The staff was lined up in the foyer. A dozen people in uniforms.
Mrs. Landers, the housekeeper, stood at the front. She was a round woman with a stern face and eyes that were cold and assessing.
"Welcome home, Mr. Holmes. And the... guest."
Ingram helped Elmira out of the car. He kept his hand on her lower back.
"Mrs. Landers," Ingram said. "Is the room ready?"
"Oh, yes sir!" Mrs. Landers said, her voice devoid of warmth. "I prepared the Master Suite. I moved the young lady's things in."
Elmira froze. "The Master Suite?"
She looked at Ingram. My contract will stipulate separate rooms.
Ingram leaned close to her ear. "Landers reports to my grandmother. If we sleep apart, Victoria will know by breakfast. The trust will be contested again."
Elmira gritted her teeth. She smiled at Mrs. Landers. "Wonderful."
They walked up the grand staircase. The house smelled of lemon polish and old money.
Mrs. Landers opened the double doors to the Master Suite.
It was enormous. A fireplace. A balcony.
And one bed.
It was a four-poster King, draped in heavy velvet. But it was definitely just one bed.
Mrs. Landers closed the door, leaving them alone.
Elmira immediately stepped away from him. "I'll take the floor."
She looked around. There was no sofa. Just two stiff armchairs by the fire.
"I'm not sleeping in a chair," Ingram said, taking off his jacket. "And neither are you. It's a King. Stay on your side."
He walked into the bathroom and shut the door. The shower turned on.
Elmira went to the closet. She needed anything familiar.
She opened the doors and gasped.
Her clothes were gone. The jeans, the t-shirts-vanished.
In their place were rows of silk. Lace. Sheer chiffon.
Mrs. Landers had "unpacked." And apparently, she had decided the newest acquisition needed a new wardrobe.
Elmira pulled out a slip. It was black lace and practically transparent. She pulled out another. Red silk, backless.
The bathroom door opened. Steam billowed out.
Ingram walked out. He had a towel wrapped low around his hips. Water droplets clung to his chest hair. His abs were defined, hard ridges of muscle.
He stopped. He saw Elmira holding the scrap of black lace.
His eyebrows went up. "Trying to live up to the morality clause?"
Elmira threw the lace back into the closet. Her face burned. "Landers took my clothes."
Ingram smirked. It was the first time she had seen him look almost... human.
"Well," he said, walking toward the bed. "You have two choices. Wear the silk. Or wear nothing."
