Broken Pasts Read Online Free PDF Page A

At
first glance, the man looked exactly as I'd suspected. Tall, clean
cut, dark hair, dark glasses, dark suit. Average, normal, tough.
But that was through the wavy, admittedly cobweb infested peephole.
    “ Um,
no,” I said as I unlocked the door and started to open it.
“Actually, I was just calling to – ” As soon as I
saw him fully in the flesh, I was paralyzed. Nathaniel Sutherland
was not average, not normal, and he wasn't just tough, he was a
fucking bad ass. “Oh my god.”
    “ Ms.
McMaster?” he asked as he kept his hands crossed in front of
him. I nodded and only then did he reach out and take my hand for a
shake. Electricity slithered up my fingers and pooled in my chest,
stopped my heart, and started it back up again at breakneck speed.
Nathaniel gripped my hand firmly and shook it like my father had
always said a strong person should before releasing me. “It's
a pleasure to meet you,” he said and I wasn't sure if I
were hallucinating or not, but I'm almost certain he emphasized the
word. Pleasure. “My name is Nathaniel Sutherland and
I'm from Personal Private Security Detail.” Here he paused and
removed his glasses. He didn't tear them off his face and shake his
head of deliciously soft, dark hair like they do in the movies. He
just removed them gently, folded the arms up and stuck them in the
front pocket of his suit. His eyes made my breath catch in my throat
and sent my body temperature skyrocketing. They were dark green,
smooth and polished like emeralds, deep, thoughtful. Sexy. “Is
that Emily on the phone?”
    “ Uh.”
I was at a loss for words. Without another word, he reached out,
plucked the phone from my fingers and put it to his ear.
    “ Everything
is fine here, Emily,” he said with the most wicked smile I had
ever seen on a man. “I'll call you later and update you with
Ms. McMaster's new phone number.” He ended the call and passed
the phone back to me. “May I come in?” I stepped aside
without a word and he came inside, eyes scanning the room like a
predator searching for prey. His muscles were tensed and even with
the clean, sharp lines of his suit covering him, I could see that he
was ready for action. I closed the door behind him and locked it.
He glanced over one of his broad shoulders and flashed me an
admirable smile. “Good,” he said as he turned his
attention back to my house. “We don't have to start at ground
zero with you. That's excellent.”
    “ Huh?”
That's all I could think to say. Jamie had said the men she'd hired
were tight. But … wow. Nathaniel wasn't just tight; he was
deadly. He was clean shaven with pale, not pasty, just pale, skin
and full lips. His dark hair was just this side of brown, toeing
that line between black and chocolate. Nothing about his appearance
was out of the ordinary per se, but all together, the perfection that
was Nathaniel Sutherland was hard to ignore. It was the little
details that made this man: the well pressed suit, perfectly tailored
to his body, the crispness of the shirt beneath, the way his hair
fell just slightly onto his brow, like it had been sculpted there.
He was so well put together that had he had the face of a
Neanderthal, he would've looked good. And that's not to say he did.
Nathaniel Sutherland had a strong face, but it was in no way
reminiscent of a caveman. He straddled that metrosexual line, but in
a good way. H e was clean, he
smelt good, and he was probably gay. Had to be. Had had had to. Or
else he was married. Or both.
    “ You'd
be surprised how many people forget the simplest of things.”
He gestured at the handle of the doorknob. “Like locking the
front door.” He paused and, satisfied with his survey
of the living room/kitchen area, he turned fully to face me. “Would
you mind giving me a tour?” he asked and I nodded, mouth dry,
hands shaky. I even think I was starting to break out into a sweat. Am I wearing deodorant? I wondered. Did I forget
deodorant? I decided that now was