Wild Men of Alaska Collection - By Helmer, Tiffinie Page 0,116

Unless you make a move on me first, then all bets are off.” He gave her his back as though he didn’t fear her in the slightest.

That burned.

It was not a trust gesture. It was I-don’t-think-you-are-a-threat-to-me gesture. He flicked on the bathroom light. She ventured into the bedroom, her blood simmering. He gathered up items from the counter, and the drawers. A razor, scissors, dental floss, and spray cologne.

“Feel free to shower if you’d like,” he said, carrying the few things he’d grabbed out of the room. “If you need more bandages there are some in the bottom drawer.”

Like she was getting naked with him so close.

“The door locks from the inside,” he added.

One thing she knew without a doubt, if Sergei wanted into the room, a standard bathroom lock wouldn’t keep him out.

He stepped aside for her to enter. “Don’t try the vindow. The drop is too far and the terrain nothing but ice. The fall vould kill you and there is nothing inside here to assist in your descent. You have twenty minutes in case you’d like to shower. I promise not to bother you until the time is up.” He shut the door behind him leaving her peacefully alone.

She didn’t waste any time.

Sergei heard the shower kick on. He’d give anything to know what Kate was doing in there. Knowing her, she wouldn’t lay down her guard long enough to take the shower he’d offered. But she’d surprised him before. Hell, everything she did surprised him. From the first moment he’d “chanced” to meet her in the outdoor market in the eastern Afghan city of Khost.

It was supposed to be a quick drop. Get in, get out kind of thing. That was until he’d seen her, talked with her. He’d fallen right then and there. The woman had an innocence about her he hadn’t encountered in years, if ever. What had she been doing as a spy?

In the last two years, she’d lost some of that innocence. A fair share of it at his hands. Part of him regretted the necessary evil of that and another part did not. But what he regretted the most was the pain he’d caused her. Not killing Perry, but not being there for her the morning following their unbelievable night together and the resulting aftermath.

He’d been able to do what he could from a distance, making sure she wasn’t court-martialled, by him turning state’s evidence. He’d given up his country for her, and she didn’t even know it.

She would soon.

The shower shut off. He glanced at his watch. Five minutes until show time.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kate hadn’t been able to resist the shower. It had been a few minutes of heaven to wash in the blue-green, fully-tiled slate shower outfitted with power nozzles and a rain faucet. How she would love to have lingered. A quick wash of her hair, scrub down of her body, and she felt like a new woman.

Revitalized.

She’d gone so far as to wedge towels under the door, not that it would have saved her from Sergei if he’d chosen to break through the lock. But it made her feel better doing something to make it harder to enter the room. The more reasonable part of her decided that if Sergei were initiating a truce of sorts, he wouldn’t waste what ground he’d gained by interrupting her shower.

She grabbed a towel and began drying off when a knock came at the door. She froze, and then scrambled for her bra. There were still a few tricks sewn into the garment that Sergei hadn’t seen.

“I have a change of clothing, if you vould like. I’ve left it outside the door.”

Wow, he was making her feel right at home, wasn’t he?

She listened and heard him step back. Was he still in the room?

“My back is turned. Safe to go ahead and open door.”

Seemed as if he’d thought of everything. Donning the bra, which she wasn’t about to give up, she wrapped the towel tighter around herself, moved the rolls of laughable barrier away from the door and opened it. True to his word, Sergei faced the bed. She snatched the pile of clothes and relocked the bathroom door. He’d found her a simple pair of jeans, her size, a warm, soft sweater in moss green, and a pair of woolen socks. No underwear. But then she didn’t want to wear some other woman’s under things. She went commando, rinsing her underwear in the sink and hanging them to dry over the