Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) by Maddie Bennett Read Free Book Online Page B

said, his voice as emotionless and lecturing as it had been
before. It was as if his brief lapse as we had reminisced about the past had
never happened.
     
    We continued my training as before, with Mathis alternately
drilling me and firing questions at me. As he droned on about the different
profit types, I remembered the aftermath of the day in the tree.
     
    “Mathis!” I had cried as I watched the branch crack and his body
fall downwards through a canopy of leaves. Before I could pull together a
rational thought I was swinging down the thin branches like a monkey, not
caring about the scratches and scrapes I received as I went. In a matter of
seconds I was down by his side, on a wide branch about ten feet from the
ground. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
     
    Mathis looked at me in a daze, obviously still processing what had
just happened. “How did you get down here so fast?” he asked me with a slight
frown. “Did you fall too? Are you okay?”
     
    “I’m fine. I took the long route down. Does anything hurt? Did you
hit your head?”
     
    “No, I’m fine – but you’re hurt!” He gestured to a scratch on my
arm, which was bleeding slightly.
     
    “It’s just a scratch,” I insisted. “Now let’s get down from this
tree and I’m going to make sure you’re alright. You can count to ten for me and
recite the names of the presidents, things like that.”
     
    “Amanda, I couldn’t recite the names of all the presidents even
before I fell out of a tree,” Mathis laughed. “But you’re right – we should go
get cleaned up.”
     
    “I – I’m sorry I made you fall,” I burst out. “I should have been
more careful.”
     
    “No, I should have been more careful,” Mathis replied. “I
was so worried about you that I wasn’t paying attention.”
     
    “Then it is my fault,” I said guiltily.
    “No – it was mine,” Mathis insisted. “I should have known that you could more
than take care of yourself. You’re amazing, Amanda – there’s so much more to
you than meets the eye. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you.”
     
    “Is that a good thing?” I asked uncertainly.
     
    Mathis just laughed at me. “Let’s get back to the house. Hope your
uncle doesn’t see us like this. He’s going to lose his shit.”
     
    “Amanda!” The present-day Mathis interrupted my reverie. “Don’t
space out like that! This is important!”
     
    “Sorry,” I apologized, my face going red. “I was still remembering
that day with the tree…” part of me hoped that Mathis would again break through
his cold façade, but he just frowned at me.
     
    “This isn’t the time for daydreaming. Your uncle wanted you to
know this and I don’t have all the time in the world to teach you. I’m just
doing a favor for your uncle – I owe him that much.”
     
    The words bit through me like a bitter wind. Of course. Mathis was
probably just as upset as I was about Uncle Andy, if not more so. It must be
painful for him to be reminded about it day after day by my presence. Maybe
that was why he was acting so coldly towards me? Or maybe, as he had said, he
was just doing a favor to my uncle. I was less than nothing to him.
     
    It took about twenty more minutes for Mathis to realize that my
mind was not entirely there anymore. Although I wanted to impress him with my
dedication and focus and prove to him that I was both willing and able to
learn, the idea that Mathis was acting so distantly towards me because of my
uncle was plaguing me, and it was all I could do to listen to Mathis instead of
wondering whether Mathis was afraid of showing his true feelings, or whether he
really didn’t have any interest in being around me. Perhaps I was simply a
chore to him…
     
    “Alright, we’ll pick up where we left of in our next session,”
Mathis sighed. “Make sure you read those chapters – I will assume you already
have a full understanding of all the topics covered in them, so it will be
difficult