Chapter 88: Bearded

Chapter 88: Bearded           "Then..." he murmured, hesitant but certain all at once. "Will you give me a name?"   Grace's hands instinctively tightened around the handles of the wheelchair in a firm grip while her mind went momentarily blank.   "Please?"   For a second, she simply stared at him, caught entirely off guard by the request.   And then, to the man's surprise, she burst out laughing.   A full, unrestrained cackle with her head tilting back slightly as she clapped her hands together, genuinely amused by the absurdity of the situation.   "You are not a pet," she said, wiping away the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes as she recovered from her laughter. "Why would you let a stranger give you a name?"   But the man was smarter than she thought.   "Then why would you invite a stranger to eat?" he countered, his tone serious, his sharp cognac eyes holding hers steadily. There was no sarcasm in his voice, no hint of mockery. He genuinely wanted to know which made