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"Of course you did, because you wouldn't ever make a mistake. Those are for lesser immortals like Etienne and I. "
"Thomas," Bastien said wearily.
"Yes?" he asked sweetly.
"Never mind. Look, she's there to help you. Let her. She knows London and she's a damned efficient woman. One of our best employees. She gets things done, that's why I decided to have her help you. "
"You mean that's why you decided to have her baby-sit me, don't you?" Thomas asked dryly.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, then Bastien took a breath, but before he could speak, Thomas said, "Don't worry about it. I know you think I'm useless. Me, Etienne, and anyone under four hundred years old. So don't worry about it. I'll apologize to her and let her help me. "
He pushed the end button on the phone before Bastien could respond and tossed it irritably on the marble counter as he headed for the door. He'd grasped the doorknob when a thought made him hesitate. Releasing the doorknob, Thomas turned back to briefly pace the room.
He didn't want another berating by Bastien's underling. While it was cute and he'd found it fascinating to watch the fire dance in her eyes as she'd spat words rapid-fire at him, it would have been more entertaining had he understood some of it. Besides, he didn't know London and this woman obviously did and while he'd like to be able to find his aunt all by himself and be the hero of the moment, the main concern was finding Aunt Marguerite. Common sense said he would probably get farther faster with help, and Inez was the only help on offer. But she was, no doubt, in a really rotten mood right now and he couldn't blame her. Bastien might owe her an apology, but Thomas felt he owed her something too. He might not have known she was coming to collect him, but the woman went out of her way to do so and was ignored and left behind for her trouble.
After pacing the room twice, Thomas reached for the hotel phone on the bathroom's marble counter. He punched the button for room service and quickly placed an order, then hung up and moved to the tub. His cell phone rang as he pushed the button to drop the tub's stopper into place, but-knowing it would be Bastien with more orders and instructions-he ignored it and grabbed the bottle of bubble bath off the counter. Thomas dumped a generous amount of the liquid in and turned on the taps, then sat down on the side of the tub to wait for it to fill.
Inez dropped wearily to sit on one of the love seats situated on either side of the fireplace and scowled at the knapsack on the table in front of her. The man couldn't even bother with proper luggage. He was staying in a five-star hotel and checked in with a knapsack. It was the only article of luggage in the room and the only thing he'd been carrying when she'd seen him at the airport.
She glared at the offending article and then realized what she was doing and shook her head, her eyes closing in dismay. She was losing it. Inez never lost her temper, yet here she was not just glaring at luggage, but she'd greeted her boss's cousin by berating him like a harridan and cursing him in two different languages. Her boss's cousin!
Dear God, she hadn't just lost her mind but probably her job too once Bastien heard about this. Thomas Argeneau was probably on the phone in the other room right now complaining to him.
The rude little pillock, Inez thought unhappily. She still couldn't believe he'd looked right at her and then just marched happily off and hopped in a cab. What kind of idiot-
Her thoughts died abruptly when the phone on the end table beside her began to ring. Inez switched her scowl to that, waiting for Thomas to answer it. It rang three more times before she recalled that he'd actually had a cell phone in his hand. Supposing he was still on that and couldn't talk on two phones at once, she heaved a sigh and picked up the receiver only to get a dial tone.
Too late, Inez realized and dropped it back in its cradle with a shrug. She hadn't wanted to play secretary for him anyway. She was the vice president of U. K. productions for Argeneau Enterprises Worldwide, for heaven's sake. He could answer his own damned phone. As well as his own door, she added mentally when someone knocked on it.
Inez glanced toward the door Thomas had disappeared through, expecting him to appear to answer it, but there was no sign of the man.
"Room service," a deep voice called as the knock came again.
Inez glanced toward the door again and then rose impatiently to open it, stepping out of the way as the bellhop began to roll a trolley into the room.
"Thank you, miss. " The man smiled as he passed. "Where would you like it?"
"What is it?" Inez asked rather than answer. Her gaze was fixed on the small teapot on the tray, but kept drifting to the silver-covered plate. Delicious aromas were drifting up to her nose, making her stomach rumble with interest.
