Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

CALVIN

Kiara was gone early the next morning, but she'd been nice enough to buy better coffee than the instant stuff the hotel offered before she left. I still had her card, and she said to call her on the hotel phone if something went wrong. I was left to my own devices and bored out of my skull by lunch.

To expel some energy, I decided to get some exercise. There was a pair of shorts in the duffle that luckily had a drawstring, so I could cinch them up enough to stay put. I took off my shirt and got to work. I was in the middle of push ups when Kiara came back with lunch. She froze in the doorway, and when I popped to my feet, her eyes trailed down my stomach automatically. I grinned.

"See something you like?"

Her head jerked back, and she blinked rapidly, like she'd surprised herself with her reaction. She scowled, storming past me to put the food on the desk.

Deciding to play a little, I grabbed a hand towel from the bathroom and wiped myself off while leaning my hip against the desk to draw her attention, feigning innocence.

"What's in the bag?"

She glanced at me and away, her movements not as graceful as usual. "Sandwiches. I can't stay long. I've got a job."

Momentarily distracted, I straightened. "You found him?"

She waved the question away, pulling a few bottles of soda out of the bag. "No, not him. Another job. I want him to think you're not around, so he'll stop looking for you. His little crony saw you with me, so I want him to think you aren't by showing my face around town alone."

That… was the worst idea on the planet. "Isn't that dangerous? I mean, he shot at both of us like two days ago and you want to face him alone? Why aren't we getting the cops involved?"

The only answer she gave me was, "Because."

"Wooow. Real informative. You'd think because I'm part of all this, you'd share a little information. It's not like I can tell anyone."

She rolled her eyes. "You're not part of this. You were an unfortunate bystander who decided to piss off a criminal. I don't want your blood on my hands, is all. So shut up and eat. And tell me what else you know about your boss and his friendship with Jasper. Those two don't make sense."

I crossed my arms defiantly. "Let me get this straight. I'm not allowed to know what's going on or any information, really, but you're allowed to grill me? How's that fair?"

She stepped closer, facing off with me, and I swore I heard her growl. "News flash. Life isn't fair. You'll tell me what I need to know because I'm trying to keep you safe. I've got all the time in the world. You're the one stuck in here. Withholding information is only going to drag this out for you."

Dammit. She had a freaking point. Still, it felt unfair to give something for nothing.

"Fine. But I want something in return."

"Your life should be enough."

I rolled my eyes. "Death threats would be more effective if you weren't actively working to keep me alive right now. Equivalent exchange or I'm not saying shit."

With a frustrated groan, she stormed away. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, and I watched, fascinated, as she worked through whatever was going on in her head. How was she so damn gorgeous even when she was pissed off and just on the edge of murdering me in my sleep?

Spinning around, she stalked back up to me, pointing a finger in my face. "Fine. But don't ask for anything stupid. I'm not getting you a damn phone or something like that."

"Nope. I don't want that." I mean, it'd be nice, since I was seriously deprived of gaming and even phone games were better than nothing, but I'd survive.

"What do you want, then?" she asked suspiciously.

Ohhh… I made a mistake. The possibilities were endless and my mind went straight to the gutter before I yanked it back out again. As sexy as she was, I wasn't going to make her trade sexual favors for information. Not unless she was into that kind of thing. And right now, I was almost certain if I suggested it, she'd deck me.

"We'll start simple. For every question I answer, I get to ask you one in return. Sounds fair?"

"Whatever. But I get veto power. There are some things you don't get to know."

I saw that coming, but I didn't really have an argument for it. I begrudgingly agreed, offering her a hand to shake. "Deal."

Her grip was rough when she shook my hand, but I just smirked at her attempt to intimidate me. I stepped closer with a smirk.

"If you're trying to put me in my place, you should know I'm into strong women. If I'm a good boy, will I get a reward?"

She jerked away, eyes wide, and my grin spread across my face. Man, she was fun to tease. Her face got all flushed, and she seemed taken off guard every damn time. I wasn't normally this cocky, but with her, I couldn't seem to help myself.

