Anger and frustration swirled in Liam. “Is it so easy for you to turn off? Are you so used to being undercover that pretending is easy for you?”
He saw the flash of hurt before she hid it.
Liam mentally cursed himself.
“I need to go.” She stuffed her things in her bag.
“I’ll drive you.”
She looked up. “It’s not easy. You’re not a man who’s easy to ignore.”
“Aspen—”
“Liam, I’m trying to be realistic here. You’re a billionaire, from a wealthy family. I’m a PI, and not from a wealthy anything. We are nothing alike.”
“Bollocks,” he snapped.
“You’re out of my league.”
“There are no leagues, Aspen. I’m a man, you’re a woman. How much money we have doesn’t dictate who we are.” He leaned closer. “Or how we’d be together.”
Surprising him, she grabbed him, and then her mouth was on his.
The kiss was hot, a little frantic. She slid a hand into his hair, he cupped her ass. His groan vibrated through his chest.
When she pulled back, they were both panting.
“We need to go now.” Her voice was husky.
“When this is over, Aspen…” He flexed his hand.
“We’ll see.” She slid her bag over her shoulder.
“No, not we’ll see. You’ll be in my bed.”
She tossed her hair back. “That’s my choice, Kensington.”
He followed her to the elevator. Damned if her attitude didn’t turn him on more.
They didn’t talk on the drive to her place.
It started raining, and the only sound was the swish of the windshield wipers.
They stopped at a traffic light. The light turned green, and Liam accelerated.
“Watch out!” Aspen screamed.
A large black SUV ran the red light, speeding through the intersection, rushing straight at them.
Liam slammed on the brakes. The Aston’s tires slid on the wet road, and the car spun.
He heard Aspen gasp. The SUV was right in front of them.
The Aston jerked to a stop.
“Fuck.” He squeezed the wheel. Rain pattered hard on the windshield.
The SUV had stopped too, just inches away.
Then suddenly, the doors of the Aston were wrenched open.
Hooded figures appeared, grabbing at them.
With a cry, Aspen was yanked out.
“Come quietly, and we won’t kill the woman.” A man loomed over Liam, pistol in hand.
Fuck. Liam slid out of the car.
“Let me go.” Aspen struggled, trying to break free of her captor. The man punched her in the back of her head, and she slumped.
Liam gritted his teeth to keep himself from attacking the bastard.
“Move it,” the other man said.
Be okay, Aspen.
Aspen
I blinked awake. My head throbbed, and I was lying in darkness.
Where was I?
“You okay?”
Liam’s deep voice. I felt him shift against me and realized he was pressed up against my back.
We were lying in… I squinted, feeling vibration under me.
In the trunk of a car.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered.
“An apt pronouncement.”
“How can you sound so calm? We’ve been kidnapped!”
“Would panicking help?”
How dare he sound so amused? God, I’d been kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a moving vehicle with a billionaire.
Not how I imagined my evening would end.
I tried to move and heard the clank of metal. I registered the cool band around my left wrist.
“Oh my God, they handcuffed us together?”
Liam moved his arm and the handcuffs jangled.
“What the hell does Doyle think he’s doing?” I snapped.
“Intimidating me.”
Liam didn’t sound intimidated. He sounded annoyed, with a side of angry.
“I’m busy plotting how the hell to make my father pay. This is all his fucking fault.”
I wasn’t going anywhere near that. “What do we do now?” I felt around. The trunk was empty except for Liam’s hard body curled around me.
“We wait until they stop.”
I made a sound. I didn’t want to wait. The twins would be worried.
“You aren’t jumping from a moving vehicle, Aspen.”
Damn, he was probably right.
The car drove for what felt like forever. Meanwhile, it was extremely distracting to have Liam spooning me.
Finally, the car slowed.
I tensed. The trunk opened.
It was dark, but I saw the two hooded figures just fine. They dragged us out of the trunk, and that’s when I realized that I didn’t have on any shoes. Liam didn’t, either.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
My answer was another shove.
I collided with Liam, and he pulled me closer.
“Move.” One of our captors gestured.
I saw the hulking shadow of a building looming over us, and heard the lap of waves. We were near the water somewhere.
One of the goons opened a rusty roller door and we were shoved into a warehouse.
A light clicked on. A lone bulb hung down over two wooden chairs.
Still handcuffed, Liam and I were shoved into the chairs. Goon One started tying my uncuffed right wrist to the arm of the chair with some rope. I glanced over and saw Goon Two doing the same to Liam.
“What happens now?” I demanded. “What do you want?”
They ignored me and walked out.
“Well,” Liam said.
I dragged in a breath. I was sitting in a cavernous empty warehouse, tied to a chair, and shackled to a billionaire bachelor. I had no shoes. No phone. No money.
Don’t panic, Aspen.
“This has to be Doyle,” I said.
“That’s my guess.” Liam tugged on his tied arm.
“Well, I’m not going to fucking sit here.” I bucked and yanked on the rope, but it didn’t budge. The handcuffs rattled.
“My rope has a little slack,” he said.
I peered over, but it was hard to see. The bulb didn’t give off much light. “Can you work it free?”
“I’ll try my best.” He made a noise. “I can’t get my fingers to it.”
I sucked in a breath. “I’ll try.”
“How?”
I stood, lifting my entire chair with me. “Hold still.” I leaned over him, the handcuffs making it hard. It was awkward as hell. I was half draped over his lap, the wooden chair pressed against my back, one arm handcuffed to him, and my other wrist hurt from the rope.
I got my teeth on Liam’s rope. Yuk.
Trying not to think about the germs, I tried to work the rope free with my teeth.
He made a sound and I looked up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He was staring above my head.
“What?” I repeated.
“Well, you’re lying over my lap…”
That’s when I felt the growing bulge beneath me. “We’ve been kidnapped, and tied up, and you’re getting turned on?”
“Trying not to. Just focus on the rope.”
Right. It was much harder to focus when I could feel his hard cock against my belly.