Working Stiff:Casimir (Runaway Billionaires #1)(37)

           



       

Cash stood behind Rox's chair and laid his hands on both her shoulders. "I said, back off."

Arthur rolled his eyes and poured himself another glass of wine. "You  have lived in America too long, Casimir. You're going Puritan on us."





TEACHING MAXENCE TO MAKE COFFEE





The next morning, Rox woke up in her own bed, alone but for the three  cats who were snuggled tightly around her. Having two new strangers in  the house had traumatized the beasts. They had hidden all evening and  crept into her bed as soon as the house was dark.

The previous evening, Rox, Cash, and Arthur had indeed built a small  fire in a saucer-shaped fireplace on the deck, and Maxence had rejoined  them later.

Rox kept sensing snatches of things that she needed to quiz Cash on,  things like "places with high ceilings" again and references to a  lawsuit that Arthur was involved in.

She had finally crawled off to bed after midnight, but the three guys had stayed out on the deck, talking.

After she got ready, she went to the kitchen to rustle up some  breakfast, and found Maxence already down there, holding the coffee  maker and inspecting it. He was wearing head-to-toe black again, black  slacks and a black dress shirt. His waistband puckered under his belt,  and all his clothes hung on him like they were a size too large despite  the fact that they appeared tailored.

This time, she looked closely, but this shirt, too, had a regular  collar, not a Roman collar like priests wear. He had mentioned that he  hadn't been ordained yet.

He looked up when she came in, relief lightening his dark eyes. "Oh, thank heavens. Can you show me how to use this thing?"

"Okay, sure. You've never made coffee?"

He shrugged. "Not something they taught us at Le Rosey, and it seems to have slipped my experience since."

She got the can of coffee down from a shelf and showed him how to put  the filter in, how much coffee and water to measure into it, and how to  turn it on.

"That's it?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's it."

He laughed. "When I was last home, my housekeeper assured me that it's a  complicated process, something that I couldn't possibly do for myself.  She seems to believe that her job hinges on that. Doesn't Cash have a  staff?"

"He has cleaning people come in a couple times a week, but he can take care of himself. He doesn't need a staff."

"Interesting. He's always been very private. I imagine that's part of it, too."

He wasn't private. Usually, he was an extrovert of the first order who was the center of every conversation.

Although, now that she thought about it, Cash didn't talk about himself much. He talked to other people about themselves.

She asked Maxence, "Was he so private when you guys were in school together?" she asked.

Maxence tilted his head and watched the coffee drip for a moment. "I'll let him tell you about that."

"You guys do keep each others' secrets, huh?"

He shrugged. "Arthur told me what you said about Casimir's car accident."

"It was really bad. He's still recovering, really."

"Physically, he seems all right."

"He's still taking it easy in the gym. I think the incision still might be sore inside, the one where they took out his spleen."

"We've got to get him out today. If he wins this round, it will establish that we will allow him to become a hermit."

Rox nodded. "He's not going to want to."

"I'll be back from Mass in a few hours. After that, we will get him to that animal shelter of yours, yes?"

"Sounds like a plan."

The coffee finished gurgling into the pot, and Maxence took a cup,  black. It did seem that he was intent on mortifying his flesh, even with  black coffee. They talked about politics and cats while they drank a  cup each.

He did, however, seem to savor even the black coffee as if he hadn't had it for a while.

When she mentioned the animal shelter again, Maxence asked questions  about how long she had volunteered there, how many animals it housed,  what their needs were, and how much she was spending every month to keep  it afloat.

And he smiled.

Rox tried really hard not to stare when Maxence smiled, but damn.

She said, "I buy a couple hundred dollars' worth of food every month,  and I know that Brandy buys that much, too. She's down there every day,  though. The county employs people during business hours-barely, for  minimum wage, and it's almost all teenagers whose daddies are on the  city council-but not on weekends. Brandy runs that place, keeping  everyone rotating in and making sure that the chores get done every day.  I just do the books and help out on Sundays."                       
       
           



       

"That's admirable," Maxence said, and he smiled again, a slow glow that started deep in his dark eyes and spread over his face.

"I feel stupid that I haven't gotten him out of the house before now," Rox admitted.

"No, no," Maxence said, and Rox heard more of an accent in that.  Something not-British. "He needed to be cared for and coddled for a  while. I doubt he's ever had that before. You took care of him when he  needed it, and you didn't turn away."

She frowned. "Well, of course not."

"Some people are very shallow. I sense that you're not. That's good for  Casimir. I think you're good for Casimir. We all overindulged in  hedonism when we were younger, and Casimir started later and so felt he  had to catch up. He needs someone like you, someone who will take care  of him. Now, however, he needs to be kicked out into the world. You  called for reinforcements at just the right time."

"If you don't mind, where are you from?" Rox asked. "Your accent isn't quite as British as Cash's."

Maxence leaned in. "Really? What does it sound like?"

"A little French, maybe? A little Italian?"

He shrugged. "I'm Monégasque, from Monaco. It's near Italy and France."

"Hmm. That's interesting. What's Arthur?"

"Do you think he has an accent?" Maxence asked, leaning on his elbows.  His biceps bulged under his shirt. The three of these guys walking down a  street was going to cause a riot.

She said, "British, just British, I think."

Maxence's smile was more amused this time. "He's one of the few of us  who is an actual Anglophone. He is English, very English, more of an  Englishman than any one of the English princes. Just ask him."

Rox laughed. "That sounds ominous."

"He needles people, but sometimes, he's just what we all need." Maxence  finished his coffee, checked the time on his phone, and held out his  hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Rox. I'll be back as soon as I  can."

"Do you need a ride somewhere?"

"Not at all. Arthur and I rented cars, but thank you."

As he was standing to leave, Rox rummaged around in a cabinet and found  Cash's stash of protein bars. She grabbed three and held them out to  Maxence. "Here. Eat these in the car."

He looked at them and blinked. "I shouldn't, before communion     ."

"Then take them for the drive back."

He accepted the bars and thanked her.

He left, and Cash and Arthur came into the kitchen soon after.

Arthur was wearing a silvery blue dress shirt that was the exact color  of his eyes. That probably wasn't an accident. He nodded at her but  staggered straight for the steaming coffee pot.

Cash sat at the table and draped his arm around the back of Rox's chair.  He had reapplied that white bandage to his cheek, reaching almost all  the way from his square jaw line to his emerald eyes.

Arthur spooned sugar into his coffee and added milk before he sat down. "So when are we leaving for the animal shelter?"

"Maxence said that he'll be back after Mass," Rox told him.

Arthur rolled his eyes and said to Cash, "I don't know why he's going  through with this charade. His uncle will never let him take Holy  Orders."

"Why would his uncle have anything to say about what he does with his life?" Rox asked.

Cash glared at Arthur and told her, "Complicated family dynamics."

"Dynastics, you mean," Arthur said.

"Stop," Cash told him.

"Fine."

She would get it out of Cash, and if he didn't come clean, she was going  to corner Arthur and make him tell her what the hell was going on. This  was ridiculous.

They drank coffee, ate, and watched news on the television hanging from  the ceiling over the breakfast bar until Maxence came back from Mass  just over an hour later. He sauntered in from the garage and took a spot  at the table.

"How was church?" Arthur asked, a bit of derision in his voice.

"About like you'd expect," Maxence said, checking his phone.

Cash didn't comment but just drained the rest of his coffee.

Rox was cleaning the coffee pot at the sink. Maybe she should teach  Maxence how to do that, too, and she almost called him over, but she  up-ended it to drain and turned around to the guys.