“Good girl,” Cal said. “Now, was thatreallyso hard, Nadine?”
She glared at him and was surprised to see what looked like desire on his face.
Good girl. The words rippled through her like ice water, raising goosebumps. People had called her that all her life, but it hit different, coming from him.I won’t be for you, she found herself promising rebelliously, and the corners of his mouth tilted like he’d heard and didn’t mind.
Ben’s expression was one of extreme disapproval. He was rubbing at his hands again, before he caught himself doing it, and shoved them into the pockets of his light jacket.
“I’m going out,” he said tightly.
“Where?” That was Odessa.
“To take care of that thing for father.” He glanced at her. “Do you want to help?”
“Oh, I love to help,” she said, lingering over every syllable. “Ilivefor it.”
“Help you right into the grave,” Cal murmured in an undertone.
Ben glanced over, while Nadine stared at Cal, wondering if he’d really said what she thought he said. “I suppose you’ll be taking your car.”
“Just for a little while—unless youwantto stay?”
“No.” She swallowed. “I mean, no thank you.”
“Then I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.” To Nadine, he said, only: “Come.”
Jerk. She followed him out of the parlor, down a hall she was fairly sure she had never been in before, because the mirrored glass cupboard filled with stuffed birds would have given her the willies. “Do you like living here?” she asked. “Or do you just enjoy murdering all the wildlife?”
Cal stopped so abruptly that she nearly crashed into him, and it was only then that she realized that he was still holding onto her hand.
“Are we so terrible?” he asked, his voice much lighter now that they had gotten away from his family. Almost—flirtatious.
“You’re—” Nadine paused, and was aware of her palms sweating. “A lot.”
“I bet you could handle me, Nadine. Come, keep up,” he said, despite the heat suffusing her face. “I don’t think you want to be here when my parents come back.”
She blinked. “Where are they?”
“Some donors meeting. For a historical society they’re a part of.”
That explained the strange, stuffy people at Noelle’s wedding. “For Ravensgate?”
“Yes, and others. It was my idea that they join. They get a rather large tax break for the conservation easement.” He ran the fingers of his free hand along the wall. “This house breathes history.”
Nadine stared at the paneled walls and hand-painted wallpaper. The house didn’t so much breathe asscream. Every trapping bespoke an ancient wealth she couldn’t even imagine.
And yet—it didn’t feel much like ahome.
He released her as they got to the front door and she wiped her hands on the pockets of her shorts as they circled around to the side of the house. To thecarriagehouse, which now held what had to be at least six cars. Cal went right to a glossy black one that reminded her of a beetle, but when she started to head around the nose, he pushed her gently back.
“Other way, little sparrow.”
“What? But the wheel’s—on the wrong side. Is that legal?”
“Completely. Oddly, it was the taillights, seatbelts, and tires that were the problem. And I had to get it fitted with a catalytic converter.”
She buckled herself in, half-surprised that the seatbelt wasn’t somewhere strange, too. “Why?”
“To meet emissions standards.” He glanced at her, amused. “Oh, you mean, why the car? Well, it’s a very nice car, and I’m afraid I’m rather used to getting what I want, no matter what it costs me.”
