"Now what?"

"N-nothing. I just wanted to find a better job, so I came to Houston."

"Any particular reason you need the income?"

What the heck did he expect her to say to that? That she had a fairy godmother somewhere, ready to dole out cash as needed? What planet was he from exactly? "I like to eat, wear clothes, have a roof over my head." Natalie looked somewhere to the right of his face, and tried with all her might not to sound sarcastic.

"Do you have a lot of debt?"

"Why are you asking me these questions?"

"I'm trying to figure out your situation. See what we can do to resolve the mess you're in."

She took a quivering breath at the reminder. "I don't have any debt. I don't have any credit cards. I have four hundred and sixty-eight dollars in my checking account, and about forty-five in my purse. That's the sum of my financial spreadsheet."

"Good. If you're telling me the truth--"

She broke in, "Why would I lie to you?"

The look he turned on her sent her heartbeat into a quivering mess. His eyes were hot and his voice when he spoke was edged with an emotion she couldn't identify but nevertheless, made the air around them fraught with tension. "Try not to interrupt me, Natalie. It tends to make me want to shut you up--and I'm not real sure you'd care for my method." His voice was guttural and the muscles of his neck, corded and laced with steel, were a quietly menacing threat. His expression was hard, piercing, and his eyes ran over her from top to bottom, and settled on her mouth.

Her heart raced and her palms became clammy.

The thought of the repercussions of defying him rendered her helpless in a wholly feminine way. "Yes, sir," she agreed softly, without a trace of sarcasm. He'd subdued her completely not so much with his tone but with his hot eyes as they ran over her, and her gaze dropped from his. Yeah, she so didn't want to be the recipient of his anger, or whatever form of punishment he was intimating, sexual or otherwise--no matter the blood pulsing between her thighs.

His eyes glittered, but he continued in the same vein as before. "If you're telling me the truth, and you don't have debt collectors on your butt, in fact have no debt at all, and you haven't signed a lease for an apartment--" He looked at her with a question in his eyes and she softly shook her head. ". . . then there's no reason we can't work this out between us."

He seemed to be waiting on her response, so she nodded her head in agreement, even though she was wondering what the hell she was getting into. "Okay." If not for that phone call to his assistant, and the woman's unwavering belief that this man would never hurt her, Natalie would be running for the nearest exit.

He continued, "Here's the way I see it playing out. You live here. You take care of my home. You won't get paid a salary, you'll be working off the debt you owe me." As he spoke, he laid out another sheet of paper between them and as she glanced down at it, she could see it was a contract of some kind. His signature was already scrawled across the bottom in a slashing line, next to a blank space where she was obviously supposed to sign, as well.

"Kind of like an indentured servant," she mumbled.

He ignored her comment. "I'll cover your basic expenses. Your food, clothing, cell phone."

She opened her mouth to disagree but the expression he wore effectively silenced her.

"I'll make any additional rules as we go. You'll follow them, no questions asked. There will be times when I might need something other than a housekeeper, and you'll conform to what I expect."

Her eyes widened and her heartbeat became erratic and almost stopped completely. He wasn't referring to anything sexual, was he? As much as it pained her, she felt the urgent need to clarify. "What--what kind of things?"

"I couldn't possibly know that as nothing's come up yet."

"Not--you're not talking about anything--" She cleared her throat. "Sexual?"

His eyes became hooded, and the look he pierced her with was unfathomable. "You wouldn't like that, would you?"

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Why the hell hadn't he just answered the question with a quick 'no'? Her face blushed a fiery red. She knew it did; she could feel it. "If I owe you money, and we have sex--" she bit her lip and shook her head, "No, I wouldn't like it," she whispered.

He waited a prolonged moment before answering, his eyes searching hers as if debating something and coming to a decision. "Calm down. I'm not talking about sex. I have someone who takes care of that aspect of my life. I don't anticipate needing anything else from you besides housework. But if it comes up, I'm referring to other types of domestic chores. Shopping, organizing, that type of stuff. You think you're up to it?"

She swallowed and licked her dry lips. "Yes, that's fine."

His eyes fell to her lips and stayed there a heartbeat too long before he spoke again. "Okay. That part is settled then. I appreciate you cooking supper for me tonight, but it won't be needed on a daily basis. I'm usually out at night. I'll let you know beforehand if I'll be in. I have a service that delivers groceries as needed, and we'll keep using that, although you can begin placing the orders."

"How long--how long will you need me?"

"How long will your sentence last?" he qualified.

"Yes."

"A year."

"A year?"

"It would take you four or five years at the least if you began paying me in installments. This way you get it taken care of quickly, and I don't have to worry about you skipping town on me." The look he gave her was like an arrow hitting its mark. "And Natalie, don't for one second think about skipping out on me. Trust me, I'll find you, and you won't care for the outcome. You do as you're told, work hard, and you'll find I'm extremely easygoing."

Natalie sat back under the cold precision of his dark eyes. "When can my cousin get his car back?" she asked him softly.

"Write the address down for me and I'll have it towed to his house."

She shifted restlessly and then said, "I was hoping to have it repaired. I need to drive--"

"You're not driving without insurance, and you can't afford the cost right now. If you need to go somewhere, I'll arrange a driver to take you wherever you need." There was absolutely nothing in his tone that implied he might bend on the subject.

"Where's it at?" she asked.

"The car? It's being stored at a lot."

"How much is that costing me?" As she asked the question, he reached across to her and handed her a pen, motioning for her signature. She accepted it from him, took a shuddering breath, and scribbled her name on the contract before she changed her mind.




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