Page 14 of Bind Me, Sir

Pushing aside thoughts of failure, of guilt over letting her down, I sat silent while Lily made the call to start the process, setting aside her own work to help me care for my sister. I cried countless tears, thanked her a million times, but it didn’t seem enough. Finally, we moved onto work-related issues, filling our morning to capacity.

We dined together, Mrs. Hummel’s tutting over our needing to eat more than salads and grilled chicken rolling my eyes. While Lily could use a little fattening up, I had plenty to spare. I refused the pecan pie and ice cream she offered, watching as Lily licked her spoon clean after the last bite.

The absence of Adam and his friends, the quietness of the house, brought about the assumption the men had returned to Boston where the Laurents had a condo. Curiosity over the remainder of their weekend took over my head as I glanced out the window at the stone church across the meadow.

“What’s on your mind?” Lily asked, jerking my focus back to the dining room. She set her spoon aside, a smirk tilting her lips.

“Nothing,” I whispered and cleared my throat.

“Bologna with a capital B.”

“How was the rest of your weekend?” I decided to ask what drove my thoughts of ropes, submission, and release.

“I enjoyed mine, but one of our guests seemed … off.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond or what she expected me to ask to get her to expound, so I kept silent.

“Jordan usually enjoys dominating whoever Adam brings along to play, but last weekend…” She shrugged, still studying my face.

I couldn’t stand her dangling the carrot in front of my nose. “What?”

“He didn’t partake. Didn’t touch. He also left at some point Saturday night while Garret made himself comfortable with two submissives rather than one.”

I blinked, hating the hope that bubbled inside me.

“You know what I think?” she asked, leaning forward onto the table.

Shaking my head, I managed a whispered, “No.”

“I think Jordan is completely smitten with you. Fascinated by your indifference toward him.”

“He could have any woman he wants,” I said, my brow furrowing. Skinny ones, I didn’t bother adding.

“And the thought you aren’t salivating at his feet drove him to distraction.”

I considered her words, coming to my own conclusion rather than what she seemed to lean toward. “I won’t be a conquest, I won’t be the unattainable woman he needs to conquer in order to stroke his ego.”

“The man has no ego,” Lily argued, her eyes full of mischief I wasn’t sure how to take. “He’s humble yet confident.”

“He’s also gorgeous,” I spewed my thought, heating my face.

Lily sat back, her smirk returning. “Not my type, but I could see how you would find him so. He’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

I blinked again, my heartrate kicking up at the thought. “He thinks I took pictures of him to sell to the tabloids,” I blurted another embarrassing secret.

“So he told me.”

“Oh, good Lord.” I buried my face in my hands, but she grasped my forearm, forcing me to meet her gaze.

“I told him you did no such thing. I told him I trust you with my secrets, and his doing the same would never become something he’d regret.”

My throat thickened, and the tears I thought drained earlier in the day once more filled my eyes. “You did?”

“I did,” she said with a smile while nodding. “A burden seemed to lift off his shoulders, but I’m no dominant who can read people like those three men do.”

I sighed, going lax in my chair once more. “He’s so beautiful,” I whispered, the memory of him pattering my heart like raindrops on a dry, dusty field.

“He’s much more than that,” Lily assured me.

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