“Good choice,” he said. And then he stopped and looked at mefor a second. A grin slid across his face. “Wait here just onesecond.”
My brows furrowedas he took off into the parlor. He was gone for only a few secondsbut as I continued to shiver, my irritation grew. I wrapped my wetarms around my torso in a failed attempt to keep myself warm untilDarren finally came back, holding two large shot glasses and abottle of Jack Daniel’s.
“How about a shot of Jack to warm you up?” Hegrinned.
I liftedone eyebrow at him,surprised he was offering me one of my favorite brands of whiskey,but then grew angry at the lack of towels I expected him to bringback.
“I thought you were bringing us some towels,” I said with agrimace.
“You won’t need a towel in a minute,” he replied as he pouredthe whiskey into the glasses and handed meone.
I took the shotglass from him, and he set the bottle down on the glass coffeetable next to us. I didn’t even wait for him before I slugged theshot back, its strong liquid burning down my throat and warming mefrom the inside out. God, I needed that. I hadwanted a drink sincebefore I had been kidnapped.
Normally, I wouldnever allow myself to get drunk around him. I needed to keep myguard up and always be ready; plus, I didn’t want to revealsomething that would potentially get me in trouble. But I couldhandle one shot. Or two.
Darren raised aneyebrow at me, surprised I wasn’t so shy when it came todrinking.
“Sorry,” I said. “I really neededthat.”
“I can see that,” he said, and then threw his head back anddrank his shot down. “Want another?”
“Sure,” I said, eyeing him now. One more couldn’t hurt. Weboth did another at the same time, and I set the glass down on thetable, finished with my fit of drinking while the harsh liquorburned inside my stomach with the first shot. I was feeling betteralready.
“How about one more,” he said taking my glass and filling itup a little more than he had the othertwo.
I gave him asuspicious look but threw my head back and emptied the contentsdown my throat. After three shots in a row, my throat andstomach were really startingto burn. That was enough for me.
“Last one,” he said, pouringanother.
“What are trying to do here, get medrunk?”
“What? You can’t handle four shots of whiskey?” he challengedme.
“I know my limits, and I prefer to have a clear mind aroundyou.”
“So you can’t then,” he said, holding the glass out to me,waiting to see if I would take him up on his challenge.Motherfucking reverse psychology.
“Fine. As long as this is the last one,” I said angrily andthrew the shot back. It stung harshly on its way down this time. Hesmiled and finished his glass.
Leaving theglasses and bottle on the table, he took my hand and led meupstairs. I swear it wasas if the man couldn’t bear to let me walk anywhere without himtugging me along. His arm was my own personalleash.
As we got to thetop of the stairs, Darren pulled me to the right instead of theleft and we continued down the west wing of the house. I hadassumed he would take us to my room, but it seemed he had somethingelse in mind. I had a feelinghe was taking us to his room.
When we finallycame to the third door on the left, I realized Darren hadn’t shownme his room during yesterday’s tour. It never occurred to me to askbecause I simply wasn’t interested. He stopped and stared down atme.
“This is my room,” he said seriously. “And you are welcome tocome here anytime youwant as long as the door is open.”
“Okay,” I replied. As if I’d ever dream of wanting to be inhis room.
He stepped infront of me blocking the way as he unlocked the door with anotherfingerprint scanner by the side of the wall. I listened as the lockto the door unhitched.
As westepped inside, the essence ofman immediately greeted me as I entered the most masculine room Ihad ever seen. Everything was different shades ofdark gray and navy blue,with black wooden dressers and a black steel bed frame canopy withdark blue blankets and pillows. Even a sleek black leather couchrested up against the large window opening out to the sea. A set ofdouble doors that led to his patio balcony was a couple of feetaway from the couch. The wall opposite the bed had a hugeflat-screen TV mounted on the wall over a grandfireplace.
He actually let goof my hand and walked down to the far end of the room to anotherdoor that I assumed led into the bathroom. I lingered behind for afew seconds and looked around the room, hoping something would giveDarren away, but there wasn’t much of anything. I heard him turn onthe water and I headed over to the window, keeping my hands over myarms as I attempted to warm myself. And then I felt my head startto spin as the floor shifted beneath me and I reached out for thewall to stop myself. Shit, those shots were kickingin.
“Shower’s ready,” Darren said as he came towardme.
“Do you have conditioner in there?” I asked stalling. I reallydidn’t want to take a shower with him, knowing he was probablygoing to wash me and put his big fucking hands all over my body.Again.
“Jaden, get the fuck in the shower.” He pointed toward thebathroom.
“Fine. Jesus,” I said walking pasthim.
He followed me in,irritated, and closed the door behind us. I looked around, noticinghis bathroom was all dark marble and dark wooden cabinets with abig black bathtub in the corner and a huge shower next to it. If Ithought my bathroom was luxurious, his was far beyondthat.
Darren startedrummaging through the cabinets until he finally found what he waslooking for. He slammed a small travel-size bottle of conditioneron the counter. “Here,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said politely.
I could feel myhead starting to buzz, and I tried to shake it away before it gotto me. Darren then stripped out of
