by Magan Vernon
“No need to swear, Gavin,” she tsked.
It took everything I had not to roll my eyes. “I’ll talk to you later, Mother. Goodbye.”
“Yes, we will have to chat later. Goodbye, son.”
As soon as we hung up, I headed down the stairs and out to the gardens.
Summer meant everything was in full bloom and the dogs were even crazier than usual. Crazier, but still spoiled and well taken care of.
They had private vets who attended to them. They were well-fed and had their own space in the large, climate-controlled barn at the south end of the property.
Best kept dogs in all of England, next to the Queen’s, of course.
Most women probably wouldn’t be caught dead rolling around on the ground with a bunch of shedding puppies, but not Natalie.
“Lord Gavin, we weren’t expecting you,” Meredith said with curtsy, her voice wavering ever so slightly as her eyes shifted to Natalie.
“Oh, hey Gavin, excuse me, Lord Gavin.” Natalie lifted her hand slightly, which was then licked by a puppy, then soon another one was nibbling at her wrist.
“Need some help?” I asked, staring down at her and trying to figure her out.
“I asked her the same thing, sir, but she says she’s fine,” Meredith objected.
Natalie stood up slowly, making sure not to step on any rolling puppies. Her hair was now disheveled, and her clothes covered in white fur, yet she still had the biggest grin.
“It’s amazing what y’all do for them.”
“Not me. It’s what the property does. What my great aunt did for them,” I said, nodding and keeping my jaw tight, resisting the urge to smile.
Bugger, she was cute with that damn accent.
“No, but you keep it up. You could have just knocked down everything to make the place modern. I mean you’d probably have to petition the historical society, since it’s a national landmark. But you didn’t.”
“I did see about remodeling the dining room to look like Oxford’s.”
Her shoulders shook, her words coming out shaky as if she was trying to hold back a laugh. “You mean like the Hogwarts dining hall? Isn’t that where the Harry Potter movies were filmed?”
I blinked hard. “I tell you I want the room to look like a place I remember from Uni and immediately you think I’m a wizard?”
“I mean… I didn’t know lords went to college, so maybe it was for witchcraft and wizardry.”
“I guess philosophy and economics are pretty close.”
She laughed, and my chest tightened.
Why was it so damn easy to talk to her?
“Grizzly, good heavens, no biting,” Meredith scolded.
I shook my head, my mind fuzzy, as I looked down to see a puppy nipping at my trousers.
“It’s all right, Meredith.” I crouched down, focusing on the dog instead of thinking what else had just passed between Natalie and me.
Bollocks, I had to stop this.
“I need to head back inside. Just came out to make sure everything was okay.”
Both women, and even some of the dogs, winced.
“Aw, and I thought you were starting to like helping me out.”
That damn smile of hers had me biting the inside of my cheek.
“I have wizarding things to do.”
She laughed, and the melodic sound almost made me wish I could have said “screw paperwork and everything else.”
“Fine. I guess I can understand that. I should get back to work, too.”
Her wide eyes caught mine, and it was as if there was a magnetic pull between us. The more I tried to push it away, the harder my feet dragged me back toward her.
“See you around, Natalie.”
It took everything I had to turn around back to the office and not think about the damn girl and that smile.
…
As I sat at my desk, keeping myself busy with legal documents, a certain redhead kept distracting me. And she wasn’t even in the room.
“Lord Gavin,” Meredith’s soft voice followed a knock at the door before she slowly opened it.
“Yes, Meredith?” I didn’t bother looking up from my computer. I actually couldn’t remember the last time I did.
Hell, I didn’t even know what I’d been staring at, but it was better to try to keep my mind occupied.
Meredith cleared her throat, stepping into the room. She hovered just behind one of the wingback chairs that faced my desk.
“You barely ate any of your supper, sir.”
I turned toward the grandfather clock.
When did it get so late?
“Guess I got wrapped up in work.” I stood, rounding the desk and taking a hunk of brown bread off the tray.
“Has Natalie finished for the day?”
A hint of a smile curled Meredith’s lips. “Much like you, she didn’t eat much of her supper. But she did make good headway on the dining room before she finally retired to her bedroom. She really is something.”
I popped my tongue in my cheek, releasing it quickly before responding. “Good or bad something?”
“I think you and I both know the answer to that one, sir,” she said, still smiling.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I peered at the clock again. “Guess I should call it a night as well.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll make sure your bed is turned down,” she replied quickly before she left the room, tray in hand.
After closing out of a few items on my computer, I left the room, heading down one of the many long hallways.
I’d learned to ignore those damn creepy stares from my ancestors in their oil paintings on the wall.
Seriously, did a Webley ever smile in a painting or photograph?
I’d make damn sure to smile when my oil painting went on that wall.
Or maybe not. May as well creep out the future grandkids.
