The Mistress of Black Grove Manor (36 page)

“Yes ma’am,” he said. “You did. And I told you that this soil won’t take them and that, even if it did, the sun and heat would kill them.”

“The Parker family has a whole bed of them.”

His mother sounded triumphant now, as if the gardener had been put so firmly in his place that no response was possible. Aiden heard her begin to walk away, her heels sharp on the hardwood.

“In a raised bed, with special soil, in the shadiest corner of the yard. They won’t grow where you want them, in full sun in that side yard.”

Aiden felt his eyebrows shoot up. Patrick Gilmore’s voice had remained respectful, but it had also been very firm. The staccato stab of the high heels stopped.

“Maybe I’ll find a gardener who can,” Savannah Cross snapped.

“That’s up to you, ma’am.” The low voice was still respectful. “But the most you’ll find is a gardener willing to give you a bed of dead flowers.”

A long silence stretched out. Aiden bit his lower lip as a sudden desire to laugh rose in his throat.

“Fine,” his mother said, biting off the word. “Then get something else in that bed. Right now!” She walked away, sighing loudly as if she’d wasted her time.

“How hard can it be?”

Aiden turned away from the window with a start. He’d forgotten that Victoria was there. Gorgeous Victoria Caine. She’d hardly looked away from the screen of her cell phone, where she was texting busily, no doubt arranging a night out with her bevy of friends. Everyone loved Victoria. She was spoiled by her father, careless with her money, and pretty enough to draw a crowd.

He looked at her as she smirked at him, laughing at the gardener. He forced his mouth to tip into a smile as he walked over and sat down beside her. Her golden blonde head didn’t even reach his shoulder. In addition to being pretty, she was perfectly shaped, a petite hourglass. Men stopped and stared at her whenever they were out together. He thought briefly that he really couldn’t stand her.

They’d been seeing each other for a few months, ever since his mother had introduced them at a charity event she’d been overseeing. Aiden thought back, but he really couldn’t remember what charity the event had been for. He doubted that his parents did either. It had been a flurry of catering and harassed maids for weeks up until the event and when it was over, his mother hadn’t even known how much money they’d raised.

His father had, but all he’d said was that they’d spent twice that and that he hoped to God it could all be written off on their taxes.

Aiden looked around the room. It was huge. Floor to ceiling bookshelves looked back at him, hundreds of volumes that no one ever touched except when the maids dusted. The big bay window let in the sunlight that poured over the beautiful garden that no one bothered to look at unless there was a party being hosted there. The whole house was like that. A pool no one swam in, a home gym no one touched, rooms and rooms of collectibles and art that no one even looked at.

“What?” he asked, realizing that Victoria had spoken.

She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulders and said, “Maybe I should just go home if you’re not going to pay attention to me.”

The way you’ve been paying attention to me? With your eyes glued to your phone?
He didn’t bother to speak up in his defense. Instead he tightened his arm around her and said, “I’m sorry, Victoria. I was in my own little world.”

“I asked if you’d like to go out with me tonight,” she said, her tone still a little chilly. “But if you’d rather be in your own little world, maybe I’ll take someone else.”

Aiden wasn’t stupid. His parents hadn’t had to spell out the reasons for their enthusiastic support of Victoria Caine. She could have been a known arsonist and they would have loved her just as much. The dollar signs dancing around her and her father were all they needed.

The Cross family fortune had dwindled so much that fortune really wasn’t the right word for it. William Cross, Aiden’s father, had made a lot of investments that hadn’t really paid off, failing to realize that this wasn’t his father’s world anymore.  He hadn’t wanted to invest in any of that “newfangled technology” or “wave of the future” stuff. His stubbornness had cost him millions. Which wouldn’t have been too painful if they weren’t spending those millions regularly in a desperate attempt to make people think they were still as wealthy as they’d been before.

In other words, if this didn’t work out his parents might just murder him and claim the insurance money.

Aiden turned on his most charming smile. He knew he was good looking and he looked rich and confident.

“Come on, Victoria,” he said, letting his Charleston drawl come through. “You know I don’t want to sit around this place when I could be with you.”

