Jeeves chooses that moment to appear with two glasses of red wine. We accept the glasses from him and I show her around the house.

“So, the ground floor consists of the kitchen, the formal dining room, the golden parlor and a bigger formal salon for hosting a party, a media room and two guest rooms,” I tell her as I lead her through the various rooms.

“Have you designed the interiors?” Aaliya asks, as we mount the stairs to the first floor.

I give her a wistful smile. “Yes, I did. This was the first house I ever designed. Sylvie gave me a free rein with everything. It vastly increased my confidence and she was ecstatic with the end result.”

“Come on in,” I tell her as she waits just outside the threshold of the master bedroom.

She bites her lower lip as if deciding.

“I’m not going to devour you, Aaliya, not without your permission at least. So, come in. You’re safe, for now,” I tease her.

She makes a face at me, but she steps inside.

“I don’t recall giving you permission a few minutes back and yet...” Her voice trails off. Her eyes run over the sitting area and the bed beyond it, looking anywhere and everywhere but at me. Her sudden shyness is rather fetching.

“Oh, you gave me permission. Your eyes speak volumes. And had Gabe not chosen that time to interrupt, we’d have been entangled on your bed right now, with me driving you to ecstasy.”

“Now who is being overconfident?” she counters, raising her chin.

The slight waver in her voice gives me a thrill. I like that she is shy one minute, bold the next. It keeps me on my toes not knowing how she’s going to react when.

I angle my head towards her. “This is going to happen between us and I will wait for you to ask for it, if that’s what you want. But you will ask and that is a promise.”

Her eyes flutter to mine and she moistens her lips.

“It’s lovely,” she says, changing the subject. “I love every aspect of this house. Even though it seems unlived, it looks like it was designed with a lot of love.”

“Thank you. It was.”

We complete a tour of the upper floors, which is just four more bedrooms including hers and return to the dining room where Mrs. Perkins is ready with our dinner.

Aaliya

“SO, DID YOU SPEND A lot of time here while growing up?” I ask Damien as we eat our meal. It’s grilled chicken in lemon and thyme served with a coleslaw salad and flavored potato wedges. Mrs. Perkins is a fabulous cook and I tell her so as she bustles around us.

His lips curve slightly. “Yes, I spent many Christmas vacations here. I looked forward to visiting Scotland in the winter.”