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All while his brain played a porno starring him and Tenley.
Then it occurred to him that he was having sex dreams about her while desperately clinging to her like she was his childhood teddy bear. That was embarrassing.
She leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed a second cup of coffee. “Here,” she said, extending it to him. Then she patted the space he’d just vacated. “Sit down. Drink your coffee, and let’s talk.”
Was this a trap? It felt like a trap. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Oh, calm down, Knox. We don’t need to discuss our feelings. After last night and the whole handcuff thing, I think we need to do a little trust building.”
He couldn’t help but snort at that. He did take the coffee, though. It was damn good, too. Just good old-fashioned black coffee. His favorite. “You’re not an easy person to trust.”
She gave him a little shrug. “I get that. But on the flip side, you did kidnap me. So, neither of us has been at our most trustworthy lately.”
That sounded weirdly reasonable. His first instinct was to distrust everything she said and did. But she wasn’t the villain in this scenario. He was. He’d dragged her off the street and threatened her life. He deserved whatever she dished out, frankly.
Not that he’d ever tell her that.
Instead, he took a seat on the corner of the bed and turned his body toward hers. “So, why did you refuse to leave when I offered to let you go?”
Tenley tapped one of her perfectly manicured fingernails on her coffee cup. “I needed a ride out of town that didn’t leave a paper trail of any kind. I spotted you and you looked desperate for some reason.” Her eyes flicked downward as she quietly added, “I knew I could use that against you.”
Wow. He really was the captive in this scenario. He shoved a hand through his hair. “And the reason you needed out of town in a hurry?”
She had the grace to look a little sheepish. “Remember me mentioning the stolen diamonds? Well, I’d just lifted them when I saw you. If I’d had another day to plan, I could’ve made other arrangements. But the perfect opportunity came up, and I grabbed it—and a bag full of diamonds.”
That was a lot to process. “And you’re telling me this…because?”
“Mutually assured destruction. I’m giving you ammo to use against me if I try to use the kidnapping against you.”
“Trust building,” he murmured.
“Exactly.”
She looked so sincere as she sat there telling him about how she was a manipulator, a liar, and a thief. It was disconcerting. But in his position, did he really have any right to judge her? “So, you’re leaving? Is that where this conversation is going?”
Something flashed across her expression so fast he would’ve missed it if he hadn’t really been paying attention. Was it…pain? Regret? He wasn’t sure. He’d seen it, though. “I can,” she began cagily. “Or you can tell me why you were desperate enough to kidnap a woman off the street. Maybe I can help.”
He let out a humorless chuckle. “Baby, I wish my problems were as small as a bag of stolen diamonds.”
She gave him a crooked smile. “You wouldn’t believe what a great problem solver I am.”
In his experience, people who were willing to break every rule put in front of them did tend to be good problem solvers. And at this point, what did he have to lose (since he’d already lost his dignity long ago) by telling her the gory details of his messy life?
Knox took a fortifying sip of coffee before letting the story fly. “My mom was an entrepreneur. She built this gorgeous, handmade furniture that ended up being featured in a few big architectural magazines, and the business blew up to the point that she expanded production several times. The company became one of the biggest employers in the entire state.”
Tenley gave him a real smile at that point, and it was so warm that he totally lost his place in the story. “What’s the name of the company?” she asked.
“Wilder Days.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God! I saw one of their chairs on some huge influencer’s page and it was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”
His mom would’ve loved hearing that. “Yeah. Mom was a genius. She somehow figured out how to produce her stuff in mass without sacrificing quality.”
“ She was a genius?” she prompted gently.
Knox swallowed the lump that always settled in his throat when he thought about his mom. “Yeah. She died when I was ten.”
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured.