Mollified, she smiled back at him. “All right.”

He put his fingers under her chin and tilted her lovely heart shaped face up, kissing her gently.

She returned the kiss, but only for a moment. She pushed him back, giving him a coy smile. “You’ll mess up my lipstick.”

He doubted it. That probably took some form of passion. Their kisses were chaste and brief enough for a church service greeting. He smiled again.

“I’ll walk you out.”

He couldn’t think of anything he wanted less than to spend an evening with her friends and their significant others, but what could he have done? His mother beamed at him as he walked Victoria to the door where their car was waiting to take her home. At least he was making someone happy.

Chapter Two:

Saige Gilmore looked up at the huge house. It was tall, white, and almost blindingly bright under the summer sun. There were two porches, one ground level and one on the upper level. Both were furnished with impeccable elegance. She glanced around for her father, but didn’t see him.

He’d said he’d be waiting out front. She chewed her thumbnail, wondering if she should just go in. There was an iron gate with a fancy scrolled C at the top. The Cross family, she remembered. Her father had taken this job right before she’d headed off to college and, now that she was celebrating her graduation, she realized he’d been there for 4 years. He hadn’t really told her much about the place, or the people.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. The gate was open. Her father wasn’t where he’d said he’d be. The hot June sun was on the verge of baking her brain. She went in.

She was promptly nearly run down by an approaching car. It beeped at her and she put her hands into the pockets of her shorts to keep from making a rude gesture. She didn’t want to endanger her dad’s job by flipping the jerk of a driver off.

Saige jogged toward the huge front steps and then realized that she was following the car. It parked at the steps and she skirted the bumper to go in as the driver got out. She’d just raised her hand to knock when the big red door opened. She nearly hit the man in the chest.

“Sorry!” she said quickly, looking up, and up, at him.

He was so tall! She wasn’t a short girl, but he had to be a foot taller than she was. He made the woman he was with look like a child. A particularly lovely child. The man wasn’t bad himself. His brown hair was just long enough to suggest that he needed a haircut, but his jaw line was closely shaved. His eyes were dark blue, like an ocean just before a storm, and there was a cleft in his chin. All in all, a pretty good looking guy.

“It’s okay,” he said after a moment. “What can I do for you?”

He had no idea who she was, and for a second he hadn’t cared. The woman on his porch was dressed casually, in shorts and a white cotton tee shirt. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. Her build was athletic, like a swimmer or a runner and those legs went on for miles. Her smile had been slightly embarrassed but totally genuine.

“I’m Patrick’s daughter,” she said brightly, putting her hand out. “Saige. It’s nice to meet you...” she trailed off so that he could fill in his name.

“Aiden,” he said, shaking her hand. He wondered who Patrick was. Aiden felt dazed, off balance.

“The gardener’s daughter?” His mother’s voice asked from the hallway just behind him.

“That’s right,” Saige said, stepping over so that she could see the speaker. “Do you know where he is?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea.”

Aiden glanced at his mother’s face. She didn’t look pleased.

“I assume he’s working,” she went on. “He hasn’t done much of that lately.”

Saige frowned slightly. “Has he been sick?”

Savannah smiled sarcastically. “Not that I’m aware of.”

Victoria giggled. Aiden knew that there was only one way to get Saige out of the situation without his mother and his girlfriend ripping her to figurative shreds. He’d been an idiotic to look even mildly interested in her.

Feigning indifference, he said, “I’m sure he’s around in the side yard, Mother. You did tell him he needed to get something done there today.” He pointed carelessly. “It’s over there. I’d show you, but I’ve got to get Victoria to her car.”

Saige glanced over her shoulder at the gleaming Lexus sitting at the foot of the steps. “Yeah,” she said. “Looks like she’d never find it on her own. Thanks for your help.”

She turned on her heel and left before any of them could speak again.

“Imagine,” Savannah said. “Just coming in like she belonged here.”

Victoria shook her head. “Honestly, like we don’t have more important things to talk about than the gardener.”

