Maid for Him.

Chapter Twenty

Early the next morning Tess woke to a hammering on the door. Rolling over, she pressed the button on her phone causing it to light up. 7 am. She'd been up half the night with Freddy and managed to get him settled back to sleep at 5:30 am she'd been hoping to sleep until his next feed at half-past nine. Pulling the pillow out from under her head, she stuck her head under it, willing whoever it was to go away.

Bang, bang, bang came the knock again. Louder this time. "Tess, it's me."

Recognizing Cole's voice, she jumped up and scurried past Freddie's door and peeked inside, he was sleeping peacefully.

Of course.

She made a beeline for the front door, smoothing her hair down as she went. She must look a fright. Three hours' sleep will do that to a girl.

She flung the door open, "Shhh..." She hissed. "Freddy's still aslee—"

"Tess this is Marigold."

A goddess in a gray tweed suit jacket and matching pencil skirt stood in the doorway, blocking the early morning sun. The light at her back created a halo of bright yellow around her head. She smiled wide, revealing a row of impressively dazzling white teeth and stuck out a hand. Tess, suddenly aware that she was braless and dressed only in a satin nightgown with her post-baby belly pushing obviously against the material, turned and ran back to her room without saying a word.

In the safety of the bedroom, she silently cursed Cole under her breath. What sort of dip shit, brings his conquest over to visit the woman who just had his child?

She pulled on a pair of denim shorts which still didn't fit right and an old tank top. Slipping the band from her wrist she twisted her hair up into a topknot and secured it.

Standing at her bedroom door, she took a deep breath, while she mentally prepared and then strolled out into the kitchen as though she had not a care in the world.

"Sorry 'bout that. You caught me in my nightclothes. Would you like a coffee?" She smiled brightly at Marigold.

Vaguely aware of the quizzical look on Coles' face as he took in the scene, she wondered what he was expecting? 

A catfight? 

Dream on. 

No man was worth fighting for.

If he had to be convinced to love you, he didn't.

Simple as that.

"That's alright. I'm sorry we barged in here so early but I really have to get to work soon but I was just dying to meet you and Freddy." Marigold said.

Tess picked up the kettle and filled it up at the sink. "How lovely. And why is that?" She asked as she turned on the stove and placed the kettle down.

"Why is what?" Cole asked. "What do you mean?"

"I just wondered why she would want to meet me. That's all."

Marigold peered out at her from behind long, supermodel lashes. They were so thick, Tess would be forgiven for wondering if she'd actually strapped the dead carcass of a spider to each eye.

"I want to see the woman who has tamed Cole Washington of course," Marigold said. Why did her voice sound almost like she was singing? Didn't she have any sense of how damn early it was?

Tess busied herself with getting coffee mugs out of the overhead cupboard. Really, she was avoiding eye contact. The longer she looked at this gorgeous creature with the long legs and tiny waist the more she wondered how she'd held Coles interest at all. No matter how briefly.