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“Just take this hall to the front of the house and go up the stairs to the second floor. Take any rooms you want, except for the suite at the end of the hall,” Garrick said. “That’s my room.” He grinned.
“Got it.” Ariella nodded and sprang forward.
“Would you like some tea or something to eat before you head up?” Charlotte asked.
“Oh, no, thank you.” Ariella smiled at the woman.
“How does scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes sound for breakfast?” She continued.
“Uh, fine. Thanks, but you don’t have to go to any trouble.” Ariella insisted. A cup of coffee and a piece of toast would do just as well.
“No trouble at all.” She pushed her glasses up. “See you in the morning.” Charlotte gave a quick look up at Garrick, then hurried off into the kitchen.
“She’s nice,” Ariella commented.
“She is.” Garrick nodded.
“Why the hell does she work foryou?” Ariella asked.
Garrick’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Get some sleep, Princess. I think you’re getting a little crabby.”
Bastian chuckled. “No, she’s always like this.”
Ariella rolled her eyes and headed down the hall toward the front of the house. Bastian caught up to her at the foot of the staircase. She admired the stained glass of the front door windows while he lugged her suitcase up the stairs.
“Ariella, let’s go,” Bastian called down to her.
She clenched her teeth. Wasn’t it enough that he inserted himself into her situation, dragged her from her hotel, and spanked her? Did he have to be so damn bossy, too? This was supposed to be her clean start. Her own time.
“I don’t want to stay here, Bastian,” she said from the foot of the stairs.
“What?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I do not want to stay here.” She enunciated each word separately. “I’m sorry you think you have to babysit me, but you don’t. I’m old enough to take care of myself, and even if you don’t think I can - I can.”
“I have no doubt you can take care of yourself. I also have no doubt you can get yourself into a world of trouble without meaning to. So, get up here, and let’s get you in your room, or I can come back down there and carry you up.”
A neat box. Again. She'd be snatched up within a minute if she tried to go out the front door. And even if she didn’t, she had none of her things.
“I’m not going home,” she said as she walked up the steps. “I will not go home.”
“We’ll talk about home later. Right now, you’re going to bed.” Once she was off the stairs, he grabbed the suitcase and led her down the long hallway. From outside, the house looked tall and narrow, but inside, it seemed to go on forever. The very end of the hall was a set of double doors leading into Garrick’s rooms, she assumed, but it wasn’t the end of the floor. There was another hallway leading to the left.
“Here’s good.” Bastian stopped at the last door on the right before Garrick’s suite. “Garrick’s there, and I’ll be in the room on the other side of you.”
“Oh good, that way, every little noise I make can be heard by both of you.” She pushed past him into the room. Flipping on the lights, she took in the room. A king-sized bed with lavender bedding and a canopy sat in the middle of the room. Plush carpeting covered the floor, and a full-sized mirror stood proudly in the corner.
“There’s a bathroom through one of those doors and a closet.” Bastian rolled her suitcase to the ottoman at the foot of the bed and hoisted it up top. “You can put your things away.”
“Have you been here before?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“When?”
He unzipped the suitcase and stood up, meeting her questioning stare.
“Garrick’s family owned this house when we were in high school. This used to be his room.” He touched the thin bit of lace dangling from the canopy. “I’m guessing he didn’t do the decorating himself when he bought the house back.”