Since Aiden had never had a meaningful conversation with her in the history of their relationship, he only nodded noncommittally as he walked her down the wide steps.

Saige ducked around the side of the house, her heart pounding with anger. What kind of jerks were these people? Her father had worked for the wealthy before; he’d been gardening since before she was born. But he’d never worked for anyone who had treated her like she was beneath them.

She was disgusted with herself for finding Aiden attractive even for a moment. “What a pompous jerk,” she muttered.

“Hope you’re not talking about your old man.”

She turned and saw her father standing over a garden bed, shovel in hand. “Daddy!”

Saige flung herself into her father’s arms.

“I’m filthy,” he protested.

“I don’t care!” She tightened her grip and he returned the hug.

“I’ve really missed you, doodlebug.”

Her throat tightened at the familiar nickname. “I missed you too.”

She hadn’t seen her father since she’d left for college at 18. She was 22 now. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been necessary. She’d needed to take summer classes to complete everything and it was much easier to work on campus to keep the student loan debt down.

“I thought we were going to lunch,” she said briskly, changing the subject.

He let her go and gestured to the garden. “I’ve got to get something in this bed before I can head out.”

Saige sighed. “Then let me help you.”

“I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than--

“I don’t have anything better to do than eat lunch with you and talk,” she said firmly. “Come on, we’ll do this so fast that woman won’t know what hit her.”

Patrick smiled at his daughter. He never could tell her no. “Sounds good to me.”

Chapter Three:

Two days later, Aiden looked out the window at the side yard. It was gorgeous, even he could see that. His mother hadn’t stopped complaining about it, though. It wouldn’t matter if the garden won an award. It wasn’t what she’d wanted, so it wasn’t right in her eyes.

He straightened his shirt reflexively. Savannah Cross had never balked at extending that same criticism his way. It might have been different if he hadn’t been an only child, but that was the way it had ended up. Patrick Gilmore walked into the side yard and Aiden drew back just enough so that he couldn’t be seen. He didn’t want the gardener to think he was spying on him.

Without meaning to, he found himself thinking of Saige again. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d crossed his mind since he’d met her on the front porch. His mother had called her plain. Victoria had called her fat. Aiden thought she was the most attractive woman he’d ever seen. He liked that she looked healthy. There’d been a glow in her cheeks that only exercise could add and he’d liked her open smile.

Victoria’s smile always looked fake, as if she was simply painting on whatever expression the occasion required. Saige had seemed genuinely pleased to meet him. He moved in a world where people never said what they meant. It had been like a cool breeze to see honesty in her green eyes.

As if he’d summoned her by thinking about her, she rounded the corner and spoke to her father. She was holding up a picnic basket. Patrick gestured to the garden and then shrugged. She threw her hands up, then sat down and began unpacking the basket. Aiden was glad that his mother was out having lunch with some friends. His father was in his office, but he wasn’t likely to stir from it for a while.

No one would know if he went down and talked to her. The thought made his heartbeat speed up and he turned from the window, walking quickly down the stairs and out into the yard. She’d probably be happy to see him again, to know that he wanted to speak with her once more. Women always were.

Saige handed her father a wet wipe for his grimy hands and then bit into her tomato sandwich. “So, what’s her problem with it?” she asked, eyeing the immaculate garden.

“The border isn’t in the right place,” Patrick answered, wiping his hands quickly. He was starving. Saige snorted and he grinned. “Well, we’ve all got our opinions,” he went on fairly as he scooped a handful of chips out of the bag and dropped them onto his paper plate. “This was a good idea, doodlebug.”

“It’s a nice garden, Dad.”

Patrick glanced around and nodded. “I like the place a lot.”

“What about the people?” She hadn’t said anything about the way the family had talked about him, or the way they’d treated her. She hadn’t wanted to upset him. But now she really needed to know if they'd always acted like that.

He shrugged good naturedly. “I don’t see much of them.”

“You don’t have to be polite,” she said, seeing right through his attempt at a noncommittal answer. “I saw the woman leave earlier, so we’re alone, right?”

“Mr. Cross works from home,” he informed her.

“Really? What does he do?”

