Marissa’s arrival, a false fire alarm, the complication of Aurelia and now the arrival of the exercise equipment before the spa area was finished.
So much for the uneventful day Baird had expected to have.
Marissa and the foreman were exchanging insults over who was to blame about the poor coordination of events, Julian was flipping through contracts, the electrician was venting about the premature use of his alarm system, and Baird was trying to find a solution as to where the exercise equipment could be stored until the spa was done.
Anything had to be better than paying to ship it back to Sussex, then back here in a few weeks’ time.
“Mr. Beauforte?” The head plumber was closing fast and Baird groaned silently, certain he didn’t need another thing to juggle right now. “I’m needing you to have a look at what Joe has found. We’re going to be having a wee problem with installing the fourth septic tank as planned—Joseph, Mary and all the saints above!”
At the unexpected curse, Baird’s head snapped up.
And his heart sank. He should have guessed.
All eyes were fixed on Aurelia as she bounced down the stairs to the reception area. Her hair was still loose and damp, but his sweater had been abandoned in favor of a resort bathrobe.
It covered even less of her thighs than his sweater had.
Her skin was unexpectedly pale. Hadn’t she had a hot shower yet? Baird muttered an oath under his breath, uncertain why he felt protective of a woman he barely knew, let alone one whose mind seemed to have a precarious grip on reality. He scanned the hall to find work stopped completely as every man in the place gaped.
Not that Aurelia would have noticed. Her gaze was fixed determinedly on Baird, her full lips pouted like a child denied a chocolate bar in the grocery store line. Despite her expression, Baird felt a prickle of awareness, as though they were the only ones in the massive hall.
“Well!” Marissa exhaled with a low hiss. “Well, darling, I can’t imagine where you scraped up this sorry little bit of baggage, but she truly has no concept of what is appropriate to wear…”
Baird impatiently waved the designer into silence. “I’ll handle this.”
“But darling, surely you could send along some minion to talk sense into the woman…”
It was easy to ignore Marissa’s plaintive voice though Baird wished—again—she had not managed to persuade him to let her come to Dunhelm. Oddly enough, Marissa was not spoiling him for all female company this time.
He wouldn’t think about that.
Baird determinedly crossed the floor, but Aurelia was not backing down. She didn’t slow her own course until they stood toe to toe and, despite himself, Baird admired her boldness.
There was something on Aurelia’s mind and Baird knew she was about to set him straight on whatever the issue was. When was the last time he had met a woman who was so direct?
And why couldn’t he recall this one?
Baird scanned her features with frustration. He wondered suddenly whether there was some reason that she didn’t want him to remember. Aurelia flushed when Baird looked into her eyes and her gaze flicked away. Was she trying to hide something from him?
“Where are the maids?” Aurelia asked in the high voice she only used some of the time. She sounded childish and dumb when she talked this way, and Baird preferred her lower tones.
Baird frowned, both at her tone and her question. “There are no maids here yet. If you need more towels or anything, there’s a supply room at the end of the hall. Your key will work—”
“Me?” Aurelia chuckled as though he was joking, although Baird didn’t know what he had said that was funny. “There have to be maids here somewhere! There were dozens of maids this very morning.” She smiled up at Baird and batted her eyelashes. “Surely, you did not send them all away?”
This morning? Baird eyed her conviction and his heart sank. Aurelia was confused. She and her father must have been very close for his loss to affect her so deeply.
Baird felt a pang of compassion and knew he had to help Aurelia. Baird was used to solving problems—one more wouldn’t add much to his burden. Aurelia had no one else to count on, after all.
At least not until he found Hekod.
Baird heard his tone soften as he placed one hand gently on Aurelia’s shoulder. He leaned closer and was surprised to see something flash in her eyes.
“There are no maids, Aurelia,” he explained quietly, “and there were none this morning, either.”
Aurelia stared back at him for a long moment. Baird had the sense that her mind was going a mile a minute and wished heartily he could have known what she was thinking.
Or was she thinking anything at all?
“I’m sorry, princess, but there won’t be any maids here until the building is done.”
She stiffened beneath the weight of his hand and her fair brow arched. “You do not mean to bathe before the building is done?”
Baird stifled a grin, not wanting her to think he was laughing at her. “It’s not that serious. The plumbing works already.”
But Aurelia didn’t seem to understand. She folded her arms across her chest and took a trio of deep breaths. She appeared to be choosing her words carefully.
