Surrender Your Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

She
answers my questioning look with a shrug. “Whatever you want. I don’t start
that early on the alcohol when I work, but these are special circumstances.”
    “So you have
time to hang out here with me all day? Oh, to be privileged.”
    I sit down with
my plate, blushing when I realize how full it is. “Just so you know, I’m still
freaked out by all of this, but the food looks amazing. I was brought up to be
polite, so thank you.”
    She can’t hide
the smile, and I have to make an effort not to return it. It’s too easy,
treacherous. I want to believe she’s not some crazy psychopath, but I can’t
help thinking it takes one to plan another person’s abduction. The fact that
I’m not tied up in a dark basement is what—luck? I need coffee, a lot of it, to
even begin to start dealing with the day.
    “You’re welcome.
While we eat, I can go over the house rules with you. I believe that two weeks
will help to ease you into a discipline…”
    I nearly choke
on a piece of delicious buttery croissant.
    “What do you
mean? If I do or say something you don’t like, you’ll spank me?”
    “Not that kind
of discipline.”
    I’m not entirely
assured though. I’ve seen the flash of…something, amusement, interest, I’m not
sure.
    “I’m pretty sure
that’s not your scene, and let me tell you it’s not mine either,” Carter says.
“What I mean is the everyday life you and I are going to have together.”
    Okay, that’s
only marginally better. Is it? “You kidnapped me
and locked me up. That’s the kind of life we have together. Is there anything
else I should be aware of?”
    The memory comes
without warning, last night when she came to my room, the way she touched me. I
assumed it won’t be the last time. In my mind, I am at war with a part of me
that doesn’t want it to be the last time. I can’t feel this way.
    “It’s a given
that you’ll miss classes and tests, but you’ll have the opportunity to keep up
so your integration can be seamless if you still choose to follow that path.”
    “How?” I don’t
understand.
    “You never liked
the apartment anyway, so I paid the bills for the next three months. You won’t
have to worry about any of it.”
    Just great. Once
I escape from here, wherever here is, I’ll be homeless.
    “Your tuition is
paid as well so you won’t be expelled. As I said, I can’t have you go to exams,
but that doesn’t mean you can’t study and prepare to take them next year. All
the materials you need will be available to you.”
    How? I almost say it out loud, but I don’t want to sound stupid. I
assume she’ll reveal the truth to me bit by bit, to keep me on my toes.
    “I told you,
there’s an extensive sociology section in the library, but I also have the
schedule for the next two semesters for you. You can start whenever you like,
except I’d like you to take the next couple of weeks to relax.”
    “You didn’t take
me here so I could take a sabbatical and study whenever I feel like it.”
    “No,” she
agrees, but doesn’t elaborate. “I want to show you something.”
    I’ve been so
distracted by the extensive breakfast choices I paid no attention to the box
sitting on the table on the other side of the room, or maybe I did and banned
it from my consciousness. For all I know, they could contain sex toys and
whips. Even now, I approach it with apprehension. The content is nothing scary,
but another reason to be dumbfounded. I get the feeling Carter Forbes enjoys
that a lot.
    The box is
filled with books, shiny new hard covers, fiction, all genres. I sent a dubious
look at Carter who looks pleased.
    “You missed your
book club, and I know it’s important to you. This is what they chose for the
next few months—I though you might like to catch up on those too.”
    I’m still not
sure whether I should be impressed or insulted. She has made an effort of getting
to know me within a small amount of time. Frankly, after long nights of
studying and extra