Just Another Day in Paradise by Justine Davis

Author:Justine Davis [Justine Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

She didn’t understand. The terrorists, with their scare tactics, disgusting methods and pseudo-noble demands, seemed downright simple to understand next to Noah Rider. One minute he was acting afraid of his own shadow, next he was calming the kids. He’d been so good with them, even though he insisted he knew next to nothing about dealing with children. And now he was rubbing the tenseness out of her shoulders and telling her it was going to be okay in a voice she almost believed.

Barely aware of what she was doing, she leaned back into his hands, only realizing how knotted her muscles were by the feel of strong yet gentle fingers working them, easing them. She closed her eyes. Just for a minute, she thought. Just for a minute she could stop thinking and just feel the warmth spreading beneath his hands. Just for a minute, and then she’d get back to worrying about their situation.

She felt him move and opened her eyes. She realized he was now kneeling behind the sofa. She started to turn her head, but stopped when he whispered, “There’s nothing more you can do right now.”

She nearly shivered at the feel of his breath against her ear. And then his fingers brushed the skin at the back of her neck and she did shiver. How could he do this to her with just a touch, and in the middle of chaos?

She made herself concentrate on his words. “I can’t just sit here,” she said, speaking as quietly as he had, hoping that in the darkness nothing would draw the guard’s attention.

“That’s all you can do for now. You have the kids to think about. If anything happened to you, think what it would do to them. Look how upset they got when that bastard hit you.”

And you almost got shot, she thought, shivering anew at the memory. She didn’t flinch at all at his epithet. It fit in most senses of the word.

But he had a point. She hadn’t thought of that. She knew the kids liked her, as well as they could like any teacher they’d only been with a few weeks. And the little ones especially had taken to her. And it would be the little ones who would be affected most if something happened to her.

“Just wait until morning. Things may change by then.”

“You mean they may go away? Get what they want and leave?”

Noah sighed. “Not likely. Not if they want somebody out of jail in Arethusa. The government won’t negotiate. I’ve worked with them when we were making the deal for Redstone Bay, and they’re pretty hard-nosed.”

“What could change, then?”

“Maybe Ares will have other things to think about besides a spokesperson and leave you alone for the moment.”

“Like how to terrorize everyone into being too afraid to resist?” It was all she could do to maintain a whisper.

“That is the usual MO, I believe,” Noah agreed.

How could he sound so cool, almost casual, when she knew he was as frightened as she was? She’d seen it in his face, in his body language.

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