Broken (Broken #1) (22 page)

“
It’s one of
a kind,” he states, his eyes now on me. “It would suit you
well.”

I’m not sure what to make of
what he just said, or the way his gaze seems to be burning into me
in a way it never has before. I’m reading into things. “Why do you
say that?”

He turns back to the computer
and crosses off the screen, I hide my disappointment by looking at
the sheets of paper spread out along the desk. I have no idea what
they are.

We order in food as he’s still
not done and it’s now five. I have to admit though, his company
hasn’t been terrible. He’s made conversation when necessary and
asked me whether or not I like some of the jewellery he shows me.
Some of it isn’t my style but some of it is beautiful, I make sure
to give him my honest opinion on every one and my reasons behind
it.

After a while he seems to get
aggravated, almost like he doesn’t like my answers. I can’t help
what I like and what I don’t like.

“
This one?”
He snaps and shows me a picture of a single loop charm with a
purple disk in the centre that can be flipped over showing a mint
green colour on the other side.

“
It’s great,
a necklace for two outfits.”

“
You’ve been
in my office haven’t you?” His question startles me.

“
What? No!” I
gape at him, my heart hammering. There hasn’t been a single time
I’ve gone in there. Apart from the first time when I opened the
door and immediately shut it when I realised it was his
study.

His eyes narrow, “I only gave
you two rules. Stay out of my way and don’t invade my privacy.”

“
I swear, I
haven’t,” I gulp and implore him with my eyes to believe
me.

“
Then how is
it you like every single piece of jewellery I’ve designed but
nothing that my father has?”

I laugh a little, it’s
humourless and nervous, “Even if I had been snooping, which I
haven’t, I didn’t even know you designed jewellery and secondly,
how the hell would I remember them all and thirdly, why the hell
would I like them all? You’re making zero sense.” I climb from my
seat to put some distance between us. “Maybe your designs are
actually really good and maybe that’s why I like them.”

“
If I find
out you’ve been in my office Guinevere…”

“
Oh save it.”
I snarl and stomp to the door. “I’ll take that ride to the hotel
now, if you don’t mind.”

“
Don’t walk
away from me Guinevere.”

“
Fuck you,” I
shout and reach for the handle.

A hand comes from behind and
slams against the door, keeping it shut no matter how hard I tug.
“I’ll accept that I’ve upset you and that’s the reason you just
spoke to me with such a lack of respect, but next time you swear I
will make it so that you never even dare to swear in my presence
again. Are we clear?”

His whispered threat hits me
straight in the chest and no small amount of fear overcomes me. I
have no idea what he means to do and I don’t care to find out.

“
Now sit
down. You’re right, I probably have jumped to conclusions and now I
feel guilt because of your honesty over my jewellery. I shouldn’t
have been so quick to judge your motives.” His hand comes to my
wrist and circles it tightly, but not too tightly that it would
leave a mark or hurt me in any way. “Please, come and sit and we’ll
eat when the food arrives.”

“
Let go of
me,” I whisper, my lower lip vanishing under my teeth. He doesn’t
move away and my trembling gets worse. Not from fear but from my
attempts at keeping the tears away. No matter how hard I try they
fall seconds later, spilling silently down my cheeks.

He spins me so my back is
against the door, his eyes following the shiny, wet trails that mar
my face. “Gwen. I…” His eyes roam over me, from my eyes to my nose,
before finally settling on my mouth. “Don’t cry, I didn’t mean to
frighten you.”

“
Let me go,”
I tell him again and lower my eyes. “Please.”

He slowly nods and takes a step
back, I pull open the door and keep my head down as I pass the
large desk.

“
Lock up,” I
hear Nathan order. “Guinevere, wait.”

I stop as I reach the elevator
we came to the floor in. “What?”

“
I’ll take
you to the hotel,” he says and presses the button with his gloved
pinkie finger.

He doesn’t speak until we reach
the car, for which I’m grateful, “You’re correct in thinking I’ve
been completely irrational.”

