Cara quickly took a shower and entered the kitchen to make breakfast and lunch for her siblings. She still couldn’t decide whether to take up Marcus’s job offer or not. Without aunt Maggie’s support, she couldn’t leave them alone here, yet she needed this job badly. It was the strangest dilemma, and she didn’t have an answer to that. After an hour, Liam woke up and walked in for his milk.
“Are you going somewhere, Cara?” he asked, seeing her hurrying with the work.
“I don’t know. Mr. Donnelly was here last night. He has offered me a job at his house. I need to leave right away, but I can’t leave you three alone here. Aunt Maggie isn’t well and I don’t want you to bother her,” said Cara. Adam too woke up and sat down to listen to them.
“Marcus asked us to go to his house with you,” he reminded her.
“What about your school?” asked Cara.
“We can skip school today, Cara. What’s the big deal?” said Liam.
“You can skip today, but what about tomorrow? This isn’t just a day’s work. I would need to go every day,” said Cara.
“We’ll see about tomorrow later,” said Adam, looking excited. A knock on the door got their attention. Liam rushed to open the door. To their surprise, a uniformed chauffeur stood there, staring at the three of them with interest.
“I am Bob Franklin, Mr. Donnelly’s personal chauffeur. Sir has sent his car for all of you. He said he wants you there at his house by 7 o’clock,” said the man. The three of them gaped at him in disbelief.
“Umm, we’ll be ready in a few minutes,” said Cara at last when realization dawned on her. The man left and Liam closed the door, jumping up and down with excitement. Vera too woke up hearing the chaos.
Adam updated her, and she rushed to the washroom to take a quick shower. While she got ready to go, the boys freshened up and got ready as well. They ate breakfast and in fifteen minutes, they were all set to go. Adam rushed to inform Joe Smithfield and then they rushed out towards Marcus’s white Mercedes.
“Wow! We’ll go in that? It’s so classy!” exclaimed Liam.
“He sent his car for you, Cara. See? I told you he likes you,” whispered Vera into her older sibling’s ears.
“Shhh, his chauffeur will hear you. Mr. Donnelly sent the car so that I’m on time, nothing else,” said Cara. They all climbed into the car and Bob Franklin drove on with a poker face. Cara remembered Ben informing her about Marcus Donnelly’s need to appoint a chauffeur. Why did he send his car for her? She had never heard of employers sending their cars for their maids!
The children chatted non-stop about the luxurious interiors of the car, and the wonderful feeling of riding a Mercedes, making Bob Franklin smile at their antics. It was clear that they had never been in such a luxurious car in all their lives.
They finally reached fifteen minutes later than the time scheduled for them. A grinning Ben Duncan opened the door to them. The car stopped in the driveway and they all bundled out.
“You’re fifteen minutes late. Mr. Donnelly is furious at the delay,” said Ben Duncan.
“Oh, we got late, getting ready,” she said.
“Adam, Liam, and Vera can stay at the outhouse where I live till you’re done for the day,” said Uncle Ben, pointing at a cozy little cottage at the side, tucked away amidst trees and flowering plants.
“It looks like a fairy tale house,” said Vera with a grin.
“Don’t worry about them. I stay there all the time. Only when the security system at the gate shows a visitor, do I need to come down? I’ll look after your siblings well,” said Uncle Ben.
“Thank you, Uncle Ben,” she told him. “Study and don’t bother Uncle Ben. Okay?” she instructed them.
“Yes, Cara,” chorused the children. Cara hurried towards the house. She pressed the doorbell, her heart thumping faster and faster with every passing minute. She remembered the last time that she was here.
Those were terrible memories, and she blinked them away. Marcus Donnelly was a famous and rich man, yet he had apologized to her. She couldn’t afford to harbor a grudge against him forever. She needed this job and till aunt Maggie was well, she would have to bring her siblings along with her.
The door finally flew open and a scowling Marcus walked away. She was surprised that he himself had to come down to open it manually. What happened to the remote-controlled device? However, what caught her attention most was the blood dripping from his left hand.
A gasp escaped her as she walked inside the house. There were blood droplets and smears everywhere! What was going on? She turned her attention back to a furious Marcus standing and glaring at her.
“Oh, my God! What happened to your hand?” she asked, walking closer to him. She picked up his hand to inspect it. There was a deep gash, and it needed attention. She had to stop the bleeding right away.
“Nothing. Why are you so late? I thought you weren’t coming,” he said gruffly. Cara caught his hand before he was about to turn away from her.
“Please sit down, Mr. Donnelly. I need to stop the bleeding. Where’s the first aid box?” she asked, looking panicked as if she was the one who was injured. Marcus gestured towards the medicine cabinet near the washroom and she rushed towards it.
He seemed to soften a little and sat down quietly, his eyes watching her without batting an eyelid. The feel of her soft hand in his started a crazy throbbing deep within him. He wanted to pull her into his arms. Just one touch and he was totally aroused. The wish to kiss her, to have her writhing underneath him was driving him crazy.
Why was it so difficult to control himself around her? He never had so much trouble before.
Cara came back with the first aid box and stood closer to him. Picking up his hand, she dabbed the antiseptic and blew over the wound to soothe the sting. Marcus was a dead man! The torture was too much to bear, but he had sworn that he wouldn’t force her to kiss him.
This time, he would wait for her to kiss him willingly. Would that ever happen? He doubted it, knowing Cara. She would never kiss him of her own free will.
Cara was acutely aware of his gaze burning upon her. She avoided looking into his eyes, recognizing the deep look of hunger in them. Did he desire her? Why would he when he could have any woman ready and willing in his bed? None of them spoke a word while she tended to his wound.
The tension in the air between them was so unbearable that all Cara wanted to do was escape somewhere far away from him. Cara quickly fixed his hand as he watched her with eyes that seemed to pull her towards him like a magnet.
“There, done. How did you get hurt?” she breathed to lighten the thick air. When he didn’t answer, her gaze flew up to his eyes. Instantly she knew it was the biggest mistake ever since she could not tear her gaze from him and run.
While her mind prompted her to run, her feet remained transfixed on the ground. She realized the uncomfortable position she was in, trapped between his legs as he sat on a high stool. His hypnotic eyes seemed to draw her in and at that moment, she was lost in the magnetic pull of this powerful, virile, and gorgeous man.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, yet he didn’t touch her. Cara blinked and came to her senses. What was she doing here, engaged in a staring contest with her employer?
She shook her head and picked up the first aid box as a deep blush stained her cheeks and a flush spread down her body. Too embarrassed to look at him now, she rushed towards the cabinet to keep it back.
“I’ll make your coffee and breakfast,” she said, with her eyes trained on the floor as she rushed to the kitchen. No, she wouldn’t ever encourage him again, however handsome and dangerous he may be. It was easier said than done, since his husky whisper echoed in her mind.
Beautiful!
He had called her! Did he really find her beautiful, or did he say it to every possible girl he saw? It was impossible to concentrate on work when all she could think of was the se*y God-like man roaming around outside the kitchen as if waiting for his prey to emerge.
She might be young and inexperienced, but she couldn’t deny the strange magnetic pull she felt for him. The electric current that shot through her when she touched him was another enigma she was yet to figure out.
At last, breakfast was made and she placed it on a tray along with his coffee and went out of the kitchen. She scanned the place, but he was nowhere to be found. Walking with the food to his studio, she froze, seeing him sit in front of a painting and staring at it with the utmost concentration.
“Mr. Donnelly, your breakfast,” she said, but he didn’t look up at her.
“Come here,” he said after a minute.