Eyebrows rising, the man lifted the silver cover. "A proper English Breakfast. Eggs, bacon, baked beans, sausages, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, hash browns, and a fried slice," the man rattled off.
"The full Monty," Inez murmured, her eyes roving over the food until he replaced the cover.
"And, of course, tea," the man added. "So? Where shall I put it?"
Inez shook her head helplessly. She hadn't a clue where Thomas wanted it, but she wanted it in her stomach. Right then. Dear God, breakfast and tea. The very idea made her want to weep, the actual sight of the food made her moan silently in her head. She was starving and could have killed a cup of tea, but had no doubt this was all for Thomas. He was probably going to eat it all right in front of her too, the-
"Oh, good. It's here. "
Both Inez and the bellhop glanced toward Thomas Argeneau as he entered the room. The bellhop was smiling. Inez was not. Her eyebrows drew down in displeasure as she eyed him. If he'd just taken a little more time she might at least have pinched a sausage before he came out.
"Roll it in here please. . . Jimmy, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir. " The bellhop smiled and promptly followed him with the cart.
Inez watched the food roll away with a little sigh. Just a small sip of tea even would have been nice, but the man hadn't even bothered to think of her when it came to that. There had only been one teacup on the trolley.
Her thoughts were disturbed when the bellhop returned. The man threw her a wide smile and wished her a good day as he crossed to the door and left.
Inez scowled after him. Sure! He was happy. He'd probably eaten and even had half a dozen cups of tea by now. He'd probably also got a big tip from Thomas.
"Inez?"
Her gaze moved resentfully to the open door to the rest of the suite. "Yes?"
"Come here, please. "
Inez frowned at the request and hesitated. Come here? Come where? To his bedroom? It would be just her luck if the man was a pervert and thought one of her duties as an employee of Argeneau Enterprises was to "service" relatives.
"Not gonna happen," Inez muttered under her breath.
"Please?" Thomas called.
Throwing up her hands with exasperation, Inez headed for the door. She'd go see what he wanted, but if he tried anything, anything at all. . .
Inez stepped through the door into what she'd thought would be the bedroom and found herself in a dining area. However, neither Thomas nor the food was in there, and it just made her suspicions increase regarding his motives. Continuing on through the dining room, she stepped into a small vestibule leading to three more doors. Thomas was calling from the room on the right.
Inez stepped into the marble bathroom, taking in the trolley of food, and the bathtub brimming with bubbles and then Thomas pushed a stack of towels at her.
"There you go. Enjoy. "
Inez blinked in confusion at the fluffy white stack she held and then turned toward the door he was now exiting through.
"Wait!" she cried, taking a step to follow him. "What is this?"
He turned back, surprise on his face. "I'd think it was obvious. "
Inez frowned, her eyes narrowing as her mind returned t
o the pervert possibility. Did he plan to feed her, bathe her, and expect her to perform for him? Wishing she wasn't holding the towels so that she could prop her hands on her hips, she growled, "I think you'd better explain. "
Thomas eyed her for a moment, and then said, "Bastien forgot to tell me that someone would be at the airport, that's why I hopped in a taxi. He says he dragged you out of bed at five A. M. and that-from what you said earlier-you rushed to the airport without either breakfast, or tea, or even a shower. " He smiled crookedly as he added, "Bastien asked me to give you his apologies. They are duly given, Bastien is sorry. "
Inez waved the apology away and nodded to acknowledge it at the same time.
"This"-he continued, gesturing around the bathroom with the full tub and trolley of food-"is my apology. Slip in the tub, eat your breakfast, and drink your tea, and when you're feeling better, come back out and we'll start to work. "
"Work?" she asked uncertainly.
"On the search for Aunt Marguerite," he explained and when she looked blank, shook his head and said, "Bastien said he'd arranged for you to help me, that you knew the city and-" He paused suddenly, muttered something under his breath about Bastien and his sudden forgetfulness, and then sighed and explained, "Aunt Marguerite is missing. She flew to England about three weeks ago, stayed at the Dorchester a couple nights, and then headed north. She and Tiny were investigating-That's not important. Basically, she was traveling all over England her first three weeks here and then stayed at the Dorchester again for a night. She apparently checked out the next morning, but we don't know where she and Tiny went after that and neither of them have reported in since. I'm here to find her. "
"I see," Inez said slowly.
