Page 21 of Nothing to Fear

“Trust issues?”

Yeah, trust in herself. “You could say that.”

“I just did.”

Okay, Mr. Sarcasm.

The rest of the table finished up and Alice said something about coffee somewhere else that put everyone on their feet. She was slower to rise. If this was the part of the night where things got cozy and intimate, and personal, it was definitely time for her to slip out a side door.

“I’ll settle Buoy and join you in a few minutes,” Alice said, accepting another kiss from Benedict before he crouched to speak to his littlest boy. “Caber, will you show our guests to the west terrace?”

West terrace? Very nice. Very not her. What was she doing in that building with these—

When fingers slipped between hers, the thick weight of them interrupted her thoughts. Except what replaced them?

“Let’s go this way,” Darroch said, pulling her toward the end of the table as others went back the way they’d come in.

“Shouldn’t we stick with the group?”

“I’ve been getting lost in this house for three decades, I never missed a meal.”

Bursting through another exit from the dining room, the dim lighting in the wide hallway required adjustment.

This didn’t seem to be going a favorable way. Staying quiet was much more difficult with only two people in the conversation. How could she get out of this?

“Mr. Breckenridge—”

“Darroch or Roch is fine, Cherry. You start with that Breckenridge shit around here, you won’t hit the mark ‘til June. There’s a lot of us around.”

“People will notice we’re gone.”

“I’m okay with that, Cherry.”

They veered left. “Those are my colleagues; your dad is my boss.”

“Guarantee he doesn’t make personnel decisions in the Intimates department. He’s a happily married man.”

Screeching to a halt, he dropped her hand and turned to, dramatically, throw open glass double doors.

Then their hands were joined again, and he led her into a stone tunnel.

“Where are we going?”

A cool breeze suggested they were no longer inside. Up ahead stone stairs awaited, but they didn’t get that far. He diverted into a nook, flicked a switch, and dull light flickered behind a gauze curtain.

He drew the fabric aside. “What do you like?”

The bench around three sides reclined to a padded backrest strewn with scatter pillows. He swung around to sit right there, lights twinkling in the recesses above them.

“Is this your favorite spot for seduction?”

“You want me to seduce you, Cherry? Damn. If I’d known that, I would’ve worn different pants.” He played it well, but his smile eventually broke. He patted the bench beside him. “I’d rather we just talk. Come sit.”

“Okay,” she said and sat with him, about a foot away. “I appreciate your hospitality tonight. You have a wonderful family.”

“Don’t take them for granted?” he asked like he was finishing for her. “A lot of people assume we take our privilege for granted. We don’t. Our mom wouldn’t allow it.”

“Buoy is adorable, do you spend much time with him? A five-year-old must be a damper on your social life.”

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