The Privileged and the Damned. Kimberly Lang

could smell coffee and fresh bacon as he came down the stairs, but once in the foyer he saw the light on in Granddad’s study, and veered in that direction instead of the kitchen. The mahogany doors were open, and he could hear the clatter of a keyboard. Odd, since Granddad was practically a Luddite to begin with and, unless his arthritis had miraculously gotten better, typing at that speed was not possible for him.

      Still, it was a bit of a shock to see Lily behind his grandfather’s enormous desk, a pencil gripped in her teeth as she looked between the papers in front of her and the screen. Today, her hair hung in two braids down her back, and the effect made her look so innocent he was hit by a twinge of discomfort at the starring role she’d had in one of his dreams last night.

      “Good morning,” she said, the words a little distorted by the pencil. “I’m almost finished with these …” Another clatter and a click of the mouse and the printer hummed to life.

      “Morning,” he answered, and Lily jumped, turning sharply and catching the pencil as she spit it out.

      “Ethan! I thought you were the Senator—I mean, your grandfather the Senator, not your father …”

      “Well, I’m neither of them.” He moved to the desk. “What are you doing?”

      “Reports.”

      “And you don’t have a computer in the stable office?”

      Lily started to roll her eyes but caught herself. He stifled a laugh. Seemed he’d hit a bone of contention without even trying.

      “Of course we do. It’s just that the Senator …” She paused and bit her lip, like she was searching for the proper phrase. “Well, he’s very particular in the way he likes certain things done.”

      “That’s a nice way to say it.”

      “It’s his stable. So I do it his way.” She smiled slightly. “It’s not that big of a hardship or anything.” Pulling the papers from the printer, she stapled them and put them in a folder in the center of the blotter. Then she started gathering up her things and pushed the chair back. “But I’m done now, if you need the computer …”

      “Nope. I just heard someone in here and came to see.”

      “Are you planning on taking Tinker out today? He’s due to get new shoes, but I can make sure he’s ready when you are.”

      “Maybe later. Don’t worry about it, though.”

      “Okay. But call down to the stable if you change your mind.” With her stack of file folders and ledger books and those braids, she looked like a student heading to class.

      “How old are you?”

      Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, what?”

      Nice move. “Never mind.” He pointed to her coffee cup. “Need a refill? I’m headed to the kitchen myself.”

      “Um, okay. Thanks.” She didn’t move, though, and he must have looked at her oddly. “I’ll have to follow you. I don’t know how to get to the kitchen from here.”

      “Still learning your way around?” he asked as she fell into step beside him into the foyer.

      “Kind of. I’ve only gone to the kitchen through the garden. Never from …” She trailed off and stopped, staring wide-eyed, and he looked around to see what the problem was. He didn’t see anything.

      “Lily?”

      “Sorry, I’ve just never seen anything like it.” Amazement filled her voice.

      “Like what?”

      “That staircase.”

      He looked, but all he saw was the marble staircase winding its way up like it always did. “Yes. It goes to the second floor.”

      She shot an exasperated look his way. “It’s like something from a fairy-tale castle.”

      “Really?”

      “Yeah. Like Cinderella could appear at any moment.” She sounded so reverent he felt a little bad for teasing her.

      He leaned closer. Lily smelled like fresh citrus, a clean scent that seemed to fit her perfectly. He inhaled again to enjoy it before he whispered, “Don’t tell Nana, but right after those banisters get waxed you can pick up some real speed on the last turn.”

      “I bet—” the statement started out light, but became thicker as she turned her head toward him “—you c-can.” She cleared her throat and stepped incrementally away, but not before he saw her eyes darken. Her tongue slipped out to moisten her bottom lip, and an arrow of heat shot through his stomach. She took another small step back and pasted a weak smile on her face. “Sorry for the delay. Lead on.”

      Right. He gave himself a strong mental shake, and they covered the rest of the distance to the kitchen in mildly uncomfortable silence.

      As they got to the door, Lily picked up speed, pushing through with a chipper “Morning, Gloria. I bring you someone in need of feeding.”

      “Ethan! I was wondering when you’d come down.” Gloria wrapped him in a hug that smelled like cinnamon and coffee before kissing him soundly on the cheek. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here yesterday to welcome you home.”

      Gloria had ruled the kitchens at Hill Chase for as long as he could remember. She looked him over with a critical eye. “You’ve lost weight. Is there no food in London?”

      “None like yours.” Behind Gloria, he could see Lily refilling her mug from the carafe, smirking as Gloria clucked over him.

      “Of course not,” she said, preening. “Go sit and I’ll fix you a plate.” Without even looking over her shoulder, she added, “You too, Lily.”

      Lily froze in her attempted escape. “I’ve eaten already, Gloria. I just came for the coffee.” She held up her mug and moved to the door. “So I’m going back to the stable now and will see everyone later.”

      Gloria sighed as she set an overflowing plate in front of him and filled his cup. “I swear, Lily’s nothing but skin and bones.”

      As someone very appreciative of Lily’s curves, Ethan would disagree with that statement. Silently, of course.

      “That child doesn’t eat enough to keep a cat alive,” Gloria clucked.

      Just the opening he needed. “Lily’s hardly a child. She’s what? Twenty-five?” he fished.

      Gloria took the bait. “More like twenty-two or -three. She’s just so sweet, though, it makes her seem even younger. And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, either.”

      Ethan swallowed a mouthful of biscuit. “What?” he asked innocently.

      “I’m wise to you. You leave Lily alone.”

      Lily had a champion already. “You make it sound like I’m planning on doing something terrible to her.”

      “Not on purpose, I know. But Lily’s a good girl and doesn’t need you messing with her head.” Gloria pursed her lips. “Or her anything else, for that matter.”

      “I was simply curious as to how old Lily was. Now I know.” He vaguely wondered what Gloria knew that had her so protective of Lily. Even from him. “Is there more sausage?” he asked to change the subject.

      Predictably, Gloria’s need to feed took over and she immediately went to the stove. “I’m afraid you’re on your own today. The Senator and Mrs. Marshall left early this morning to go to the Weatherlys’ to see the new foal Spider sired. It was planned before they knew you were coming, but they knew you’d probably have plenty to keep you occupied.”

      He did have plenty to do: a ton of emails waiting for his attention, and a dozen phone calls he should make. But they’d waited this long; another day wasn’t going to make that much of a difference.