Jardin's Gamble (Haven, Texas 9)

She forced herself to smile as she tried to get her racing heart under control. “No, nothing’s wrong. Sorry, my mind was a million miles away and you gave me a fright.”

He gave her a look that screamed disbelief. “That so? Must have been thinking about something mighty hard.”

Yeah. He could say that.

“Boss in?”

She frowned. “Aren’t you staying with him?”

“Yep. In that giant mausoleum my cousins refer to as home. Do you know how hard it is to find someone in that place? It’s like a hotel. There’s even an intercom so if I need Jeeves, I can call him up in the middle of the night for a burger.”

“Jeeves?”

“Their butler.”

“They have a butler? And he’s called Jeeves?”

“Course he’s not, darlin’. That would be strange, wouldn’t it? His name is Gerald.”

Okay, she was completely losing track of the conversation.

“I just call him Jeeves because it pisses him off.” Maddox grinned at her and she found herself smiling back.

“And you enjoy pissing him off.” she guessed.

“He’s extremely stuck-up and fussy. Apparently, I traipsed mud across his precious marble floors and now he keeps getting the chef to make shit for dinner like foie gras and pork terrine.”

“And that burger you ordered?”

He sighed sadly. “Haven’t gotten one yet. Can’t wait to get back to Haven and Mia’s cooking. That woman knows how to prepare a good steak.”

“Are you headed back soon?”

“Still trying to convince my cousin to come back with me. He’s not here?”

No. Thank God. She wasn’t really prepared to face him yet. Then again, what happened yesterday was really the least of her worries. It wasn’t like she had any long-term prospects at this job.

“He’s at a meeting. He’ll be back in about an hour or so.”

“Guess I’ll just have to wait, you don’t mind, do you, darlin’?”

She didn’t think it would matter much to him if she did mind. But she shook her head anyway. He’d be a good distraction.

Laughter hit him as soon as he walked into her office. Perhaps whatever was bothering her wasn’t as big of an issue as he’d first thought. He scowled as he looked from her smiling face over to his cousin.

“Maddox, what are you doing here?”

“You didn’t come home last night. I need to speak to you again before I leave for home.”

Jardin sighed. “I don’t have time right now.”

Maddox straightened. “Well, when will you have time?” A stubborn look crossed his cousin’s face.

“We can talk tonight at dinner.”

Maddox grimaced. “Can we eat out? Cause the food they serve at the mausoleum I wouldn’t even feed to the pigs back home.”

“Fine. Yes. But Carrick will be coming too.”