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Chapter 19
“Iexpecttobehome before dinner. Make sure Maria knows, since I’m not sure she heard me.” Vanessa dithered between two hats before settling on the velvet Cossack that went with every outfit. The frost had come for the garden that morning, and when Vanessa announced she had an appointment with her lawyer, Mitch suggested she dress warmly. Vanessa, after all, tended to run cold.“Even if I get out of their office early, I think I might drop by Romeo’s for some wine and those great crackers. It’s been an age since I did something by myself.”
Mitch stopped her partner before she headed toward the door. While fixing Vanessa’s hair beneath the Cossack, Mitch said, “You should. Do something by yourself, I mean. Might be good for me to have the place to myself today.”
Vanessa offered her a soft smile. “What are you going to do?”
“Dunno. Might hit the treadmill or finally rearrange my sweater drawer. It’s a mess.” She licked her fingers and fixed an errant curl in front of Vanessa’s face. “Could also harass Luke into kickboxing with me. Although he doesn’t like how badly I whoop his ass every time.”
“Luke’s coming with me. He drives through those roads better than I do, and it gets dark so early now… well, you know I don’t like driving even in the best conditions. Sorry.”
“You’re the one paying him, not me.”
Vanessa stepped forward and placed a quick kiss on Mitch’s forehead. “We should use that new bubble bath I got tonight. What do you think?”
“Sounds nice.”
With a roll of the eyes, Vanessa turned to the foyer where she stepped into her knee-high winter boots. “Make me work for it, why don’t you?”
Mitch followed her to the door. Even with the best insulation money could afford, she still felt the cold air creeping through the tiniest of gaps between the door and the wall.
“You know you can tell me to do whatever. I’ll be waiting for you naked in bed if that’s what you want.”
Vanessa grinned, nails lightly brushing against Mitch’s chin. “I could tell you to go up there and pleasure yourself all afternoon until my return.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“What a lovely image.” Vanessa snatched her hand back. “It’ll sustain me while I talk about the drollest legal matters with my lawyer.”
“Have fun.”
“You’re so funny.”
After one blown kiss and the customaryI love youbefore departing, Mitch locked the door behind Vanessa and cleaned up the small mess left behind in the foyer. After checking in on Maria to make sure she knew that Vanessa would be eating dinner later, Mitch retreated into the den, where she opened her laptop on the couch whileFrasierreruns played on the TV.
It should have been a lazy Tuesday afternoon. Christmas was coming up, and everyone around them was abuzz with the holiday spirit. Especially Maria, who laid out exactly how much time she was taking off to spend with her large family.It’s like she thinks we can’t take care of ourselves for that long.Mitch knew how to cook Top Ramen. Wasn’t that enough?
She was grateful for some downtime. Her last shift at Club Night had come right before a meeting with Agent James, who informed Mitch that her hearsay meant nothing if it didn’t come from Candace. There were talks about finally wiring her up, but the agent was hesitant because of the associated risk. They had one shot. Mitch knew this, yet it didn’t soothe her nerves.
At least right now she could think aboutanythingelse.
She vaguely heard the doorbell ring and let Maria answer it, thinking it was a delivery. It wasn’t until the housekeeper stood in the entryway to the den and got Mitch’s attention that she realized something was amiss.
“Ms. Lister is here,” Maria announced. “I told her you’re in residence.”
Mitch instinctively closed her laptop. “What does she want?”
“I don’t know, but she doesn’t seem bothered that Ms. Richards is out.”
Something didn’t smell right about this. “I’ll meet her in the library. Bring some tea.”
“All right.”
Mitch took the alternate route that led straight from the den to the library in the back of the house. If Vanessa were home, the three of them would meet upstairs in her office.No way I’m letting someone like Candace in there if Vanessa isn’t home.The library, albeit small and with more windows than bookshelves, would have to do.
“What a quaint room.” Candace manifested behind Mitch, who had rearranged the bistro table and chairs by bay windows overlooking Vanessa’s flower garden. “How nice of you to see me even though Vanessa is out, apparently.”
Mitch gestured to one of the chairs. Maria soon entered with a tray of two cups and a teapot. Candace paid the housekeeper no mind as she placed her sunglasses in her purse and removed the stole from her shoulders. Instead of handing it off to Maria for safekeeping, Candace insisted on draping it on the back of her chair.
