Page 14 of Oz
Becoming aware that silence has fallen and his lip is twitching, I shake my head. “Kidneys,” I mutter.
“They were my father’s favourite food. I’m not actually sure why Mrs Granger keeps serving them unless it’s tradition,” he says, coming up next to me and grabbing some of the least charred toast.
I inhale his scent. It’s sharply sweet and smells like the ocean. I then try to ignore the fact that I just did that. “Aren’t you eating anything else?”
He shudders slightly at the limp breakfast offerings. “Fuck no,” he mutters. “I don’t need an ulcer on top of everything else.” He smiles. “Anyway, I find the less I have to do with my father’s habits, the better for everyone,” he says solemnly which is slightly spoiled by the twinkle in his eyes. A twinkle that Milo obviously misses because he looks highly uncomfortable.
“Good morning, Lord Ashworth,” he says quickly.
“Not Lord Ashworth,” Silas says patiently in a way that suggests they’ve had this conversation a few times. “Please just call me Silas. Lord Ashworth was my father and we don’t want a Lord Ashworth standing behind us.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I say flirtily and then want to slap myself as Silas looks at me assessingly. I catch and hold his gaze, but the moment is quickly broken by Milo choking slightly on his toast.
I pat him on the back and smile affectionately at him. He’s growing on me very quickly. I look up to find Silas’s eyes on me so I immediately grab some toast and pour myself a very large cup of tea.
I throw myself into the seat next to Milo and become involved in scraping the burnt bits. When I’ve finished, I lookassessingly at the three-inch piece of toast I’m left with. “Hmm,” I say and Silas coughs. I look at him suspiciously but he grabs one of the supplements from Milo’s paper and buries himself in it.
I turn to Milo. “So, am I going to have the full tour of doom this morning?” I ask cheerfully.
Milo blanches slightly and shoots a look at Silas who immediately pretends he isn’t listening. “Oh. Erm yes, I’ll show you around the house and you can get an idea of the scale of the work needed.”
“I’ve already got that,” I say darkly. “It’s hovering somewhere between disastrous and utterly fucking calamitous.”
“Oh no,” Milo groans, but Silas throws his head back and laughs loudly.
“Surely there must be something worse on the scale?” he says.
I bite my lip. “I feel we’ll all be inventing new names by the time these six months are finished.”
He shakes his head and throws his napkin down before giving a low whistle. A few seconds later a shaggy golden retriever dances into the room. He looks fairly young and he prances about, almost dancing on his paws.
“He’s lovely,” I say, putting my hand out to the dog. “What’s his name?”
“Boris Johnson.”
I blink. “Pardon?”
He smiles. “Because he’s blond and stupid and makes very questionable decisions.”
I throw my head back and laugh loudly. “That’s so good,” I say, looking up and stilling because he’s gazing at me in a very focused way.
Milo breaks in quickly. “I’ll show you the house and the collections and the grounds.”
“No need,” Silas says casually, taking a sip of his tea. “I’ll show Oz around.”
Milo looks startled. “Oh, really?”
“There’s no need,” I say quickly.
I’m not sure it’s a good thing for me to be near him. I seem to have a knack of opening my mouth and saying really stupid things around him. I’d be a lot more at ease with Milo.
“Not at all,” Silas says slowly, his eyes sparkling with mirth at my probably poorly concealed horror. “I need to show you the awful story in all its technicolour glory.”
“Lovely,” I say faintly.
Ten minutes later, I follow him out of the dining room, trying not to look at his arse in front of me which is tight and rounded in his old jeans. There’s a slight rip on the back of the upper thigh and it offers a tantalising glimpse of white cotton. I swallow hard and immediately try to look innocent when he turns back suddenly. I’m not sure I manage it, judging by the quirk on his lips.
I open my mouth to say something that will probably be very stupid, but I’m saved by the sound of heavy padding footsteps. The next second a huge brown and white dog comes around the corner and walks straight to Silas’s side. He easily reaches Silas’s hips and has massive paws. His face is mournful looking with long ears and a droopy moustache and his eyes look extraordinarily human. He looks up at Silas and gives what sounds like a miserable sigh before nudging Silas’s thigh strongly enough to make him stagger.
