Unbind by Sarah Michelle Lynch Read Free Book Online

neighbourhood? I’m in Chelsea, so…”
    “I’m in Notting Hill. I like to walk it so if you just wanna go somewhere close, take the edge off the day… I’ll start walking home after that.”
    “Deal,” he agreed, blinking quickly. It seemed a relief that I only wanted a drink and wasn’t suggesting we make a night of it.
    We only walked a short while before we found the Duke of York and piled in with what looked like a lot of other company workers. He went to the bar while I found two stools up against a window. When he brought me a G&T, I could have cried.
    I didn’t stand on ceremony and got it down my throat as fast as possible, draining the glass so quickly, he gaped. I took a deep breath and apologised, “I really needed that! It’s been a tough day!”
    My nerves were shredded and that just wasn’t me, I was usually in charge and confident. The truth of it all was, all day I’d had that niggling fear in the back of my mind: They’ll say I’ve abandoned them again .
    Cai supped his pint of Stella and pursed his lips, eyebrows raised. He was quiet, still. I was usually the one doing all the talking, no matter the place, situation or person. I just had a big gob.
    He stared so hard it made me nervous.
    “You feel sorry for me, don’t you?” I began, my index finger rimming the empty glass. Living in Chelsea… you must be rich, educated and worldly. Women fall at your feet. I’ve got a faint Barnsley accent …
    I was so ready to go up to the bar and get myself another.
    “I don’t.” He shook his head vehemently.
    “Then what?” I felt my brow furrow.
    “I have to say it?” His shoulders fell forward, his hands clasped together. He looked at the floor to hide what he was really thinking, though whether I’d be able to judge this closed book regardless was uncertain.
    “Yeah, come on. Nobody else is nice to me all day, except you. I don’t get it.” I picked at my nails, trying to ignore how strongly attracted I was to this boy/man. It was ridiculous how beautiful he was.
    “Well,” he looked into my eyes briefly, his hands now open, “let’s not sweat semantics this early on. You only started today, yeah? I’m a good guy and I saw you looking helpless. I think you’re funny… so here we are.”
    His response didn’t satisfy me at all. “Do they know I got put forward for this job? Is that the reason for all their iciness? I swear I sat within inches of other human beings who didn’t acknowledge me once, not once today.”
    He looked up quickly and scanned my face. I saw his shock at my forward approach but I wasn’t going to hide from anything, not least my friendship with Klaus Häuser, a notable figure in the media world. 
    “Not many people are so honest. Where I come from, few are,” he remarked, his voice strained. “It’s refreshing.”
    To be honest he didn’t act like he was 24. There was something old about his soul. It all clicked for me—I wasn’t imagining it. We did have a connection, I felt it. The way he looked at me, yet was so restrained—told me there were other things he was worried about. Our age difference was the least of it.
    “Your own connections are frowned on… so you empathise? You thought you may have an ally in me?” I reasoned that was his modus operandi , or something. Hell, our meeting might have been random but something told me it wasn’t. I’d have loved to hear him say he just thought I was pretty. I’d not had anyone tell me that in a long, long time. I hadn’t let anyone get close… ooh, in about ten years. This guy was making me wonder the hell why.
    He coughed lightly, “Yeah! Maybe. Like I said… semantics.”
    “Another drink? I’m getting another.” I arched a brow.
    He put his hand on top of his glass and shook his head. “No. You go for it, though. Please god, take the edge of your first day if not for yourself, for me!”
    I went to the bar half-laughing and asked for my second G&T, feeling stung by the price!