‘On the contrary. You and I tearing each other’s clothes off has everything to do with this.’
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ she snapped, her blue eyes wide with fury. ‘I don’t want to talk to you about anything. In fact the only conversation I’m going to be having is with the police.’
She sounded breathless, as though she’d been running. He watched her pull out her phone and punch at the buttons.
‘Oh, perhaps I should have mentioned it earlier...there’s pretty much zero coverage out here.’
He smiled in a way that made her want to throw the phone at his head.
‘It’s one of the reasons I like it so much—no interruptions, no distractions.’
Fingers trembling with anger, she switched off her phone and pressed herself against the door. ‘I hate you.’
‘I don’t care.’
The rest of the journey passed in uncomfortable silence. Nola felt as though she’d swallowed a bucket of ice; her whole body was rigid with cold, bitter fury. When finally the car came to a stop at his house she slid across the seat and out of the door without so much as acknowledging his presence.
Staring stonily at his broad shoulders in his dark suit jacket, she followed him through a series of rooms and corridors, barely registering anything other than the resentment hardening inside her chest.
‘This is your room. The bathroom is through there.’
She glared at him. ‘My room? How long are you planning on keeping me here?’
He ignored her. ‘You’ll find everything you need.’
‘Really? You mean there’s a shotgun and a shovel?’
His eyes hardened. ‘The sooner you stop fighting me, Nola, the sooner this will all be over. If you need me, I’m just next door. I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Unless you’re going to lock me in, I won’t be here in the morning.’
He stared at her impatiently. ‘I don’t need to lock you in. It would take you the best part of a day to walk back to the airfield. And there would be no point. There’s nothing there. And if you want to get to civilisation that’s a three-day walk through the rainforest—a rainforest with about twenty different kinds of venomous snakes living in it.’
‘Does that include you?’ she snarled.
But he had already closed the door.
Left alone, Nola pulled off her clothes and angrily yanked on her pyjamas. She still couldn’t believe what was happening. How could he treat her like this?
Worse—how could he treat her like this and then expect her to sit down and have a civilised conversation with him?
She clenched her jaw. He could expect what he liked. But he couldn’t make her talk or listen if she didn’t want to.
Her eyes narrowed. In fact she might just stay in her room.
She would think about it properly in the morning. Right now she needed to close her eyes and, climbing into bed, she pulled the duvet up to her chin, rolled onto her side, and fell swiftly and deeply into sleep.
* * *
Ram strode into the huge open-plan living space, his frustration with Nola vying with his fury at himself.
What the hell was he doing?
He’d only just found out he was going to be a father. Surely that was enough to be dealing with right now? But apparently not, for he had decided to add to the chaos and drama of the evening by kidnapping Nola.
Because, regardless of what he had said to her in the car, this was kidnapping.
Groaning, he ran a hand wearily over his face.