Her eyes darkened to a night sky. She parted her lips then stopped moving. He didn’t even know if she breathed. They stood there, motionless, as though caught in a moment between time. The air thickened around them, grew heavy with want, and Max swore he could smell her desire.
He blinked, and time sprang forwards. The stillness broke. Colleen swallowed thickly, her neck undulating with the motion, and he bit back an oath.
She stepped back and looked at the floor. “I don’t have time for such nonsense. Return all this. Besides, all these clothes would never fit in my wardrobe.”
“I’ve had two more wardrobes installed in your chambers.”
Her eyes flared wide. “Two more? Is there even room to sleep in the room anymore?”
“Of course.” Plenty of room to do a lot of things on that bed. “Why don’t—”
“You know I can’t accept this.” She laced her fingers together in front of her, her hands resting at the cradle of her hips. Always so proper. “You pay me a salary, and that is enough.”
“None of this is returnable.” Max had no idea whether he could return the gowns and shoes he’d ordered. And he didn’t want to find out.He shrugged, trying to look casual. “If you don’t want the items, fine. But they will only go into the dustbin.”
“You wouldn’t.” Her eyes flashed, shining outrage at the thought of such waste.
Max kept his smile to himself. One of the many delights of such a forthright woman was that she was quite easy to manipulate. And like any man, Max liked to get his own way. And right now, he wanted to see Mrs. Bonner out of her rags and into his clothes.
“I’ll have the footman hang the gowns in your wardrobes, and if you come across something you don’t want to wear, throw it out.” The new shifts and stays were already in their place. He hadn’t bothered buying her new petticoats. They were out of fashion, and for the life of him he couldn’t see why she wore the thing. There couldn’t be a more useless garment for such an efficient woman.
Taking her elbow, he guided her out of the room and to the top of the stairs. “Now, I believe you said there was a problem in one of the rooms that you wanted my opinion on?”
She looked like she wanted to argue further, so Max trotted down the steps. A temporary retreat was in order.
She followed more slowly. “It wasn’t your opinion I needed, but your authorization. I have enough opinions of my own.”
“Indeed.” Max smiled. She wasn’t lying. “Why don’t we go to the site of the problem and you can tell me all about it.”
Squaring her shoulders, Mrs. Bonner marched across the main room, taking a sharp detour when Lord Halliwell spied her. The earl lowered his champagne glass and gazed after the manager, his eyes as sad as a hound dog’s. Max couldn’t fault the man’s taste. But his infatuation was highly irritating.
They turned down the back hallway. At the door to the Plain Room, she hesitated before easing it open and peeking inside. Max followed her in. “Don’t you know which rooms are being used?” All the private rooms in the club were styled differently, with singular needs in mind. This room was bare except for a narrow bed with a thin mattress. Fist-sized iron hooks were spaced evenly along the wall at eye-level. It could have been a monk’s chamber.
“Yes, but you never know if one of the members is going to slip in without requesting a room.” Mrs. Bonner gave him a sidelong glance. “We at The Black Rose are here to cater to the customer’s every need. And spontaneity is always welcome.” She gave him a wide smile, all teeth and no sincerity.
“Christ, is that the pitch you give to potential new customers?” He shook his head. “No wonder we haven’t increased membership these past months. Profits have only increased because you’ve reduced costs.”
“Yes, it’s past time you found a manager with a brighter disposition. I will happily relinquish my position as my promised term has ended.” She paused, looking at him expectantly.
He gave her a small smile but said nothing. She was like a terrier with a bone on that issue.
With a huff, she strode to the corner of the room and the bucket of water on the ground. She hefted it up and staggered.
In two steps Max was at her side, taking the bucket. “Where?”
She pointed to the middle of the room, and he set it down as directed. Colleen dropped to her knees on the wood plank floor. “I’ve noticed that more of our members have small injuries after leaving this room than any other. Mainly cut knees. I’d like your permission to install a carpet.”
“That wouldn’t be wise.”
She plunged her hand into the bucket and pulled out a rag. Frowning, she scrubbed at a mark on the oak floor. “Why ever not? By what we’d save in bandages alone in a year, it will be worth it. And several of the other rooms have carpets.”
A pyramid of tapers lay piled on a shelf built into the wall, and Max picked one up. He lit it from the oil lamp by the door. “Did it never occur to you that the hard floor is one of the attractions of this room?”
She looked up from her scrubbing and drew her eyebrows together. “No. Why would it be?”
He dropped to a squat and lowered the candle, trying to discern what the stain was. “It’s not nearly as much fun making someone crawl on a plush carpet as it is upon a hardwood floor. Or stone. If there wasn’t a little suffering, what would be the point?” He dragged his eyes from the lovely flush traveling from her face down her neck and disappearing behind her high collar. “What is this? And why isn’t the maid cleaning it up?”
“Do you truly need me to explain the different excretions that produced this?” she asked tartly.
