CHAPTER SEVEN
Her brow furrowed. “You mean I’ll talk. Cause I get the idea, you won’t be telling me anything about yourself.” Ridge felt sick. He’d lied to her then tricked her. Now, he seemed to be acting like a captor. God, what had she gotten herself into? She needed to get the hell out of here. Her brain was working overtime with trying to plan how to do it. But she’d better not let anything show. He was too astute. Too knowing in some strange way.
“I will tell you what I can?” Harris suddenly didn’t sound so sure.
“What you can?”
He nodded. “But until I know why you were coming to me, I have to be careful.”
“Careful?”
He smirked as he let her go. “You keep repeating whatever I say.”
“This isn’t funny, Harris!”
He turned the stove on and placed the pan there.
Abruptly, another thought occurred to her. “Your name isn’t really Harris, is it?”
He paused slightly as he poured the eggs into the hot pan and stirred them with a fork. “It is a name I have gone by. So that wasn’t a lie.”
“Rolling her eyes, she scoffed. “A name you go by? Like what? A nickname?”
He stirred the eggs and then took a spatula in hand to scrape them off onto a plate. “Are we going to have toast?”
Blinking her eyes hard, she couldn’t believe how he was acting like nothing was amiss. Like he hadn’t just dropped several bombs just now. She huffed and looked around.
“It’s in the upper cabinet there, three to your right.”
She moved over and checked the first cabinet.
“Three over, Ridge, not one.”
She was so upset she couldn’t think straight. “And that!” she seethed.
“What?” he asked as he moved to the fridge.
“Calling me Ridge.” She got the bread out. Spotting the toaster, she went over to it and stuck the pieces in, slamming the handle down.
“Easy on the poor toaster, okay? So what should I call you?” he asked as he brought out the silverware.
She got the butter from the fridge while passing him. “I don’t know…” This thought had never occurred to her to name herself when she didn’t even know her name.
“See?” he concluded smugly. “You gotta have a name.” He went over to the toaster. “The butter please?”
She gripped the tub in her hand and stalked over.
He took it from her then swiped it on each piece of toast. He then set the plates at the bar and took a stool. “Come on and eat.” He picked up his fork.
Ridge paused then sat down. Her brain was whirling and her panic was on the rise. Men hunting her. This man keeping his true identity from her, lying to her, for reasons he wouldn’t share. She needed to get back to civilization.
They ate in silence for several minutes.
Harris hopped up, heading to the fridge, grabbing the milk. He came back and took out glasses from a lower cabinet. He poured the milk. “I happen to like sweet cheeks.”
With plans forming in her head about what clothes she could wear to traverse the down slope, her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. “What?”
“Sweet cheeks.” He placed the glass of milk in front of her.
Her eyes widened. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He grinned and came back around to sit on the stool. Then he made a point of boldly looking down at her ass. “I’ve been watching them all morning. Sweet cheeks.”
Her face filled with heat. He was talking about her ass? Where did this flirtatious Harris come from?
“Yes, I have been ogling your ass. I admit it openly.” He took a swig of his milk.
“O-ogling?”
He nodded. “I’m going to be as honest as I can, like I promised earlier. You have the hottest ass. I just wanted to grab it and squeeze.”
She almost choked on her milk.
“Easy there,” he teased as he patted her back.
She pushed her plate away. “How can you make jokes right now?”
He finished his milk. Then set it down. “My buddies used to tell me I do it when I’m nervous.” He shrugged.
“Your buddies?”
His expression changed to anger and then he seemed to control whatever caused it and he looked calmer suddenly. “Yeah. So. What name do you want?”
“Name?”
He laughed as he patted her bare thigh. “Lucy? Hannah, Anna, Wendy?”
She scrunched her face up. “Umm, no thanks.”
He laughed at her expression. “So adorable. That face you’re making.”
She rolled her eyes at the cutesy comment. What is with this light bantering all the sudden? “I think I’ll stick to Ridge.” He still had his hand on her thigh and it felt like it was going to burn a hole through her skin.
He squeezed it and looked into her eyes. “It’s where I found you.”
“What?” Her thoughts were scattered again. Those emerald eyes, that dazzling smile and that hot hand on her leg. Then add a body sculpted like his was… Yeah, that would do it. Put any woman’s brain into a blender and just turn it on. BZZZ. Instant dumb blonde shake.
“I named you Ridge ‘cause I found you on one.” His hand slid further up her thigh as his deep green eyes never left hers.
Ridge held her breath as those hot fingers got ever closer to where she wanted them Yes. A little higher.
Lightly, his fingertips brushed her mound.
Her air was running out. Higher… deeper. Yes, deeper.
He removed his hand.
Ridge’s body nearly deflated like a balloon. Dammit. She shook her head. No. She still needed to be mad at this man, not lusting after just his merest touch. She needed to get away from him, not be so close to him. He’d fooled her. He—
“Let’s go.” He took the plates and set them in the sink.
“Go? Go where?”
Harris chuckled. “To find you something better than that dammed shirt to wear.”
Leading her to the bedroom, he opened the door.
Ridge felt nervous suddenly, more nervous than even before when he’d done all that bomb dropping then the spontaneous flirting.
“Sit,” he said.
She looked to the bed and sat.
“So let’s see.” He gazed around. “You know my buddies and I shared this getaway cabin at one time.”
She raised her brows. He was sharing personal stuff? “Really?”
He nodded as he opened some dresser drawers, fishing through clothes. “We had it built to our specs. We came here after…work. To relax.”
“In a fortress?” she asked. “Up on a mountain?”
“Sure.” He grabbed a stack of clothing. “That’s why there are various sizes of clothing.” He dropped them on the bed.
Gazing down, she saw a few shirts and some smaller pants. Yes, these would fit her better and she wondered if there were some warmer ones still left in the dresser. She needed layers if she wanted to make it down the mountain. “Oh, yes these might—”
Suddenly, he moved her up toward the headboard, flat on her back. Gasping, she realized that before she knew it, her hands were tied. “What are you doing?” She stared at the man’s tie around her wrists.
Harris then tied her feet. “Stopping you.”
She raised her head, breathless as she yelled, “WHAT?”
He stared at her. “I’m sorry but you can’t leave.”
How did he know?
“I’m good at it,” he answered her silent question. “Reading people, Ridge.” He sighed as he gazed down at her.
“So, you are taking me hostage!”
He shrugged. “I do what I have to. It’s the story of my life I’m afraid.”
“You can’t do this!” She struggled with her bonds.
“I can and I have. You would die out there. And if not, where would you go? You have no memory of who you are. If someone found you, if you were lucky not to freeze to death, then you would tell them I’m up here.”
“Oh, my god! You are serious!”
He reached out and smoothed a hand down her face. “I have no choice. I saw your flight response. You would do it too, as stubborn as you are.”
His touch was warm, but she refused to be affected by it now. “You asshole! You are a bastard!”
His lips turned up in a sad smile. “Yes. I am a beautiful bastard.”