“Plays around in the stock market,” Patrick answered. He’d personally only exchanged a few words with his employer, but the other people who worked at the house were more than willing to spread the gossip. “With varying success,” he added, crunching into a potato chip.

“What about their son?” She hadn’t meant to ask and she quickly looked down at her food, pretending not to care about the answer.

“I don’t see him very much either. He doesn’t seem like a bad kid.”

“Kid?” Saige smiled. “He’s got to be in his twenties, Dad.”

“Around your age, maybe a year or two older,” Patrick acknowledged. “Which still makes him a kid to me.”

Saige wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed and held his hands up in surrender. “So, tell me about this job application.”

Saige felt her face redden slightly. “It’s not going to really happen,” she murmured. “It’s just...I mean, what does it hurt to apply?”

“Not a thing,” her father agreed. “It’s pretty far away.”

His voice was noncommittal and she knew that he’d support her even if she packed up and moved on again tomorrow. She also knew that he’d missed her. Even more than she’d missed him, probably.

“Like I said,” she repeated. “It’s not really going to happen.”

His eyes met hers and his crinkled at the corners as he smiled warmly at her. “Stop underestimating yourself.”

“You really think I could--” she began, but was interrupted by a male voice near the corner of the house.

“Hey there,” Aiden called, putting on his casual, careless drawl. “How’re you doing today, Patrick?” He always ignored the women at first.
Make them work for your attention,
his father’s voice said in his head.

“Just fine,” Patrick said, his voice friendly. “How about yourself?”

Aiden shrugged. “Could be better, but I guess I can’t complain.”

Saige rolled her eyes. Aiden couldn’t see it; he was still standing. Looming over them like a statue. “American Rich Boy Deigns To Speak To Servants.” She felt her mouth tug into a smile and fought it. She didn’t want him to think that she was amused at whatever he was rambling on about.

Aiden wasn’t even exactly sure what he was saying. She hadn’t even looked up at him. She was simply sitting there, looking like she was waiting for him to go away. He definitely wasn’t used to that.

“So,” he said. “How do you like it here, Saige?”

She kept her voice polite but cool. “Just fine.” She took a sip of her drink, closing that avenue of conversation down.

“Are you going to be staying long?”

“I haven’t finalized my plans.”

Aiden had no idea what to say next. Saige was tapping her fingers on her leg and glancing at her food. Then she checked her watch.

“How long to have to eat, Dad?” she asked pointedly.

“Usually half an hour,” he answered.

“Go ahead and finish up,” Saige suggested. “Was there anything else you needed?” she asked, looking up at Aiden for the first time. It was worth it. He looked stunned.

“Uh, no,” he said. “Just, uh, go ahead and eat.”

“That was my plan,” she said. “Good bye.”

“Yeah. Good bye.” He walked away, more confused than he’d ever been in his life. He’d sounded more like a teenager than he’d sounded even when he was one. Women had always been attracted to his confidence. She’d treated him like he was an inconvenience. He had no idea how to react to her.

He felt like he should have been angry; he knew that his parents would never have let someone like her speak to them that way. But he was more intrigued than upset. Saige Gilmore had been more interesting in 5 minutes than Victoria Caine had been in 3 months. And Saige had been wearing another pair of shorts. He couldn’t quite get the image of those long legs out of his mind.

Chapter Four:

Saige looked around the store happily. Some women liked clothes. Some women lusted after boots and shoes. Some women were happiest with gorgeous homes. Saige could see the appeal of all of those things, but what she loved most were electronics stores. She trailed her fingers over the keyboards of the latest Macs, played with the touch screens of the latest generation desktops, and then got into her favorite section, everything a programmer needed to ply their craft.

She was happily designing in her head when someone walking down the aisle stopped a few feet from her. She glanced up out of habit and was surprised to see Aiden Cross. It had been a few days since she’d seen him, but she couldn’t honestly say that she hadn’t thought about him.