I bit the inside of my cheek from laughing but then stopped when I pictured my mother’s face if she heard me say that out loud.
Dammit, now I was thinking like her.
She’d be thrilled to know I was falling into my role. It’s what she and Father always wanted.
But I didn’t.
That is, until Great Aunt Sarah had me start spending the summers with her in Webley.
It was a ploy for my parents to get me to step into my lordship, but things were different with Great Aunt Sarah around.
Not just because of her quirkiness or that the property was full of a bunch of Great Pyrenees. But Great Aunt Sarah never made her noble title seem like a chore or something that had to be done. She lived her life as if it were the greatest thing to ever happen and to spread that wealth by providing for the town of Webley. It was why the town flourished under her, and now I had to make sure it stayed that way.
And to keep everyone happy. That was why I talked to the historical society about preserving and cataloging her treasures.
It was also easy to say that I couldn’t focus on other things, like getting married, while the manor was still being worked on.
Natalie had quite a lot of work cut out for her. I’d at least have the summer, if not longer, to keep postponing the inevitable and give in to looking for a wife.
As I walked toward my room, there was a faint blue light glowing from underneath Natalie’s door.
Was she still working at this hour?
I told her she could work whatever hours she wanted, but she didn’t need to spend all night on the internet researching items.
I tapped on her door, ready to tell her just that.
But no response. Not even an “in a minute.”
What the bloody hell was she doing?
Did she not hear me?
“Natalie?” I called, tapping again.
&
nbsp; Still no answer.
I reached down, jiggling the handle.
Unlocked.
The door creaked open and I called her name again.
Panic started to set in as my heart beat in my ears.
She didn’t leave her computer on and fall unconscious from exhaustion, did she?
I waited for any sort of response and just as I was about to burst in, that’s when I heard it.
A laugh.
Not a little polite rumble, but a roaring belly laugh.
What was so funny? Was it ignoring me calling her? Was she trying to make me look like a damn squib in my own home?
My hands clenched into fists at my side. The joking was one thing, but the laugh was what set a fire that had me throwing the door open.
“Didn’t you hear me knocking?” I roared.
The room was dark, save for a small Tiffany lamp on the nightstand near the four-poster bed and a laptop on Natalie’s crossed legs.
The blue light illuminated her face and the large headphones over her ears.
She finally looked up at me, her eyes widening as she pulled off her headphones. “Oh, hey, Gavin, I mean, Lord Gavin, didn’t hear you come in. Or expect you at this late hour.”
She pressed a few keys on her computer. “Is everything okay?”
I let out a deep breath, wiggling my head in frustration as I took a few steps toward the end of the bed. The large golden posts and white down comforter practically swallowed her inside.
“I walked by your room and saw the light on. I knocked, but you didn’t answer. Just heard you laughing at what I’m guessing is something brilliant,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my words that she must have caught, since she smirked at me.
“I have a hard time falling asleep, so sometimes I decompress with an ebook or look up old comedy specials and stream them.”
“Nothing can be that funny for you to laugh like that.”
She tilted her head. “Obviously you’ve never watched an old comedian take a mallet to a watermelon.”
I couldn’t have heard her right, so I leaned forward. “A what now?”
She smiled, pulling her headphones out of the device before spinning the computer toward me.
A still on the screen showed a man in a newsboy cap and an unfortunate mustache, holding a large weapon over a watermelon.
“You Americans find the oddest things funny.”
“Then you’ve never watched this if you can’t appreciate the sheer hilarity.”
She scooted closer to the edge of the bed until she was beside me.
She may have spent all day working, but now her red hair was twisted in a wet bun, giving off the fresh, clean scent of Ivory soap and floral shampoo.
I could have pulled her closer, buried my face in that scent, and never let go.
Bugger, I needed to get a grip.
Swallowing hard, I turned my head slightly from hers and tried to focus on the screen instead of the visions of taking her in my arms and forgetting all about her work.
“Okay, I’m going to play it and you’re just going to have to apologize about American humor once you start laughing.”
I shook my head, leaning against the bed frame as far as I could push myself. Crossing my arms over my chest, I made sure to keep them there. “I doubt that’s going to happen.”
She smiled, pressing play as the man on the screen said a few words to the crowd. Then he slammed down the hammer on the watermelon, everyone in the audience erupting in laughter as pink goop spilled onto the front row.
“This? This is what you find funny?” I put my hand out, pointing at the now frozen screen.
“Hilarious, actually.”
I stared at the screen, the quality of the picture grainy and filtered as if the video was older than we were. “Is this seriously what Americans are watching now?”
She shook her head, her eyes cast toward the bed. “No, it’s older. But a classic. My dad used to love him. One summer, we didn’t have cable, and all we had was a VHS and Dad’s old recorded comedy specials.”