“If there will be no maids until that time,” she said tightly, “then, of course, I am obliged to wait.”
Now, Baird was confused.
Aurelia fixed a very blue glance on Baird and he knew in that instant, from that one look, Aurelia was not as dumb as she wanted him to believe.
Then, she met his gaze so blankly Baird wondered whether he had seen anything at all. The sense she was playing games with him irritated Baird immeasurably.
The last thing he needed was another Jessica in his life!
“What’s the problem?” Baird propped his hands on his hips with newfound impatience. “Just draw the bath yourself.”
“Myself?” Aurelia’s disgust with the idea was tellingly clear.
Which could only mean she wanted someone else, some paid help, to draw her bath for her! Baird had never heard anything so lazy in all his life! The embroidered motto on Aurelia’s bathrobe taunted him, but Baird knew the resort had never been asked to perform such a menial task, even for a paying guest.
“There’s a tub in your room,” he reminded her, biting each word with precision.
“That tub has a hole in its bottom,” Aurelia retorted with a flighty toss of her hair. “And there is nary a drop of hot water to be seen!”
This was ridiculous!
“You are not going to have a maid or anyone else prepare your bath,” Baird asserted in a far more reasonable tone than circumstance demanded. “You are simply going to have to do it yourself, as everyone else does, whether you think you’re a princess or not.”
“Think I’m a princess!” Aurelia’s cheeks burned bright and her voice dropped. Her eyes snapped with intelligence as she wagged a determined finger beneath Baird’s nose. “I am a princess and you know it as well as I do. And I am not going to haul water up those stairs like some common serf captured on a raid in the East!”
She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him as though daring Baird to insist otherwise. Aurelia certainly wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.
All the same, Baird didn’t understand her. He frowned in confusion. “Up what stairs? What are you talking about?”
“Do not play games with me!” Aurelia glared outright at him. “I will not be mocked by the likes of you! Perhaps you do not see fit to bathe, or perhaps you find it amusing to torment me like this—gods and goddesses only know what passes for cleanliness among barbarians—but understand that neither I nor my father will readily forget such rudeness…”
Barbarians? There was another reference to his being American! Did these Brits never get over themselves?
“Rudeness?” Baird retorted. “I’m putting you up for free in a luxury resort!”
“Your terms are hardly gratuitous!” Aurelia snapped. “My birthright entitles—”
“That’s enough!” Baird roared and everyone who wasn’t already watching this exchange turned to have a good look. “We’ll see this settled, for once and for all!”
Before Aurelia could launch into another lecture about his poor manners, Baird gripped her elbow and propelled her toward the stairs. She had to take three steps to match every two of his because she was so much shorter, but Baird didn’t care.
She wanted someone to draw her bath and, by God, Baird would do it—though not likely in the way Princess Aurelia had planned.
He had had enough insults about his nationality to last one day.
“Baird! What about these samples, darling?” Marissa called.
“And Mr. Beauforte, the plumbing—”
“Where shall we put the step machines?”
“I’ll be back shortly.” Baird nodded to plumber and delivery team. “And Marissa, the tiles will have to wait until the morning, there’s too much on my plate right now.” Baird threw a telling glance over his shoulder Marissa would have been wise to heed.
She didn’t.
The designer pouted, her gaze darting to Aurelia and back to Baird. “But Baird, it’s absolutely no trouble at all. You’ll be back in—what? Five minutes, darling? I can wait right here.”
Baird glanced grimly down at Aurelia and caught a glimpse straight down the front of the bathrobe that made his gut clench. Down there, just to the right of the creamy flesh he could see, was the nipple that responded so pertly to his touch. Heat coursed through him at the memory of the soft curve beneath his hand.
Aurelia looked up in that moment and proudly held his gaze, not even trying to hide the sharp gleam in those blue eyes. Baird’s heart leaped. Maybe she wasn’t crazy, after all, but just pretending to be.
Which left the intriguing question of why.
One thing was for certain—Baird Beauforte was going to get to the bottom of this puzzle. And he was going to do it now.
“This may take a while,” Baird said and forced a polite smile for Marissa. “And we’ve done more today than I expected. Why don’t you take the chance to relax after your flight?”
Marissa exhaled in a hiss of dissatisfaction, but Baird didn’t care what she thought. He was much more interested in the fact that his words seemed to trouble his tiny companion. It was almost as though Aurelia guessed Baird’s intention and didn’t want her mysteries solved.
