Hijacked

Chapter Fifteen

She didn't even notice when Tom put his hand on top of hers and held it gently. She did notice when he pressed his lips against her forehead and kissed her almost absentmindedly.

It was then that the situation struck her. She was lying in bed with him. This man with whom she'd shared so much with over the past two days. It seemed so natural to talk to him about herself and her life. To just lie there with him, against him. He knew so much about her, and she knew so much about him, but at the same time they knew nothing about each other. It was surreal. Then there was the whole getting freaky in her brother's car with him.

Usually she was pretty detached from people. She talked and could have fun with people she didn't know and was comfortable with strangers, but she wasn't the type to tell her life story or talk about personal things until she knew someone really well. She certainly wasn't the type to get casually physical with someone, especially someone that she wasn't extremely comfortable with.

She could pin her detached tendencies on her mother. She'd been taught for thirteen years that wanting to be touched and wanting physical comfort was for the weak. Their mother had never stopped Kevin from hugging her or comforting her, but she would make sure they both knew of her disapproval. If it hadn't been for Kevin she was sure that she would have grown up to be a cold and frigid bitch, just like her mother.

When she'd moved in with him after their mother died she'd lost everything that he'd done for her as a child. She'd physically shied away from any and all contact. She would let him hug her, take her hand or touch her back as he passed behind her, but it was a long time before she would make the first move. He'd spent a long time working with her and trying to get her used to touch and being touched again. Now it was second nature to touch Kevin and Ben, but with everyone else she was still that same girl she'd been eleven years ago. She could be touched, but she just couldn't touch.

That is, until Tom it would seem.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked. His voice ringing out in the silent room. "Really, why are you helping me?"

She thought about that before she answered. She rolled over again so that her cheek rested on his chest and she could look into his incredible blue eyes.

"You needed help. I was scared, but there was something about you that told me that you didn't mean to hurt me. You didn't want to hurt me." She sighed. "I can't explain it and I don't know why, but I felt something for you, I feel something for you. I wanted to help you and I still want to help you."

"But I kidnapped you." He stuck his hand under his head so he could look at her easier, wincing as he stretched out his hurt shoulder.

She grinned and put her hand under her chin as she looked up at him. She noticed that his hand around her waist tightened slightly. "Probably not the best way to introduce yourself."

"I held a gun to your head and hijacked you."

"You're really not helping to build your case here."

"Sorry." He smiled. "I just don't understand."

"Neither do I, and I really don't know." She shrugged. "I believe in you, and it's been a long time since I believed in anything. I'm going to help you if I can. You seem like a good person. You got mixed up in something that wasn't really your fault and you don't deserve any of this. Everyone's made mistakes and you've paid for yours. I don't like the idea that you're going to be hurt, or killed, because of something that happened a decade ago. Something that someone else can't let go of."

"You don't know me, I could be lying about everything."

"You could." She nodded. "I don't think you are," she said as she looked at him. "I think that you're tell me the truth."