“No, he’s stepped out for a bit, but I’ll be sure to tell him you stopped by.” She moved to close the door, but Mary Catherine stuck her foot out.
“I’ll just wait here for him.”
Damn it all. She really didn’t want Mary Catherine in the house, but to put her out would reflect badly upon Cole and there was no way she’d do that. Besides, the woman really hadn’t done anything to Sasha, if you didn’t count cock-blocking her, ignoring her, and telling her she was selfish for not wanting kids.
She gave Mary Catherine a curt nod and opened the door wider to let her pass. “Suit yourself.”
The other woman came to a stop when she saw Julie and Abby standing nearby.
“Abby. Julie,” Sasha said. “This is Mary Cathrine. She knows Cole from when he was a kid.”
“Delighted,” Mary Catherine said, but didn’t make a move to shake their hands or anything. “Though it was a little more serious than that. Why, we were practically engaged!”
“Engaged, my ass,” Sasha mumbled.
Across the massive foyer, Abby had a peculiar look on her face. “Really? That’s interesting.”
Though Abby was as friendly and down-to-earth as one could be, she was Nathaniel West’s wife and she had a certain presence about her. It wasn’t always obvious, but now, as she stood and carefully observed Mary Catherine, she looked almost regal.
Mary Catherine certainly noticed. She flushed and started wringing her hands. “Yes, but he went off to university in the States and, well, things happen.”
Abby raised an eyebrow.
“I met my ex-husband and by the time Cole came back and enrolled at Oxford, I was married. I wish I had waited for him. That we could have had the large family he always wanted.” Mary Catherine shot Sasha an evil look.
“Cole wants a large family?” Abby asked, somehow managing to keep her expression neutral. Sasha was impressed. She noticed Julie had to cough into the crook of her elbow to cover her laugh.
“Yes.” Mary Catherine nodded. “It’s his fondest dream.”
“And yet he doesn’t have a single child,” Abby said. “What a travesty.”
She walked to a love seat in a nearby nook and sat down. “Come, sit down with me.”
Mary Catherine, looking as if she’d just found her new best friend, hurried over to do just that.
Abby smiled at her and patted Mary Catherine’s knee. “How many children do you have?”
“Three.”
“Three? Wow, I have two of my own, a girl and a boy. They’re wonderful, but they’re a handful.”
Sasha had no idea where Abby was going with her current topic of discussion, but it was almost like a train wreck; she had to keep watching.
“In fact,” Abby continued, “we have another friend who couldn’t come this week because she’s pregnant with their first. It’s a wonderful thing to be a mother, but not everyone wants kids.”
“I can’t imagine not wanting kids.”
Abby continued on as if Mary Catherine hadn’t said anything. “I don’t know if it’s my experience as a mother, or because I’m a writer and I notice things, or if it’s because I married a man whose attention to detail is as frightening as it is impressive. Odds are, it’s probably a little bit of all three.”
“I’m with you on Nathaniel’s attention to detail,” Julie chimed in. “That man is scary observant.”
“It’s served him well,” Abby said before turning back to Mary Catherine. “Now, I’m not saying you aren’t a mother to three children, I’m just saying I would expect a woman who has three kids would be a little bit better at trying to bullshit someone.”
Mary Catherine gasped and stood up.
“Sit back down,” Abby said in a tone she must have picked up from Nathaniel. Surprisingly, the other woman did just that. “Now, I haven’t figured out your game, but I know your type, and let me tell you this: You stand a better chance of marrying into the royal family than you do of ever being with Cole Johnson. And I know this because even if he wasn’t completely committed to Sasha, which he is, and even if he wanted kids, which he has emphatically denied on multiple occasions, he still won’t be with you. Because he hates liars. And you, my dear, have done nothing but lie from the minute you walked into this house.”
Mary Catherine stood back up. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to you talk down to me. I’m going.”
“We won’t stop you,” Abby said.
Mary Catherine threw her shoulders back and marched out the door Sasha held open for her. It closed behind her with a loud click.
For several seconds, no one said anything.
Julie broke the silence first. “Damn, Abby. Remind me to never get on your bad side.”
