,” Chase apologized, “but it’s the best the chef could manage.”

The machines he’d taken advantage of in the motel office had provided packaged crackers filled with cheese and peanut butter, nuts, chocolate bars and cans of cold soda.

“I was thinking,” Haley said, biting into one of the cheese crackers, “that since there’s only the one bed, and since you need the rest more than I do, why don’t I curl up in the easy chair there?”

His slow reply couldn’t have been more wry if he’d rehearsed it beforehand. “Now that’s a plan.”

“You didn’t let me finish. Naturally, you aren’t going to just turn me loose.”

“Naturally. How do you recommend we handle that?”

“You can handcuff me to the pole of the floor lamp.”

“Right. Problem with that is, I can see you walking out of here in the middle of the night dragging the floor lamp with you. Maybe even managing to flag down a lift from a truck going south on the freeway. Bet you could even invent a believable story for the driver just why you happen to be attached to a lamp.”

She adopted an injured tone. “I was only thinking of your comfort.”

“And I’m touched by that. But this is how it’s going to be, Haley. You’re going to be attached to me, my right wrist to your left. Both of us flat on the bed side by side, not under the covers but safely on top of them. Hope you can sleep on your back. What do you think?”

“You don’t want to know.”