CHAPTER EIGHT

THE FRONT OF the house was dark when he parked the car, including the exterior lights. Only a glow coming through from the rear of the house indicated anyone was home.

The car engine had barely stopped when Stella threw open the passenger door. “I’m going to get Toffee and head to bed.”

“Stella, wait...”

She shut the door on his sentence.

Fortunately, the front door was unlocked. They let themselves in, and Linus felt along the wall until he found the switch. “Teddy? We’re back.”

There was no answer.

“Looks like someone fell asleep in front of the telly,” he said. Or passed out. A daylong diet of gin and tonics could do that to a person.

Still bent on ignoring him, Stella marched off in the direction of the library. Linus headed toward the stairway. No sense trying to talk tonight. He’d wait until she got a good night’s sleep, as well as a few hours’ work under her belt, and then he’d talk to her. Maybe—hopefully—by the end of their drive home, things would be back to normal. If not... His stomach grew heavy.

He had one foot on the stair when Stella’s voice cut through the house.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Stella entered the library in time to see Teddy crouched in front of an open French door. At the sound of her voice, he jumped up, Toffee clutched to his chest. The cat reacted to the sudden movement by scrambling up and over his shoulder, landing on the sofa before running full speed out of the room.

“That was almost a disaster,” Teddy said. “Thank goodness she ran down the hall. You should know better than to holler like a banshee, Miss Russo.”

“Excuse me?” She should know better? He was the one she’d caught standing in front of the open door.

Linus came running down the hall. “What’s going on? I heard Stella yell, and then the cat nearly tripped me trying to run upstairs.”

“I caught Teddy here trying to put Toffee outside,” Stella told him.

Teddy’s nostrils flared. “I did nothing of the sort.”

“I saw you crouching in the doorway. What was the plan?” she asked as she shut the door. “Put her out in the woods and hope she got lost for good? Maybe get eaten by a badger?” With Toffee lost in the woods, he would be the heir.

She knew she should have stayed home.

“How dare you! What kind of man do you think I am?”

“A person who stands to inherit eleven million pounds if Toffee disappears,” Linus said.

“I don’t need your help,” Stella said. It was partly his fault Teddy was alone with Toffee in the first place. If having dinner with him hadn’t sounded so appealing...

“For your information, I was protecting Etonia Toffee Pudding. She very nearly got outside,” Teddy said.

“And why was the door open in the first place?” Stella asked. He couldn’t fool her. The man was trying to shoo Toffee outside hoping she’d get lost in the woods. One lost cat would mean payday for him.

“Earlier in the evening, there was an issue with the fire, and the room became smoky. I opened the door a crack to air the room out. You remember, Collier. You were with me.”

Stella looked at Linus. He gave her a sheepish nod. “He’s right. There was a backdraft.”

“Unfortunately, the door must not have latched tightly when I closed it, and it blew open with the wind. Thankfully, I was coming in to turn out the lights when I saw Etonia Toffee Pudding sniffing the ground outside. I had just managed to lure her in when you screamed like a banshee, scaring us all.”

When he finished, Teddy stood and waited for her apology, arms folded across his midsection. There was a pull in his sweater from where Toffee had climbed over his shoulder. Stella was willing to bet there was a good long scratch on the skin beneath as well.

“What was Toffee doing in a room with an open door?” she asked.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t my fault. She was sleeping on the sofa when I started my rounds.” Should she believe him? She’d already been lied to once this evening, and quite believably. Teddy could be lying to her as well.

On the other hand, Teddy’s story made sense. And, Toffee had a history of sneaking outside when no one was looking. Witness her visit to Linus’s house this summer. And even if Teddy was lying, Stella had no proof other than her gut.

“I’m sorry, Teddy. Forgive me.” As much as it galled her to apologize, she had to coexist with the man for the rest of her tenure. She couldn’t afford to get on his bad side. “I’m extremely protective of Toffee, as you can see, and that sometimes leads me to jump to the worst-case scenario. Thank you for making sure Toffee was safe.”

“Well...” The older man made a production out of checking his cuffs. “It is important that the cat be protected at all costs. I should be grateful that you’re taking your job as seriously as you are. Therefore, I accept your apology.”

“Thank you,” Stella replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find Toffee and get some sleep.”

“Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Linus asked when they were on their way upstairs.

“You tell me. I’m not very good at sussing out lies these days.” She was still annoyed at him, too.

Part of her felt like she was overreacting to the whole thing with the cooler. A casserole was hardly life or death. But it wasn’t what he’d lied about that had her angry; it was that he’d played her, like she imagined he’d played countless other women. She’d thought she was different.

She wanted to be different.

And there was the real source of her annoyance. She was upset because she’d allowed herself to fall under the night’s spell. To think that what they were sharing in Avebury was special.

She didn’t bother waiting to hear Linus’s answer about Teddy. When they reached the top of the stairs, she went straight to the master bedroom to look under the bed, figuring Toffee would hide in a familiar place. She was wrong. After checking the room thoroughly—if Teddy whined about invasion of privacy, he could stuff it—she headed to her own room.

