I internally groaned. Tanner had an awesome place. But his houseboy always made me feel wildly uncomfortable.
Matchmaker - Chapter 23
Tuesday
The sound of bells made me cringe. I wasn’t sure if it was my pounding headache that was making me hallucinate them…or if there was actually something ringing.
Ring.
I definitely wasn’t imagining it. It sounded like a shit ton of bells. Where the hell was I, at the symphony? I rolled over and reached out, my fingers colliding with the softest sheets I’d ever felt. Definitely not the symphony. I blinked my eyes open to see a short little man looking at sheet music, holding a gold bell in each hand.
He lifted one of his arms. Ring.
I screamed.
He screamed and dropped the bells. “I’m sorry, Mr. Caldwell,” the man said in a British accent. “Master Tanner said you wanted to wake up to a chorus of bells. I didn’t have much time to practice.”
It took me a second to recognize the little man as Nigel, Tanner’s houseboy. I hadn’t recognized him because today he was dressed in some weird lederhosen. All the other times I had been here he’d always been outfitted in a strange Victorian era butler outfit. Tanner said it was his uniform. I wondered why the sudden change since all the outfits made zero sense anyway.
During the awkward stretch of silence, Nigel looked down at my lap.
I followed his gaze to see what he was staring at. What the actual fuck? “Why am I naked?!” I grabbed the sheets and pulled them to my chest like he hadn’t just seen my morning wood.
“Master Tanner said you liked to sleep that way. It appears as though he was correct.” He raised his eyebrows and had a silly little grin on his face.
“So you stripped me?!”
He nodded. “Yes, Mr. Caldwell.”
“What is wrong with you? Get out!”
“But Master Tanner…”
“I don’t care what Tanner said. I don’t want to be stripped. And the last thing I need right now is to be played a chorus of bells.”
“It’s actually a very peaceful way to awake from one’s slumber.”
“Nigel. Out.”
He gave me a little bow and scurried out the bedroom door.
I rubbed my forehead. Fuck. How much had I had to drink last night? It felt like there was a freight train careening around in my head.
There was a knock on the door and Nigel poked his head back in. “Sorry to bother you, but breakfast is being served in 15 minutes and Master Tanner wanted to extend you an invitation.”
I just glared at him.
“Your clothes are also freshly pressed and hanging in the closet.”
I looked over at the open closet doors. Even my socks were hung up. I was pretty sure he’d ironed them too.
“Would you like me to draw you a bath?”
“I think I can manage, Nigel.”
He nodded. “I’ll come check on you in a few minutes.”
“Please don’t.”
