Falling In (The Surrender Trilogy 1)
“Exactly.”
Scout reached for the glass of water and chugged the rest, then placed the empty container on the table and stared straight ahead, unable to face him at the moment. He stood, retrieved a silver pitcher and refilled the glass.
It wasn’t necessarily the control thing that bothered her. He’d have to be in control. She was clueless and inexperienced. Dear God, the thought of him touching her . . . A warm, buttery sensation tightened her stomach.
Her face was burning up. Taking the freshly filled glass, she held it to her forehead, resting her elbows on her knees.
“Is the idea of sleeping with me that upsetting to you, Evelyn? I like to think I’m a fairly good-looking man for my age.”
“It’s not your looks,” she mumbled, still unable to face him.
“Then what’s causing your hesitation here? Tell me and I’ll fix it. I have no intention of sleeping with anyone else while our arrangement stands and the same will go for you.”
She snorted. She couldn’t help it. “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”
He didn’t seem to see the humor. “Good. I also plan on having my medical records shared with you after you visit my physician and have your own physical done.”
“Physical?”
Scout hadn’t seen a doctor since she was eleven and visited the hospital with pneumonia. It was a horribly frightening experience being that Pearl had left her there and taken herself on a five-day bender. They had to escape once she sobered up enough to realize her abandonment of a hospitalized daughter had attracted the notice of Children & Youth. She had no desire to voluntarily step into another medical facility ever again.
“If you can’t commit to having a screening, Ms. Keats, I’m afraid the entire arrangement is off.”
Back to Ms. Keats again. She sighed inwardly. What if they discovered something terrible? Her mom was sick and she never allowed herself to forget that, but what if she’d somehow contracted hepatitis or some other illness? Knowing what diseases did to people, she wasn’t sure if she could handle that kind of stress, but on the other hand she was rarely sick. Her body had a high threshold for pain and a fairly tough immune system based on her track record. If she were sick, there would probably be symptoms. Maybe it was best to know.
“Okay, I’ll see your physician.”
“Good. I’ll make the appointment for this afternoon. Are you on the pill?”
Everything was moving so fast. “The pill?”
“Birth control.”
“Um, no.” She couldn’t look at him, but sensed her answer disappointed him. He’d likely be disappointed about a lot of things once he discovered how ignorant she was about this sort of stuff.
Again, he jumped topics without warning. “Now that we have the majority of our agreement taken care of, how about if I order up lunch and make some calls? The concierge can get your room situated and I can inform Ms. Jones about your schedule change. After that I’ll have Dugan bring the car around and we can do some shopping for any personal items you might need.”
Before she could answer, he was already moving to his desk and ordering lunch. She thought about Parker. He’d be worried sick if she didn’t return to St. Christopher’s this evening. Why hadn’t she told him this was a possibility the night before? Oh, right, because he’d never understand.
Lucian put a call in to his physician and had lunch ordered and on its way within minutes. She excused herself to use the bathroom and when she returned, he was on the phone with someone else and room service was delivering lunch. This time they carried in a sharply dressed table and two chairs.
“Right there’s fine, gentleman,” Lucian said, and the men quickly placed the trays on the table and backed out of the room.
One man made eye contact with her before the door cut off his view. It was incredible, the amount of shame and judgment that swamped her in the span of that brief glance. Did they know?
“Wonderful, Ms. Jones, I’ll let her know.”
Scout turned at the mention of her general manager’s name.
Lucian hung up the phone. “Your new schedule’s been arranged and you’ll be occupying suite 3000, just below. A key’s being sent up.”
She simply stared at him. She always knew money made anything possible, but actually witnessing its influence was something else entirely. And now Tamara will know what she’d done.
Lucian stood and went to the table. He acted so nonchalant about all of this. Was this something he did all the time? How many women came before her? How many would come after? She figured ignorance was best in situations like this. Too much self-examination and she’d worry herself into a moral meltdown.
Chapter 6
Check UP
After lunch there was another visitor, Dr. Vivian Sheffield. Once Scout was over her initial shock that Lucian could arrange for house calls at the drop of a hat, she realized Dr. Sheffield was intimidatingly striking. The doctor also seemed to have a standing rapport with Lucian on more than a professional level.