to grab a mug and filled it with coffee. I drank it black, so I had to wait for it to cool.
“Do you know where Hadrian is?”
Ingrid didn’t reply right away as she used a glass to make perfect circles in the dough. “He’s gone.”
“Gone?” I repeated. “Gone where?”
“Left this morning on business.” Ingrid didn’t meet my eyes.
Gone the morning after he brought me here? After he’d just admitted that he didn’t travel often for work?
“You know something,” I accused.
She shook her head. “I know nothing.”
“You’re his housekeeper.”
“Hadrian doesn’t confide everything in me.”
I continued to stare at her. “You do know something. Otherwise you’d be able to look me in the eye.”
She set the raw biscuits on a cookie sheet and then placed the entire thing into the oven. Ingrid pressed a few buttons, including the timer, and then faced me directly.
“I’ve known Hadrian for a decade,” she said. “He’s my employer, but I also take care of him the way I take care of my own children.”
“Your loyalty is to him, then,” I said with a nod. “I get it. But did he really have business? Or was that the excuse he gave you when he left?”
She shrugged.
“I guess it doesn’t matter. He left without saying goodbye though.”
“He’ll call.”
I wasn’t sure that he would.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” I murmured. “It was nice meeting you, Ingrid.”
Not wanting to see her look of pity, I turned and left the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. I took it back to Hadrian’s bedroom. I plucked my cell phone from the nightstand and went out onto the balcony.
There were no texts or calls from Hadrian. Disappointment washed over me.
I set my coffee on the balcony table and took a seat in a comfortable chair. I found Tiffany’s number in my favorites list and called her.
“I was just about to text you,” she greeted.
“Really?”
“Yup. You’re a wench. Did you know that?”
Despite my low mood, I laughed. “Why am I a wench?”
“Because you didn’t call and tell me everything that happened the night you had dinner with your mysterious benefactor. All I got was a lousy text message saying that you were getting on a plane to Shetland.”
“It wasn’t just a plane. It was his private jet,” I said drolly. “And mysterious benefactor? Can you not call him that? It makes me feel like a—”
“Kept woman? Mistress? Courtesan? You are those things. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” I sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing. You should be squealing like a girl who won the lottery, because you kind of did. So come on, tell me every detail.”
“I can’t tell you every detail,” I reminded her.
“No, I guess you can’t. But you can tell me some things. I’m going mad here. I’m dying to know who this guy is and how this even happened. You were only at one event and you gave away your key to—oh. Is it him? The guy from that night?”
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “It’s him.”
“Wow. You must’ve rocked his world.”
“Oh my God, will you stop?” I laughed.
“How was the flight over?”
“The flight was amazing. First, we flew on his private jet to Lerwick, and then we took a yacht to his island.”
She whistled. “That sounds kind of awesome…so, why do you sound so despondent?”
I fell silent while I pondered what I wanted to say next. “He makes me forget,” I said finally.
“Forget what?”
I let out a slow exhale. “Forget why I’m really here.”
Tiffany paused for a moment and then asked, “How much did he offer you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Bullshit. I think it matters very much. Your time is literally money.”
It was cold and callous and…true.
“A million for a six-month exclusive contract.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I don’t even care about the money. I would’ve taken the contract for half that. A quarter that.”
“You would’ve taken the contract for free, wouldn’t you?”
I closed my eyes. “Yes.”
“Oh, Sterling, no.”
“No? No, what?”
“You have feelings for this guy.”
“Damn right I have feelings for this guy. Annoyance, frustration… We’ve only just gotten here and he’s already left. His housekeeper said he went away on business, but he hasn’t called or texted or—”
“You’re not his girlfriend,” she said gently.
It was like a slap to my cheek. “I know.”
“If you know, then why are you expecting him to behave like a boyfriend?”
“I haven’t told you the reason he left. I—I dug into his past and he didn’t like what I asked him about. So, he ran.”
“He’s still not your boyfriend,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you say or