of tea, next to a half full cup, sat on the round table at the cozy banquette in the corner of the kitchen. She must be on a break. A gossip magazine, the likes of which he would never have imagined Mrs. Cole reading, lay open beside the dainty porcelain cup.
The bright red headline screeched:
“Mermaid Pregnant with Chris Hemsworth’s Love Child.”
He fought back a grin but was immediately distracted when his gaze dropped and he caught sight of her ugly, unwieldy shoes. They were tucked beneath the table, with her thick, white socks stuffed into them. His eyes tracked back to Mrs. Cole and trailed down her slim body, lingering over those beautifully shaped calves again, before finding themselves helplessly drawn to her small, delicate feet.
Ten perfect toes, topped with frosted blue tips. The shade was a surprisingly whimsical choice for the monochromatic, buttoned-down, stern woman standing in front of him.
Miles swallowed in a bid to moisten his abruptly dry throat. He had never found feet particularly erotic before…but right now, these elegantly arched soft looking beauties were seriously revving his engine.
He was staring, he knew he was staring…he should stop fucking staring before his dick went from half-mast to a full, proud salute.
He cleared his throat and jerked his gaze back to her deer-trapped-in-the-headlights stare and said the first nonsensical thing that popped into his head, “How does one copulate with a mermaid, do you suppose?”
Her jaw dropped and he felt his own face heat at the inanity of that question. But before he knew it, even more stupid words spilled from his lips, “I mean, which parts go where? It’s not like there are corresponding bits. No inserting Tab A into Slot B as it were.”
He sounded like a bloody fool.
“Well, you’re overlooking the most common mermaid trope,” she said, after a long, measured pause. “They can take on human form for limited amounts of time. I would assume that’s when the…uh…copulation takes place.”
The word “copulation” wasn’t sexy, but hearing it spill from her lush lips was like a spark to tinder. He was embarrassingly erect in seconds.
Fortunately, he was wearing a baggy sweatpants, and his errant hard-on wasn’t noticeable. Still, it was damned awkward standing in front of his stalwart housekeeper sporting wood with her name on it.
So inappropriate.
“I uh…we…” He dropped his gaze to Stormy who was curled up in the crook of his elbow. “We’re going for a walk. On the beach. I was looking for something to fashion into a lead and collar for Stormy. Any suggestions?”
A small frown settled on that smooth brow.
“I don’t think you should do that. It’s slippery and perilous out there. You could fall.”
Did he look so fucking frail to her?
“I assure you, I’ll be fine, Mrs. Cole.”
“It’s also freezing and raining. I don’t think you or the dog…”
“Stormy,” he reminded her.
“I don’t think either of you are ready for a walk like that yet.”
“It’s not your concern.”
“On the contrary, it totally is my concern. If anything happens to you, Amos and I would have to find you and get you back to safety. In these conditions, emergency services are an hour away at best. Likely longer with the bridge out. Anything could go wrong. What if it rains harder? The water levels would rise before you could get back here in time and you could be washed away. And who knows how the cold will affect your chest? You may be—”
“Enough! Mrs. Cole, you are out of line,” he snapped, pissed off because she was also right. He couldn’t chance taking a solitary hike in his current condition. But he fucking hated having his housekeeper treat him like an errant, sickly schoolboy.
Who the hell was in charge here anyway?
He glared at her while she stared back, her face serene and inscrutable, not a hair out of place…
He sighed.
Without a bloody doubt, she was in charge. This tall, ageless, mysterious—barefoot, a tiny voice reminded him breathlessly—stern woman was one-hundred-percent running the show. That’s why he liked having her around. With Mrs. Cole in charge, their vacations had been stress free. But he wasn’t currently on vacation, and that appeared to be unsettling the equilibrium of their usually uneventful non-relationship
“Your concerns have been noted, Mrs. Cole, and if you find me collapsed in a heap five hundred yards from the house, feel free to tell me you told me so. Now, do you have anything I can use as a leash or not?”
Stubborn man!
Charity kneaded her bread dough more vigorously