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A definitive no was about to leap out of his mouth but that would have been a lie. Or at least a partial lie. He thought she was beautiful, but she was also needy and overly emotional, neither of which he liked in a woman. Although, he suspected both were a reaction to the trauma she’d endured because when Miller had attacked her last night she hadn’t just fought back physically but mentally as well, taking note of her assailant so she could give a description to the cops. She was definitely tougher than she appeared.
Surprised, Miller’s eyes widened. “You really are attracted to her.”
“Possibly on a purely physical level,” he admitted. “But nothing deeper. I don’t get involved with women. You know that. I don’t have the time nor the inclination for romantic hoopla.”
“Hoopla?” Miller repeated with a smirk.
Nick just shrugged, he wasn't in the mood to discuss Aggie, he just wanted to keep moving with the plan. That was what mattered. That and that alone. Not ridiculous romantic nonsense. What he felt for Aggie didn’t go beyond lust, and by the time this was all over he would have her in his bed, his lust would be satisfied, and then he could throw her away and move on. He recognized that that sounded harsh, cold even, but he couldn’t do what he did if he let uncontrolled emotion get in the way.
Serious now, Miller asked, “Do you want to pull out?”
“No. Absolutely not. Let me repeat that; I do not want to pull out of this. Can I say that any clearer?”
“Nope, crystal clear.”
From Miller’s tone, Nick got the feeling that his partner hadn’t been fooled. That Miller suspected that he felt something toward Aggie that went beyond mere desire. Well, his partner was wrong. Hedidn’tfeel a thing for her. Not a single thing. Not one at all. Really. Nothing.
“All right, well, we have a ton of work still to do before your date with her tonight. You did ask her out for tonight, right?”
“Right.”
“Then we need to plan out exactly what you're going to say to her, how you're going to continue to gain her trust, how you're going to play her.”
Miller was right, of course he was, and Nick knew it. And yet for the first time he felt a tiny little crack in his cold, calm, controlled persona. He didn’t like the idea of playing Aggie, for some reason it didn’t sit well with him, but he was going to have to get over it.
* * * * *
1:34 P.M.
Emily sat up against the scratchy concrete side of the huge hole she had been left in. If she wasn't mistaken, it was an old swimming pool, long since emptied of water. It was probably a diving pool given the depth, she didn’t stand a chance of being able to scale the walls to escape, they had to be at least five meters high.
He’d taken her dress when he’d tossed her in here. Thankfully, she hadn’t broken any bones in her fall, but she was all scraped up and bruised, and the hard, rough concrete against her bare skin felt horrible. The bottom of the pool was covered in old dry leaves, sticks, and various bits and pieces of garbage. Among the debris was a large sheet of blue plastic, and she sat with it wrapped firmly around her. She knew the thin material couldn’t offer any real protection and yet it still made her feel safer. It was at leastashield between herself and the man who had thrown her into this hole.
She didn’t know what was worse. That she had been abducted and locked away someplace or that she knew the man who took her.
She felt like such an idiot. How could she have been so stupid? How could she not have seen that something was wrong with him? They had known each other for a while, but she had never seen this side of him before.
The whole thing left her feeling almost as humiliated as she was afraid.
Okay maybe the fear was worse.
A lot worse.
Her chest felt like it wanted to cry but her eyes wouldn’t cooperate. She had cried in the trunk of the car. Wept violently until she couldn’t tell the difference between the car bouncing her about and the body wracking sobs. But ever since she’d been thrown in here, her eyes had been as dry as a desert.
This place was creeping her out.
The location was obviously remote. She could see trees all around, and she hadn’t been restrained or gagged in any way, the man clearly wasn't concerned about anyone hearing her cries for help. She hadn’t seen him since he’d tossed her in here like a piece of trash. Was he coming back? What if he’d just left her here to die a slow and painful death?
Maybe all of this was just a part of some weird game.
Maybe he was into some kind of rape fantasy stuff. Perhaps he just wanted to scare her, if he did, he was doing a really,reallygood job. She’d never had any indication that he was into anything kinky, although she also hadn’t had any indication that he’d break into her home in the middle of the night, threaten her, abduct her, and leave her in the middle of nowhere either. If this was just about a role-playing game, then he could have just told her. She wouldn’t have been comfortable with the rape theme, but they probably could have worked something out. He hadn’t needed to resort to this.
This was the worst kind of nightmare because she couldn’t wake up and learn it had all been a dream.
Tears burned at the back of her eyes but still they refused to fall out.
She wanted to go home. She didn’t know why he’d brought her here. She didn’t know what he wanted from her. She didn’t understand. Maybe this allwasjust some kind of weird game.
