Juror No. 7 by Mallory Kane

Author:Mallory Kane [Kane, Mallory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue
Published: 2007-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The place where Brand had brought them was an old building, subdivided into offices. As he retrieved a key from the mailbox, Lily tried to read the name on the box’s label. It looked like Galloway or Gallagher—she couldn’t quite tell. She only got a brief glimpse.

They went up to the second floor and Brand unlocked the door to what appeared to be a small studio. The first thing that hit Lily was the smell of turpentine. She stepped inside, around a roll of canvas and a box of paint tubes.

An easel stood near the window, with a stool in front of it. An artist’s palette, covered with globs of bright paint, lay on the stool. There were canvases stacked everywhere—against the walls and on the floor. On her left a bedraggled daybed was piled high with sketches and books.

“Whose studio is this?”

Brand turned from locking the dead bolt. “I can’t answer that.”

“Of course not.” Lily sighed. “I don’t understand why you don’t trust me.” She flung her arms out. “Who am I going to tell?”

“You’re safer not knowing anything. Then you won’t have to lie.”

“Lie? Why would I lie?”

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter anyhow.” He pocketed the keys and stepped past her, his shoulder brushing hers. That ridiculous spark of yearning streaked through her again, weakening her knees and shocking her senses. How was she going to fight this absurd attraction to the man who had taken her hostage?

The man who’d saved her.

Her heart sped up in a staccato rhythm as she tried to deny the sudden thrill that flowed from her loins all the way out to her fingers and toes.

She was not attracted to him, she told herself sternly. She couldn’t be. He wasn’t one of the good guys.

Her reaction came from fear and helplessness, she reasoned. Of course. That had to be it. He was her best hope in a dangerous situation, so naturally she was drawn to his strength, his competence and the sense of safety she felt with him.

He crossed the tiny room and peered through the edge of the closed blinds. “We can see the street from here. That’s good. As long as we keep watch, nobody can sneak up on us.”

He surveyed the room. “That door leads to the bathroom. There’s a window in there, but I wouldn’t advise climbing out. It’s a long drop to the ground.”

Lily smiled grimly. “No problem. But if you don’t mind—” She gestured toward the door.

“Go ahead.” Brand stepped aside.

Lily eased past him and slipped into the minuscule bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it for a few seconds as tears stung her eyes and a sob escaped her lips.

It was all too much. Had it really been just this afternoon that she’d sat in the courtroom with eleven other jurors and returned a guilty verdict? Had it been no more than a few hours ago that Brand had held her at knifepoint, then turned the tables and rescued her from Foshee?

She peered in the tiny mirror and fingered the awkward bandage on her neck.

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