Page 25 of Her Forbidden Mountain Man

“You kidnapped me.”

“To save you.”

“You tied me up.”

“I already said that won’t happen again.”

“You took my phone.”

“Still have it.”

I hold out my hand. “Give it back.”

“No.” I see him glance at his jacket that’s hanging by the door. Got him.

“Samuel.”

“It stays off until I can remove the tracking risk.”

I lower my hand. “Fine. Then rule one is no more restraints.”

“Agreed.”

“Rule two: You don’t pick me up unless I’m in immediate danger.”

He looks at my injured ankle.

“Or I ask,” I amend.

“Agreed.”

“Rule three: You answer my questions.”

“No.”

“You can’t reject a rule before I’ve finished making it.”

“Just did.”

I glare at him. His mouth shifts beneath his beard.

I point at him. “Was that a smile?”

“No.”

“It absolutely was.”

He turns toward the window. A laugh slips from me.

Samuel looks back, and the expression in his eyes steals the air from my lungs. He watches me the way a starving man watches a table laid for a feast he refuses to touch.

Samuel faces the window again, trying not hide his feelings. I seize the moment to hobble toward his jacket and take the phone out.

“I’m using the restroom.” I say.

He looks at me oddly. “Okay…?”

I’m not used to covert operations and I fear that I’m giving myself away. I hobble to the bathroom and turn the phone back on.