Page 15 of Bearing Secrets
“Here in town.” He gestured in what seemed like a random direction. “My family has been here a long time, we own some property on the outskirts.”
The casual manner with which he presented that information, combined with the obvious wealth he had on display, told Natalia there was a lot more to that story than he was sharing, but she let it go. He wasn’t trying to be obvious about it, and she would respect that. For now. In time, though, he would have to tell her more.
“Now, the million-dollar question.” She paused as a server appeared out of nowhere with their drinks. “Thank you.” Taking a sip, she let her eyebrows raise slightly. The blueberry flavor was perfect.
“You approve?”
“I do,” she said, watching as he took a sip of his drink, a whiskey or scotch of some sort, over the rocks. Plain. Simple. Sophisticated. Whowasthis guy?
“Good. Now, I believe you had an expensive question to ask me?”
Angry that she’d relinquished the control of the conversation—I’m beginning to suspect I never had it in the first place, though—she nodded quickly, putting her drink down.
“Why did you let me come up here, and not all of the other women who came first?”
Kirell didn’t respond immediately, but his attention was still fully on her. He didn’t give her body a once-over, though she’d noted him doing so earlier. Instead, he focused on her face. The intensity in his eyes was still enough to keep her wary, but it could just be the way he was, and not something specific to her.
“Well?” she prompted.
“You’re attractive; you know that, right?”
It wasn’t the answer she expected, but the casual surety with which he delivered it had her blushing almost instantly. It didn’t, however, overpower her brain. “You didn’t just let me up here because of my looks. I saw the women you turned away, they were all gorgeous.”
Kirell’s lips twitched again. He didn’t smile often, but she was beginning to wonder if that was a sign of humor from him.
“You are correct. They were all beautiful. But we’re talking about you. How you’re attractive.”
“Thanks.”
He pointed a finger at her. “That. That is why I let you come up here. You’re attractive, but you don’t rely on it. You refuse to rely on it, because you don’t like to admit that you think you’re good looking. Because you think you have to be humble about it.”
“Huh?” She was confused.
“You don’t rely on your looks, Natalia. The other women who approached, they wanted to be seen with me, so everyone wouldoohandaahover how pretty they were. They thought that just because they had lots of cleavage or leg or everything showing, that they could automatically get what they wanted. Not you, though. You wanted something, that much was obvious—else you wouldn’t have approached—but you had to be encouraged. Your friend is also pretty, but I notice she didn’t come with you.”
Natalia was getting a glimpse into Kirell’s brain now, and his mindset was fascinating. He was sharp,verysharp. “So?” She wanted to hear more, to try and unravel his brain some.
“Well, how many other women came alone? None. Twos and threes, always. Not you. Your friend held back because she wantedyouto make it up here. For a reason. Between that, and your courage in actually coming here, I wanted to know more. To find out who you were. To see how you handled unexpected situations.”
The conversation was firmly back in his grasp, but oddly, she didn’t care. His mind worked in fascinating ways—except there was one flaw, something he hadn’t admitted to but that suddenly clicked into place with her.
“You’re looking for someone,” she said, gaining confidence with every word. “Why? What is it that you need someone like me for?”
Kirell smiled again, not bothering to hide his amusement. “You’re smart. I like that. But you’re the one who came up here looking for a husband. Let’s talk about that first.”
Bravo, Mr. Ursa! Admitting to it, without admitting to it, and turning the conversation back on me all at once. I’m impressed.
She was enjoying the mild verbal fencing. Taking another sip, she tried to hide her embarrassment at having actually told him plainly that she needed a husband for a Green Card. Who did that?!
“You’re smart, you went to school here. Why do you need a Green Card?”
Natalia shrugged. There was no harm in telling him. It didn’t give away any critical information he didn’t already know. “I just finished grad school. I got a job offer here in town, a dream job really. But they don’t have it in their budget to sponsor me for a Green Card. Or they just don’t want to go through the effort, I don’t know. Either way, they won’t do it, and the government is refusing to give me a work visa.”
“And you don’t want to go home.” It wasn’t a question.
“Correct.” There didn’t seem much point in lying over something so obvious already.
“I think I could help.”
