Page 30 of Taming Grumpy Dr. Beast

Chapter Nine

Jaxon

The next morning, Ihung my head, averting my gaze from the disappointed look on my house manager’s face as she chastised me in the kitchen.

“Jaxon Adam Beast. Please tell me you’ll be on your best behavior today.”

I grunted, knowing full well my scowl would do nothing to stop the rant about to start. Angela Ketill was my conscience and often treated me like she was my mother. When my grandfather hired her twenty years ago, she played reluctant nanny to my twelve-year-old self and was my grandfather’s house manager extraordinaire. I’d wondered for years if she’d been in love with him, but his continued devotion to my grandmother had made him blind to her feelings.

She pierced me with an unwavering gaze. “Donotbe an asshole to her today.”

I shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You will take her out and show her the gardens and any other part of this godforsaken house she’d like to see.”

I stared at her.No.“She’s got a job to do. And that’s not touring my estate.”

“Her job will be much more pleasant, and she’ll work faster if she gets to know her boss isn’t a total jerk.”

“We both know that’s exactly what I am.”

A resigned sigh left her mouth. “Jaxon ...”

“Ms. Ketill.” A smirk lifted the corner of my lips. She’d once given me permission to call her by her first name. Yet, I’d been calling her Ms. Ketill for so long, it was a habit.

“Youwilldo this.”

I opened my mouth to refute her order. With the tone she’d used, it was not a request.

She stared me down. “No, you will not shame this home or this family.”

“My parents already did that,” I muttered.

Her face softened. “Jaxon, you’re not them. This place was your grandfather’s, and while it is now yours, this is not the way he would want you to greet a guest. Especially one that might work on a book he so dearly treasured.”

And there was the boom. Damn Ms. Ketill and her heart-twisting ways. I felt like an ass. “Fine,” I ground out.

She flashed a beaming grin. “Wonderful! Now that we’ve got that settled, I’ll pack you a lunch.”

“It’s a tour of the immediate vicinity, not the whole fucking property.” We didn’t need a basket full of food to drag this afternoon excursion out. Excuses and reasons to avoid my guest flew through my mind, with me quickly discarding each one, knowing Ms. Ketill would see through them all.

She raised an eyebrow. “You will be polite and a perfect gentleman. I took breakfast to Lily and let her know you were eager to take her on a walk of the grounds today.”

A growl ripped from my throat. “I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

“Really? Tell me, what else are you working on?”

My lips flattened and I clenched my teeth so tight they ground together as I failed to create a plausible response.

“That’s what I thought.” She turned to walk away, then slowly shifted back to me. “And Jaxon, if I hear a whisper that you were nothing short of a perfect gentleman, as I requested, I will make your time here very uncomfortable.”

She wouldn’t dare.