Free A Trap So Tender by Jennifer Lewis Page B

jacket and pants, with a crisp pale shirt.
How odd that they were both dressed up to eat dinner at home with no guests.
This truly was a different world.
    “You look beautiful.” His slow, steady gaze swept from her head
to her black Manolo slingbacks.
    “Thanks. You’re cute, too.” She resisted the urge to giggle.
This felt like a date, with great expectations. When she was with James, it
seemed natural to flirt a little with him. Even the kissing didn’t feel strange.
Not until later when she was alone and trying to get her plans back on
track.
    Tonight’s mission: let him know she wanted a piece of property
in Singapore in the exact location where the factory was. “I’m almost ready.”
She pretended to touch up her lipstick. She didn’t want to seem as if she was
jumping to attention too quickly. Better to act casual and nonchalant, as if
nothing really mattered much.
    “Any time you take is obviously well spent.” The appreciation
in his eyes heated her skin from across the room. It made her feel beautiful.
Which was weird because she wasn’t used to feeling more than, well, above
average. She tried to look smart, and she was blessed with a trim body, but her
looks weren’t really…­va-va-voom. Men didn’t usually turn their heads or
spill their drinks when she entered a room.
    But James made her feel as if that could happen.
    “Do you always eat sitting at that big table with people
waiting on you hand and foot?”
    “When I’m here, yes.”
    “Don’t you ever want to eat in front of the TV or something?”
She walked past him out of the room. Heat rose through her as their bodies drew
close.
    “I might, but I don’t. Tradition. And the staff here have
little enough to do. I don’t want them all feeling neglected and handing in
their notice.”
    “Now you’re thinking like a businessman.”
    “This estate is more of a business than a home to me.”
    He walked a step behind her, and she shivered slightly when she
felt his hand settle into the small of her back. “That’s sad when you think of
how many people must have lived—and died—here. Each room and piece of furniture
has so much history.”
    “Some of the many reasons why I like my new-build condo in
Singapore.” He caught up with her and she saw his wicked smile. “I can relax
without being surrounded by people—living or dead—with expectations.”
    She frowned, partly because her attention had settled on a huge
painting of a young man next to a stag, in a woodland setting. The painting
filled the end of the corridor and was over life-size. From the man’s clothing
she could tell it was eighteenth century. “That painting is stunning.”
    “I suppose so. All I notice is the way his eyes follow you as
you walk past.”
    She squinted at it. “But he’s looking off to the side.”
    “Not the man. The stag.” He swung sideways and headed down the
stairs. She paused for a moment. The stag was staring right at her with big,
liquid brown eyes. “Goodness.” She hurried after him. “I see what you mean.
There’s a lot of pressure coming from different directions.” She glanced over
her shoulder to see if the giant beast was still watching her. He was. “What did
you say the family motto was, again?”
    “Keep your blade sharp.” He grimaced slightly. “Good advice in
the business world.”
    “At least you can cut your losses quickly with a sharp blade.”
She was trying to lighten the mood, but James stopped and stared at her.
    “Yes, you can.” Then he frowned and continued down the
stairs.
    * * *
    As expected, dinner was an
elegant repast at the long, polished table. She asked him questions about
managing the estate, partly to learn more about him but mostly because she was
burning with curiosity about how such an archaic endeavor worked in the
twenty-first century.
    “So the estate is self-supporting?” It was hard to believe the
thousands of sheep that kept the grass neatly mowed also paid most of