English Lord, Ordinary Lady

Silence.

Blast! She turned off the water and dropped the shower head into the tub, then grabbed the carrier bag she’d got when she’d bought the hair dye and fixed it over her hair as she ran down the stairs. Her slippery fingers closed round the door handle. She yanked it open and froze.

Will was standing there, his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide.

Double blast! No one wanted to open the door to their boss with a plastic bag wrapped round their head. Not even if they were the sort of girl who didn’t normally care what other people thought about their appearance.

She stared right back at him, issuing him a challenge. Go on, say something. The corner of his lip twitched in the beginnings of a smile. He’d better not laugh at her.

She gestured to her hair then reached to catch a drip running down the side of her head. Her fingers were a dark magenta when she pulled them away.

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. ‘It’s about the tearoom. I can…come back later if…’

‘No! I mean…no. Come in. I’ll just…’

She opened the door wide and let him pass. As soon as it was closed again she sprinted upstairs and into the bathroom. He would just have to wait while she sorted her hair out.

Ten minutes later, when the water had finally run from fuchsia through pale pink to transparent, she stood up and rubbed her head vigorously with a towel.

There were no sounds at all coming from the living room as she walked down the stairs. Had he left? The last thing she needed right now was to have to search the estate for him. It was almost Hattie’s bedtime.

She flicked a strand of damp hair out of her eye as she entered the room and stopped. Two heads were bent over a game of snakes and ladders. Not a word passed their lips. They rolled the dice, moved their counters, scaled ladders and slid down snakes in complete silence.

It wasn’t long before Hattie’s counter occupied the winning square. She looked up at Will and they smiled at each other. ‘Thanks, Will.’

Josie walked over and ruffled Hattie’s hair. ‘Come on, princess. Time you got into your PJs and brushed your teeth.’

Hattie smoothed her hair down with the flat of her hand and disappeared upstairs.

Josie turned to face Will and shrugged. ‘Sorry about that.’

He looked puzzled.

‘Trapped into a game of snakes and ladders. I hope you weren’t too bored.’

He shook his head. ‘It was fun.’

Fun. Really? Then where had been all the shrieks of joy and cries of despair? He was just being polite.

‘What brings you to my doorstep on a Sunday evening, then?’

He picked up a briefcase propped neatly against the leg of the table and removed a manila folder. His fingers were quick and precise, every action clean and efficient.

‘My architect has drawn up some plans for the tearoom. I thought you’d like to have a look. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.’

He handed her the file.

Well, there was a turn-up for the books. Somebody actually wanted her opinion on something for a change. All the years she’d spent trying to get Harry to listen to her…

That was the problem with being labelled an enfant terrible. Nobody took her seriously. This was her chance to show the world she was more than just a disaster on legs.

Will really seemed to want to do the best for the hall. And, since he had no knowledge of her infamous past, he looked at her without the blinkers—saw the potential instead of the danger. She liked that feeling.

Now, if only she could make sure he kept seeing her in that light. She mustn’t do anything stupid to change his opinion of her.

‘Do you want a coffee? I could look through these right now if you like. Strike while the iron’s hot.’ Keep it calm. Keep it professional, that’s right.

He nodded and the faint hint of a smile flickered across his face. ‘That would be great, thank you.’

‘OK…good. If you want to—’ she reached forward and cleared a pile of papers off one of the armchairs ‘—want to take a seat, I’ll be back in a second.’

Will looked round the room and headed for a wooden-armed chair.

Her hands flew forward in warning. ‘No! Not that one!’

Will was frozen, hovering over the chair, knees slightly bent.

She patted the back of the armchair she’d just cleared. ‘Try here. That one would disintegrate under your weight. Only Hattie can get away with sitting on that old thing.’

Will straightened his knees and looked suspiciously at the armchair.

‘This one will hold. I promise.’

It only took a couple of strides for Will to cross the room and perch on the edge of the chair. He didn’t look convinced.

He also didn’t say much. Silence made Josie fidgety.

‘Harry let me furnish this place with bits and pieces from the attics when I moved in. Some of it has seen a bit more woodworm than the rest.’

‘Oh, I see.’ He shuffled back in the seat of the chair, but managed to look just as uncomfortable as he had been when sitting on the edge.

Josie darted into the kitchen and started making the coffee. She had to do something to restrain the urge to babble away like a nutter.

CHAPTER THREE

WHEN SHE RETURNED with two cups of instant coffee he’d managed to slide right back into the armchair. Not daring to risk the other chair herself, she took the folder from him and spread the plans out on the table.

‘As you can see, there aren’t any huge changes. If we want to get the work done before the tourist season really kicks off, we’ll have to move fast.’

She wasn’t really used to reading blueprints. It all seemed a bit sterile and hard to imagine. Too flat. No colours. ‘What’s this section here?’

Will stood up and crossed the room. She pointed at a spot on the drawings and he stood behind her and leant over, following her finger.

‘That’s the self-service area and tills.’

‘They’re staying in the same place, then?’

She twisted her neck to look at him and discovered they were almost nose to nose. She hadn’t understood why Marianne had gone all weak at the knees at his supposedly ‘serious’ eyes, but now that they were focused on her she was starting to see where the attraction lay. Her breath stuck in her throat and she couldn’t do anything but blink back at him.