Chapter 12 #2
Except Eliza. For some reason, it didn’t feel like she took anything away from me or the manor.
Instead, it felt like she was adding something to it, soothing it.
She was starting to feel a little like a flashlight that brightens up the darkness a bit.
Except, that was the problem when someone shined a bright light into a dark, empty hole—sometimes all they found was nothing but more darkness.
It didn’t matter how much brightness Eliza Arnold brought into this manor—it would always be a black hole of horrors… just like me.
From the moment she stepped into my office, I had been drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain.
She had a way of challenging me that felt…
fun and exciting, even when I didn’t want it.
She had a deep, underlying determination that was so familiar to me, I couldn’t help but feel connected to her on a different level.
I shouldn’t have invited her to dinner tonight.
I didn’t want to blur the lines between us too much; I didn’t want her to develop any expectations.
Even if I could have, I wouldn’t have subjected myself to another person in that way, but at this point, I didn’t even think I could anymore.
I swore to myself long ago that I would never let another person hurt me, and I meant it—and that included pretty botanists who made me laugh.
I liked Eliza and didn’t want to hurt her, but I was incapable of more.
She was leaving in two months, and I needed to make sure we didn’t cross any lines before then.
I thought if I were able to trust people enough to have any sort of friendship, she would have made a good one.
Unfortunately, I didn’t trust a soul outside of Sowerby, but the thought of being friends with Eliza felt nice.
None of the other people I’ve been around have had that.
Maybe they just hadn’t been good people, but Eliza struck me as the type of person who wouldn’t leave someone they loved to die in a burning building; she would die trying to pull them out.
I’d probably be the one setting the place on fire.
Except if Sowerby was inside; I’d tear the bricks off individually to get to Sowerby if I had to.
After dinner tonight, I vowed to keep my distance from Eliza.
She was afraid of me, and she should be.
I liked that I made her nerves fire. I enjoyed watching her breath catch when I towered over her—I liked it too much.
I wanted to push her farther and farther into that fear until she was so riddled with tension she felt like she would explode.
There was something almost parasitic about how much that feeling had burrowed inside of me.
I got what I wanted, no matter what it was.
I could already feel the stirrings of obsessiveness.
I’d felt it after she hugged me. It couldn’t go any further.
I let out a heavy sigh and forced my shoulders to relax.
It was a business dinner: boring and short.
We’d eat and that was that. I showed the two men to the entertainment room and excused myself.
I gave Don, one of my security guards, a nod outside the door.
He wouldn’t let them out of there until I told him to, though, even with that in place, they would slip photos of something to news outlets; they always did.
Sometimes I wished there really were ghosts here just to fuck with people, but it wouldn’t matter.
It never failed: a lamp got knocked over or a floor creaked wrong, and someone swore they saw something, and boom, the place was haunted.
The news outlets and paranormal investigators would be hanging off the gates by tomorrow to get in.
It happened every time I let anyone into this manor—except for Eliza.
At least she hadn’t resorted to telling ghost stories yet.
“How’s it coming?” I asked Katya as I sat down at the back of the kitchen.
“Get out of my kitchen. I’ll get Leah to get you when it’s ready,” the older woman said sternly.
“I don’t want to go back,” I grumbled. “Were you able to find Eliza something to wear?” I asked as I absently flipped a pen over and over on the table. When Katya didn’t answer right away, I looked up only to see her smiling at me as she stirred something in a pot on the stove. “What?”
“Nothing,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Leah is helping with her hair and makeup now.”
I scowled before my forehead landed in my palm.
“Her hair and makeup? Eliza is a dirt-loving, overall-wearing botanist, not your Barbie doll,” I grumbled.
Leave it to the only women in the house to make such a fuss.
It did make me chuckle inwardly thinking about how much Eliza was probably hating this.
Katya let out a gruff laugh that I only ever heard when Sowerby flirted with her. “Mr. Blackwood, you know nothing about women. Now get out of my kitchen. Go get your business associates; dinner will be served by the time you come back.”
