Page 18 of Bind Me, Sir

My face heated again. “Your response was warranted—and understandable considering who you are.”

“I’ve never enjoyed living my life under the public’s microscope.”

“I can’t imagine anyone would.”

Mr. Graystone peered out the window toward the church, and I wondered where his brain wandered as his brow furrowed.

“I honestly didn’t intend any harm,” I said, drawing his focus once more. “And I don’t ever—I haven’t ever—behaved in such a manner.”

“Taking pictures of men without their knowledge?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

I nodded and turned my attention to the Danish I’d put on my plate but had yet to nibble on. Silence grew between us long enough I decided perhaps I ought to leave.

“Why did you do it?” His quiet question jerked my head up, and I felt compelled to tell the truth regardless of my embarrassment once more heating my face.

“You’re incredibly handsome,” I spewed my first thought, my voice breathless from nervousness.

“And?” His voice didn’t hint at wanting an ego boost, but wanting the entire truth from me.

I inhaled until it hurt. “And considering my life as a caretaker to a wild young women hell-bent on ruining her future, the only satisfaction I can find is in fantasizing about what I can never have.” My pulse thrummed in my ears, and I sucked in a breath, even more embarrassed for spilling my truth without filter.

Mr. Graystone rubbed his lower lip while studying me. “What is your fantasy, Natalie?” he finally asked, his tone demanding I answer him regardless of the privacy he invaded.

“A man who will love me as Adam does his wife. A man who will lavish attention on me and allow me to give him every part of me in return.”

“A rich man,” he surprised me by stating.

“I could care less if he was as poor as me and had a scarred face,” I said, my brow furrowed a bit over his assumption I would judge a man according to his wealth. “I just long for someone to make me forget about reality for a time, take the cares off my shoulders, and give me one to lean upon. One strong and resilient, one that can hold my world without flinching at the weight that comes along with me.”

Chapter Nine

Jordan

Natalie snapped her jaw shut as though she’d said too much, but the pain in her eyes held me enthralled. I wanted to believe more than anything she was as sweet and unselfish as she seemed, as Lily and even Adam claimed, but my jaded past kept my walls in place.

Lily obviously intended to set her up with me, but would a taste of our lifestyle, the release I could offer Natalie that weekend, be enough to get her through until she found her fantasy man?

Or, would she latch onto me like I feared, needy and wanting more than I was willing to give?

“What is your fantasy, Mr. Graystone?” Natalie’s whisper lifted one of my eyebrows. She seemed the timid, shy type, not the fisher of information like most people desiring a story to sell.

“Call me Jordan,” I said rather than answer.

Natalie nodded, seeming to settle a bit more in her chair. “Do you enjoy living in the States?” she asked, intuitive at least in that I had no wish to share personal information of the sort she’d asked about.

“I do.”

“Why did you leave England? I’ve always wanted to visit there.”

“Adam asked me to be his business partner. I said yes.”

She smiled, her light brown eyes made more luminous by black mascara thickening her long lashes.

“It must have been hard to leave your family behind. Do you have any siblings?” She sounded too eager for my liking, and I found my brow furrowing at her return to personal questioning.

“I do not.” I cut my words short, and her face heated as she glanced away.

“I-I’m sorry.” She grabbed her purse off the floor from beside her and stood. “I should be going—”

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