groaned. “I probably look a mess.”
“You’ll always be beautiful in my eyes.”
Her heart softened. Again. She loved that it did that around him. “Do you have a change of clothes for me?”
“I’ll find something.”
He showed her to the guest bathroom before rounding up a pair of his shorts with a string-tie around the waist, and a t-shirt. Before leaving her, he kissed her on the lips. The kiss was short, but very effective, and it was what she thought about while showering, and after getting dressed. His shorts dipped below her knees, but at least she could tighten the string-tie to hold them around her waist. The t-shirt was extra-large on her, as well, but overall, she felt comfortable.
She walked through the hallway toward the rooms in front of the house, but she couldn’t see Thomas anywhere. Stopping, she listened and thought she heard the water running. He must still be in the shower.
Since she remembered where the kitchen was, she helped herself to the many cupboards and the pantry to find what they could eat for dinner. Surprisingly enough, she found ingredients to make spaghetti. True, it wouldn’t be from Italy as he was probably used to, but at least it was food.
Once she found the pans needed, she started preparing the dish, humming to herself to keep awake. She worried that she might not make it back home with as weary as she was.
“Excuse me, Miss,” a voice spoke from behind her.
Morgan released a startled scream and turned around. Standing in front of her was a little round, balding, old man dressed in a white shirt and some black knickers. She wanted to laugh but knew it would be rude. He wore odd clothes, but she assumed he was one of Thomas’ staff.
“I didn’t realize Thomas still had his staff here,” Morgan said. “He is upstairs taking a shower.”
“Yes, I can hear him humming.” The man had a kind smile.
She wanted to laugh, merely because Thomas was humming like she’d been doing.
“My name is Percy,” he introduced. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m happy that the elder Mr. Powers is doing just fine. Please make sure that the younger Mr. Powers does not oversleep in the morning. He needs to be at work to take care of the family company.”
“Thank you, Percy,” she said, feeling confused. What an odd request. “I’ll let him know. Are you his butler?”
“Um, something like that.” Percy grinned. “Have a good evening.”
Morgan watched as Percy started to walk away. He stopped then turned back to her.
“Mr. Powers is a good man,” Percy said. “Let him know he is on the right road now.”
Morgan nodded. “I’ll pass the word on to him.”
Percy gave a little wave then headed to the front door. Morgan shrugged and turned back to the stove. Percy’s words echoed in her ears, and didn’t make sense at all. Why would a butler talk like that? She’d definitely have to ask Thomas about him.
Once the food was cooking, she found some plates and utensils to set the table. It was too bad he didn’t have paper-plates like she used. There was less to clean up that way.
“Mmm, something smells good,” Thomas said, moving up to her and hooking his arm over her shoulders as he looked at the pots on the stove. “Spaghetti, huh?”
He smelled so clean... just the way she liked him – all musk and spice. “Well, you had this in your food supply, so I figured I could make it.”
She removed the pan of noodles from the stove and moved it to the sink to drain. It surprised her to see him take the sauce off the stove and stir it before bringing it to her.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she grinned, “but tonight will be lazy dinner night. No fancy serving bowls. I’ll serve dinner in the pans. In fact,” she motioned toward the table, “if you would have had paper plates, I would have put those on the table, too.”
“I don’t care how we eat. I don’t care that we’re not in a fancy restaurant or sitting outside under the starry night. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”
Her heart leapt. She wanted to tell him her feelings, but she also wanted to be one-hundred percent sure before she went blurting out the words. After all, look what happened when she’d thought he purchased her photo. Disaster!
They finally set the spaghetti on the table and sat by each other. She spooned a good