She caught her breath, then tried to shake off Baird’s grip on her arm. “You are not coming to my chambers! I do not need your accompaniment!”
“You obviously do if you want that bath.”
She glared at him and twisted her arm some more. Just on general principles, Baird held on.
Firmly but gently.
This, after all, was the woman who had landed two soul-searing kisses on him, without any preamble. This was the woman who had turned his day upside down, forced an evacuation of the hotel, and denied having met him before even though Baird recognized her. He didn’t know who she was, he didn’t know what she wanted, but letting Baird guide her by the elbow was peanuts in exchange.
And besides, Baird liked having the supple strength of Aurelia’s arm in his grip. It could only be because that was the only way he would know exactly where she was. Princess Aurelia was already showing a marked ability to find trouble when she wasn’t watched.
It certainly had nothing to do with the tingle of awareness Baird felt in her proximity.
“Bullying me is not going to solve anything,” Aurelia declared with bravado.
“I’m not bullying you, princess. I’m just escorting you to your room, in a most expedient fashion.”
What Baird had meant as a gruff assurance only seemed to agitate Aurelia more. She twisted and wriggled, trying to pull her elbow free from his fingers.
“You’ll bruise me!”
“I will not, unless you keep fidgeting,” Baird retorted.
She inhaled sharply. “If you mean to torture me, I have to tell you right now that I will never betray my father.”
“Torture you?” Baird arched a brow and marched her up the stairs. “We gave that up in the States long before you people did.”
“Ha! A likely story.” Aurelia glared up at Baird and he was surprised by the intensity of her obvious distrust. Then her eyes widened and she changed to the high voice that grated on Baird’s nerves. “You already are bullying me, and I have to tell you that this is not the way I expect to be treated—”
“Don’t you think you’re over-reacting?” Baird dryly interrupted her tirade. “We’re just going to go up to your room and—”
“Ha!”
Baird’s calm words seemed to infuriate his guest so much she couldn’t keep her high voice any longer.
“And I can guess what will happen after that! Will rape be part of your torture? Even if you cannot bear to touch me yourself, I am sure you’ll find some underling to do the deed! Either way, I will not make it easy for you!”
Before Baird could make sense of that bizarre volley, Aurelia kicked him in the shin.
Hard. Baird’s eyes widened in shock, then Aurelia bent and bit at his fingers where they still grasped her elbow.
Baird bellowed in pain. He muttered a curse as his hand flew open.
“What in the hell is that all about?” he roared, but Aurelia was gone.
She had turned and fled like a doe, straight back down the stairs. A hoot of laughter rose from the workmen, but Baird was concerned for his tiny charge. She was running wildly, without care for her own safety, taking the steps three at a time.
And in outright fear of him.
That was not a good feeling. Baird had never sent a woman fleeing before, but this seemed to be a day of firsts. Baird was determined to set Aurelia straight.
But first, he had to catch her. Baird bounded after his resort’s first guest. Aurelia glanced over her shoulder and ran faster.
She’d kill herself!
Aurelia leaped down the last four steps like a bird taking flight. She just brushed the floor with one bare toe before Baird snatched her up from behind. She was light, but fought like a tigress.
Baird tossed her over his shoulder, hoping it looked effortless, and turned in one smooth move to begin up the stairs again. The workmen cheered, but Aurelia seemed less than impressed.
“No! I will not permit you to do this!” Aurelia struggled and squirmed, she pounded her fists against his back and kicked him as hard as she could, but Baird marched impassively toward her room.
“Quit your fighting! You wanted a bath,” he growled as they gained the summit. “And by God, you’ll get one.”
Aurelia froze, then struggled with renewed vigor. Baird clamped his arm over her knees and held on tight. It was high time he and Aurelia got a few things sorted out between them.
And there was no time like the present.
The way Aurelia wriggled against him was not helping Baird collect his jumbled thoughts in the least. Even through her robe, he could tell the buttock bumping against his jaw was round and firm, and the breasts that brushed periodically against his back were temptingly full.
And those feet. As Aurelia struggled, her delicate feet danced before Baird, challenging every scrap of his self-control. He half-wished he was the uncivilized barbarian these Brits expected Americans to be.
Instead, Baird used his passkey, then shoved open the door to her room. He stalked into the bathroom, flicked on the light and dumped the lady on her feet.