“Who? Me?” Abby asked and they all dissolved into laughter.
***
That night, everyone gathered in the downstairs sitting room. Sasha wasn’t sure what Cole had planned, but he was up to something based upon the grin he currently wore.
“I thought we’d do something a little different tonight,” he said when everyone was seated. “There’s some jewelry in my family that’s been passed down from generation to generation. I knew it had been hidden at some point, but I didn’t know the entire story until I came across some documents in the attic.”
He went over to a small table beside the antique couch and picked up a pile of papers. “I summarized everything here and I thought it’d be fun to act it out.” He gave each person a sheet. “Daniel, you’ll be the stablehand. Julie, you’re the housekeeper. Nathaniel and Abby, you’re visiting gentry. I’m the earl, and Sasha’s the servant girl.”
Everyone spent the next few minutes reading the sheets he had prepared. The only sounds were the occasional giggle.
“It’s supposed to be fun,” Cole assured them. “There’s no right or wrong. Don’t worry about being historically accurate. And there’s no script, just a general storyline. Dig into your character and have fun.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ll start in fifteen in the dining room. Everyone good with that?”
After the other two couples left, Cole walked up to Sasha and held out his hand to help her off the couch. “Know why you’re always the servant girl?” he asked when she was on her feet and pressed tight against him.
“Because the earl’s single?” she guessed.
“No, because your ass is so spankable.”
“You know if you want to spank my ass, you can just do it. You don’t have to do an entire role play,” she teased.
“I’m well aware of that.” He gave her a swat on the backside as if to prove the point. “But this is fun. And I get to see you in that hot maid costume.”
“I’m guessing I’m not supposed to wear anything under the costume?”
“That’s entirely up to you. You should go get dressed, though. I purposely didn’t give a lot of time before we started.”
She stepped away to get dressed, but turned back before leaving the room. “One request, Sir?”
“Anything.”
“Will you wear your three-piece suit? It does crazy wild things to my libido.”
He laughed, but followed up with, “Yes, of course.”
Ten minutes later, Sasha stood in the hallway while Nathaniel, Abby, and Cole sat in the dining room. Abby had pulled her hair up in an elaborate-looking style. As she passed Sasha on the way in, she whispered, “It’s really easy and I love it when Master pulls the pins out one by one.”
Nathaniel coughed. “I have to thank you for inviting us to your estate, Earl Johnson. We’ve had a delightful time.”
“Yes, my lord,” Abby said. “Such a nice change from being in the city. I detest London this time of year.”
“You are both most certainly welcome to visit anytime you’d like to get away. Consider it a standing invitation.” Cole raised his glass.
“Lot of trouble brewing with the king, wouldn’t you say?” Nathaniel asked.
“I try not to say.” Cole shook his he
ad. “I fear I’m in enough trouble as it is over what I’ve already said.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Why, just the other day I was telling someone that Henry—”
“My lord! My lord!” Julie dashed into the dining room.
Cole stood up. “Ms. Masterson, what is the meaning of this ruckus?”
Julie had found a white apron somewhere and she was twisting it as she answered. “It’s awful, Lord Johnson. Just awful.”
Abby rose to her feet and put her arms around Julie. “There, there. It’s quiet all right, child. Come have a seat and tell us what troubles you so.”
“Probably knowing she’s going to have to pick up all those hair pins in the morning,” Nathaniel said, which earned him a nasty look from his wife.
Julie took several deep breaths and faced Cole. “I was in your mother’s chamber, cleaning it up since she’s coming next week.”
Cole nodded. “Go on.”
“And I went into the chest to make sure everything was there, just the way she likes it. You know, my lord, how peculiar she is about everything being just so. There was that one time, the—”
“Yes, yes, I know exactly how the countess is. What happened?” Cole asked.
“It’s missing, my lord. All of it.”
“All of what?”
“All the jewelry.”
“The jewelry is missing? Impossible.” Cole slammed his fist on the table. “Jewelry does not vanish. Someone took it.”
“Have you had any visitors from the king?” Nathaniel asked. “Maybe someone who would try to steal it?”
“I can’t imagine anyone being so bold as to steal from me after I welcomed them into my home.”
