Page 12 of Bearing Secrets
“Go!”
Without warning, Loren shoved her forward, toward the stairs. Natalia stumbled, her friend’s action nearly resulting in her ending up on the floor. Instead, she came to a halt just a few steps away from the nearly-hidden stairway. As before, a security guard emerged from a shadowy alcove, shaking his head at her. He was about to gesture for her to return to the floor when he paused, putting his finger to his ear.
At once, his expression changed. Natalia watched in disbelief as he stepped to the side and gestured for her to proceed up the stairs.
“A-are you sure?”
The guard just gestured impatiently.
Realizing that she was only going to get the one shot at it, Natalia pushed aside her doubts and climbed the stairs. She’d come this far after all, and the weight of the glares from all the women who’d come before her certainly wasn’t going to slow her down. She reached the top.
It was there that her courage failed her for a moment, causing her to hesitate before following the railing around to the booths. There was more than one booth she saw now, but all were empty except for one.
The music seemed duller up there, less pounding than down on the floor, and she felt herself relaxing slightly, realizing she wouldn’t have to shout to be heard.
Without waiting to be told, she went and sat across from the sole figure up there, sliding gracefully into the chair, folding her hands over one another as she rested them on the table between them.
“Why did you come up here?”
She’d been opening her mouth to say hello, but now snapped it closed. His words weren’t harsh, but they were filled with an intensity only matched by the cobalt blue gaze he now levelled at her.
“Don’t lie, either.”
Closing her mouth slowly this time, cut off twice in the span of thirty seconds, she took her time evaluating the man. Was he really worth this sort of cold directness? Was it just him ensuring he didn’t waste his time, or did it indicate more about him, that perhaps he was just some rich asshole who thought he could get away with being rude to everyone around him?
He was handsome, she had to give him that. His features had the perfect five o’clock shadow without looking scruffy, his jawline could have been chiseled out of marble, and the strongly-defined nose wasn’t too big or too small to fit his slightly oval-shaped face.
It was the eyes though, the eyes that kept drawing her back in, sucking her into their vortex. He was well put together, which included the sharp lines of his suit, which she guessed cost a hell of a lot more than she could ever afford.
Finally, she decided to answer him. Truthfully. It would be a good test, to see how he reacted to the answer. Would he throw her out, or perhaps laugh? She knew he wouldn’t be interested, but that didn’t matter. She’d been allowed up, where so many before her had not, and Natalia wasn’t about to waste that chance now. Not without seeing if she could wipe that cool gaze from his face first.
“I came up here looking for a husband,” she said, locking gazes and refusing to be the first one to budge.
6
Kirell stared across the table at the woman, trying to decipher her, but his mind was fixated on her response. He knew it would tilt the table in her direction, giving her the power to direct the conversation for a bit, but she’d hit him with one line that he’d absolutely not been prepared for.
“What sort of husband?”
She smiled, their eyes still locked in a contest of wills. Whoever she was, this amber-eyed beauty had no shortage of guts to her. Not many humans could take the piercing intensity of a stare from one of the shifters. Yet here she was, this unnamed woman, staring right back at him, barely blinking more frequently than he. Kirell admired that sort of courage.
“The kind that makes me eligible for a Green Card.”
“I see.” Kirell knew he wasn’t completely successful in his attempts to keep a smile from his face, but he doubted his lips did much more than twitch. To any of his kind, that would be a dead giveaway, but he doubted his woman was able to pick up on such subtle hints.
Not yet, perhaps, but she will, given enough time. I believe that.
He’d let her come up because of her tentative approach, the way her friend had been forced to drag her most of the way. That was unlike the others who had approached. Every woman he’d turned away had been beautiful—he wasn’t blind. But beauty wasn’t what he was after that night. Those women, they were confident to the point of arrogance in their ability to use cleavage and seduction to get him…and his money.
Kirell needed someone else. Someone calmer, more rational. The women so confident in their appearance tended to be more set in their ways, and unwilling to change them. He needed someone more malleable, with a mind that could adapt to the circumstances, someone who would be open to multiple outcomes and able to accept any of them.
That had been his initial reason for letting her up the stairs. Now, however, he was seeing a side of her he’d not expected to want but was fast coming to enjoy. She was brave, this one. Braver than most. She’d told him her true reason for coming upstairs, and without much hesitation. That took guts, especially considering her reasoning wasn’tbecause you’re hot.
Could this be the woman he needed? It seemed almost impossible he’d found a candidate so quickly, but her purpose was almost in line with his. If she truly was open to finding someone simply to give her a Green Card, then she would almost certainly be open to what he needed as well.
Mostly.
His thoughts were ordered. Logical. Cold. He evaluated her like she was little more than a computer program and decided she was the most suitable candidate he was likely to ever come across, a means to an end for both of them. It could work.
