I believed him. He'd had a good example, after all. Reluctantly, both times I left him with Miss Martha and Nicky. Sometime in the late afternoon, Miss Martha went home and we discovered Savannah juggling the boys and dinner preparations.
In an unexpected move, Tenn came to the rescue. Taking in the lines of strain around Savannah's mouth and the increasing volume of the boys, he said, "I'll make a deal with you. We'll take the kids off your hands if you feed us all in my suite instead of the dining room."
"Done," Savannah immediately agreed. She sent me an apologetic look. "Griffen told me to set you up in Tenn's suite. There's plenty of room for you and August. I had your bags brought up from your car. I'd give you the keys, but I don't have them." We both shot Tenn an accusing look that he ignored. Savannah added, "He gives you any trouble, let me know."
Tenn shoved his shoulder into hers like she was an annoying little sister. "You know I'm not going to give her any trouble."
An enviably starchy harrumph and she shook her head. "Normally, I'd agree, but you've never handcuffed a woman to you before, so all bets are off."
He let it go, but as we let Nicky lead us to the elevator so he could show August how it worked, Tenn leaned in to ask, "Are you scared of me, Scarlett? Seriously?"
I didn't know how to answer. My gut gave a resounding, ‘No.’
I wasn't scared of him. Not the way he meant. Maybe I should have been, but Tenn had had plenty of opportunities to take advantage, and he hadn't pushed any further than I'd let him.
I wasn't afraid he was going to force me into anything.
I was afraid he wouldn't have to.
All I had to do was think of the heat of his lips on my neck earlier, the way I'd swayed into him, ready to do anything for one more touch… Yeah, I was in trouble. And Griffen had decreed I was staying in Tenn's room? Not good. Not only for my search—not good for me.
I took so long to answer, Tenn's face fell. Crossing his arms over his chest, he followed us into the elevator. "Wait a second, Nicky. I have to lock the door before you can press the button."
Nicky was chattering a mile a minute about the folding metal door, the phone to call for help, how the elevator wasn't very fast, his voice filling the heavy silence between me and Tenn. My need to reassure Tenn had its own gravity, pushing, pulling, demanding I speak and erase the cloud shadowing his blue eyes.
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. Better if he thought I was afraid of him. Distance was good. Flirting, teasing, and neck-kissing were very bad ideas. Tenn was all kinds of trouble. Way too handsome. Good-looking men were off my list. Forever.
All of that was enough, but he'd basically kidnapped me. Did Stockholm Syndrome happen that fast? I'd be an idiot to trust him.
Don't forget that you broke into his cottage with the intent of talking your way into his house to search for stolen property.
My conscience was not helping. Okay, I wasn't an innocent here either.
Tenn didn't look at me, his shoulders stiff as I followed him and the kids down a wide hallway. I wasn't ready for how uncomfortable his reserve made me. In less than a day, I'd gotten used to his smile even when he was cuffing my wrist to his and dragging me to Heartstone Manor.
I tried to remind myself of the tracker on my ankle, the fact that I was a prisoner. Reserve was much better than charm. Of course, it was. Tenn was bossy, even manipulative, and was controlling me for his own ends.
It shouldn't matter that he'd given me exactly what I needed by bringing me to Heartstone. And it definitely shouldn't matter that I was the one holding back my real reasons for being there. As far as I could tell, Tenn had been completely upfront about his situation. He wasn't the liar here.
Ugh. Trying to convince myself Tenn was the bad guy wasn't working. I followed him into a spacious sitting room off another wide hallway. His suite? It was bigger than the first floor of our house. I spotted my duffel bag slumped in the corner. Yep, this was Tenn's suite.
Our suite, for the time being. I'd have to deal with the low hum that thought sent through my body. Later.
For now, I was going to concentrate on getting my phone back, searching the house, and keeping my distance from Tenn.
Tenn's suite looked like it was composed of a generous sitting room and bedroom. Nicky dragged August to the couch opposite the flat-screen TV and plopped down. "Can we watch cartoons? Please?"