Scoff.

“
You’re
right, you have no reason to lie to me about liking them. It was
just a shock because my father and Caleb hated them.”

“
Caleb hated
them?” I blink at this announcement. “Caleb would love
them.”

“
He told me
so himself,” he shrugs like it doesn’t bother him but part of me
knows it does.

A thought flashes across my
mind. Does Nathan secretly seek acceptance from people? He seems so
hard and so unaffected by everything. Is it all just a façade?

“
Well I think
they’re great. If I were to buy something that first disk with the
red gem would be the first thing to catch my eye,” I’m not saying
this as a hint for him to get me one either, although that would be
nice. “Why don’t you put them on the market?”

“
It’s my
father’s company, what he says goes.”

“
Your father
is an idiot,” I grumble and relax in my seat. “You’re very
talented. I imagine your father was once, he still is but his style
is older, more elegant. Yours are modern and eye catching. I know
obviously your father’s jewellery sells well but I bet yours would
sell better.”

“
I doubt that
but it’s kind of you to say so,” he smiles gently at me, his eyes
seeming to see me in a whole new light. “You’re not actually that
bad when you lose the attitude. I’m starting to see what my brother
saw in you.”

My mouth drops open at his
teasing words, “I’d say the same to you but…” I tap my chin in
thought. “I really shouldn’t lie.”

His laughter sounds through the
car and my heart almost stops. He has a nice laugh. Very nice. It’s
deep and throaty and full of joy. His smile brightens his entire
face and those hard and stern lines completely vanish. He looks his
age and he looks more like Caleb but this time it doesn’t hurt so
much to see the similarities. For once I welcome it and find my
lips curving up with it.

Chapter
Eleven

We arrive at the hotel, it’s
fancier than the one we stayed in before leaving my home town. I
wonder vaguely about what happened to the food we ordered but that
thought vanishes when I see the huge tub in the en-suite
bathroom.

“
Dibs,” I
announce and close the door behind me.

It’s been a while since I’ve
had a soak, sure there’s a nice enough bath at Nathan’s, but this
is a hotel tub. You can’t go to a fancy hotel and not use half of
their bubble products. It wouldn’t be right. I’m certain there is a
law against forgetting to test their wares and if there’s not, then
there should be.

Once the bath has reached
capacity and the heat is as I desire, I step into the foamy water
and sigh as it heats my body perfectly.

“
What do you
want to eat?” Nathan calls through the door.

“
Something
greasy.”

“
Salad.”

“
Something
extra greasy.”

“
Lots of
salad.”

“
You’re an
arse.”

“
Even more
salad.”

I smile to myself, my hands
rubbing over the bump poking out of the water. “Whatever. Surprise
me.”

“
Salad.”

My breath comes out in a rush
as I let out a small giggle, I’m happy when guilt doesn’t follow
immediately afterwards. “Thanks.”

He stops speaking through the
door, leaving me to soak and wash my hair.

By the time I’m done the food
is here and I’m relieved to see proper food. Not salad.

Well, there is some salad but
it’s with chicken wings and ribs and steak. Oh my god, I’m so
hungry. There’s peppercorn sauce, I almost cry. You can’t have
steak without peppercorn sauce.

Another thing that should be
illegal.

“
Come sit,”
Nathan says and points to the seat beside him. Why does he like me
sitting beside him? Every breakfast, lunch and dinner we’ve shared,
he’s pulled me next to him. When I went into his office he had me
sit next to him. I don’t get it. I can still talk to him from
across the way. What’s up with that?

The chair he holds out, I
completely ignore it and sit in the space next to it. Nathan pulls
out the chair a little bit more and pats the seat. Why am I winding
him up?

“
I’m okay
here,” I say and gauge his reaction.

“
Is there a
reason you don’t want to sit beside me?” He asks as I slide my
plate to my new spot.

I shrug, “No reason.”