We eventually sat down with our sandwiches. Kiara made sure to sit on the opposite bed from me, which only made me grin. As a gesture of good will, I tipped my hand in her direction. "You go first."

"How many times has Jasper come to that shop?"

I thought about it as I unwrapped my sandwich. "I think like three times while I was working. But during the summer, Dev worked part time at the shop and I wasn't there all day like I am now. Or was. I'm not going back. Being shot at for Dev's shit was plenty to send me packing."

She at least cared enough to grimace. "Sorry. I didn't think asking him to come out would get you involved. Most criminals run when they see me. I thought he'd ignore you."

That helped a little, honestly. I was still a little miffed that I was dragged into all of this. At least she hadn't done it on purpose. I couldn't really see her as the type to get innocent people involved in something dangerous, but I didn't actually know her that well.

"I'm over it. My turn. Why haven't we called the police? Bounty hunters don't normally do witness protection, do they?"

She shook her head, finishing a bite of her food before answering. "Not usually, no. It's very rare. But Jasper is… special, I guess. He needs to be brought somewhere specific. The cops will make that difficult. Besides, the payout is going to be hefty if I find him first. I don't want to get the cops involved unless I absolutely have to."

"What, like a high security prison?" I could see that. He did start shooting in broad daylight, after all. And he sent people to come after me. A regular prison probably wouldn't be enough for this guy.

"Something like that. But it's my turn. Tell me about your boss. Have you ever seen him doing anything illegal?"

"Not directly, no. But he's always been a little shady. He wasn't even supposed to be back yet. He's twenty-three and still in college. He was supposed to be gone until the summer."

We traded information back and forth. There were a few things she wouldn't tell me, like where she needed to bring the guy or what made him so dangerous aside from the fact that he was a wackjob. And she went stoney after I asked her to explain what he was talking about when he was holding me hostage. She only said it wasn't important and to move on.

I ran out of questions before she did, and because I didn't want to just give information away, I switched tactics.

"What's your type?"

She frowned, her brows drawn together tightly. "My type of what?"

"Of guy. What's your type?"

Her expression flatted. "How is that relevant?"

"We said we'd exchange information. We didn't say what kind of information. Answer the question."

With a heavy sigh, she answered, "Strong and silent. Emphasis on the word silent. Happy?"

She was lying. She liked me talking to her. It wasn't like when we were watching tv that she was sitting there in silence. She was engaged in the conversation and offered her own opinions without prompting. I liked how flustered she looked, though.

"Very."

The next day was pretty much the same. Kiara popped in long enough to bring me food, but mostly, I was left to my own devices. She refused to let me go with her on a job, no matter how much I whined about being bored. When I floated the idea of following her when she left, she threatened to handcuff me to the bed. She left when I waggled my eyebrows at her and suggested being into the idea.

While she was gone, I made plans to get her attention. Working out did the trick the previous day, so that was in the plan. I didn't really have many options aside from that, since I was stuck in here without access to a store or even the internet. I did save more shows I thought she might like for when she got back, and wrote out some personal questions in case she wanted to play the information trading game again. I got some interesting details about her last time and I'd take any scrap I could get at this point.

Was it pathetic that I kept pushing when she hadn't given many signs that she was interested? Probably. Was I going to stop? No. She never asked me to, and I was under the impression that she didn't get a lot of flattering attention often. She didn't seem to know what to do with it. Women as gorgeous and tough as her deserved to feel wanted. Just because she could easily kick my ass didn't make her any less desirable. Honestly, it probably made her more so.

I timed my workout for just before she usually got back. It gave me enough time to get sweaty without getting so drained that I just looked exhausted. I was in the middle of handstand pushups when she came back with dinner. She stared every single time, which boosted my self confidence by a lot. Just because I was a nerd didn't mean I was unattractive.

"The room smells like sweat, thanks to you," she complained in an effort to ignore me.

"We could always get sweaty together next time," I offered, landing on my feet again. "I could use a workout buddy."

Her eyes had gone wide at the start, and I was biting back a laugh when her scowl showed up. I'd been working on that line all damn day. It was great when things worked out how I wanted them to.