"Bastien said he wanted you to help me, so, I thought we'd start with calling hotels to see if they just moved to another one for some reason. Failing that, we'll try calling rental agencies, train stations, and so on to try to get a lead on where they've gone. "
"Oh," Inez said blankly.
"Right. . . Well, don't worry about that now. Enjoy your bath. We'll talk about it after. " He started to pull the door closed, then stopped and added, "And don't worry about rushing. I'm going to catch a couple z's on the couch in the suite's living room while you're in here. Soak as long as you like. " He started to close the door again, and then paused once more and turned the inside lock, locking himself out once he pulled the door closed, which he immediately did.
Clutching the towels and housecoat to her chest, Inez stared at the closed door for several minutes. Her mind was a blank. Well, not really. Her mind was awhirl with myriad thoughts and feelings, mostly amazement. She couldn't believe he'd gone to all this trouble and effort for her.
Her gaze slid to the bath he'd drawn and then to the trolley of food. Hers. It was all hers. And it was all so sweet. So thoughtful and considerate. . . Not what she would have expected from Thomas Argeneau or anyone for that matter. She tended to expect the worst from people so was always surprised by a kindness. And Thomas Argeneau had definitely surprised her.
Inez frowned at her own thoughts. Really, she hardly knew the man so shouldn't have any judgment of him yet. Her prejudgment was made up of one meeting and the fact that the few times Bastien Argeneau had mentioned his cousin Thomas, it had been with a tone of exasperation.
From those two small things, Inez had assumed Thomas was a shiftless, lazy, thoughtless spoiled rich relative. She should have known better. Assumptions were bad, useless, a waste of time. But she had assumed, which made her an ass if she went by that old saying. And at that moment, it seemed to her the saying was true. She really did feel like an ass for making such obviously erroneous assumptions.
Inez sank down on the side of the tub with a little sigh, her mind turning to the fact that he wasn't there to loaf as she'd thought, but to find his aunt. . . and he seemed to expect her to help, but all she'd been instructed to do was collect him and see him to the hotel. She was just wondering what she should do about that when a phone began ringing.
Standing again, Inez followed the sound to the counter, eyes landing on the cell phone lying there. Thomas's. He'd obviously set it down and forgotten about it.
She glanced at the digital display and bit her lip when she saw Bastien ID'd as the caller. After a hesitation, she set down the towels, picked up the phone, flipped it open, and put it to her ear as she headed for the door.
"Hello Mr. Argeneau. This is Inez. Just give me a minute and I'll take Thomas his phone so you can talk to him. "
"No, that's all right. I don't need to talk to him," Bastien interrupted quickly. "I really wanted to talk to you anyway. "
"Oh. " Inez leaned against the door rather than open it.
"Did Thomas explain and apologize for me?"
"Yes," she assured him, straightening away from the door and beginning to pace the room, her footsteps echoing on the marble floor. "He apologized. "
"Hmm, but probably not properly," Bastien muttered.
Inez frowned at the words as her gaze slid over the food trolley and then to the bathtub brimming with bubbles. Perhaps it hadn't been her fault she'd made her assumptions. It seemed obvious Bastien underestimated his cousin.
"Actually, he did do it properly," she said firmly, feeling a need to defend the younger Argeneau, and then added, "more than properly. "
"Oh?" Bastien queried. "How is that?"
Inez hesitated, and then admitted, "He drew me a bath, ordered tea and breakfast from room service, and suggested I make use of both to feel better. He's being quite nice about all this, sir. "
"He ran you a bath?" Bastien asked with surprise.
"And room service," she added defensively, suddenly uncomfortable and wishing she'd kept her mouth shut. "And then he went out to nap while I clean up," Inez added quickly in case he was thinking anything was amiss. She bit her lip and then said, "I probably won't take the bath, of course, but-"
"No, take the bath. That's fine," Bastien said quickly. "It will make me feel less guilty about rousting you from your bed. Besides, it isn't like the two of you can do any looking for Mother right now. Thomas will need to sleep and then there's the sun and so on. You may as well clean up first. "