Before she could start to make wild accusations, Baird sat on the side of the tub, locked the drain and turned on the water. Steam rose from the cascade of water spilling into the tub, and only then did Baird look to the woman who had fought him tooth and nail.
She was backed against the far wall, her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion and she held her room card out between them as though it would ward him off.
So much for hoping she wasn’t nuts.
Baird shoved one hand through his hair and let a smile quirk his lips as he watched Aurelia, hoping he could reassure her. “See? Bath right on cue.”
“You stay away from me,” was all she said.
Trust him to have a chivalrous impulse to help the first lunatic who came along. This would have been a lot easier if there wasn’t something about Aurelia that reached right into the core of Baird.
And twisted hard.
Baird kept his tone low and even to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay right here.”
But Aurelia did not step forward. “Save your lies! You brought me here to torture me!”
“I brought you here to show you how the bath works,” Baird corrected matter-of-factly. “You wanted a bath, didn’t you?”
Aurelia’s gaze flicked to the running water as though she couldn’t control her curiosity any longer. Baird watched amazement cross her expression, then her wary gaze flicked back to him. “How did you do that?”
And suddenly, her argument made sense.
Aurelia just didn’t know about indoor plumbing. She must have thought someone would have to haul buckets of water from a well, then heat it on the stove for her bath. And haul it up the stairs from the foyer.
No wonder she had been so annoyed when he told her to do it herself!
There were people at home who had never seen indoor plumbing—why should he be surprised that someone who had lived on these remote islands might be similarly amazed?
The irritation slid out of Baird like magic and he pushed one hand through his hair. He found himself oddly relieved that Aurelia’s thinking was really very logical, now that he knew her assumptions.
Maybe she wasn’t crazy, after all. Baird found the possibility more encouraging than he thought he should have.
“You just turn the knob.” He demonstrated with one hand and beckoned to her with the other.
Aurelia recoiled. “I will fight your foul intent with every fiber of my being!” She waved the room key at him wildly. “Do not imagine that I will easily surrender to the likes of you!”
Right. Torture and rape were on the agenda, though not necessarily in that order. How could Baird have forgotten such pertinent details?
It must only be his injured pride that insisted he make sure Aurelia recognized his sterling character.
Baird deliberately kept his tone even. “I’m just here to show you how the bath works.” Aurelia eyed Baird and clearly did not believe him. “The knob was a bit tight, probably because it’s new, but you should be able to manage it now. Come here and see.”
“I will not make your rape easier!”
“I’m not going to rape you.”
Aurelia arched a dubious brow. “Torture, then!”
Baird shook his head. “Nope. No torture either. Wouldn’t know where to start.”
She chewed her lip and lowered the room key a little. Her voice was low and her eyes narrowed. “You swear that you have no intent to rape or torture me?”
This was far from the most flattering exchange Baird had ever had. “I swear it. Not now or ever.”
She still didn’t look convinced. “Your word of honor?”
Well, she didn’t give up easily, did she? Annoyance swept through Baird. Had there ever been a woman who found him more offensive than a three-inch cockroach?
Baird gritted his teeth. “I give you my most solemn word of honor.”
To his relief, that seemed to satisfy her.
Aurelia kept the room key steadfastly between them as she came closer, though Baird couldn’t imagine why. Those little feet with their delectable toes halted uneasily just an arm’s length away from Baird’s boots.
There was still a vestige of mud in between them.
Baird’s pulse accelerated as his imagination supplied the possibility of his thoroughly cleaning each toe in succession. They were so tiny and soft, so perfectly shaped. Her foot would fit snugly in his hand, he just knew it. Baird’s pleated cords got a little tighter and he forced himself to examine the wall tiles.
He really could pick them.
“I do not understand,” Aurelia confessed, her fair brows drawing together in a frown.
“Hot, cold.” Baird seized on practical matters. He gestured to the brass knobs in question, then turned the hot one. “On, off. Same as everywhere else.”
But Aurelia’s expression revealed she had never seen anything like it. Baird slid toward the base of the tub and gestured to the taps in his most non-threatening manner.
“Try it,” he encouraged.
Aurelia fired a glance at Baird. “I will not interfere with your magic,” she hissed.
“Then, the water will overflow.” Baird’s tone was matter-of-fact. Her gaze darted between him and the rising water as though she wasn’t sure whether to believe him.
But then, people were always suspicious of new technology—or old technology new to them.
