Enraptured Read Online Free PDF

escape to our private suite fast enough. I felt like I had to keep an eye over my shoulder to ensure he wouldn’t follow.
    When I mentioned it to Drew that night, he dismissed my concerns easily. “He’s perfectly harmless, I assure you,” he said with a knowing smirk.
    “I’m not so sure his constituents would agree,” I pointed out. “Especially when he’s voted against measures to help the least among them rise above their meager circumstances.”
    He rolled his eyes. “You sound just like Alex.”
    My response was quiet. “I don’t consider that the insult that you intend it to be.”
    His eyes were hard as he glanced me over. “Maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe Troy senses on some level that your loyalty is divided. Your comments about Teton Tech were certainly enough to give him pause.” Before I could argue my case, he held up a hand. “But that’s a topic for another time.”
    He walked around the sofa where I sat and perched on the other end. “There’s also some history there, Rachel. He feels compelled to protect me because he was there throughout my tumultuous relationship with Elise. He warned me ahead of time that she could not be trusted. She showed him her true colors before I even knew there was an issue.”
    “What do you mean?”
    He shrugged. “Elise is a beautiful woman. She has only one true currency, and that’s her sex appeal. Alex may have been her first affair, but he wasn’t her first target.”
    His confession reminded me of what Sloane had said about Elise. “ She’s a climber, always has been .”
    “ So this was another test,” I surmised and he shrugged again.
    “He wants to be sure I don’t walk into another buzz saw,” he explained. “You’ve already left me once.”
    I sighed. “Fair enough. But it’s your ring I wear on my finger, Drew. I made my choice.”
    “That’s what she said once upon a time,” he murmured softly, which silenced my argument. “The rumors were not kind once you left. And to be fair, neither Troy nor Sloane got to know you very well before you went back to Texas last year.” He reached for a tendril of my hair that curved around my cheek. “You’re not the only one who needs a little time to figure things out.”
    “Fine,” I conceded. It was disheartening to realize that I would never fully shake the reputation of being a gold-digger, and it was somehow my burden to bear to prove it wasn’t true.
    To Drew’s credit, he treated me with the utmost respect through every social interaction, which helped ease that burden. I thought perhaps that might end once our hosts left, but Drew remained on his best behavior. He suggested a walk around the island that following afternoon, before leaving me to nap once we returned to the villa. It was Drew and not Chantale who brought me a late afternoon snack, and he even rubbed my calves and my feet while I read a bit in bed before the sun went down.
    We ate dinner by candlelight on the terrace, where the staff stayed mostly to the shadows to tend our needs as unobtrusively as possible.
    He made no demands. He was charming and funny and delightful as we discussed all those things we had somehow missed over our chaotic courtship. We talked about movies and music, books and art. I swirled my constant companion, my ginger ale, around in my glass. “Why didn’t you tell me your mother was an artist?” I finally asked.
    He looked down into his own wine glass. “I don’t know,” he answered at last. “Habit, I suppose. I generally don’t speak of my parents at all. The past is usually better off left exactly where it is, well behind us for a reason.”
    I said nothing. I just watched the emotions cross his face and waited.
    “We can’t change what is done,” he continued softly, “only how we move forward. And I wanted to spare Jonathan the expectations of all the generations that came before him. That’s an awful lot of weight to put on a little boy’s shoulders.”
    “You