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It was the ice queen.
“Hi?” I almost winced with the valley girl note of my voice. This was the same woman on the first day I’d come here who’d been such a cunt to me. Perhaps she’d just been having a bad day? I wasn’t going to go out of my way to be mean to her. Even if she probably deserved it.
The woman—Lyssa or Lisa, I couldn’t remember which one—was wearing a brilliant red peacoat and a matching mid-length skirt, her heels a dark almost black, mid-rise, showing off her trim and attractive legs. Her brilliant blonde hair was down, only a single pin keeping it out of her face. The wind caught it, the locks waving slightly in the breeze. Her eyes were that same glittering glacial blue I’d remembered from that first morning.
Those same eyes looked me up and down as if I were a vagabond or a hobo who’d answered the door. Considering how I knew I looked, I couldn’t really blame her.
“I came to let you know that Ellis is going to be arriving late tonight. I want you to make sure you’ve got everything ready for him, because he’s going to be exhausted. He’s had a very tough week of travel. He needs to know that he doesn’t have to take care ofanythinghere. Do you think you can do that?”
“Well, I don’t really work for you. Why are you showing up giving me orders? Why couldn’t Mr. Winters just call me himself?”
“Do you remember who I am, Ms. Grant?” The woman’s eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. “Never mind, don’t answer that. I can see right now, you don’t understand the situation here. So, let me clear it up for you. I don’t think you’re a good match for him, for this job. I think you’re too young, and too dumb, and knowing how girls your age typically are, probably too slutty too.”
I grabbed the towel at my neck with both hands, squeezing it. “I really don’t care who you are. You show up here talking to me as if I’m a stupid child. Why don’t you just—”
“As far as I’m concerned, a stupid child is a fairly good description of what you are.” The woman took a step closer, and I couldn’t help but notice the differences in our size. Though she was slender and quite athletic, she was much taller than me. Though I liked to think I could take her in a fight, the fact was she probably could have kicked my ass. “Mr. Winters is special to me. We’ve been through a lot together, he and I. And I make it my business to look out for him. Which means if I think I see something that is a danger to him, I’m going to take action. So, let me be entirely clear with you. If you fuck with him, you’re going to have a problem withme. A big problem.”
I had no idea what the woman’s issue was with me.
Don’t be stupid. She’s got a thing for him. It’s as obvious as the fucking sunrise.
It was time to clear up that misconception, and quickly. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but this isstrictlybusiness. I’m just cleaning for him. I’m renting a room from him for now, but only until I can get enough money to save up for a place. That’s all.”
The woman’s gaze flashed, then she pursed her red lips. “Like I said, Ms. Grant. He’s been through a lot, and I’ll be damned if I let some young chick, some poor little gold-digging bitch worm her way into his heart, only to break it when she’s done with him. So, you can tell me that this is just business all you want, but I know your type. I’ve seen it before. You heard what I had to say. Don’t forget it.”
I opened my mouth to give her a smart retort, but she’d already turned on her heel, striding back down the walk toward the front gate. Just as I had on that first morning I’d encountered her, I watched her ass, her round, very pretty ass sway enviously in the tight grip of her skirt.
I wanted to plant my fucking foot in that too pretty ass.
The truth was that in any potential competition between her and me, I didn’t have a chance. So, the fact that she was so suspicious of me, and so hostile, just didn’t make any sense.
I closed the door, shaking my head, wondering at the odd lives these upper class people seemed to lead.
It seemed as if they always thought there was an angle, seeming to harbor this conviction that all people held venal, negative ulterior motives. It was kind of depressing, really.
Just stay in your lane, dummy.
The ice queen may have been a bitch, but it probably was a good idea to keep my nose clean when it came to Mr. Winters.
CHAPTER17
Ellis
I found her that morning in the kitchen, following the smell of the food she was making. My mouth was watering at the delicious scent of the eggs and the bacon, the sound of the sizzling only making my hunger worse. For a moment, I stood at the threshold of the kitchen just inside the dining room, and watched her. It was a far more welcome sight than I would have imagined. Seeing her pretty form in only a pair of light gray yoga pants and a dark blue tank top was more than I could have hoped for. The business trip had been long and grueling, but it was lucrative, too. My company would be set for several more years with the accounts that I landed on that marathon journey.
Her dark hair was pulled back in a messy bun, which was a look that I normally didn’t like. But on her somehow it was endearing. I wondered what she’d been doing during the week but judging by the house and the immaculate condition of it, it seemed that her moving in had been at the very least good for her work ethic.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to keep her accountable, and look for any opportunities to hold her feet to the fire. But I understood her enough by now to know that she liked that strictness almost as much as I did. Even if she might never allow herself to admit it.
She glanced over her shoulder at me. Her eyes met mine, going wide instantly, and she yelped so loud, she dropped the spatula on the counter.
“Sneak up on you, did I?”
“Oh, my God, I’m sorry, Mr. Winters.” Her face blushed fetchingly, and she turned back to the stove, looking away from me. “I had… no idea you were there.”
I hadn’t gotten in until after 3:00 a.m., and it was more than endearing seeing that she’d fallen asleep on the couch in the living room, one of the throw pillows draped over her hips. She looked impossibly beautiful as she slept, and I couldn’t bear to wake her to take her up to her room.
So, I’d simply left her there, assuming she would eventually wake up and go back to her bed. But as I sat there at the other end of the couch having one last drink, trying to calm my fried nerves from the ordeal that travel always was, I watched her in silence.
