Hardened Read Online Free Page A

squint at the menu of controls that appear in the small screen on the rear. I try to navigate through to select and delete the pictures of me, but I’m soon hopelessly lost. It was easy enough to find my way around the gadget last night in the privacy of my own kitchen, but here, under the harsh scrutiny of Jared North himself, I’m all thumbs.
    “Shall I?” He holds out his hand again, and I pass the camera to him.
    In just a couple of seconds he has selected the pictures of me and they are ready to be erased. He hands the camera back. “You do it, then you’ll know for sure that they’re gone.”
    I shake my head. “I trust you.”
    “Really? How touching, Miss MacBride.” He hits ‘delete’ and the offending photographs disappear. “But can I trust you, I wonder?”
    “I won’t report the camera, if that’s what you mean.”
    “It wasn’t, but I’ll settle for that. I should thank you, I suppose, for rescuing me in the cell search.”
    “Just… don’t take pictures of people, okay? And make sure no one else finds it.”
    He pockets the camera, then leans back on the laundry bin to regard me with undisguised interest. “So, why didn’t you report me? That wasn’t very officer-like of you.”
    “It’s complicated. I suppose I believe people should have a chance, that’s all.”
    “Bullshit. You know the rules. So do I. It’s my job to break them, yours to enforce. So, why didn’t you?”
    I step back and start to turn away. “I have to go. Like I said before, we’re short-staffed.”
    I march across the laundry, the sound of my stout leather boots echoing around the space.
    “Wait, Miss MacBride.”
    Something in his tone stops me in my tracks. Halfway to the door I halt and turn to face him again.
    “Come back here.”
    It’s a command. Here. In this place, I issue instructions and prisoners obey. Somehow though, that seems not to apply between Jared North and myself. Putting one foot in front of the other, I make my way back to stand before him
    “I meant it. Thank you for not reporting me. I do appreciate it. I’m curious about why you kept your mouth shut, but if you prefer not to say I can live with that.” He smiles at me, and there’s genuine warmth in his slate grey eyes. They’re a beautiful colour, deep, rich, very dark. And very, very sexy.
    Out of my depth now, totally at sea, I offer him a brief nod. “I really do need to be getting off.” Even so, I make no move to leave.
    “I know.” He cups my chin in his hand, his touch gentle but confident. Something coils and clenches, deep in my stomach. My breath hitches as he lowers his face toward mine. “I meant it, you know. You really are a whole lot prettier than Drummond. Quite lovely, in fact.”
    “North, I—”
    “Shhh,” he whispers, then he brushes his lips across mine.
    I gasp, but I don’t pull away. Instead, I stand perfectly still, my lips parted, waiting.
    North is unhurried. He rests his forehead against mine as he cradles my face between his hands, but still he does nothing to deepen the kiss, if it was even a kiss at all.
    “What are you doing? You shouldn’t…” My protest is whispered, breathy.
    “No,” agrees North. And still he doesn’t release me. Neither does he back off.
    Moments lengthen, time seems to stand still, but I’m the one who cracks first. Suddenly I can stand it no longer. I reach for him, looping my arms around his neck and I stretch up on my toes to slant my lips over his.
    It’s as though he was waiting for me to commit, to do something, anything. He responds instantly, plunging his tongue into my mouth to stroke and taste me. His fingers tangle in my hair, combing the cropped strands back from my face as he takes over to deepen the kiss.
    I hang on to him, even as I berate myself for what I’m doing, what I’m allowing to happen. This is wrong, on so many levels. This is forbidden. I’m breaking every rule, every principle, all my values tossed up in the air. I hate