“I’ll tie you up and put you on it myself.”
Had she ever thought he was fascinating? Beautiful? He was an obnoxious bully, and it was a good thing she found out now before she let her adolescent fantasies get out of control. Or more out of control, since they’d already given her a good run.
“I don’t think so,” she said with deceptive calm.
He cocked his head to one side, looking at her for a long, silent moment. “You’d better get some clothes on,” he said. “Unless you want to go out on the streets of Tokyo in your underwear.”
She’d forgotten her skimpy attire, and she could feel her fair skin flushing. Which was ridiculous—he was making it patently clear that he had no interest in her.
So much for daydreams.
She scooped up her scattered clothes. “I’ll be ready in a minute,” she said, heading for the door.
Only to have him reach out and slam it shut. “You can get dressed here. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“If you expect me to get dressed, you’re going to have to.”
He simply leaned back against the door, folding his arms across his chest.
She made a low, growling noise. He didn’t move. With a frustrated sigh she turned her back to him, reaching for her bra.
Putting it on while she was still wearing the tank top was tricky, but she managed, turning back around triumphantly when she finished. Only to find he wasn’t even watching her—she could’ve ripped off her shirt and flashed him and he wouldn’t have noticed. He was staring at his cell phone, reading a text message.
She yanked her jeans on over the boxers, pulled a long-sleeved T-shirt over her head and shoved the last of her things into the heavy backpack. He didn’t move, still staring at the tiny screen.
Then he glanced up at her, almost as if he’d forgotten her existence.
“Trouble,” he said.
People like Reno and Taka wouldn’t use that term lightly, and Jilly froze. “Is it my sister? Has something happened?”
He was texting back, his long, slender fingers flying over the keypad, ignoring her. He glanced up at her. His eyes were a deep rich brown—for some reason, she had thought they were green. “Are you ready? Where are your shoes?”
“In the entryway, of course.” If he was surprised that she knew proper etiquette, he didn’t show it. “Are you going to answer my question? What kind of trouble?”
“Read for yourself,” he said, tossing the phone to her. He was lucky; she just managed to catch it. It wouldn’t help either of them if it shattered on the hard floor. She looked down at the text message.
“Very funny,” she said, resisting the impulse to throw the phone back at him. She placed it carefully in his outstretched hand. “I can’t read kanji.”
“I know.” He shoved the phone in the pocket of his pants, making the leather pull against his crotch for a moment.
And what the hell was she doing, noticing? It had become clear quite quickly that Reno was the enemy, and the smartest thing she could do was to get away from him as soon as possible, or she probably would find herself on a plane back to L.A., and she wasn’t going anywhere until she saw Summer. Of course, escaping from someone on their home turf was great in theory, but tricky in practice. She could try reason, though the man standing in front of her didn’t look particularly reasonable. He looked annoyed, bored and impatient.
And to think she used to lie in her bed at her family’s mansion in the Hollywood Hills and fantasize about him. Them. Together.
Her sister had warned her about Reno. And she had no doubt that she and Taka had done their best to keep her away from the punk black sheep of the family.
Big mistake on their part. Ten minutes in his presence and she was so over him. A little exposure therapy would have taken care of the problem long ago.
She took a deep, calming breath. “We’re on the same side, you know. I just want to find my sister. Just let me talk to her.”
“I don’t know where they are. Perhaps my English isn’t that good or maybe you just aren’t listening. They’re in hiding—people are out to kill them, and they’ll use you to get to them. So you’re going back to your safe life in Hollywood and leaving the professionals to take care of things.”
“Professionals? You don’t strike me as Committee material. Not if Taka and Peter are anything to go by.”
The insult went right past him. “Stop stalling. We need to get the hell out of here.”
“Not until you tell me what was on the cell phone.”