Uncovering You 6: Deliverance by Scarlett Edwards Page A

of those designer properties featured in glossy real estate magazines.
    I half expect to see Rose standing on the threshold, waiting to greet us. She doesn’t show, however. When Jeremy steps out of the limousine, opens the trunk, and takes out our bags, I feel surprised. Simon, our driver, comes around to help with the rest.
    I look to see if there’s something I can help carry. Between the two of them, the men have a firm handle on things.
    Simon sets the bags down at the front door and wishes us both goodnight. Jeremy takes out a key and unlocks the door.
    “Have you missed this place?” he asks me.
    “Only a little,” I reply. To be honest, I thought that returning to the mansion would fill me with disgust. But stepping through the front doors does feel a little like coming home.
    We enter the lobby. The inside is scary silent. The air is cool and fresh.
    Our footsteps echo down the length of the halls. They are amplified by the sheer depth of the mansion.
    I look at Jeremy. “Where’s Rose?” I ask him.
    “I told her not to wait for us,” he says. “When we returned from our trip, I wanted it to be just you and me, and no one else.”
    “Oh,” I say. That sentiment can be perceived in so many different ways. And honestly, right now, I’m too tired to decide on which. “I see.”
    I start to reach for the two bags the driver left, but Jeremy interrupts me by taking my hand. “Leave them,” he says. “Rose will see to them tomorrow.”
    “I have some of my things in there,” I say. “I want to lay them out in the sunroom for the morning.”
    “The sunroom?” Jeremy laughs. It’s a rich, rumbling sound that I can’t help but fall victim to. “No, Lilly. You’re not going to be spending any more time in that pit. From now on, you’re sleeping in my bed. With me.”
    “Oh.” That’s actually a surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
    “I’m bound by the deal you arranged on the plane,” he says, his eyes glinting. “But you know the reason why. Come.” He takes my hand. “Let me pour us some wine. To celebrate coming home, and to commemorate the occasion.”
    “Occasion?” I ask. “What occasion is that?”
    “The day of your arrival in my home. Not as a prisoner. Not as a hostage.” He spins me into him and holds me tight. “But as an equal.”
     
    ***
     
    I fall asleep at the dinner table shortly after having the wine. It’s a poor showing on my part. I can tell Jeremy had different expectations for the night… especially since it marked the transition to my sleeping in his bed. He’d want to christen it, after all.
    But he does not complain, or stew over it. In fact, he acts like a sweetheart, tucking his arms under me and carrying me upstairs to his room. I look up at him as he sets me down on the bed. It might be the alcohol, or it might be my halfway, sleepy state, but right now, I think, that if he tells me he loves me… I wouldn’t protest that much.
    True to his word, however, he does no such thing. After making sure I’m comfortable, he leans down and kisses my forehead.
    “Sleep tight, my sweet Lilly-flower,” he whispers softly. “Tomorrow it’s back to reality for both of us.”
    The implications of those words have no time to sink in before I close my eyes and succumb to a deep and wonderful sleep.

     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    When I come to the next morning, it takes me an extra second to orient myself. When I finally do, and realize that I’m sleeping in Jeremy’s room, in Jeremy’s mansion, all the feelings that have been building inside since his pronouncement come crashing down on me.
    “Love .” He really means that, doesn’t he? Try to deny it as I will, I can’t just make it go away. It’s not something that can be swept under the rug. Knowing now, when I look at him, that I’m staring into the eyes of the person who has such strong feelings for me shifts the dynamics between us.
    I know he doesn’t expect me to love him back. He can’t