“Well, anyway,” she continued in a rush, “Two of the desks were locked. Jonathan, you left your desk open. While I was going through your drawers, I noticed many of the folders had those, um, red clearance stamps indicating classified government material—but I swear I didn’t look in any of the files…at length. It was just a cursory glance, searching for a phone manual or your computer passwords. God, I know that sounds really bad, but I promise I didn’t really
read
anything in depth, and I remember
nothing
of what I saw. Honest.”
Jordan noted how her cheeks had flushed red. Between that and her rambling explanation, he guessed she was embarrassed by her admission.
“Oh, and I wasn’t asking any of you about your work, or why you’re here—like
here
in this bunker, as I’m sure you couldn’t tell me anyway because you work for the government. I assume. I’m just asking if work brought you to Alaska, and if you had plans on staying for a while and… I’m just glad you’re not criminals. Or at least I don’t think you are. But if you are, please don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Shaking his head at his brother, Jordan clucked his disappointment. “You left your desk unsecured? You’d better hope Jack doesn’t find out.”
Jon rolled his eyes then patted Oriana’s hand, offering her a benign smile. “It’s fine. We understand why you went in our office, and we’re not upset.”
Exhaling in relief, she seemed to relax some. “Oh, good.”
“I just ask that you don’t tell Jack what you told us.”
She furrowed her brows. “Why?”
“Because,” Jack drawled from behind them, “he knows how upset I would be at the news.”
They all turned their heads to where he leaned against the doorjamb.
“Oriana needs her rest,” Jack continued. “Jordan, take her tray to the kitchen and clean up. Jon, I need to speak with you in the office.” On that, he left.
“Hell,” Jon muttered under his breath.
Jordan chuckled. “You brought it on yourself. How many times do you need to be reminded?”
“What’s happening,” Oriana asked.
“Oh, nothing big. Jon’s going to get another ass reaming, I’m going to clean up the catastrophe I’m sure he left in the kitchen when he made you breakfast, and you’re going to relax and recover.”
She turned a sympathetic gaze to Jon. “I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”
“No worries. It’ll be fine.”
“I’m guessing Jack’s the boss?”
“Yeah, among other things.” Jon reluctantly rose to his feet and headed for the exit. “I’ll come back later and visit. Maybe around lunchtime.”
Oriana gave a small smile. “Okay, that’ll be great.”
Jordan got up as well and collected her tray. “Is there something you’d like me to make you for lunch?”
“Whatever you all are having will be fine with me.”
He nodded and headed for the door.
“Jordan?”
The way her soft voice carried, the vulnerability lacing it perhaps, caused him to pause. He looked over his shoulder, raising his brow in query.
“What are you all going to do about me?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Um, like what are you going to do about me now that I know about you all and this place? I mean, Jack implied I was allowed to leave once my plane was fixed, so I assume that I’m not being kept prisoner in your secret lair... I’m not a prisoner, right?”
Guilt twisted his stomach. He and Jon had only thought of tricking Jack into letting Oriana stay, never once stopping to consider that she might actually want to leave. “No, you’re not a prisoner.”
“Not that I thought you all would keep me against my will, or kill me, to protect your…” she trailed off.
Placing the tray on the dresser, he returned to the bed and sat down beside her. “While your presence does pose a security threat to our operation, we will not harm you to ensure its protection. You are free to leave and return to your life at will, though we would appreciate your discretion if you do. We ask that you do not mention us, what you saw while you were here, or our location to anyone.”
She nodded. “I promise to keep quiet.”
The guilt that had knotted his stomach turned into a stabbing pain in his chest. She didn’t want to stay. Jordan didn’t understand why that realization had such negative impact on him. He didn’t know her, and it should not matter much whether she chose to stay or go. Yet, why did he suddenly feel so disappointed, and sad, and betrayed, and angry?
His intellect tried to assuage his turbulent emotions with a biological explanation, that what he was feeling was merely a reaction caused by more primitive instincts. Human’s were subject to the same primal reproductive urges as every other animal on the planet, and Oriana was the first female of breeding quality that he’d had any real interaction with in a long while. So of course her rejection would be felt more poignantly. It was a natural selection issue.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been
selected
.
He moved to rise, but her fingers gently grasped his arm, the slight pressure keeping him in place.
“So what do you want me to do?” she asked.
“What are you referring to?”
Oriana gave him a patient smile and released his hold. “Should I call for help since you can’t take me back to Kodiak, or do you want me to stay here with you all until you find the keys to the helicopter, or do I stay until you fix my plane, or what?”
He didn’t dare to hope. “What do you want to do?”
“I, ah… Well, that depends. If you don’t want me to stay here, I would like to call for help before I have to return to my plane. I have no desire to wander around the wilderness any longer than I have to. However, I worry that my being rescued might draw attention, as people will ask how I was able to call for help. Of course I will lie, as payment for your kindness, but while I have no intention of divulging your secret location to anyone—not that I exactly know where this location is anyway, I wonder if others will accidently stumble upon your bunker as I have when they come to rescue me.”
“What if we don’t mind that you stay?”
Her gaze fell to her lap. “I’d like that.”
“Why?”
Oriana’s eyes lifted in surprise, as if his question caught her off guard. Truth be told, his question came as a surprise to him as well. What did it matter as long as she stayed?
His heart disagreed. It did matter. He wanted her to
want
to stay.
“I don’t know. I just do. I…” Then her expression changed. Sadness, longing, hope? She looked away, looking everywhere but at him. “I don’t have any real friends, no family, no one to go back to. You all seem nice, fun, and you make me laugh. I would like to stay and hang out with you guys for a couple of days longer, if that’s okay. If not, it’s cool. I understand.”
