Pride & Pleasure (The KNIGHT Brothers Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

studious man wearing the sharpest black suit she’d ever seen. If she hadn’t seen pictures of Victor in magazines, she would have certainly believed this to be him. The man offered her a semi-smile. “Can I help you, madam?”
    “I’m Avary Pine, here to see Mr. Knight.”
    “Step in, please.” He took a pace back, allowing her room to enter. “Can I take those for you?” He reached for her suitcase. She hesitated with handing over the cello. “I promise not to damage anything.” His smile grew wider. He had nice, kind eyes.
    “Okay.” She passed over her belongings to him.
    “Please wait here a moment and I’ll let Mr. Knight know that you have arrived.”
    She stood in the center of the foyer and patted her hands down her clothes, hoping she hadn’t accumulated too many wrinkles. Suddenly, she was very glad she’d allowed Dawn to fix her hair, but it was too late to worry about her clothing. If the elegance of the foyer with the crystal chandelier and the handcrafted tiled floors were any indication of the rest of the house, Avary would be afraid to touch anything. She knew she wouldn’t fit in. Not that she did in most circumstances anyway. She’d always been the quiet, shy kid who apologized after every sentence. That’s why at ten her parents had bought her a cello, put her into lessons, and had hoped she’d blossom. Blossom she did. Without the cello she was a wall flower. Behind the cello, she became a rose.
    A tendril of hair escaped her waves and she tugged it back into place, concentrating on breathing, in and out. In and out . Mr. Knight was only a man. So what that he had more money than he knew what to do with and lived in a house that most people only dreamed of living in. She would handle herself with dignity and grace. No reason for anyone, especially Mr. Knight, to realize how nervous she was. She’d view this as a performance. Before any stage presentation, she would be overcome with a case of the nerves. However, once she sat down with her cello, the butterflies disappeared. She’d feel fine once she sat down with Mr. Knight and realized he was of flesh and blood, not an Adonis like the media portrayed him. She certainly wouldn’t look at his ass to see if it was tight enough to bounce a coin off. Darn Dawn for putting that thought in my mind.
    “Mr. Knight will see you now, Miss Pine,” the finely dressed gentleman said. She hadn’t even heard him return. Her belongings were missing. As if he knew what she was thinking, he said, “I had the housekeeper take your things up to your room.”
    He led her down a wide hallway with the same tiled flooring and sanitary white walls. This wasn’t a home. It was a museum. There was no evidence that humans lived here, no personal effects or specks of dirt. She scanned the walls for cameras, feeling as if she were being watched by a security guard wearing a cap and carrying a stick, ready to toss her out on her ear if she crossed the line. She half expected to find parts of the house roped off with signs reading, ‘Don’t touch’.
    “Here we are, madam.” The man stopped and pointed to a closed door on his right. “You can go in when you’re ready.”
    “Thank you,” she mumbled, resisting the urge to ask questions about Mr. Knight.  What had come over her? She’d never cared what others thought of her, not when it came to her appearance or character. With one last deep breath, she opened the heavy oak door and stepped through.
    She was immediately met with a strong scent of leather, spice, and tobacco. She was reminded of the one time she was called into the principal’s office at her private school. She had been shaking in her shoes to find out her punishment for kicking Bobby Wheeler in the privates. He’d tugged her pony tail so hard that she’d heard roots pop. Even today she didn’t think she deserved losing recess for a week, yet what Principal Jones didn’t realize was that she hated recess. She preferred reading a