“I was hoping I’d run into you,” she says.
“I bet you were.”
She blushes a little. “How’s the tour?”
“Not bad. Although Patricks is a little intense.”
She laughs and waves at him. He glowers for a second then storms out of the room. “I know,” she says. “He means well though. He went through some stuff with my brother and now…” She trails off.
“What stuff?”
“Oh, god, it was crazy. His partner sort of went off the deep end. You’re that guy’s replacement, actually. So he’s a little overprotective now.”
“Ah,” I say. “I can understand that. I’m overprotective sometimes myself.”
She bites her lip and looks at me. “Hey, thanks again for what you did.”
“How’s the ankle?”
“It’s good.” She puts weight on it and laughs. “All better.”
“Good, that’s great. I’m just happy I could be there to help. And thanks for getting me this job. There’s not a whole lot around in Loftville, you know?”
“I bet.” She cocks her head a little. “How’d you end up around here?”
“Oh, nothing interesting. Just sort of picked it out on a map at random and decided to come here.” I smile at her and hope she doesn’t press. The part about picking Loftville at random from a map is true, but the reason behind that is a little bit more complicated than I’m willing to get into right now.
“Really? You just… pointed and came here?”
“Pretty much. I was starting over.”
“Right.” She moves a little closer, her body language screaming at me. I want to take her by the hips and pull her against me but I resist. I’m sure Patricks is watching right now somehow. “Because of your wife?”
“Yeah,” I say. “And some other stuff. But all that’s boring and in the past.”
“How’s your daughter doing?”
“She’s resilient,” I say. “Amazing really. She’ll get used to anything. I don’t worry about her one bit.”
“That’s good,” she says with a laugh. “I hope you’re a little resilient too. My family is kind of insane.”
“Yeah? I can’t see it.” I look around the room with wide eyes.
She laughs. “I know. The house is totally over the top. It was built a long time ago when this sort of stuff mattered. We keep it just because… well, I don’t know. A lot of the town works here.”
“How very Downton Abbey.”
“You watch that?”
“Of course. Nothing better than some pregnant pauses and some intense, questioning looks.”
She laughs again. She’s so close to me now. We’re drifting closer and closer like we can’t help it. Her lips are parted and she’s so beautiful as she looks up into my eyes. I’m much bigger than her and I like it. I could take her, control her, grab her hair and kiss her, let her taste my tongue and slip my hands down the front of those tight jeans and…
But shit, no. I have to control myself. I work here now, and anyway, we’re not alone. Even if we seem alone, I know we’re not. Patricks is watching like some kind of snake, hiding in those servant passages.
“I should get going,” I say, my voice low. “But it’s good seeing you.”
“Yeah. It’s great.”
We linger there, bodies close, much closer than we should have been. If Patricks actually is watching, he’s going to have some shit to say to me.
Fuck him. I don’t care what he thinks. I need this job and I won’t jeopardize it… but fuck if I can control myself around Delia.
Not completely at least.
I pull myself away and walk off. I feel her eyes on me before I hear her leave through a side door.
Patricks appears, as if by magic. He slips out from behind a statue and glares at me.
“Have a nice conversation?” he asks.
I nod. “She’s very pleasant.”
“Careful,” he growls.
“Listen,” I say. “We have to work together, but get something straight. I have no interest in hurting the Lofthouse family. I’m going to protect them with everything I have. You can relax a little bit.”
He frowns at me and shakes his head. “You’ll have to do a lot more than that to prove yourself,” he says. “Come on. Let’s finish up.”
I let out a breath and follow him as he storms out of the room.
But before I go, I look back to where I was standing with Delia, and picture kissing her plump, gorgeous lips for just a moment.
“Max,” Patricks barks, and I shake my head before following.3DeliaI only see Max from a distance for the next few days. I’m tempted to go talk to him all the time, but I don’t want to get him in trouble.
“You like the new guy,” Lora says, her legs dangling over the arm of the couch, her phone inches from her nose. “You really like him.”
“It’s not like that.” I stretch a little, leaning back in the plush, comfortable chair. We’re on one of the smaller back porches and the breeze feels amazing. I look out at the garden, at the wind blowing through the tulips and rosebushes. Thousands of dollars and hours were put into that garden, and so few people get to enjoy it. Sometimes I think it’s a real shame.