The Marquis And The Mother-To-Be. Valerie Parv
“I can turn into a slave driver if you prefer. Some of the men under my command already think of me as one.”
“I don’t doubt it.” She had seen firsthand how autocratic he could be when he wanted. Catching sight of the twinkle in his dark gaze, she realized he was joking.
“Do we have a deal?”
Her sigh gusted out. She had known what she would say the moment he offered her the job. She wanted to stay with him. “Deal.”
He smiled and her heart turned over. “I’ll brush up on my slave-driving skills just for you.”
He wouldn’t have to, she knew. This was familiar territory. Challenged by his offer, her mind was already racing ahead as she ticked off requirements on her fingers. “We’ll need a business and financial plan for the lodge. That would be your department.” She took a breath. “As soon as the financials and decorating theme are in place, I can draw up a schedule for trades-people to do the work, and a program for hiring and training staff, starting with a house manager, catering manager, executive housekeeper and front office staff.”
He looked slightly bemused. “Agreed. Right after you put your feet up for a while.”
Shock jolted through her. Had he guessed her secret already? “Excuse me?”
“You’re still recovering from the flu. No feudal lord worth his salt makes his serfs work when they’re ill. Serfs are expensive to replace,” he added when she shot him a quizzical look.
“You’re the boss,” she admitted.
His gaze glimmered with satisfaction. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Chapter Three
Despite his promise to be a slave driver, Carissa could hardly complain that Eduard was too hard on her in the days that followed. His presence made it easier for her to give her statement to the police, although it couldn’t have been every day that someone tried to buy a royal lodge. They promised to do everything they could to catch the con man, mainly because of Eduard’s involvement, she assumed. The officers held out little hope of catching up with Mr. Hass, or whatever his real name was. Like Eduard, they believed he had probably left Carramer as soon as he had his hands on her money.
Unable to do anything more for the moment, she threw herself into the challenge of recreating the lodge as a tourist venture. Eduard was enthusiastic about her ideas for turning the lodge into an environmentally friendly place to stay, adding suggestions she had discarded as being beyond her limited budget.
She was amazed that someone with his background, accustomed to having servants to do his bidding, could be so practical. He crawled around loft spaces, had her hold a tape measure while he measured rooms and showed a knack for seeing not what was, but what could be. He credited the navy with making him so efficient, but privately she thought that Eduard gave his own resourcefulness too little credit.
She immersed herself in lists. Since she wasn’t familiar with the local tradespeople, she decided to search out an agency to do the actual hiring, based on the skills the lodge would need.
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