Chapter １０

He shrugs. "It's the same to me."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, I think so."

"What if I refuse?" I ask.

He says evenly, "Then everything we've done up to this point will have been for nothing. And you won't get paid." He adds that last bit with a sly smile.

I frown at him and say, "We can share a room, but I don't want you in my bed. You have to promise that you won't...try anything."

"What would I try?" He comes closer, and I dive beneath the bed covers. I hear him laugh. "Are you going to sleep in your dress?"

"It's Laura's dress," I say under the blanket.

He pulls the blanket off of me and looks at me with those deep blue ocean eyes. "Laura isn't here anymore," he says with a low voice.

I sit up straight. "I'm sorry. Let's not talk about her, then." I turn and pull my hair over the front of my shoulder. "Will you help me with the zipper?"

He sits on the bed beside me and his hand rests on my bare shoulder as the other takes the zipper. It goes down slowly, and the dress falls away from my body. I feel his lips on my neck and I let out a sigh.

"What are you doing?" I whisper.

Sterling doesn't answer. He helps me the rest of the way out of the dress.

Later, we both lie awake in bed. It's late, probably hours past midnight. The moon is almost full and is shining through the bedroom window, and the light is softened through the bed curtains and falls on Sterling's face and bare chest, still sweaty from what we had just done. His eyes are closed, but I can tell by his breathing that he isn't asleep.

I whisper, "Do you still love her?"

A few long moments pass until I think he may not answer, but then he whispers back, "Always."

More time passes. I stare at him as the night becomes early morning and the moonlight passes over his body. I'm sure he's asleep, but then he takes my hand and holds it. He doesn't move it, doesn't squeeze it. He just holds it, and it's only then that he finally falls asleep.

And then, to my surprise, so do I.

The next morning I wake when the sunlight shines through the window. I blink lazily and turn over to see Sterling. He isn't there.

I get out of bed and wrap a morning gown around myself and step into some fuzzy slippers, then enter the bathroom.

Sterling is there, naked, and I cover my eyes and spin around.

"I guess you don't knock where you come from?" he asks.

"The door was wide open!"

The bedroom door swings open and two servants enter, one of them Lydia. I freeze, not sure if I should let them know if I'm there or not. They bring in a tray with tea and a tray with toast and preserves.

"They're not here," the older maid whispers. "Did you hear them last night? She was screaming!" The woman giggles as she sets the tea tray down on a table.

I see Lydia blush. "You shouldn't talk about it."

"Are you going to leave?" Sterling asks behind me.

"Are you going to put on some pants?" I hiss.

"My bathrobe is next to you on that hook."

I have to turn a bit to see the bathrobe, and I see Sterling out of the corner of my eye. I grab the robe from the hook and toss it behind me.

"So you're staying, then?" he asks.

"There are maids out there. I don't want them to see me—to see us like this."

Sterling chuckles. "We're married. It's something they'd expect to see sooner or later."

I decide to turn on the sink faucet to wash my face, hoping that the noise will alert the maids that we're here so that they will leave. I splash some water on my face and look around for a towel. Instead I see Sterling's bare backside.

"Why aren't you wearing the robe?"

"I was about to get in the shower when you came in."

I sigh in exasperation and shake the water from my wet hands onto the floor. "Where are the towels?"

"In the cupboard behind you," Sterling says. He turns the shower on and steps in.

I turn around to the cupboard but slip on the small puddle I had just made. I stumble and fall backwards into the shower with a scream. Sterling catches me and I catch sight of his full image.

"Are you alright in there?" comes the voice of Lydia. The door opens and the young maid stares at us, wet and naked.

The door slams shut, and Sterling and I laugh until our mouths become otherwise occupied.

Sterling and I are sitting at the breakfast table enjoying some tea and cereal. I never really thought before how wealthy people enjoy cereal the same way the rest of us do. Sterling is eating frosted flakes, the name brand stuff, which only reminds me how little I came from as a child, only eating the store brand—or even better, the kind that comes in those giant plastic bags. I'm a Lucky Charms kind of person myself. I like to eat all the cereal bits first so that I can finish with a few spoonfuls of marshmallows. Sterling watches me do this and smiles.

Gabriel is here on business. When is he ever not visiting on business? He walks by the table to the fridge to look for something to drink and notices the smile on Sterling's face.

"What's going on with you?" he asks.

"Nothing!" I blurt out, even though Gabriel wasn't asking me.

Sterling laughs and looks away from me and down to his cereal bowl. He tops it off with some more flakes. So, he's the more-than-one-bowl-at-a-time kind of guy… I don't know why this is charming to me.

I feel myself blush so I get up from the table and walk my dishes to the sink, trying to avoid Gabriel's stare. I tell the two of them that I'm going to get ready, and I leave the kitchen. Down the hall, I can still hear their voices bouncing off the wooden floor and walls.

"Seems like you two are getting along well," says Gabriel.

"Yeah, it's working out smoother than I had thought," Sterling says.