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Baird crossed his arms. “I’m not about to return to the house and make a scene.”
“Neither am I.” She matched his pose, arms folded every bit as defiantly.
“Since it appears that Alec and Cara are having communication issues, I think its best if we sort this out ourselves, without needing to drag them in to this. We aren’t children, after all.”
“No indeed,” she said stiffly, “and since you need a place to work, I’d suggest Alec’s study would be ideal for you. Or perhaps the library at the house? Both must be available.”
“Until Alec returns,” Baird answered, “and I’m not going to move my things twice. I’m settled here already. I’m staying here. You’re not unpacked. You haven’t moved in—” He broke off at the firm knock on the front door.
Ella swept past him to open the door, revealing a young man in a heavy coat on the doorstep with a basket of glass bottles, jars, jams and baked goods.
“From Mrs. Johnson,” the young man said. “She thought you might need something for tea later and said to just let her know if you need anything else to be comfortable.”
Ella couldn’t resist throwing a victorious look in Baird’s direction even as she took the basket from the young man. “Please give Mrs. Johnson my sincere thanks,” she said, smiling warmly.
He nodded, closed the door behind him and Ella placed the oversized basket on the rustic dining room table. “You were saying?” she asked Baird sweetly.
He wasn’t smiling, and his expression was anything but sweet. “You aren’t settled in yet, and your sister is in the house. Shouldn’t you be with her? Doesn’t it make you feel a tad bit guilty that she’s all alone in the house and you’re avoiding her here—”
“Not avoiding her, Mr. MacLauren, and the rooms in the family wing have all been assigned from what I understand. Cara is happy I’m here and so am I.” Ella’s chin rose. “And while you might think you’re entitled to the cottage because you have work to do, I think being British, or Welsh, or whatever you are—”
“Scottish,” he ground out.
She waved a hand carelessly, deliberately being obtuse just to get under his skin. “Kind of all the same to me,” she said, suppressing a laugh because of course they weren’t the same, but she wasn’t feeling nice, not after all the heartache he’d given her. “The point is you live in the UK. You can come see Alec any time. You do not need to be in the cottage, not this Christmas. Since I’m the guest, you can be a gentleman and clear out.”
“No.”
“No? Are we to act like children instead, requiring Alec and Cara to settle this for us?”
“Again no.” Baird’s voice sounded low and hard. “We settle this ourselves. There’s no need to draw them into our drama.”
“It shouldn’t be a drama.” Ella pulled a chair out at the table and sat down. “I’m twenty-five and you’re what? Forty?”
“Nearly thirty-five.” Baird’s jaw tightened, jutting, his light golden-brown eyes narrowing. “You can’t still be upset about August. I’ve apologized.”
Her mouth fell open, and she had to force herself to snap it closed. He apologized for kissing her, which she didn’t ask for, or didn’t need. She’d enjoyed the kiss and then he’d ruined it with his apology.
“August?” Ella frowned, acting confused. “What happened?” She pretended to continue thinking hard. She shook her head. “I don’t remember.”
“So, you’re not just being difficult because I kissed you,” he said walking toward her and yanking out a chair at the table. “Because I’d be happy to apologize again if it means—”
“That I leave?” She laughed. “No. Sorry, Charlie, I’m staying. And whatever you think I’m upset about has nothing to do with me being here in the cottage, excited to have a little place of my own for the next two weeks. I share a house in Bellingham with two other grad students. I never have space, or quiet, and you have no idea how much I’ve looked forward to having a little bit of me time.”
“The main house is huge. You could have an entire wing to yourself. Plenty of me time.” He paused for effect. “You also have the very unique opportunity to experience Christmas in a great English country house.”
“It is a grand house,” she agreed, surprised by how much she was enjoying herself. She rarely debated anyone who wasn’t an undergraduate student. “Maybe you were raised with lots of staff, but its more comfortable here, having access to my own kitchen, not worrying that I’m in the way, or putting anyone out.”
“I was raised in a very middle-class family. We had no help. But you’re not putting the Langley Park staff out. It’s Mrs. Booth and Mrs. Johnson’s job to take care of you.”
“That is my whole point. I don’t want them to take care of me, not when Cara needs so much support right now, and with Alec’s family arriving Friday, and all three elderly, there is no need for me to be underfoot.” She shrugged delicately, pleased when his grim expression darkened further. He really wasn’t happy. Good. His glowering and growling made her happy.
“Let’s be honest,” she said lightly, invigorated, and closing strong, “the last thing anyone needs is an American houseguest with jet lag waking up in the middle of the night, wandering through corridors trying to find the kitchen for a snack. That’s asking for trouble, whether it’s me falling down the stairs breaking my neck, or crashing into one of those medieval armor suits on the landing, and breaking my neck—”
“That would only happen if you take the staircase in the old part of the house,” he interrupted curtly. “Use the new staircase. Safer for all.”
“Oh, the one from the early nineteenth century, not the fourteenth century? Much, much newer, yes.”
He turned away and ran a hand over his face and she thought he was about to shout or throw something, but when he looked at her a moment later, his lips twitched, amusement glinting in his eyes. “You’re impossible.”
