Page 15 of The Favorite Girl

Bradley nodded and sped out of the room. Releasing the breath from my puffed cheeks, I licked my lips, feeling so uncomfortable.

“Dr. Ivory, Mrs. Ivory… I’m so sorry. It’s a nervous habit?—”

“Nails must be kept clean. You must be kept clean.” Dr. Ivory cinched his brows and looked at his wife.

“I hope you’re right about her.” He shook his head and began to walk away. Except he didn’t leave through the main door, he went through a side door and when the door shut, I saw him cut through a meticulously maintained backyard.

“He’s going to the serenity garden. You must learn quickly, Demi. You absolutely must learn the rules of the Ivory Estate quickly… as if your life depended on it.” Daphne pursed her lips and just as I processed the words that left her mouth, her lips tipped upright into a smile.

“Welcome home, darling.” She opened her arms wide, and at that moment, I wasn’t sure what the hell I just signed up for.

But my life quite literally did depend on it.

I just didn’t know the magnitude of it all yet.

CHAPTER

TEN

After leaving the expansive room I had met Dr. and Mrs. Ivory in, Bradley guided me down a different hallway until we reached another room. This room was completely different aesthetically from the rest of the house. The walls were painted a deep, haunting red, and behind a massive black desk was an off-white wall that was the most unusual thing I’d ever seen.

“What is that?” I looked at Bradley, who was lining up stacks of papers quietly while I pointed at the elaborate wall.

Clearing my throat and feeling uneasy with the silence, I sunk into the chair across from the desk that separated me from the massive, curved black leather chair with metal pieces outlining it. I couldn’t take my eyes off the wall, which consisted of textured shards of off-white objects pieced together with a slight gloss over it.

It was oddly beautiful.

“Conrad will be in shortly to discuss the details of the paperwork.” Bradley finally looked up at me. His eyes were such a pale shade of green, they almost blurred into the whites of his eyes. “I really hope you’re better than the last girl.” He clicked his tongue and let out a long, dramatic sigh as he studied me once more before he left. I watched his feet as they glided across the floor, the thick platform shoes literally making no sound as he walked.

“Who is Conrad?” I called out behind him, but half of his body was already out the door. He paused and slowly shut the door behind him, and as he did, all I could see was a sliver of his icy eyes.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and stood from my seat. Rows and rows of medical textbooks were neatly lined on the shelves on the other side of the room. Brushing my finger against the spines, I tilted my head and squinted at the gold words.

“Orthopedic Surgery Essentials: Spine,” I read out loud and began to tug it out.

“Hey,” a voice right over my shoulder echoed. Flinging around, the giant textbook that was half off the shelf dropped loudly to the floor as I froze and stared at the man in front of me.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, with light brown hair and whiskey-colored eyes that stood out against his skin.

Unlike everyone else in the house, he wasn’t wearing white from head to toe; he was wearing a fitted, forest-green V-neck and worn denim. He looked like one of those men who posed on a yacht with a bottle of Armani cologne in an ad.

“I’m Conrad Ivory.” He stuck his hand out and his jaw ticked slightly as I continued to stand there frozen.

Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath. “You’re Demi, right? The new housekeeper?”

“Yes.” I quickly shoved my hand into his and shook it. Unlike my trembling one, his was steady and warm.

“Are you sure you want this job? You don’t seem like…” he began, gripping my hand a moment longer than needed.

Tugging my hand away, I laced my fingers together. “I don’t seem like, what?” I peered at him. He couldn’t be much older than me.

Shrugging, he did a quick swoop of my body. Crossing my arms across my chest, I scrunched my nose.

Once he was making eye contact again, he let out a light laugh, one that made me bite back my own smile.

“I’m not checking you out, really. I’m just not sure why a girl like you, in designer clothes, wants to scrub toilets and wash clothes, especially here…” It didn’t go past me that the last two words of his sentence were full of hesitation.

“I…” Embarrassment pooled through my body. “These clothes aren’t mine.” Although Conrad was wearing a pretty basic outfit, I could tell it had to cost more than a month’s rent for the majority of America.

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