Page 109 of Delicious Surrender
Brynne tamped down the worries that Jared stirred up. Dimitri was a thousand kilometers away and she couldn’t worry about the Russian’s obsessive crush right now. Her first concern was how to navigate living under Gage’s roof.
Why did he ask me to stay at his house?
What does he have planned?
How can I prevent my heart from falling for him?
Saturday morning arrived, despite her wishes to the contrary. The snooze button didn’t help. She felt trapped on a runaway train without working brakes. Declan was not happy when she told him she and Magnus, a.k.a. Gage, were rekindling their romance. She poured on the excitement about putting aside their differences and starting again, but he still looked skeptical.
“Oh, the tangled web I’m weaving! It will be the death of me!” It was never a good sign when she talked to herself, and she’d been doing a lot of that since coming home yesterday.
She started the bath and pulled out her suitcase. “What does one wear to meet her new warden?” All she had were casual clothes and one tight black dress.He cannot possibly plan to keep me naked all the time. Can he?
It was ten minutes past eleven when she got to his door and rang the bell. Like an idiot, she dragged her suitcase up the hill, leaving her winded and sweaty. She should have driven the car up and taken it back later. She was brain dead.
He made a show of looking at his watch, then back up at her. She waited for the reprimand, but it didn’t come. If he wanted to keep her on edge, it was working.
He motioned her in and took hold of her suitcase, looking outside before he closed the door. “Where did you park?”
She blushed. “I walked up. It’s a nice day, and I just thought…I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I see.” He didn’t look overly amused. “Let me show you to your room.”
Great, Mr. Cold and Aloof is in residence.
Bree slipped off her sneakers and padded after him. There was no time to take in the amazing view of the water as they passed through the great room. She followed him past the double doors that led into the master suite and continued down the hall to the end.
He put her small suitcase on the purple velvet ottoman at the foot of the bed. “This will be your space. It has an adjustable standing desk so you can write here.” He pressed a button, and the blinds rose to reveal a door to her own private deck.
Brynne’s mouth hung open. “Oh, that’s a beautiful view.”
“If you want to sit out there, I’ll have some furniture brought up from downstairs.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Why was he sounding so businesslike?
He showed her the ensuite bathroom, then the tablet that controlled the lights, TV, and window shades.
“I’ll leave you to unpack and settle in. Meet me in the kitchen at twelve thirty for lunch. We will go over a few things.”
“Okay.” He left her standing there, and she wondered if she had entered the twilight zone.
At least he didn’t install you in his dungeon! Too bad, so sad.
The guest room could feature in a design magazine with its vaulted ceiling and timber trusses. The bedding on the Empire-style four-poster had little purple and green thistles and a rich purple velvet coverlet for chilly nights. Her toiletries took up one drawer in the sumptuous bathroom and her pathetic wardrobe of T-shirts and jeans fit into two shelves of the big closet. It was high time she shopped for clothes with her imminent financial windfall.
She set up her laptop and told herself she would avoid all porn sites for the next few weeks. He must have changed the network password back because it connected automatically.
It was only eleven forty-five a.m. Too much time to kill, so she texted Jared.
Brynne:Checked in to Gage’s five-star hotel. He didn’t put me in the cellar. ;-) He’s acting as cold as ice, and I still have my clothes on. Maybe I was worried for nothing. I’ll check in with you later—if I still have the use of my hands. lolz
No response. He must still be sleeping. After an internal debate, she took her laptop to the living room. Gage was nowhere to be seen, which gave her a chance to look around.The enormous stone fireplace was the focal point of the room, as were the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a deck that stretched from one end of the house to the other. The room had vaulted ceilings and big beams, giving it a rustic feel. She got comfortable on a loveseat that faced the water.
Gage emerged from his office a little while later with a bunch of papers.
“All settled in?”
“Yes. It’s a beautiful room. Thank you.”