Page 33 of Bind Me, Sir

“It was last night,” I said as Mrs. Hummel scurried into the room, “but this morning, she must have thought otherwise.”

Mrs. Hummel poured Adam’s coffee and left us alone a few seconds later with his order for scrambled eggs and toast.

“She was gone when you woke?” Adam asked.

I nodded, my brow furrowing again.

“What happened?”

“I kissed her.”

His brow shot up once more.

“I fucked her—”

“What?”

“—and now I’m left with a twisting stomach and ache in my chest I can’t ignore.”

Adam peered at me as I drank my coffee. “You’re fucked,” he finally murmured what Garret had said.

No point in denying the truth. “Can you get her number for me?”

“I will, but I think you ought to give her some time before calling.”

I jerked my focus from the church out the window to his face.

“Give her time to accept what she did,” he continued. “You have to know she’s probably swamped with guilt. Everything she’s done in her life has been for her sister, and she’s stubborn enough over her guilt to feel she might have failed Luna in some way.”

“The girl is in jail for fuck’s sake,” I grumbled, sitting back in my chair.

“Jail?” Adam cut me off from continuing, his brows shooting upward. “What happened?”

I explained briefly what Natalie had been informed of by the detox center’s administrator.

“If nothing else,” I said, “the fact her sister won’t be around this weekend should have freed Natalie to take some time for her own wants—for more than a mere ten or so hours. I need to make her understand her sister needs to learn a lesson the hard way for a change.”

“And if she’s not ready to hear the truth?”

“Then I’ll wait until she is.”

“And if she still isn’t?”

“Then I’ll wait until her sister is charged and sentenced, put away for enough time Natalie will recognize the freedom she has.”

“And if she’s not put in the slammer?”

“Goddamnit, Adam!” I glowered at him.

He shrugged and sipped, studying me, without doubt reading every corner of my mind. The man knew me better than my own parents, and I’d never once bothered with keeping any part of my life secret from him.

“I agree with Lily that sexually you’re a perfect partner for Natalie—you’ve just got to let fate lead you on the proper path. Push, and she’ll shut down.”

“And you know this how?”

“My wife and I had a nice heart-to-heart last night about her manipulating the two of you.”

Guilt slammed into me over the fact I’d forgotten their news from the evening before. “How is your wife feeling?”

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