Page 24 of Eternally Bound

Probably better to put shoes on, I thought to myself.

I crouched down and started peeking into each box. Shoes were my weakness too. Damn it, this man had gotten exactly the shoes I would get if I was shopping for myself. I pulled out a box of black Jimmy Choos, with a low two-inch heel. They were beautiful but I rarely wore shoes inside my home. It was more comfortable to go around barefoot.

This isn’t your home, I reminded myself but the desire for comfort won. I put the shoes back and decided to go barefoot. After all, I was an adult here.

“It is ridiculous to get dressed and eat at damn midnight. He’s lucky I am getting dressed, not undressed,” I muttered under my breath. Then I promptly blushed because getting undressed with Daniel sounded oh so tempting. “I’m so stupid,” I scolded myself.

I walked into the bathroom and found a variety of skin care products, toiletries, and accessories. You could never accuse Daniel Carrington of not being thorough. Staring at my own reflection blankly, I was slightly appalled at what I saw. The eyes that stared back at me shone with excitement and my cheeks were stained with a light blush already.

Who needs make-up when you have Daniel Carrington?I mused to myself, taking stupid to a whole new level.

After a few strokes of the hair brush, I looked decent enough. No sooner did I lay the bush down onto the marble counter, a knock sounded on my bedroom door.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the door. When I opened the door, a woman about my age stood at the doorway.

“Miss McLaren, I came to escort you to the dining room.” She smiled softly to me, and if I had strength, I’d laugh at this comical situation.

It was the middle of the damn night, and she came to escort me to dinner. Daniel was a madman. There was no other explanation for it.

“You shouldn’t have gotten out of bed for that,” I told her. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Oh, no trouble at all.”

It wasn’t as if she would tell me if she agreed. It was lunacy, and I’d tell Daniel that too. I followed her out of the bedroom and down the lavish, marble stairs. This home was a palace. Where exactly were we?

As I descended down the stairs, my hands glided down the banister. I saw a shadow of a man on the bottom step. Daniel stood there looking up to me and nearly stealing my breath away. He had changed into dark jeans and a black shirt, mirroring his dark aura and pulling me into his temptation.

I am a weak woman when it comes to this man!

Even through a dimly lit foyer, his gaze locked on mine. He didn’t move or say anything, just looked at me. Like he has been waiting for me his entire life.

As I reached the third step from the bottom, I stopped and came eye level with him. Something flickered in his hooded, dark eyes, but his expression closed off the same instance. It almost seemed surreal that he was so close to me, his strong jaw with full, sensual lips just inches away. If I leaned in, his mouth would meet mine. His hand reached out and brushed a finger across my bottom lip, as if he could read my thoughts. It took all the restraint I had not to show him how he affected me by that simple touch.

I gripped the banister, to stop myself from reaching out to him.

He wrapped his hand around my waist. “Let’s eat.”

“Daniel, you shouldn’t have staff up so late just to feed us dinner,” I spoke softly. “If you can’t fix a sandwich, I’m quite capable of fixing it for both of us,” I offered.

His hand slipped to the small of my back and nudged me forward. It agitated me that he wouldn’t respond, but he was crazy if he thought I’d let it go.

We entered the large dining room that could easily seat fifty people. At one corner of the long dining room table, the table has been set for two with a soft glow of candlelight giving the whole setting a romantic atmosphere.

Daniel pulled out a chair for me, and I sank into it with a murmured thanks. Another man stepped forward the moment Daniel sat down and filled our glasses with champagne.

I turned towards Daniel to find his eyes on me.

“Why don’t you just let me fix us sandwiches?” I asked him, feeling slightly unnerved.

“Maybe I want to impress you,” he retorted dryly.

I shook my head in disbelief, unsure whether I should believe him or not.

“Can you impress me tomorrow?” I replied, rolling my eyes at him. He had to be joking. “Honestly, I’m exhausted and not even that hungry.” At least not for food.Shut up, Ainslee!“I’d rather we just do a quick bite and then go to bed.”

Ah, fuck!My cheeks burned at my last statement. It made it sound like I wanted us to go to bed together. Well, I kind of did but that's beside the point.

A slight noise in the hallway had me turning my head in its direction. The man from earlier came in with two dishes and a bread basket. Placing one dish in front of me and another in front of Daniel, he finally settled the bread basket in between the two of us.

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