Linus sat on the bed, fluffy white cat in his lap. “Peace offering,” he said. “Found her sitting next to my pillow. She doesn’t seem too traumatized.”

“Well, that’s good.” She stroked the cat’s head. “Sorry I scared you, sweetie.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Linus said. “For the bit about the cooler. I should have straight-out said I wanted to take you to dinner. Truth is, I was afraid.”

“That I would take it the wrong way.”

He looked her in the eye. “That you would say no.”

Oh.

“In case you haven’t guessed, I like your company,” he continued. “I like...spending time with you.”

“I like...spending time with you, too.” More than she should, really. “In fact, you’re the only person who’s ever been able to drag me away from a project.”

“Really?”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” She sat down on the bed next to him. “I’m glad we went out tonight. It was really...” Special, she wanted to say. “Nice.”

“Yeah, it was. I meant what I said, too, in Avebury. I want you to be happy.”

Stella’s breath caught in her throat. Linus’s gaze was dark and unshuttered, revealing the vulnerability within. When was the last time a man had looked at her with such sincerity? Ever? The emotion set off a heavy heat deep inside her. She felt special. Wanted.

They were friends. Good friends. But suddenly friendship wasn’t enough. Her body wanted more. Needed more.

She began to lean forward, then caught herself. The last time she’d kissed him, he’d pushed her away. She wouldn’t repeat the mistake.

“I should leave,” Linus said. “Before I do something we regret.”

“Would we?” Stella asked. “Regret it?”

“We’re friends.”

“Friends can have benefits.”

She waited, watching as his eyes dropped to her mouth. The ache inside her had intensified. Please, she pleaded silently. Please.

“I don’t want to...”

“You won’t,” she said. “I know what I’m asking. This won’t change anything.”

Something flickered in his expression, but it moved too quickly for her to catch. There was no time to think about it anyway, because a moment later he was kissing her. Slowly. Deeply. His fingers tangling in her hair.

There was a soft thud that she realized was Toffee jumping to the floor. It was the last she thought of the cat as she sank into the mattress, Linus’s body atop hers.

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

Linus laughed and tightened his embrace as Stella gave him a playful shove in the shoulder. This, pressed chest to chest in the sheets of Stella’s bed, was the last place he imagined he’d be when he left London this morning. Hell, it was the last place he’d imagined an hour ago.

What an hour, though.

“This won’t change anything.”

Stella’s words drifted into his post-lovemaking haze. Her attempt at reassurance. That they would still be friends. Friends with benefits. No expectations. No misreading of intentions.

Why did that bother him?

“Hey. Where’d you go?” Stella’s gentle voice lured him back to the present.

“Nowhere important.” He brushed the bangs from her face. Her skin still bore a hint of flush. Stella pink. His new favorite color.

“Was thinking how nice this feels. Never expected to end up here.”

“Mmm...” Giving a little purr, she began to nuzzle closer only to pause and pull back. “It’s good, though?”

The doubt in her voice broke his heart. How on earth could she think otherwise? “Very.” He pressed his lips to her shoulder to emphasize the point.

“Good.” This time she tucked her head under his chin without pause.

They lay that way for a while, Linus’s fingers tracing a lazy trail up and down Stella’s spine. There was a soft meow, and a few seconds later a weight landed on the bed and began to purr.

“Why yes, Toffee, we’d love if you’d join us,” he said.

Stella giggled. “As far as she’s concerned, you’re the interloper. Her house, remember?”

“True. Although in fairness, she would assume she owned any house she was in as a matter of feline privilege. Isn’t that right, Toffee?” Proving his point, the cat plopped down against his leg.

“Do you think Teddy was telling the truth?” He’d prefer not to think of Teddy at all under the circumstances.

“I don’t know. Like I said, it’s a plausible story. We have no way of proving he isn’t telling the truth.”

“You’re right. I suppose even if he was lying, there’s not much we can do now. We’ll be back to London tomorrow, and I’ll make sure he’s never alone with Toffee again.”

“So much for late-night walks in Avebury,” he muttered.

“Not unless we bring her along.”

“Wouldn’t that make an interesting picture. The two of us hauling a pet carrier in the moonlight.” He smiled at the image.

Closing his eyes, he listened to the synchronized rhythm of their breaths. Each rise and fall reminding him of waves crashing against the shore. Little by little, he felt himself being pulled toward sleep.

“I meant what I said,” Stella said suddenly.

“About what?” In his dreamlike state, his brain was slow to comprehend. Was she talking about Toffee still?

“About this not having to change anything.”

He was awake now, a heaviness filling his stomach. “It won’t?”

“No, so you don’t have to worry about my freaking out or wonder if you’re hurting me. Because I don’t have any expectations. I promise.”

“That’s... Okay.” Of course she didn’t have expectations, as she’d made it clear time and again that any kind of emotional entanglement wasn’t part of her plan. And as someone who’d vowed the same, he should be relieved.

Why, then, was he disappointed?