Winter's Heat: A Nemesis Unlimited Holiday Novella Read Free Page A

on, “You and me have to figure out why the Larkfields beat a hasty retreat to the country. What their plans are. Jackals like them always have plans.”
    “Mrs. Byrd said they show up tomorrow,” Ada said. “Me and the other maids have been preparing the guest bedrooms all day, and there’s to be more cleaning of the less-used chambers.”
    “The footmen have been polishing silver ’til our thumbs are raw.”
    “Polishing silver or cleaning twenty fireplaces, dusting dozens of rooms, beating scores of rugs, scrubbing bathing tubs and chamber pots.” A corner of her mouth turned up, the closest she’d come to a smile since he’d seen her that morning. “How do you keep standing?”
    Her smile, small as it was, hit him with a burst of aching warmth in the center of his chest. Jobs always took priority, but he’d hoped that maybe, just maybe, he might be able to mend things with her. Maybe they could do more than mend the rift between them. But she was still as guarded as a mint. Was he too late? Could things be set right? Hell, he didn’t even know if she’d found a new sweetheart.
    He took a step toward her. “Ada—”
    Two things happened at once. She edged away from him until her back pressed against the stillroom table, her tiny smile disappearing instantly. At the same time, voices sounded outside the stillroom door.
    “Where’s Ada?” It was the senior housemaid. “We’ve still got the Green Salon to clean.”
    “Haven’t seen her.” That was the senior footman. “But if you see Michael, tell him he’s still got to refill the lamps in the South Wing.”
    The upper servants’ voices faded, but the danger remained. Michael and Ada couldn’t be gone for too long. Getting sacked at this stage would be terrible.
    All his explanations to her had to wait. If he ever got the chance to speak to her about more than the mission.
    “We’ll meet up once the Larkfields arrive,” he said quietly.
    She gave him a tight nod. “Until then, don’t expect to hear much from me.”
    Then she slipped from the room. He was alone as he silently, floridly cursed. He’d forced himself onto this mission in order to be near her, and while he wasn’t sorry about his decision, he had to wonder if it was some form of self-punishment. If that was the case, he was doing a bang-up job.
    *   *   *
    Readying a grand country house for guests was organized chaos. Covington Hall wasn’t the largest estate at which Michael had worked, but it was still damned sizable. And with heaps of visitors about to descend on the stately house—and a master and mistress determined to impress their guests—there wasn’t a shortage of work.
    Servants bustled from room to room. Many of the Cowans had retreated to their private chambers, except for three plump, velvet-wearing children Michael spotted peering over a railing on the landing when the huge Christmas tree was hauled into the front drawing room.
    Easy to forget that a seemingly joyous holiday was nearly here, when his own thoughts were torn in three directions: his duties as a footman, his responsibilities for the mission, and Ada.
    He spotted her throughout the rest of the day, always with a brush, broom, or pail in her hand. His heart lifted then sank every time he saw her, but he carefully kept his gaze from lingering on her. As far as the staff of Covington Hall believed, he and Ada were strangers. Strangers who’d never fought side by side to make sure swine like the Larkfields got what they deserved. Strangers who’d never known the taste of each other’s mouths, or the close press of their bodies, tight with wanting.
    If Ada ever looked at him during the course of her duties, he never knew it. She wore a cool expression, focused only on her tasks.
    He cursed himself again for thinking just showing up in her life would set everything to rights. It would take much more to gain her trust again, let alone ignite the passion they’d once shared.
    As he and a regular