Page 81 of When He Lies
Fun?
The stairwell door clanged shut. Simone grabbed the back of Ryan’s wet shirt and pulled hard. “Let me down now. Or I will be kicking you in the dick.” She was pretty sure that she could make the kick from this position.
“Don’t make me spank you.”
Her breath caught. “Okay, save the kink for later, and we’ll talk about spanking options.”
“Simone.”
“Down! Now! Dammit, you’re hurt!” Tears stung her eyes. “And I’m about to cry! Shit! This night sucks—and, ah!”
He’d put her down. Instantly. “You will not cry.”
A threat of a kick to the dick had not done the trick, but he listened when she mentioned crying? Good point to know for future reference.
She also found herself immediately pinned between him and a wall. Simone glared up at Ryan. “You do this a lot.”
“Do what? Nearly go insane because of you? Yeah, that does seem to occur, granted. I swear, I never lost control before you came rolling into my life. My sanity was never in question. Never. Not once.”
“Your insanity is your own business. What I meant was you use your body to intimidate me. You do that a lot, and it is not cool!”
“Uh, again, wrong wording. Did you mean I use my body to protect you? Is that what you meant to say? Because I’m surrounding you so that you’ll be safe if any threats appear. You know, threats like the one we just faced. I tried to shield you with my body at the Arch. Only, instead of staying behind me, you moved to the side! You made yourself a target. Why in the hell would you do that?”
So he could keep living. Obviously. “You’re not my human shield.” Her gaze zeroed in on his arm. His blood-covered arm. Even though she blinked repeatedly, two tear drops raced down her right cheek. “I don’t like for you to get hurt. And I specifically hate for you to get shot.”
“It’s a graze.” His thumb slid under her chin and tipped her head up. “It is only a graze, and I am fine. I swear it.” His mouth brushed over hers.
The kiss steadied her. It quieted the terrible fear that had been blooming inside of her ever since she’d realized it was his blood and not the other jerk’s.
Ryan eased back.
Her breath whispered out.
“We’re going up to our suite,” he said.
“I really think we should get out of this hotel. Who is going to come after me next, one of the cleaning staff? A cook? The concierge?”
His stare held hers. “I need you to trust me.”
The problem was that she did trust him. When she rarely trusted anyone. “I need you…to let me go.”
“It’s just not going to happen.” Then his mouth brushed against hers again. “Now do I get to carry you up the stairs?”
“No, I can get up the stairs just fine on my own.”
And she did. He went first, determined to keep up his human shield act, and at every new floor they reached, they encountered another guard. Guard, spy—same thing? She realized that his people were stationed at every level of the hotel.
So much for her plan to sneak away via the stairs. If these guards were going to stay in position for the rest of the night, she’d barely get down one flight before being intercepted. Maybe if she couldn’t go down…then she could go up. Escape via the roof?
Simone filed that option away for later. For the moment, she had a bleeding Ryan to handle.
Jamar was waiting when they reached the top floor. He held open the stairwell door for them. “Enjoyed the fresh air, huh? Was it as invigorating as you hoped?” He waved toward Ryan. Specifically, Ryan’s arm. “Got to tell you, you have a little something on you.”
“I want that bastard interrogated. Thoroughly,” Ryan ordered.
“Jezebel is on the case. You know she always gets her answers. Guess the plan to use Simone as bait worked.” An approving nod. “Nice job. You are taking down bad guys left and right.”
Bait.
