Page 43 of Seven Nights

Two shakes, maybe three.

I text back.

Sounds good. Pretty sure I won’t starve to death.

Returning the phone to my pocket, I drift over to a long reading table to clear a space. Most of the mess comes from sketches illustrating changes I want to make to the grounds. Whether or not she is trying to leave me hints, Harriet seems to be doing a lot of reading about greenhouses, both for growing food and flowers and as spaces for relaxing and reflecting.

Maybe now is a good time to show her the plans. Depending on how much input she has, I can get something built before autumn is over. That will let her have more color and sunlight through the winter.

I set about arranging the sketches. Exterior greenhouse, interior, details on a water feature, then the overhead images of the estate that show options for where the greenhouse can be placed on the grounds.

By the time I am finished, I hear a cart rolling down the marble floors.

And then I hear a cane, the sound muted but distinct.

I brace myself for the knock. Irritation vibrates in my throat. The problem with Harriet not really being an employee is she knows I won’t fire her.

The knock doesn’t come even though the cart—and the cane—have stopped their progress outside the door. I snort, arms folding across my chest as I stand my ground.

I wait, jaw ticking. My cheeks burn but the air I pull into my lungs feels ice cold. My eyes begin to dry from a prolonged, unblinking stare at the door.

Bringing Katelyn to this room is out of line, even for Harriet. She knows better—or should. But then, I’ve never had a woman stay the night at the estate. I haven’t even brought one to the estate on her own. It has always been for business events. Formal balls, the company's egg hunts at Easter, the executive Christmas party. If I fuck a woman after the guests are gone, it’s not in my bedroom. It’s bent over my desk, the grand piano, the billiard table, her body strapped down as often as not. Before the slick juices generated by the act have time to dry on a woman’s thighs, I have her packed into the limo for Philip to chauffeur home.

Still, it feels like a betrayal having Harriet bring Katelyn to the threshold of this room.

Pissed at waiting, I rush the door and throw it open.

Katelyn freezes in the act of raising her hand to knock. She lowers her arm. I huddle against the door, blocking the view of the room’s interior.

If she wasn’t certain before that she has no business being in this wing of the house, she is now. Her gaze drops to the floor. With the cane hooked on the rolling cart, she clasps her elegant hands together, their position subconsciously shielding her sex.

She is lovely to look at. A silk robe colored a light cream covers her body. The lustrous brown hair cascades down one shoulder. The long, likely painful, walk has flushed her cheeks and lips a dark red while the rest of her skin remains pale and bloodless.

Seeing the subtle strain on her face, I want to scoop Katelyn up and carry her to the couch. But that will only make matters far worse than they are. I can’t coddle her. As private and stoic as Katelyn is, she wants to get personal with me. She wants to know me beyond my cock and money.

Unacceptable.

I glare at her, my voice taking on an imperious tone. “Why are you here?”

Her gaze tracks left, down the long corridor that eventually passes the kitchen.

“Yes,” I growl. “Harriet brought you. But she’s scurried away, hasn’t she? So you know I didn’t call for a side of pet with my sandwich.”

Sandwiches, I silently correct. The cart is loaded with two of everything.

Katelyn lifts her gaze to meet mine. The soulful, aching eyes shame me.

But I persist. Things have gotten too complicated with her presence at the estate and I need to unfuck the situation ASAP.

“Even if that is what you were told,” I snap, “I did not summon you.”

A quiver trembles and dies across her bottom lip in the space of a second. She lifts her chin then shrugs.

Unable to read the message buried in that gesture, I tighten my grip on the doorknob.

“I can't exactly play with you in this state like I bargained for, can I?”

Another quiver flashes. Katelyn gives a slight shake of her head and then her face goes dead.

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