Page 13 of Bearing Secrets
“What is your name?” he asked abruptly, shattering the silence that had come over them.
“Natalia.”
He waited, still not breaking eye contact.
“Natalia Kristoff.”
“Where are you from?” Her accent wasn’t overpowering, but it was certainly there, and he was curious as to where. Eastern Europe, he could place that much, but was it Russia or somewhere else?
This time she hesitated. “Nowhere pleasant.”
He could hear the finality in the unspoken period there. Anything more specific wasn’t forthcoming. That was fine, he could handle that. The question had been more for his own personal curiosity than anything.
“Who is your friend?” Time to see how she handled his interest being elsewhere.
“Loren?” She seemed surprised, caught off guard. Her head started to turn, but she stopped, realizing their little non-verbal contest was still ongoing. A smile tugged at her cheeks but never blossomed.
A shame,he thought.I should like to see what a look of happiness does to that already beautiful face.
“What about Loren? She’s my friend from undergrad.”
“Do you wish for me to be your husband?”
He spoke gently, easily, as if the question was something typical and run of the mill. Kirell needed to know if she could handle such sudden changes, to see how she adapted.
“I…well, listen. Um.”
Though she was stumbling over her words, he could see her eyes flickering as she focused on one of his eyes and then the other. Thinking. Working her way through.
“Maybe I should go.” Natalia started to stand, though she still didn’t look away.
That was all he needed to see to know she was the right fit.
“Sit,” he said, reaching out to grab her wrist, holding her firm. “Stay. Have a drink with me.” He pitched his voice low, pleasant, not demanding. Almost inviting, with a hint of seductive.
He was pushing the way he was on purpose, using it to judge how she reacted to suddenly-changing situations. A lot could be revealed about a person based on how they responded to certain questions and topic changes.
Natalia hesitated, and—for a moment—he thought she was going to stay, that he’d been wrong in his evaluation. Then she shook herself and he saw her resolve firming up.
“No, I think I should go. Maybe you’re not what I thought.” She frowned. “I don’t mean that in a bad way, you understand.”
Kirell grinned. She was absolutely perfect for what he needed. Spine, and the ability to adapt. “Agreed.”
His hand was still on her wrist, but she wasn’t willing to look at it pointedly to get him to drop it, nor had she wrenched herself free, all of which boded well for him. She was intrigued, as was he, and that would be enough to ensure their conversation continued.
“I’m sorry—pardon? Agreed what?” Natalia was frowning at him now, nicely-arched eyebrows lowering over brown eyes coated in amber.
“That I’m not what you thought I was. But I think I can help you.”
“You can?”
“Yes. If you help me.”
Natalia’s expression closed off completely, going from frown to sneer in a nanosecond. “Listen, mister, I don’t know what you think of me, but I’m not up here selling my body like that. If you think I’m just gonna gratefully suck your dick because youmightbe able to help me, you’ve got another think coming.”
She tried to pull her wrist free now, but he didn’t let go. Kirell had to focus for a moment, his own anger rising to match the fiery temper he saw inside Natalia now.
“Sit,” he ordered, just a bit more harshly than intended.
