Page 25 of Masked Indulgence
Pulling into the driveway she’d just left, I found a bit of jealousy piercing my heart.Maybe she’s just themaid.
Shrugging off the bit of negative emotion, I readied myself to go into what would be my home for the next little while. I didn’t have high hopes of staying forever in Nixon’s home. While his intentions were good, I assumed that sometime in the future he’d find a woman who was good for him—someone clearly in his league, a thing Iwasn’t.
Getting out of the car, I grabbed my purse and the overnight bag I’d packed for my brief stay at a motel in Portland, which I’d gone to after making sure the movers got everything from my old place. They’d taken off right away, aiming to get my things to Nixon’s ahead of my arrival. Now I’d have to get inside and try to get things put away so my crap wouldn’t be looming in boxes, taking upspace.
When I got to the door, I went to punch in the code to disarm the security system before I used the key to open the door, just as Nix had told me to. But I thought it might be best to ring the bell instead, just in case he was home, which I couldn’t tell from out here as his garage wasclosed.
When the door opened, I saw Nix’s handsome face. “Hey, why’d you ring the bell? I told you to come on in.” He wasted no time pulling me inside and hugging me. “I’ve missedyou.”
His arms around me did what they always seemed to do—made me wet and aching for him. When he closed the door and pinned me to it, I got the feeling his body reacted much as minedid.
He looked at me with hungry eyes, and I ran my hands over his bearded face. “It’s grown even more. You look sodangerous.”
Leaning down, he kissed me softly. “Good, that’s exactly what I was going for. Did you miss me atall?”
Only every wakingmoment.
I didn’t want to go that far. It was never my intention to make him feel like I wanted more than he was willing to give me. “Imight’ve.”
His hands moved down my arms as he pressed his bulge against me. “You have this crazy effect onme.”
I laughed but stopped short when I heard someone in the kitchen. “Someone’shere?”
“Yeah, the maid.” He kissed me again. “Damn, I guess I should introduce you toher.”
So the woman I saw wasn’t the maid … then who wasshe?
I kept my thoughts to myself. “Yes, you should introduce us. After that, I really need to get to work putting my thingsaway.”
“No need, I had that all taken care of,” he said, moving to one side and draping his arm across myshoulders.
“You had everything unpacked and put away? Already?” I was shocked and amazed andthankful.
“Yeah, I had the movers do some, and my maid and her son did the rest. I hope you don’t mind.” He stopped and pointed at a rocking chair that sat near the glass doors, which led outside to a gorgeous wooden deck. “I bought that yesterday for us to rock our baby in. Do you likeit?”
The wooden rocker had been whitewashed, making it look rustic. “It’s nice. I do like it. How thoughtful youare.”
He shrugged and moved on, pulling me with him. “I don’t know what’s getting into me.” When we stepped into the kitchen, my eyes landed on a middle-aged woman who was a little red in the face from cleaning the inside of a cabinet. “Mona Black, I’d like you to meet the lady of the house, KatanaReeves.”
Wiping her hands on her white apron, she made her way to me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” I shook her hand and took in her friendly smile. “Mr. Slaughter has told me your good news.Congratulations.”
I looked at Nix and wondered why on earth he’d have this woman, who was clearly older than him, calling him such a formal name. Whatever his preference was, I wasn’t about to be called ma’am or Miss Reeves. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you. And please call meKatana.”
“I’ll do that.” She went back to what she was doing before, still talking. “I’ve planned roasted chicken with asparagus and wild rice for dinner this evening. Will that be okay with you,Katana?”
I looked at Nix, who smiled at me then winked. “She works for you too,Katana.”
Not sure I liked that at all, I answered, “Anything you make will be fine with me. Just keep on doing what you’ve been doing for Nix. I don’t need any specialtreatment.”
“You don’t hesitate to let me know if you want anything special, Katana. That is what I’m paid to do, after all—look after you guys.” She got back to work as Nixon pulled me away from thekitchen.
“Let me show you around.” He pointed out the glass doors. “That’s the deck. There’s a set of stairs that lead down to the beach.” He had my hand in his and led me across the large living room. “On the other side of the kitchen is a formal dining room that I rarely use.” He pointed to a door under the stairs. “That’s a closet where things are stored. Next to this is the room we’ll leave as the guestroom.” Then up the stairs we went, and he pointed to the room at the end of the long hallway. “That’s my bedroom back there. The door on the left is the baby’s, and the one on the right is yours. You have access to a balcony through a set of French doors. You and I share that balcony; my room has another set of French doors that lead out to it aswell.”
“This place is gorgeous, Nix. I can’t believe I get to call it home for a while,” I gushed. Then I thought about the maid we’d left back in the kitchen, and looked at him as I put my hand on his chest. “Since I’m here, I can help with the daily chores. I can wash our clothes and keep things clean up here in our rooms and bathrooms. If you won’t let me pay you anything, then I want to help out around thehouse.”
He chuckled. “No way. I’m paying the maid to do that work. You wouldn’t want to put Mona out of a paying job, now would you?” He pulled me along with him and opened the door to my new bedroom. “What do you think? We can change it up any way youwant.”
“It’s perfect just the way that it is,” I said as I looked at the gorgeous furnishings. The bed, a small desk, and the bedside tables were all made of cherry wood. A very large flat screen television hung on the wall, making it easy to lie in bed and watch it—which I might do whenever I wasn’t gazing out the windows or doors at the perfect view of the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. “This is more than I everexpected.”