As a matter of fact, she thought about him too much. He had a disturbing tendency to be even better looking each time she saw him. Today he was dressed casually. His jeans fit like a million bucks, and his tee shirt was designer, but still. Had she realized how muscular he was under his nicer clothes? His chest was defined and his stomach was flat, and his shoulders strained the fabric of his shirt just slightly.

Saige glanced down at the router box in her hands and pretended to be very absorbed in what it said. How long had she been staring at him? She felt her face turning red and cursed her tendency to blush. Aiden watched color fill her cheeks as she stared down at the router she was clutching. He was glad that she was looking away this time, because he hadn’t had time to gather his own composure. She was the last person he’d expected to see.

She had lunch with her father on the grounds every day, but he hadn’t tried approaching her again. What had he been thinking, anyway? If things went south with Victoria because of the gardener's daughter his parents would never forgive him.

But now, seeing her out of the blue...he felt a surge of pure, undeniable desire. He pushed his hand back through his hair and took a breath. Then he took a half step away, sighed and walked over to her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.” She didn’t look up from the box.

“I’m wondering if maybe we got off to a bad start.”

Okay, that she could deal with. “You’re
wondering
if we got off to a bad start?” she repeated sarcastically. “Do you mean the part where your mother insulted my father’s work ethic or the part where you treated me like a door to door salesman?”

“When did she insult him?” Aiden asked.

Saige put the router back on the shelf and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. She shouldn’t have said anything. If her outburst cost her father his job, she’d never forgive herself. Money had always been tight for them.

“Never mind,” she said.

“I didn’t treat you like a salesman,” he went on. “I can’t figure out why you’ve got such a big problem with me.”

“I don’t have a problem with you,” she lied, clenching her teeth.

“Then why’d you brush me off the other day?” he asked. It still bugged him. He’d been nice! Or at least he’d planned to be. She hadn’t really given him a chance.

“Because I wasn’t there to see you!” Saige said, her voice getting louder in her frustration. “This may be hard for you to believe Mr. Cross, but I’m a little more interested in seeing the man who raised me, a man I haven’t seen in 4 years, I might add, than I am in fawning all over you.”

“You don’t have to fawn,” Aiden said indignantly. “You could be civil, at least.”

“
I
was civil,” she informed him. “You were the one who was rude, interpreting Dad’s measly half hour lunch just to blather on about nothing.”

“You weren’t even listening!”

Since that was true, she shrugged. “Okay, you’re right. But that’s because I was there
to see my father
.” She emphasized every word.

“What’s the harm in seeing someone else?” Aiden demanded. “Maybe I was just trying to be nice!”

“You weren’t,” Saige answered bluntly. “You were probably bored with all your expensive toys, so you thought you’d see what entertainment you could find. I’d imagine that wandering around that mausoleum all day gets a little boring.” She could see that she’d struck home with that accusation and she actually felt a pang of regret when his brows drew together over those stormy blue eyes.

Then he straightened his shoulders and said, “Excuse me for trying to be hospitable. It won’t happen again.”

“It didn’t happen the first time!” she exclaimed, following him as he walked out of the store. “Your family treats my father like a...like a servant and then you act like I should fall all over myself with gratitude just because you decide to speak with. This isn’t Victorian England! I don’t have to bow down to you just because you’re rich and I’m poor!”

Aiden stopped short and looked down at her. Her hands were clenched in tight fists and her breath was coming in gasps. Her cheeks were flushed with anger and her eyes were shooting sparks. As much as he wanted to deny it, he had expected her to be grateful that he was speaking to her. He’d expected her to be breathless with interest about his life because it was so different from hers. God, he really was an ass.

“I’m sorry,” he said when she drew breath to speak again.

Saige felt the air in her lungs rush out at his words. No, not actually his words. The expression of absolute sincerity on his face as he spoke them. He didn’t wait for her to answer before he turned and walked away.

Her fickle heart lurched and she had to suppress a strong urge to call him back. There was nothing else to say. He’d been a jerk, she’d called him on it, and he’d apologized. They were done. Except now, seeing what he looked like when he wasn’t putting on his rich guy persona...she didn’t want to be done. Saige groaned and rubbed her face with both hands. Why did she feel like she’d just gotten in too deep?