“Perhaps one of the servants?” Abby asked.
“Surely not one of my servants. Why, my servants have been with me for years. Not a one of them would stoop so low as to steal from me.”
Daniel appeared beside Sasha and winked.
“I think Julie missed her calling,” Sasha replied, nodding toward her friend. Daniel’s submissive sat in a chair with her arm dramatically thrown over her eyes, murmuring, “Gone. All gone,” while Abby tried to calm her down.
“That’s my girl.” Daniel laughed and after listening to the group in the other room said, “Looks like we’re up.”
Sasha nodded and he took her by the wrist, dragging her into the dining room.
“Look what I found out in the stables, trying to get away.” Daniel pushed her toward Cole.
“Who are you?” Cole asked.
“I was just looking for somewhere to spend the night, my lord,” Sasha said. “And I thought to use your stables.”
“A likely story.” Cole glanced at Daniel. “Did she have anything in her possession?”
“No, my lord.”
Cole slowly walked around her. “Where did you come from, girl?”
“Please don’t ask me that, my lord.”
“You are found on my estate, shortly after some very valuable items go missing and I’m not supposed to ask where you’re from?”
Sasha nodded. “That’s right. And I’d be ever so thankful if you didn’t ask what I was doing.”
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I requested that you not ask me that.”
“Yes, which is precisely why I asked.”
Sasha clamped her mouth shut and crossed her arms over her chest.
Cole turned back to Daniel. “How thoroughly did you check to make sure she wasn’t carrying anything?”
“I only checked her hands, my lord.”
“That’s what I thought. Strip her.”
“My lord, there are ladies present,” Nathaniel said.
“Then nothing they’ll see will come as a shock. Now, Covington.”
Daniel walked behind Sasha and lifted the dress over her head. She’d slipped a black tank top under the outfit to cover her back, so she was exposed only from the waist down. Like the day before, when she was late bringing the drinks, she wasn’t uncomfortable. She felt only excitement.
“Hmm.” Cole took his time looking over her body. “Very nice, and she doesn’t seem to be hiding anything. Search the pockets of her dress. Look for hidden ones.”
“A-ha!” Daniel said, holding up a sheet of paper. “A summons from the king.”
Cole jerked it out of his hand and held it up to Sasha. “You come from the king’s court?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” He narrowed his eyes. “And what does it have to do with my family’s jewelry?”
Sasha said the first thing that came to her head. “I plead the fifth.”
Cole’s eyes danced with amusement. “There is no fifth amendment yet. You can’t plead the fifth.”
“Then I invent it.”
“Wrong country.”
“Damn.”
“Out with it.”
“I’m just looking for a place to sleep, I promise. That’s all.”
Cole cupped her chin and held her face so she had no choice but to look at him. “I have ways to get you to talk.”
“Please, Sir,” she said. “I’ll do anything. Just don’t send me back to the king.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What happens if I send you back to the king?”
“He’ll see me as a traitor. I’ll be killed.”
“Why would you be a traitor?” Cole began to run his finger over her cotton covered nipple.
She sucked in a breath. “Because I didn’t follow his instructions.”
“Do you have trouble following instructions?” His hand dipped lower, danced across her belly.
“Sometimes, my lord.”
“What instructions were you given by the king that you didn’t follow?”
“I’m supposed to gather information about you and report back to him.”
“And how did you think to go about doing that?” His fingers brushed her upper thigh.
“There are rumors about you in . . . bed.”
“Ah, now we are getting somewhere. What sort of rumors?”
“They say you have peculiar tastes.”
“My lord,” Julie interrupted, “must we sit and listen to these lies about you and your character?”
“I assure you, Ms. Masterson,” Cole said, “they are not lies.”
Julie gave a dramatic gasp.
“Covington?” Cole asked Daniel. “Kindly take Ms. Masterson over your knee and show her what happens when people interrupt me.”
Daniel crooked a finger at a surprised Julie.
“Now,” Cole said, turning his attention back to Sasha. “The jewelry. Where is it?”
“The king is going to take it. I hid it.”
“And why should I believe you? How do I know you didn’t stash it away to use it as a trap?”
“Can I do something to prove it to you?”