Dumbfounded by her emotional honesty, his tongue suddenly went limp in his mouth. He couldn’t think up one decent reply that didn’t seem trite. He refrained from giving into the absurd urge to gather her in his arms and assure her that he’d always be there for her. This sudden desire to protect and comfort—to love, honor and cherish—was nonsensical, illogical, irrational. Jordan couldn’t fathom what was wrong with him.
Had Jon been right all along?
Did love at first sight really exist?
Preposterous.
While he did no more than quietly observe her vulnerability, Oriana’s body language indicated her growing discomfort with the silence. She waved him off, her face flushing.
“I’m sorry, Jordan. I’m being silly. I don’t know why I asked. Please forget I mentioned it.” She choked out a laugh. “I’m sure you have your own lives to live, and girlfriends who wouldn’t appreciate some strange woman trying to shack up with you all.”
“No, no girlfriends,” he managed, thankful to have overcome his temporary speech impediment. “Are you embarrassed about asking to stay?”
“Thoroughly,” she admitted.
“Don’t be.”
“I should be ashamed. It’s rude to invite yourself into someone’s home.”
“You are welcome to stay here for as long as you want to stay.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that. I might stay forever,” she teased.
“That would be okay, too.”
“Your brothers might feel differently.”
“Jon will feel as I do, and Jack… It doesn’t matter,” he replied quietly.
Her eyes widened. “I do not want to cause a rift between you three. You’re brothers. I’d rather you just forgot my request.”
“You won’t, and I won’t,” he assured her, rising from the bed. “As I said, you’re welcome to stay. As for Jack, I don’t know how he will feel about my issuing the invitation, but there’s nothing he can do to make you leave at this time, short of calling in a rescue party. Unless you ask otherwise, I know he’d prefer not to go that route.”
Once again, Jordan collected the breakfast tray, telling himself that he wasn’t lying to her so much as he was to Jack. She wanted to stay. And Jack couldn’t make her leave as long as he didn’t know that the plane worked.
“Jordan, can I ask a favor?”
“What can I do for you?”
“I need to cancel all my upcoming client appointments. I don’t have that many, but I don’t want my clients to think I’ve just ditched them. My schedule and customer contact information is on my computer at home—and my computer is on. Um, I know computers can be remotely accessed… I don’t know how to do that and was, um, wondering if you could help me retrieve that information.”
“Sure. I’ll get right on it.”
“Thanks.”
He nodded and headed for the door.
“Don’t you need my password and stuff first?”
He chuckled. “Beautiful, and a sense of humor.”
It had been three days and Oriana still hadn’t seen Jack, not since the morning his brothers had stumbled upon them sleeping in bed together. Her body tingled at the memory of that special bath, and her core throbbed with need, wanting nothing more than to feel his touch again.
But he hadn’t come to visit her as his two brothers had.
That kind of hurt.
Annoyed that her thoughts had strayed to Jack again, Oriana closed the laptop and slid it under her pillows, just in case hell decided to freeze over and Jack actually stopped in to check in on her.
Jordan and Jonathan had smuggled the portable computer into her room two days earlier so she could send e-mails out to her customers and cancel all her appointments. The guys had allowed her to keep the laptop, even after she had finished clearing her schedule, but cautioned her to not let Jack see it.
He’ll bitch that it’s a security risk,
Jonathan had explained.
And he’ll probably take it away from you,
Jordan had warned.
She had urged them to take the laptop, citing that she didn’t want to get them into trouble, but they insisted that she keep it, as they felt bad that she was bored out of her mind when they weren’t around. They even gave her headphones so she could play music and games, surf the internet, and watch DVDs without alerting Jack.
She glanced around the opulent bedroom that was starting to feel too much like a gilded cage. As pretty as it was, she wanted to get up and move around. Unfortunately, Jordan demanded that she stay in bed unless absolutely necessary—which meant bathroom breaks only. She hadn’t even showered since that initial night. When she’d protested that, Jordan remained adamant about her staying off her feet.
How dirty can you possibly get lying in a bed,
he’d said.
Oriana looked down at her borrowed sweat pants and t-shirt, then gazed longingly at the bathroom door just a few feet away. Funny enough, the guys had made the master bedroom of their cabin-in-a-cave their guest room. When she’d asked Jonathan why one of them hadn’t taken the master bedroom as their own, he’d joked that they knew she was coming and thought she wouldn’t want to share a bathroom with three men.
Truly, the bedroom was stunning, just like something out of a woman’s designer magazine. When she found out Jonathan had decorated it, she was even more impressed.
Her gaze shifted to one of the draped windows. Like the living room, it showcased a beautiful forest landscape.
Yesterday, Jordan had explained in great technical detail—most of which she didn’t understand—how they created the virtual scenery by implementing some kind of large plasma screen connected to a timed computer program that automatically mimicked the actual weather forecasted for their area, including the times of sunrise and sunset. Just to see if it was as accurate as he claimed, she had left the curtains open when she went to bed. This morning, she woke up to light from a dawning day beaming into her room.
It was only eleven in the morning, so the guys wouldn’t bring her lunch for another hour or so. She smiled as she thought of them, Jonathan with his boyish charm, and Jordan with his intellectual nature. Like their elder brother, they were incredibly sexy, and she had to remind herself to keep her hands off them. After what she had done with Jack that first night, it wouldn’t do to act on the crush she also harbored for the two younger siblings.