Read Honor Bound for Free Online

standing just a little closer than polite personal space would call for. He seemed inordinately big and hard, and I was tempted to reach out to touch his shoulder or chest.
    Fortunately, I resisted the silly impulse.
    “I need to get the layout and measurements so we can finalize our plans. People might wander into this room, and Cheryl is really big on making sure all areas are ready for guests.”
    I thought that was a very good excuse and sounded perfectly plausible. I even showed him the sketch pad and measuring tape I held. I was quite pleased with myself, since espionage clearly wasn’t a natural gift of mine.
    “I would have thought you’d have a laser measurer,” he said, sounding casual as he glanced down at my paraphernalia. “Cheryl seemed like she’d have top-of-the-line everything.”
    He’d taken the right measure of Cheryl in about two minutes. I suddenly wondered what his conclusions had been about me.
    “She does have one of those,” I said. “But it’s on the fritz, so I had to use mine. I’m more old-fashioned than she is.”
    “Yeah,” he murmured, leaning in a little closer to me until he was definitely in my space. “I kind of figured that.”
    His eyes were suddenly hotter than warm, and I held my breath as I gazed up at him. It looked like he was going to kiss me, and I desperately wanted him to.
    Then I ducked my head and tried to get my mind to work again. I’d just met this guy. Guys didn’t up and kiss you after talking to you for less than fifteen minutes. And, even if they did, I could definitely not kiss this guy. He was a Maxwell, and he’d had his life handed to him on a silver platter, while his family took everything away from my family.
    “So were you going to measure the books?” he asked, his voice a little huskier than before.
    “What?”
    “You said you were here to take measurements, so I was wondering if you were going to measure the books.”
    “Oh. No.” I stared down at the tape measure in my hand. “I just got distracted, since it looked so much like one of those old libraries.”
    He chuckled again, softer this time. “So you were looking for secret doors?”
    I couldn’t help it. I had to look back up at him. Then I couldn’t look away from his beautiful green eyes, which seemed to be full of admiration, interest, and humor. “Maybe a little,” I admitted.
    “That’s what I thought.”
    I have no idea how long I would have stood there like a statue, staring up at him, swaying slightly, waiting for something to happen.
    My phone rang then, though, and I jerked in surprise before I reached to answer it.
    It was Cheryl, who had about ten questions and twenty-five suggestions for me to do while I was at the house—all of them vague and mostly unhelpful. I waved in Sebastian’s direction when he started to leave the room, trying to feel relieved that he was gone.
    I didn’t feel relieved, though. I felt disappointment.
    I really needed to get it together and remember priorities.
    ***
    An hour later, I’d done all of the real work I’d come here to do, but I wanted to make sure to scout out the home office while I was here.
    I knew Gentry had to have an office in the house. And that would be the most likely location for any incriminating information I could find.
    So I left the east wing and wandered into the west wing, holding the sketch of the layout of the house I’d been creating and trying to look like I was doing what I was supposed to do.
    No one was around. I hadn’t seen Sebastian since the library, so I assumed he had left. He wouldn’t have any reason to hang around here all morning, when Gentry wasn’t even in residence.
    I was planning to be careful, though. No sense to rush headlong into potential danger, just because the coast looked clear.
    I found a few guest bedrooms until I got to the back of the wing, where I discovered a workout room and, across the hall, a door that opened into what was clearly an office. There was a big