“We were skeptical it’d work, but we were lucky.” Riley smile widened. He was a charmer, and she was letting him work his magic on her. Hell, she wanted it to work. Thinking about that smile was a far cry better than what she’d obsessed about in the dark.
“This far across the border you could have been walking into a town full of people who’d want you dead. Was that place even on a map? How did you find me?”
“We knew a guy who knew a guy that had heard about the kidnapping,” Riley said in his slow drawl. His green eyes seemed to twinkle. He wasn’t sharing his source with her, and she couldn’t find it in her to be upset about it.
“And the town?”
“It helps to make a lot of friends who want nothing but the best for everyone.”
“You aren’t telling me anything.” She flicked the cap of her bottle at him.
Riley caught it and his grin merely widened.
“This is what you do, then? Drive in, save the day?” She leaned her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hand. God, he pulled all the right strings. He’d done everything to keep people safe. Even when he’d fired the one shot, he’d hit the shooter in the leg. If he flirted with her—for real, none of this smooth talking one liner stuff—she could not be responsible for her actions.
“I wish it was that easy.” He pushed to his feet and stretched. “I think I saw some snacks in the pantry. Still hungry?”
“Oh, not really.” At least not for food. She wanted to forget the last few days, if only for a little while, and replace it with something good. She wanted to feel alive.
Riley strolled to what passed for a pantry and opened it. His phone went off and he paused for a moment to stare at the screen. She didn’t mind. It gave her a wonderful view. Her initial impression of him was: big. A good deal of that was due to his tactical gear, but there was no denying that Riley was a tall, muscular man. His sandy brown hair was short, his skin a warm golden tan and those eyes. They made her think about mojitos. He’d showered sometime after her and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. There was something about plain, gray sweatpants on a man that looked damn good.
“That’s our company liaison. She said your family has not been notified, by the way.” He pulled a box out of the cabinet. “I don’t know what these are, but I’m eating them, anyway.”
The warmth returned to her chest. He didn’t forget a thing she’d mentioned. Damn, if that bit of knowledge didn’t punch her in the gut. “I can’t decide if I’m glad my parents don’t know or...”
Riley offered her a cookie like biscuit from the box. She took it and nibbled on it while she rolled that information around.
“Say what you’re thinking.” Riley nudged her.
“You know what I’m thinking.” If he didn’t, she’d totally misjudged him.
“They’re going to tell you they didn’t inform your family about the kidnapping because they didn’t want to worry them. That our team was here, and qualified, to bring you home without harm. That’s what they want you to believe.”
“There hasn’t been a terrorist attack inside Kurdish Iraq in years. If they label what happened an act of terrorism, it will impact the whole region. We haven’t even covered how they managed to smuggle me past so many security checks. The car didn’t stop once, Riley. Not a single time. I get stopped going from my home to the office at least six times on a normal work day.”
He sighed and chewed his cookie.
“I think there’s a lot going on here, and it’s going to take more than me, you, and this box of cookies to figure it out.” Riley neatly folded the box back together. “We should get some sleep.”
“I don’t think I can sleep,” she finally admitted.
“Try? For me?”
“I can sleep when I’m dead.” There had to be a reason she wasn’t seeing a reason, something obvious if only she’d open her eyes.
Riley held out his hand and speared her with a rare, serious look. He wasn’t going to leave her alone, and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. If she had a reason to stay up, she’d give it to him, but she couldn’t identify anything more than a general sense of unease.
She groaned and put her hand in his. Nothing said she had to stay in a dark room by herself. She could try to sleep, and when that failed she’d just come out here. He wrapped his other hand around hers and pulled her down the bench. She swung her feet over the edge and he helped her up.
“Thomas is across the house on the first floor from you. There’s two of us on security at all times, and we have people back home monitoring the cameras. I’ll be across the hall if you need anything, okay?” He guided her toward the narrow stairs.
Erin hung her head. Was it that obvious?
In all her time, she’d never been at risk like she’d been the last few days. She’d done her best to maintain her cool, think through what she should do, what she knew. It didn’t change the fact that she’d been kidnapped by potential terrorists and held in a cellar for three days.
“This is you.” Riley gestured to a door at the end of the hall. “I’m over here.”
She stared at the other door.
Erin didn’t want to be alone. She didn’t want to be in the dark.
“Thanks for everything,” she muttered and stepped into the bedroom, flipping on the light.
For as long as she could remember, she’d been independent to a fault.
