Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #1)(51)

“Just stay with me at the hotel. Problem solved.”

My desire to escape to his world and block out my own is so intense it’s frightening. Too easily he could leave and I will be broken and alone again. “I need to stay here and start making this home.”

“I have room service, which lets us stay in bed longer and more often.”

A knock sounds on the door and I tense before I can stop myself.

“Expecting someone?”

Liam asks.

“I don’t know anyone to expect,” I tell him and my mind races. Who would visit me except maybe my handler? And I haven’t even checked the email I was given. The very idea that I’ve missed something important sets my heart leapfrogging. I flash back to the call in the hospital. They’re coming for you. If they come for me, they could come for Liam too.





Chapter Fifteen


I twist out of Liam’s arms and rush for the hallway, certain he will follow. Eager to get as much of a jumpstart on him as I can, I all but sprint the rest of the distance and a second knock sounds on the door right as I reach for the knob. I don’t bother with “who is it?” as I normally would. I yank the door open and I am both stunned and relieved to find Jared leaning casually on the doorframe, one elbow on the frame above his head, a Boeing logo on his pale blue t-shirt.

He straightens when he sees me, one thin strand of light brown hair falling from the clasp at the back of his neck. “Hey,” he says, and offers me a sexy smile I imagine a guy like him has down to a science.

That familiar sensation I get with him is back. “Hi.”

He pulls an envelope from behind his back and the adrenaline already racing through me spikes. “This blew off of your door so I thought I’d hold onto it for you,” he explains, and offers it to me.

Remarkably my hand does not shake as I accept it, and I note that it’s free of any text or stickers. It’s also not sealed. “I appreciate you doing this.”

“It gave me an excuse to check on you.” He gives me a half-smile I just manage to return as he adds, “You gave me a scare yesterday. I actually came by last night before the envelope to check on you but you didn’t answer. I was concerned about you being alone after you almost bit the dust.”

“She wasn’t alone. She was with me, and what do you mean she almost bit the dust?”

Liam steps by my side, his hand sliding around my waist, and the touch is a branding, his hip leaning into mine, fingers flexing into my skin.

The two men’s gazes lock and I am suddenly swimming in a pool of testosterone, in need of a life raft. The crackle of power being pulled and pushed is almost palpable. The certainty Liam and I will have words over the encounter: absolute. He’s out of control, or rather, he’s making me out of control.

“Liam Stone,” I say, “meet Jared Ryan. Jared lives across the hall, or at least he will for thirty days.”

“Thirty days?”

“That’s right,” Jared says, offering no explanation, the two-word answer hanging in the air with the heaviness of a storm cloud about to erupt. Silence lingers and we all three just stand there. And stand there. Oh good grief, I’m losing my mind. Someone say something!

“Do you work for Boeing?” Liam asks, proving he is not done being direct, and I am not done being flustered by it, and yet, I find myself curious about the answer as well.

“No,” Jared replies. “But I have a Dallas Cowboys shirt too and I don’t play football.”

“Smartass,” Liam says, sounding irritated while I am slightly amused, though still uncomfortably lost in the power play between these two. I wonder why Jared is so secretive.

Maybe it’s simply that he doesn’t like Liam. I’m pretty sure Liam doesn’t like him either. Maybe though, like me, Jared has something to hide. This, with the familiarity I feel for him, does not sit well.

“Most of the time,” Jared agrees, and I find myself caught in the line of his stare. “Glad you’re okay. If you need anything, you know where to find me.” He turns away and makes his way to his door and neither Liam nor I move, and I wonder if Liam is as surprised by Jared’s abrupt departure as I am.

Jared unlocks his door and he’s about to enter when he cuts us a sideways look. “I’m in safe now. You two can go back inside.”

He disappears into his apartment, leaving me with my new envelope and the overwhelming man that is Liam Stone.

I am the first to move from the doorway, turning away from Liam with every intention of escaping to the other room to see what is in the envelope. I cannot be cornered by Liam until I know what I am facing. In another mad dash, the bedroom is my destination, but I do not make it.

Liam shackles my arm and the next thing I know I am back against the wall, caged in his arms. Clearly we are turning the entryway into the confrontation corner of the apartment. “What does he mean you almost bit the dust?” he demands.

“I hadn’t eaten.” Truth.

“You had another blackout.”

“You’re being overbearing.” Another truth. I’m liking this confrontation so far. I’d like it better if it were after I opened the envelope.

“Don’t be coy,” he warns.

I deflect. “What was the ‘she’s with me’ thing? I’m not property, Liam.” I try to duck under his arm. He blocks me and I can feel emotions building inside me, ready to explode. I need to know what is in this envelope. “Let me pass. You’re being more barbaric than you are Prince Charming.” I can’t pull it back. It’s out and it’s like a rock landing at our feet and I try to cover it up. “You’re suffocating me. I need space.”