Elizabeth’s face was now as red as a delicious cherry.
“I’m sure I’ll leave you satisfied,” she said. Too late, she only realized what she’d said when my eyes lit up.
“Oh, I have no doubt about that.” A sly smile spread across my face, and somehow hers turned an even deeper shade of red. There was that sexual innocence again. She hadn’t meant to do it, but my head filled with dirty thoughts. Was she even aware of what she was doing to me?
Todd shot a questioning glance my way, but I ignored it.
As fun as teasing her was, this really did throw a wrench in my plans. I couldn’t be as involved as I had wanted to be. My desire for her clearly hadn’t waned, which meant it was as dangerous as ever. I could fire her, but that wouldn’t be fair to her. Not that I would normally let that stop me, but the truth was I didn’t want her to leave.
But that meant I needed to stay away.
“I’ll be in my study working, but Todd will show you around so you can get a sense of the place before starting on the design.”
“Thank you,” she said. She was choosing her words more carefully now. Adorable.
I smiled graciously at her and strolled out of the library, carefully controlling my composure so that my expression wouldn’t betray how my mind was racing at the endless possibilities and pitfalls that her appearance meant to my life.
It was customary for Todd to let me know before he left, but the knock on my study door hours later still startled me. I knew Elizabeth had gone home much earlier, but somehow I still thought it might be her.
Or hoped?
“I’m heading home now,” my aide said, peaking just his head in.
“Thanks, Todd.” I looked up from my laptop. “I appreciate your help with the designer.”
He pressed his lips together in thought. He wanted to ask about the awkward exchange in the library but didn’t know whether he should. I could see it all over his face.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Come in then,” I said. “I can tell you’re dying to know.”
He quickly slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. Out of all the people in my employ, Todd was the only one brave enough to be candid with me. Out of everyone, I liked him the best. Whether it was because of that, or despite it, I wasn’t always sure.
“You two seemed like you knew each other,” he said, as he approached my desk. “And why the sudden disappearance? I thought you wanted creative control over the renovations.”
I took off my reading glasses and sighed. “I barely know her at all,” I said. “However, we did fuck a couple of nights ago.”
“Are you kidding me?” Todd asked. His lips flattened.
“Oh, don’t look so disappointed,” I replied. “It’s not like I knew she’d be showing up here all doe-eyed come Monday morning.”
Todd rolled his eyes. It was a gesture I almost never saw him make. “Okay, then what are you going to do about it?”
“It hardly seems fair to fire her.”
“Who said anything about firing her?”
I shrugged. “Being in the same room with her is awkward.”
Not completely a lie, but certainly an understatement.
“So you’re going to retreat here, to your office, just because she’s seen you naked?”
“She hasn’t seen me naked,” I said. Not completely, anyway.
Todd looked confused by that for a moment, even opening his mouth to say something, but then he stopped and just shrugged. He was obviously used to my antics by now. It took a lot to really surprise him.
“And no,” I continued. “I’m taking a step back in all of this because you’ve been going on about this renovation for months. Maybe you’re right to think drastic measures are needed to bring this place up to the present. It might be easier if I wasn’t so deeply involved in every decision. You know what I want.”
“Wow. If I’d known all it would take to get you to back down a little was to bring in a girl you’d slept with, I would have put up the job posting outside of your bedroom door,” he replied with a smug grin.
“Oh, shut up.” I waved him away. “Go polish the silverware, or whatever it is you do in your spare time.”
“I’m on my way home,” he replied, ignoring my allusion to him being a butler. He hated when people referred to him as my butler.
“Even better.”
Todd chuckled and strolled back toward the door. “I think you’ll be happy with her work. She’s got some great ideas.”
I paused, halfway to putting my glasses back on. “I still get creative veto, though,” I reminded. “Make sure she knows that.”
“Of course, sir,” he said, with an exaggerated nod. “You’re the boss.”
I waited to smile until he’d closed the door behind him.
7
Elizabeth
The situation couldn’t have been more tragicomic if the Bard himself had written it in verse. What was supposed to be a good memory to grow old with was now tainted.
The man who’d given me the best, most exciting and thrilling sexual experience of my life was now my boss!
The tip of my pencil broke and I cursed. It was the third one today. Either I’d purchased the world’s crappiest pencils, or I was pressing way too hard.
“Everything alright?” Todd asked.
I looked up at him from the kitchen table. “Sort of.“
I must have looked like a mess with my hair in a sloppy bun on the top of my head and a halo of loose hairs framing my face.
“You look like you’ve had a busy first week,” he noted.
I summoned up a smile. “I spent all day tagging along with the inspector.”
“I saw.” He gave me a mysterious smile. “They write reports, you know,” he said. “I think they even bind them and everything.”
“I know,” I said, nodding. “But I wanted to check what parts of the mansion would need to be dealt with first.” I pointed to the blueprint unrolled on the table in front of me. Its curved edges were being held in place by the sample tiles my friend Harry had brought from his hardware store.
Todd stepped over to the table, cocking his head to examine the post-it notes I’d affixed to the blueprint. “What am I seeing here?”
I took him through the few structural instabilities and code violations the inspector found, as well as the areas he’d suggested I reinforce if I wanted to extend the library.
“I could have worked on the designs while I waited for the report,” I said, “but I wanted to get a good idea for myself what the priority areas are so I can communicate better with the contractors.”
“Very good.” His eyes tracked from note to note. “Looks like it’s going to be a lot of work. Perhaps more than I anticipated.”
I shifted in my seat.
Please don’t fire me.
“Well it’s an old house,” I said. “And though the main rooms have had repairs done to them over the years, lots of the lesser used rooms are in pretty poor condition.”
Todd was silent, as if assessing whether I was simply trying to fleece him out of more money. This was my first job. I wanted to do it right—even if it meant doing a little more work than originally intended. And I was ready to fight for that principle.