had nothing on the furious man radiating barely suppressed violence.
“You’re still here.” The incongruous statement surprised me.
“Where was I supposed to go?” Yeah, I knew which door in that other room led to a hall. I didn’t know where that hall went or what building we were in or even where we were. So yeah, where would I go?
That was a tomorrow Emersyn problem. I still needed to get more mobile and work on building up my strength.
I was getting out of here.
One way or another.
He blew out a breath and finally dragged that icy gaze off of me, and I could breathe again. That was when I noticed the chair he had in one hand and the plastic sheeting in the other. Well, not just plastic, but cloth with rings on it.
A shower curtain.
Stepping in, he closed the door with his boot and carried the stuff into the bathroom. I leaned forward as the chair legs scraped porcelain. Then there was a snapping sound and rustling. A minute later, he came back out and pointed at me. “Stay there.”
I raised my hands. No, I’d already tested my luck for today. Staying right here would be fine.
He gave me a firm nod, then slipped out. This time, he wasn’t gone near as long as he had been before. No more than three minutes. So I doubted he’d left the hall. When he returned, he had an oversized duffle bag.
With a little flourish, he set it on the bed. “We got this for you. I just didn’t realize it hadn’t been brought in here.”
I didn’t recognize the bag, but that didn’t mean anything. Despite the terse tone, he folded his arms and rubbed his thumb against his lower lip as he watched me. Normally, he’d been in button-down shirts, but today, he had on a dark green henley with the sleeves pushed up and beat-up jeans that had seen better days.
Easing forward when he gave me a look like get a move on, I pulled the bag open and pulled out huge fluffy towels. Three of them. They were soft, much softer than the threadbare one I’d used the other night. They were also gray, kind of like the sheets on the bed, but a softer, dove gray and pretty. Included with the towels were a pair of washcloths and some hand towels. Beneath all of that was shampoo, a salon brand I recognized but rarely used, and it was scented like citrus. More, there was vanilla soap, exfoliator, and lotion. Also body cream.
It was all very sweet. Most of these brands had been in the bathroom at my hotel, but not all of them. The body cream I’d had in my dressing room at the theatre. I glanced up to find Jasper studying me steadily with no expression on his face.
“Thank you,” I said slowly. “This is very…nice of you.”
Was there etiquette for expressing gratitude to your kidnapper? Yes, I’d behave because you brought me some nice shampoo and conditioner. That was totally worth the price of my freedom.
Right.
“You’re welcome.” A ghost of a smile seemed to hover over his lips, then vanished as he grabbed the stuff from the bed. “I’ll put all this in here, and I’ve got plastic to wrap up your splint. I can remove the wrap.”
He disappeared into the bathroom, then reappeared a moment later.
“Well c’mon, I want to make sure you can reach everything before I leave you in there to do it.”
Oh.
With care, I slid off the bed and limped into the bathroom. I took my time and played it up a bit more than necessary. They didn’t need to know I was getting better.
In fact, the less they knew, the better.
He had the towels hung up and arranged all the bath products along the shelf in the tub. The chair was in the middle, facing the shower head. I’d have to lean forward to rinse my hair.
Beggars didn’t get to be choosers.
“Can you get in the tub?”
It took some maneuvering, but I managed to get in, though it was a near miss ’cause I had to hop a little to get my good leg over faster.
Jasper scowled.
“Sit.”
I was tempted to ignore the barked command. I wasn’t a damn dog, but I had to admit, I was also curious. So I sat. He vanished. This time, he was gone long enough, I started to wonder if he intended for me to just shower while he was gone. I could reach the controls and