“Come on. It won’t bite. Adjust the temperature.” Baird stood and put even more distance between them. He shoved his hands into his pockets.
Aurelia crept toward the tub, one wary eye on Baird’s precise location as she sidled past him. Aurelia flashed a glance to him—just checking—and her eyes were so wide he could see the silver-gray perimeter around the intensely blue iris of her eyes.
There certainly had never been a woman who was outright terrified of him.
That must be what was bothering him. Baird must just want to see the record set straight. He knew he had never done anything to inspire a woman’s fear, especially this one’s.
Or had he? Could he have met Aurelia, hurt her feelings in some way contrary to how he always treated women, and then forgotten her? That was too much to believe.
But how could he have recognized her if they hadn’t met? The hair on the back of Baird’s neck stood at attention and he had a very uneasy feeling he wouldn’t like the truth.
Aurelia tentatively turned the hot knob as he had done, her tiny fingers barely making their way around the knob. The strength of the water coursing from the tap changed and she gasped.
But before Baird could show her, Aurelia reached forward again. She certainly wasn’t shy, once she had the hang of things. Baird smiled to himself, liking the way this woman seemed to grab life with both hands. Aurelia adjusted the temperature with dawning confidence and grinned like a child with a new toy.
Baird put the lid down on the toilet and sat there, bracing his elbows on his knees as he watched her play.
“So, you see, you can draw your bath alone.”
Aurelia turned a bright gaze on Baird and an enchanting flush rose over her cheeks. “I am sorry,” she admitted. “I did not know such marvels existed.”
Her heartfelt apology made a part of Baird melt like butter in the sun. He cleared his throat, unaccustomed to such a feeling, and arched a brow that he hoped looked skeptical. “Perhaps the next time, you might give me the benefit of the doubt.”
She said nothing, but again Baird had the impression she was thinking furiously. What was in her mind? And why was she so determined to distrust him? He wasn’t that bad of a guy!
Hoping to encourage Aurelia’s trust, Baird dared to smile at her.
She flushed scarlet and dropped her gaze in obvious discomfort.
So much for his charm. Baird cleared his throat. “Could you tell me where we’ve met before?”
Aurelia frowned. “We have never met before.”
“But we must have! I feel as though I know you, as though I recognize you…” Baird’s voice faded before her steady gaze.
She looked as though she thought he was crazy.
Now there was irony.
“Never,” she repeated with quiet determination.
Then, how had Baird recognized her? It made no sense!
But Aurelia stared steadily back at him, her wide blue eyes all innocence. The rushing water made the bathroom humid and unexpectedly intimate.
Baird’s errant mind supplied the feel of Aurelia’s breast in his hand at this most inopportune time.
Powerless to stop himself, Baird glanced to Aurelia’s perfect feet. She was wriggling her toes against the bathmat. His mouth went dry as desire roared to life once more.
A hot flush passed over him, heating his flesh from head to toe. Baird wanted to kiss Aurelia again, taste her, caress her, savor the weight of that breast in his hand. He wanted to peel off his clothes, tear off her bathrobe with his teeth.
Baird wanted to climb into the tub with Aurelia—or better yet, the shower—massage her, lather her with soap, tease her until she moaned with pleasure. He wanted to bury himself to the hilt in her softness and never come back. His need for her was primal and so overwhelming in its intensity he felt dizzy.
It was the steam from the bath. Baird was too hot, in more ways than one.
He had to get out of here.
“Well! That’s settled, then.” Baird pushed to his feet, not believing that for a minute. “So, now you know how the bath works. I guess I’ll see you at dinner, say about six?”
Aurelia frowned in childish confusion. “Six?”
“Six o’clock, in the west hall where the restaurant will be.” Baird cocked a finger at the rising bath water and ducked toward the door. “You’d better get that before it runs over.”
“Oh. Oh!” Aurelia pivoted and dove for the tap. The steaming water had nearly crested the overflow valve, and she scrabbled at the knobs in her haste to turn off the water.
The pose showed her legs to distinct advantage, making Baird suddenly very glad he had ordered the short bathrobes for the resort.
Even if it meant special torment for him in this moment.
“Enjoy your bath, princess.” Baird ducked for the door and problems multiplying faster than even he could solve them.
It wasn’t any help that one particular issue on the list had claimed his attention wholesale. That just meant, Baird resolved grimly, it had to be solved first.
He had to find Hekod and he had to find him soon.