Page 37 of Bound By Words

“Why are you here? They never told me you’d be here either.”

His eyebrow arched at my accusatory tone, but he shook his head and smiled.

“I’m here to work on the guest house. Not sure what Evan and Chase told you, but they had issues finding a contractor, and I agreed to get the framing done so they could have finish contractors come in and do the rest this summer.”

Nodding, I picked at the edge of my sleeve with my fingers. That meant he wasn’t leaving any time soon.

“Where exactly are you staying? I didn’t see any of your stuff in the house when I got in last night. And Chase never told me you’d even be here, much less while I was here.”

He stood up without a word, moving to the refrigerator and opening the freezer. He dug around, pulled something out, and closed the door, holding it in my direction. “Here. Is this what you were looking for?”

My fingers grasped the cold package, frowning when I realized it was a half-empty bag of coffee beans.

“They’re so weird,” I sighed. I hadn’t even thought to look in there. Most mornings, my coffee was made at work by one of the executive assistants or provided by my Keurig straight into a travel mug on the way out the door. I hadn’t used a coffee maker that required grinding beans since I lived with my parents during the summer in college.

“Putting your coffee in the freezer for a few weeks is perfectly normal.”

“Ah, so you’re one of those,” I teased, turning to the complicated-looking coffee maker, frowning at it for a moment before I plugged it into the wall and pulled it to the edge of the counter.

“One of what? That could mean all kinds of things, sunshine,” he chuckled, placing his hand on my hip and lightly pushing me to the side.

I moved out of his way, taking a few steps back and turning to lean against the front of the sink while he pulled open the top of the machine. He read something on a label inside and then opened the bag of coffee beans, using the scoop inside to measure a few servings.

“A coffee purist. Someone who makes their own using fresh beans.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” He shook his head as he glanced in my direction, a smile forming on his full lips.

I’d forgotten how attractive he was. Or maybe I’d blocked it out because I knew what we’d shared after the wedding was short-lived. There was no point in getting attached if nothing could come of the situation. Well, things came alright that weekend, just not a developing, ongoing relationship.

“Taking your time with things shouldn’t be considered a shortcoming. If you’re going to put in the effort, may as well do it right…and thoroughly.”

Heat flared through me at the thought of what else he liked to take his time with. He’d been more attentive than I’d been expecting. I had wrongly assumed that being Dominant meant that he wanted to be in charge and have women do things for him. I knew that wasn’t the case because he’d practically worshiped my body at points, almost protesting the one time I wanted to go down on him in the shower.

“You still didn’t answer my question, Kelly. How are you doing?”

I knew I’d deflected by throwing his question back at him, but I didn’t know how much of my fucked-up situation to share. Would he think I was terrible if I told him the truth? I didn’t do anything wrong, but he didn’t know that. Having a gut reaction to things like mentioning sexual harassment was natural. I’d judge someone if I knew they were working remotely for that reason. It wouldn’t be intentional, and I’d like to think I’d listen to their side of things, but it was a very polarizing topic.

“I’m not sure how to answer that.”

“You could start by telling me why you’re here. Since they’re gone during this visit, I’m going to assume that Chase and Evan aren’t the reason you’re in their house right now.”

He clamped the top of the coffee maker closed, pressing a few buttons before he made sure the carafe was seated correctly. The grinder whirred to life, and I expected our conversation to be delayed with the noise. When he was done, he stepped toward me, leaning against the island opposite me and crossing his arms on his chest. His patient stare was a little unnerving

“You’re not going to leave me alone if I tell you it’s none of your business, are you?”

He frowned, shaking his head slightly. “If you don’t want to talk to me, I’m not going to pry into your business, but I have to say, I’m worried about you. You told me you rarely take vacations as a self-proclaimed workaholic, yet you’re here, hiding out at your brother’s house, working remotely.”

“How much did they tell you?” I knew he was starting to get closer to Evan than he’d been to Chase. His presence at the wedding indicated their friendship, but I wasn’t sure how much they shared.

“They told me you’d be here for a few weeks working remotely because something happened at work.”

Just enough to put me on the spot but not enough to tell him the gravity of the situation.

“Can we leave it at that for now?”

He nodded, reaching forward to grasp my hand, running his thumb across the back of my fingers. “That’s fine, but I’m here if you need to talk. You know I’ll always be available to lend an ear if you want.”

“Do I?” Clenching my jaw, I nodded, my nose burning as tears formed in my eyes. I inhaled harshly as I tried to look away quickly, but of course, he saw my reaction.

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