“I didn’t want to interrupt your crying jag. I’m sure you had a long list of my faults to catalog and weep over.”
“Therearea lot of them. Like the fact that you’re a liar.” The scissors lay on the floor next to him. Impressive. How had he managed to get those out of the drawer?
She ran a finger along the back of the chair. “You’ve cut most of the way through the tape here.” The handcuffs were still on. He wouldn’t be able to get those off so easily.
He let out an indignant grunt. “You abducted me and tied me up. I have a right to try and escape. And by the way, a professional kidnapper would wield a better weapon than a broom.”
“I fell asleep, and it was the first thing I grabbed.”
“Amateur.”
She needed to set the chair upright again. She attempted the task, but his weight made it impossible. The chair just slid on the concrete floor.
“You can’t lift me up,” he said. “You’ll have to untie me.”
“Don’t underestimate a harvester’s strength.” She tried again. Didn’t manage it. “How much do you weigh?”
“My arms are going numb, and my shoulders feel like they’re going to pop out of their sockets. You need to take these handcuffs off.”
She looked upward as though considering it. “Hmm. Do I feel like being strangled by a government operative in my kitchen? Nope. Not really.”
“I won’t strangle you. I promise.”
“How would I know you’d keep that promise?”
“I didn’t shoot you when I had the chance. Why would I strangle you now?”
“Maybe you’ve thought better of your earlier decision.”
She slid the chair across the floor until it pressed up against the wall, sat down on the floor next to him, and tried to push it up. No success.
He tugged at the tape, further ripping it. “If you take off the handcuffs, I can help push myself up. My legs will still be bound to the chair. If I try to free them,” he nodded in the direction of the broom, “you can sweep me up or whatever you planned to do with that.”
She wasn’t sure whether she loved or hated that he could still joke around while being held prisoner. “I need to find something to use as leverage.” From her place on the floor, she gazed around the cabin searching for something that would work.
He lifted his head and fixed her with his gaze. “If you untie me, I promise on my father’s grave not to hurt you.”
“You’ve already hurt me.”
“Come on. You can’t actually blame me for not saving myself for you. You may have had visions to guide you, but I had no idea that one day I’d be abducted by a woman with really high moral standards.”
She’d meant his betrayal at the farm but didn’t correct him. “The broom will break if I try to use it for leverage. I’ll have to take apart a bed and use one of the rails. Might take a while.”
Her gaze went to his shirt and the open buttons. She shouldn’t leave him like that, lying against the cold concrete.
She leaned over him and fastened his lowest button. It shouldn’t have felt sensual, but he was watching her do it, and somehow every button she fastened was a reminder that not long ago, she’d kissed his neck while she undid them.
“You don’t have to stay with your family,” he said. “If you come with me to Kansas City. I’ll explain your innocence to the authorities and make sure you’re taken care of. You could live a normal life. You wouldn’t have to do manual labor, traveling from place to place to evade authorities. You wouldn’t have to worry about running into raiders every time you needed groceries. You’d be happy there.”
Doubtful. Not while her family was on the run.
“My mother would love you,” he went on. “She always wanted a daughter-in-law. Think of her as you answer.”
Charity shook her head and finished the last button. “Sorry.”
“Charity.” All the teasing left his voice. He was serious and desperate. “You can’t keep me cuffed for two weeks. Untie me and I promise, with an unbreakable oath on my father’s honor, that I won’t hurt you. If I break that oath, I’ll turn in my badge and tell my ex-colleagues to throw me in jail for assault.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking. She had to untie him eventually. The longer she waited, the angrier he’d be with her. It might as well be now. “You also have to promise never to do anything that would hurt my family. You can’t keep hunting my father or give the authorities any information about us or even about this cabin.”