That story might have worked if Tenn hadn't busted me for breaking into his cottage. We all knew there was more going on, and I had a feeling the cataloging project was their way of giving me enough rope to hang myself. I wasn't so naive that I thought I was truly wandering the house alone, handling all of their art.
They had to be watching me in some way, either through cameras in the house or through the camera in the tablet. I wasn't bothered. When I did appraisals, my workspace was under surveillance. Ditto for the collections I worked with at the college. They'd have to be stupid or nuts to let a virtual stranger have free rein of their house. From what I'd seen, the Sawyers were neither.
It didn't matter if they were watching. I was there to search, and they'd given me the perfect excuse. I was running with it. Too bad my hours of work hadn't resulted in much. After the pool, I spent the rest of Sunday working my way through the guest rooms on the second level of the Manor. I'd found mostly empty rooms, some mediocre art, and no Emperor Vitellius.
Dinner that night was a blur. Savannah seated us at the end of the table out of the fray, and I spent most of my time making sure August was behaving himself. Nicky ate in the kitchen, as usual, but August had been deemed a guest and his presence at the table was required.
We got some curious glances, but no one paid us much attention. I had Tenn's little sister Sterling to thank for that. Apparently, she'd brought her new boyfriend to family dinner. Forrest wasn't just Sterling's new boyfriend, he was also the new CFO of the Inn at Sawyers Bend. He seemed to be well-liked, but I could tell Tenn, Royal, and Griffen weren't happy about this development.
Once dinner was over, I got August set up with a movie and slipped out of Tenn's suite with the tablet. Quietly, I left the family wing and crossed to the guest wing and the room I'd been working in earlier.
I'd just started in there when Tenn came to find me for dinner. It had been long enough to discover a second closet door at the back of the main closet. I was hoping I'd find Vitellius stashed inside. I just needed a few minutes alone to find out.
Chapter Eighteen
TENN
Scarlett took off the second dinner was over. She'd been skittish with me ever since the pool. I hadn't laid a finger on her. Hadn't even flirted. I wasn't much of a flirt, to be honest. That was Royal's thing. Usually, I didn't have the patience for it.
Scarlett was different. I loved poking at Scarlett, teasing her, and seeing the heat rise in her green eyes, watching as her breath sped up and she tried to pretend she didn't want me.
My cock wanted me to push, to keep teasing, keep poking at her until she lost control and I could take what I wanted. My cock was going to have to wait. I was going to fuck her eventually, and it wasn't going to be because I pushed her into it. I barely knew Scarlett, but my gut read on her felt solid, like I'd known her all my life. Pushing would only trigger her battle instincts. If I pursued her the way I wanted to, she'd dig in her heels.
Instead, I'd seduce. I'd tempt. I'd be patient. I didn't have much of a choice with August in my suite and the house full of family. Everything—our circumstances, my instincts—told me slow was the way. That kiss told me Scarlett wanted me enough to make the choice herself.
She was going to come to me.
That didn't mean I wouldn't give her a preview of everything I had to offer.
After checking to make sure August was good with his movie, I followed what I guessed was Scarlett's path to the guest wing. Most of the second floor was deserted, the rest of the family still lingering over drinks or watching TV. As I'd expected, I found her in the room she'd been cataloging just before dinner.
A few minutes later and I might have thought I'd missed her. She hadn't bothered to turn on the lights in the room, the sun still high enough in the sky to fill the space with light. I stepped inside, swinging the door mostly shut behind me. Glancing around, I saw oil paintings on three of the walls, a mahogany bed frame with a bare mattress, and a bedside table. No lamp. No wonder she hadn't turned on any lights in here. There weren't any.
Just as I was thinking I had the wrong room, a thump from the closet gave her away. I followed in time to see her disappear into a dark hole at the back. A light flicked on, a bright glare in the dark, illuminating nothing. What was she looking for? A passing survey showed nothing much in the main part of the closet. A few empty hangers. An abandoned shoebox, the lid askew, gold tissue crumpled inside.