I glared at the woman. She and Sowerby were the only, and I mean only, people I let talk to me like that and get away with it.
Reluctantly, I left the kitchen and made my way back to the entertainment room downstairs.
I really needed this deal with JV Plastics, so an evening of kissing their ass—especially John, the man making the bulk of their company’s decisions—was in order.
Millions of dollars were at stake, which was just enough to make me act friendly.
It was a blessing Eliza would be there to help lighten the evening because the thought of doing it all alone made me feel like smashing my head in.
After gathering John and Omar, I showed them to the dining room. Omar sat next to me, leaving Eliza’s seat next to John’s. I had wanted her to sit next to me, mostly because I wanted to see if I could make her nervous, but across from me was fine—she was much more fun to look at than Omar.
Leah came into the dining room, filled our water glasses, and got drinks for everyone.
“Where is Eliza, Leah?” I asked quietly when she was next to me.
Given Leah’s style, I couldn’t help picturing Eliza with sprayed eighties hair and a frilly tulle dress.
Katya and Leah were great, but both women were in their fifties, a little eccentric, and for some reason, I pictured them both descending upon Eliza with puffy sleeves and neon makeup.
This was about to be the most entertaining business dinner I’d had in a while. I fought back a grin.
Leah leaned in close, so her answer would remain private, accidentally knocking my folded napkin off the table in the process. I bent down to get it, and before Leah could answer, Eliza’s voice broke out across the dining room.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said.
The other conversation suddenly stalled.
Chairs creaked as the fine-mannered men eagerly stood.
An ancient tradition that would have never continued had it been up to me.
Women didn’t rise when men got to a table, and they were perfectly capable of sitting without assistance—I’d seen it done many times.
With a gentle exhale, I grabbed the napkin from the floor and straightened myself back up to see Eliza at the other end of the room.
Holy shit. I was momentarily breathless, caught in the space between exhale and inhale.
She was mesmerizing.
She wore a simple black dress that tastefully hugged every curve of her body, stopping just above her knees with a small slit on one side that gave the slightest extra glimpse of a toned thigh.
Where had she been hiding those curves? I’d never seen this much of her skin…
or the shape of her body for that matter.
There was also a light in her eyes and a glow to her complexion that I hadn’t seen before.
She looked less timid and more confident, carrying herself with an air of boldness.
I felt like a starved man as my hungry eyes took in the full sight of her.
The other men practically fell over themselves to greet her.
I remained seated, wondering how she got that much hair into the little frizzy ball onto her head that she wore when she worked. Now, it spilled over her shoulders in glossy brown waves that begged to be touched…and pulled.
I closed my mouth and stood. “Omar, John, this is Eliza.” My friend. My…friend. “She is currently working to revive my conservatory.” Eliza’s eyes snagged mine briefly, but I couldn’t read anything in them before hers were back on John, who was pulling out her chair.
“Oh, wow. You’re the prettiest landscaper I’ve ever seen.” The men laughed at John’s stupid remark as he pushed her chair in and sat next to her. “I should hire you to work at my house.”
Eliza opened her mouth to answer, a poised smile already on her face. I wondered if she ever got tired of being so polite. She never seemed to hold back her sass with me. I’d have already pistol-whipped the guy, and I found her reaction fascinating.
“She’s a botanist. She has a master’s in botany from Grayson,” I snapped before reminding myself to take the edge off for the sake of this deal. There was no reason to get protective over her. She was nothing to me.
“From Grayson? I have a cousin that got his fine arts degree from Grayson, such a great school,” Omar added politely. He’d developed a light sheen of sweat across his bald head that I found myself scowling at as I sat next to him. He was a nice enough guy, even if he was a bit nervous all the time.
“It is a lovely school. I’m envious of your cousin, though. I secretly always wanted to be a painter,” Eliza said before clearing her throat with a nervous expression, as if she hadn’t meant to say it.
Huh. She seemed so determined to repair the conservatory; it was hard to imagine her having a passion for anything else. What else did Miss Eliza have a passion for?