“They still have VHS tapes in America?”
She shook her head. “No. This was years ago. The last summer I had with my dad actually…”
A lump formed in my throat. What happened to her father? Should I ask? Did I really want to break that barrier?
She sighed. “That winter we had a bad ice storm, another car hit him head on…”
Her voice trailed, and the lump that was lodged in my throat now rose to my lips. Words failed me as I tried to come up with what to say to that.
How could I comfort her and not say sorry for being an arse about her choice in comedy?
I swallowed, composing myself. “My father was the one who introduced me to comedy, too. He was more of a Monty Python and Peter Kay fan, though. Used to watch Flying Circus in his sitting room on weekends when my mother was out of town.”
A small smile crossed her lips as she looked up again. “I’ve heard of Monty Python, but not Peter Kay. That sounds more like a character on Saturday Night Live.”
I scoffed, trying to hide the grin threatening to pull at my lips now that I got her to smile. I heaved her computer toward me. “He’s not some made-up character. He’s very real. And actually still pretty damn funny.”
I typed his name into the search bar, and a slightly grainy video of the comic came into view.
“Now watch some real comedy.”
“Bet I won’t even laugh once,” Natalie said, sitting straighter and pushing her hair back.
“I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d wager that if you did laugh, you’d agree to watch Monty Python.”
She turned toward me, her eyes slightly narrowed but with the tiny hint of a smile. “And if I don’t laugh, you’ll watch Gallagher’s entire comedy special?”
I put my hand out, watching her eyes drift downward. “You’re on.”
She bit her lip slightly before taking my hand in hers. Our eyes locked in that brief moment.
This was about her appreciating British comedy and so she wouldn’t focus on the sad memories of her father. Nothing else. I just wanted us to leave on a good note.
At least that’s what I kept telling myself.
…
I opened my eyes slowly, wondering why Meredith had drawn the curtains so early.
Shielding my eyes with one hand, I looked toward the balcony window.
Why were the curtains different?
When did Meredith change those?
My eyes snapped open.
Oh, bollocks.
Those weren’t my curtains, and this wasn’t my room.
I jumped off the bed where I had somehow fallen asleep leaning against the bedpost.
Curled into the corner like a cat was Natalie, her eyes closed and a peaceful smile on her face as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
As if we didn’t fall asleep somehow watching hours of comedy show clips.
How the hell did I let this happen?
Damn that bet. I never stood down from a challenge, and now I had to figure out a way to sneak out of her room before anyone spotted me and thought we were doing something other than sleeping.
Mother would have a field day if she heard that from the staff.
I winced, slowly craning my neck before I slowly crept out of the room. I made sure the door didn’t make a sound as I shut it behind me.
“Sir, you’re up early,” Meredith’s voice rang from behind me, causing my entire body to stiffen.
Bollocks.
Slowly I turned around, putting on my best smile, noticing her eyes glancing toward my wrinkled trousers and shirt. The same clothes I wore the night before and was now wearing in front of the closed door of my newest employee.
“Fell asleep at my d
esk last night, actually. So just going to get in a quick shower.”
She squinted her eyes slightly as if she knew I was lying but didn’t say anything.
“I’ll have your coffee and breakfast ready in the parlor.”
“Thank you, Meredith.”
I waited until she was out of earshot before I let out a breath, I didn’t know I was holding.
What had I gotten myself into with this new employee?
I needed to stop keeping things so casual. She had to know our roles.
The best way to do that was to probably avoid her at all costs.
Something that would be easier said than done.
…
After taking a quick shower and dressing in a clean pair of trousers and an Oxford, I grabbed my breakfast and coffee then tried to make my way to the office. Hoping not to run into a certain redhead.
But of course, I couldn’t be that lucky.
As soon as I rounded the corner near the dining room, Natalie turned down the opposite hall at the same time.
“Gavin, I mean, uh, yeah, Lord Gavin,” she said way too cheerily.
But there was something endearing about that happy tone in her voice. Those full lips were coated in a light peach gloss and spread in a wide grin.
Her hair was still up but in a messy ponytail, with auburn curls falling down her back.
Instead of the baggy T-shirt, today she had on a thin tank top, one that I reminded myself not to stare at anywhere below her neckline.
I may have spent the night with the girl, but I wasn’t going to ogle her. Especially not when we were locked in a death stare.
“Sorry I fell asleep last night, I guess too many hours of Monty Python can do that,” she said, pressing her lips tightly to her teeth as if she were trying to hold something back. But what?
Did she know I fell asleep too? That I crept out of her room early this morning?
Or maybe…maybe she didn’t?
I mentally thanked God or whoever else was watching me. “No problem. I have to get to work. You can have Meredith contact me if you need anything today.”
“Oh. Okay.” Her entire face fell as she slumped forward.
