Page 7 of Come A Little Closer

Absolutely nothing happened. It was mildly disappointing, but I shrugged. “It’s okay if you’re shy. Or scared. We’ll get to know each other soon enough.”

After that, I headed downstairs and found the scullery situated off the kitchen. I dumped my dirty laundry in there to do later and practically skipped from the house to explore the outside. Every nook and cranny of the sprawling grounds fascinated me.

Eventually, I had to tear myself away from the beautiful, landscaped gardens and the grand old trees for my meeting with Niall.

The plantation was stunning, though. An absolute paradise as far as I was concerned. I couldn’t stop smiling as I popped back to the guest house—my house—to grab my laptop before I headed over to the main house.

When I arrived, a group of tourists was on their way in as a huge bus pulled away from the top of the long drive. A guy about my own age welcomed them warmly, waiting until everyone had gathered around him on the porch before he ushered them inside.

“I have three guides on rotation here,” Niall suddenly spoke up behind me.

I whirled around and grinned as I found myself looking at the man responsible for giving me the best home ever.

“Three?” I asked. “Does that include me?”

Those bright blue eyes narrowed the tiniest bit on mine. “I thought I made it clear that your role here is as a project manager. Do you know what that entails?”

I shrugged, refusing to let him crush my vibe. Not today, Glacier. Not today.

“I know what it entails,” I said happily. “I was just wondering if I would also be showing people around. Cool your jets. Okay, so three guides on rotation. Got it.”

“One of the tours is at night,” he continued, lifting a hand to run it through his blond hair. “It’s a ‘haunted mansion’ theme. People seem to love it, but don’t ask me why. The point is that you shouldn’t be scared when you hear guests coming and going at night. Or the occasional scream.”

“I won’t be, but thanks.” I looked back at him. “What do you mean you don’t know why people love it? Of course, they love it. You live in a haunted mansion. I thought you’d know exactly why they love coming to places like this.”

“No, I live in an historic home in the Garden District, which just so happens to be rumored to be haunted. It’s been ghost-free so far, thankfully.”

I frowned, my eyebrow arching just a little bit. “An historic haunted home.”

He sighed, and his strong jaw clenched as he shook his head. “Have you seen the architecture of that place? Heard its history? It’s one of the finest examples of the gothic style in town and its history is rich and long. It may be checkered as well, but show me a place that old that doesn’t have a few blights on its record.”

“Wait,” I said as I frowned at him. “Hang on. You’re telling me that you bought it in spite of the rumors and not because of them?”

“Of course.” He waved for me to precede him into the main house. “I’m not into the lore and the scary things. Why would I buy a house to voluntarily have ghosts bothering me, moving around all my stuff? No thank you.”

I almost laughed, but I held it back. The man was my new boss and we were on shaky ground as it was. I already loved my new home and I was determined to impress him enough to be his long-term project manager. Making fun of him on my first day might not be the wisest idea.

For the moment, I zipped my lips shut and let him show me into a room that had been set up as an office. He slid his hands into his pockets and glanced at me. “You’re free to use this as yours. We’ve also set up an office for you on the first floor of the guest house. It’s up to you which one you use, but I’m going to need you to come into town at least twice a week to meet with me.”

“Sure,” I agreed easily. “I can do that.”

“As long as the Uber drivers are still willing to bring you back out here after our meetings,” he mused as if he was confused by the notion. “Why don’t you have a car?”

I shrugged. “I guess I just never really needed one, but I do have a bike. If push comes to shove, I’ll just pedal into town.”

He gave me one of those ice-lord looks, dripping with skepticism. It was a look he’d definitely perfected, and I very much doubted this would be the last time he’d be aiming it at me. “Let’s try to avoid biking down any highways. I’ll send a car for you if need be. For the occasions on which we might run late.”

I brushed off that last comment, striding across the room to sit behind the fancy desk overlooking the gardens. “So, what exactly do you want me to do for the festival? I’ve got a lot of ideas. Do you know where I can source about a dozen goats?”

His phone rang and he glanced at me. “No live animals. Too messy. Now I’ve got to take this. Get settled in. We’ll talk later.”

He walked out of the room after completely shooting down my goat idea without properly hearing it. Some people had no vision. I set up my laptop and waited for him to get back, but when he didn’t reappear, I shook my head.

It looked like I would have to figure things out by myself, which was just fine. I worked better without restrictions, and so far, my only limitation was no living creatures. That left me plenty of room to work with.

I wonder what Niall thinks about fake blood.

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