“
Okay,” he
elongates the word and looks down at his food. I start cutting in
to mine, happy to see it’s not pink in the middle.

I watch him out of the corner
of my eye as he begins to eat, his eyes drift up to me every so
often. This makes my lips twitch. “So, how long will you have to
work tomorrow?”

“
I should be
done by noon,” he says after a moment’s thought. “Would you like to
join me?”

I eye him warily and tease,
“Are you going to accuse me and shout at me?”

His eyes soften and I can see
he’s sorry for his actions before he even says it. “No and I
apologise profusely for reacting that way.”

I wave him off and flip my
braid over one shoulder. “It’s fine.”

“
No,” he says
sternly. “It’s not fine. You shouldn’t be subjected to that by
anyone. Even me.” His lips curve up at the ends. “Well, not
including when you annoy me.”

Scoff. “I don’t annoy you.”

“
No, you’re
right,” he says, his voice soft and quiet. “You don’t.”

My breath hitches, I’m not sure
why and I don’t get a chance to think on it as he’s changing the
subject.

“
I thought we
could go out tomorrow when I’ve finished,” I continue to chew on a
piece of steak as he speaks. “Have you ever been to the
city?”

“
No but there
are a lot of places I want to see,” I admit, keeping my fingers
crossed that he’ll let me see them.

“
Brilliant.
We’ll spend a few hours wandering around if the weather is
agreeable and I’ll bring you back in a few weeks. We’ll see a
show.”

“
A
show?”

“
Theatre,”
his eyes search my face. “Unless you don’t find the theatre
enjoyable?”

I shrug, a smile teasing my
lips, “I’ve never been, so I’d love to.”

“
Great,” he
blinks, seemingly surprised that I’ve agreed. “I’ll make the
arrangements.”

“
Thanks,” I
take another bite and fail to stifle a moan. “Damn this steak is
amazing.”

I notice how he only eats the
food on his plate, not even touching the ribs or the chicken wings.
How odd. I don’t comment though, I just eat as much as my stomach
will allow.

“
So, where am
I sleeping?” I ask after washing my hands and face. There is only
one bed and a large couch. “I don’t mind taking the
couch.”

He frowns and leads me over to
the bed, “You sleep here. I’ll take the couch. I’m going to have a
shower, use this time to get ready.”

“
In what? I
have no clothes here.”

He hands me an empty plastic
bag, “Put your clothes in here, I’ll send them to be washed and
dried with my own.”

“
Okay,” I say
and take the bag from his hands. “What about for the
night?”

“
Here,” he
says and I almost stumble backwards when he starts removing his
jacket and shirt.

“
I could just
sleep in the gown…” He turns his back towards me and pulls his
white vest over his head before passing it to me. I take it.
“Thanks.”

“
No
problem.”

“
What about
you?”

“
I’ll be
fine,” he says and pads into the bathroom, still only half dressed.
I should cover my eyes or look away but I can’t. He has a very nice
back. Very nice.

During the time he showers I
call down to reception and ask them to bring up some bed sheets and
a blanket. They do so in record time and I manage to set up his bed
for the night before he exits the bathroom. I also manage to strip
off and pull his vest on, which would probably reach mid-thigh if I
didn’t have a huge bump in the way.

I bag up my clothes and place
them by the bathroom door before climbing into bed.

Nathan leaves the bathroom but
I feign sleep to give him the privacy he deserves. Okay so I’m a
liar, I peek through one eye and I’m shocked to see him in nothing
but a towel, his golden skin damp and glistening in the dim light
from the lamp by the couch. My eye quickly shuts again and I
mentally scream, “OH MY GOD!” I’ve never been this close to a naked
man other than Caleb and it’s making my heart race.

I’m not sure why my heart is
racing, my brain can’t seem to register emotions at present.

I peek again and almost gasp
when I realise he’s looking at me over his shoulder, he’s checking
to see if I’m looking. I’m not. Totally not.