Chapter 42
[ 491 words ]
Chapter 42:
Jarrod stood in the doorway. He was holding the heavy winter quilt and the pillow easily under his left arm. His massive frame filled the entire doorframe, blocking out the light from the hallway.
“What are you doing?” Caroline hissed, her eyes wide with alarm. “I told you to sleep on the sofa!”
Jarrod stepped forward, forcing the door open wider. “The sofa is exactly sixty-eight inches long, Caroline. I am seventy-five inches tall. Unless you want me to sleep with my legs hanging over the armrest, I’m coming in.”
Before she could physically block him, Jarrod stepped into her small bedroom.
He dropped the quilt and pillow onto the small reading chair in the corner. Then, he turned back to the door.
Click.
The sharp, metallic sound of the deadbolt sliding into place echoed like a gunshot in the tiny room.
The moment he locked the door, a cold, irrational, and completely feral alertness seized her. She couldn’t explain it—why her breathing instantly shallowed to absolute silence, why her center of gravity instinctively dropped a fraction of an inch into a defensive stance, or why her eyes darted to the heavy brass lamp on her nightstand, assessing its weight as a blunt weapon. It was as if a dormant, lethal beast buried deep within her cellular memory had suddenly awakened, screaming at her to survive.
Jarrod didn’t attack. He stood by the door, his gaze slowly sweeping over her childhood sanctuary. He took in the faded posters on the wall, the neat stack of nursing textbooks on the desk, and finally, the narrow bed.
He looked back at her. He saw the rigid tension in her shoulders, the way her hands were slightly raised, hovering near her waist.
𝖠𝗰𝗍i𝘃e со𝘮𝗆𝘂𝗻𝗂𝗍𝘆 o𝗻 𝘨а𝗅𝘯𝘰𝗏𝗲𝘭𝗌.с𝗈𝗆
He took a slow step toward her.
“You violated the agreement,” Caroline whispered, her voice trembling, not from fear of him hurting her, but from the terrifying effort it took to suppress her combat instincts. She couldn’t fight him. If she dropped him to the floor, her cover was blown forever.
Jarrod took another step, closing the distance until he was standing right in front of her. The heat radiating from his body was suffocating.
He leaned down, his face so close she could feel the warmth of his skin.
“This is your territory, Caroline,” Jarrod murmured, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that sent a shiver straight down her spine. “I’m injured. You’re in your own home. What exactly are you so afraid of?”
Caroline swallowed hard, her throat clicking. She was afraid of herself. She was afraid of the overwhelming, magnetic pull he had on her body.
She forced herself to take a step back, her calves hitting the edge of the mattress.
She pointed a shaking finger at the left side of the narrow bed.
“Fine,” she choked out. “You sleep on that side. If you cross the invisible line in the middle, I swear to God, Jarrod, I will kick you onto the floor.”
Jarrod’s lips twitched into a slow, devastatingly handsome smile.
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