The Billionaire's Marriage Mission

He didn’t comment on this. What he did say was, ‘What’s that terrible smell? Raw sewage?’

‘I slipped over at the back of the house. I think an animal had been there.’

‘And how.’ He didn’t bother to try to hide his amusement.

She wasn’t about to stand in the wind and cold discussing how she smelt. And he hadn’t exactly been a gentleman to mention it in the first place. ‘So, can you get me in?’ she asked shortly. ‘It’s freezing out here.’

‘Probably, but I don’t intend to. There’s no point in forcing the door or a window and causing a considerable amount of damage when you can contact the agent in the morning and ask them to call by. This place is rented by Turner & Turner, isn’t it? The local estate agent?’

‘Yes, but—’

‘So I suggest you come back to my place and get a good night’s sleep and we’ll sort it in the morning. You haven’t got anything on the stove in there, have you? Nothing’s going to cause a problem?’

Was he mad? She would no more think of going back to ‘his place’ than flying to the moon. Stiffly now, Beth said, ‘I lit a fire. I can’t leave it.’

‘You already have,’ he pointed out silkily.

‘The guard wasn’t in front of it.’

‘There’s hardly any smoke coming out of the chimney so it’s probably dying out already. It’ll be all right.’

So now he was an expert on fires? ‘I can’t possibly just walk away; you must see that?’

‘Of course you can.’ The comment about the estate agent had told her he must be a local, and this was confirmed now when he added, ‘I know John Turner; I’ll call him myself in the morning and explain the situation. You’ll be back in by ten o’clock. He’d prefer that than breaking and entering, I’m sure.’

She didn’t want to be back in by ten o’clock, she wanted to be back in now. ‘If you know him, can’t you phone now?’

She could see the silhouette of his head shaking as he said, ‘No can do. Friday night is John’s snooker night with the lads. Nothing gets in the way of that.’

This was absolutely ridiculous. ‘I couldn’t possibly go home with you, Mr…?’

‘Black. Travis Black. Why couldn’t you come home with me, Miss…?’

‘My name’s Beth Marton and I’m not in the habit of accepting overnight accommodation with complete strangers,’ she said tightly, refusing to acknowledge Harvey, who had set himself down at the side of Travis Black for all the world as though he was his dog instead of hers. The traitor.

‘We’re not strangers, we’ve introduced ourselves.’ It was lazy and the amusement was back tenfold. ‘And rest assured I’m not so desperate for female company that I’ve seized on your unfortunate predicament with rape and pillage in mind. It’s a genuine offer; you’ll sleep alone, especially in view of that…unusual scent you’re wearing.’

Swine. Dignity was hellishly difficult in view of the pink silk pyjamas and the smell, but Beth made a stab at it as she said crisply, ‘Thank you for the offer but I couldn’t, Mr Black. There’s Harvey, for one thing.’

‘I wasn’t proposing you tie him up and leave him here. Of course he comes too.’ He turned at this point, beginning to walk back to his car. ‘Still, it’s up to you.’

‘Where are you going?’ Beth knew her voice was too shrill but she couldn’t help it. He wasn’t going to just leave her here, was he? No one would be so hard-hearted…would they?

‘Home.’ He didn’t bother to turn round. ‘It’s late and it’s been a long day. I’m hungry, tired and it’s beginning to rain. You can come with me or stay here—it’s up to you.’

She didn’t move until he had actually seated himself in the car; she couldn’t quite believe he was just going to drive off. When he started the engine she admitted defeat, especially with the few spots of rain turning into a steady downpour.

She hurried across the garden to the gate, Harvey bounding at her heels, and tapped on the driver’s window. It lowered. This time she kept the light just clear of his eyes but allowed the torch to give her a clear view of his face. It was an interesting face. Not handsome exactly—it was too rugged for that and the bright light showed up a scar on one chiselled cheekbone, but it had something which would make any red-blooded woman take a second glance. His hair was ebony-black but she couldn’t determine the colour of his eyes with the brightness of the light distorting everything.

‘I can’t stay out here all night,’ she muttered. ‘There might not be anyone else pass by.’

‘Sure fire bet,’ he agreed pleasantly. ‘My house is the only other building along here and the lane finishes at my front garden.’

And he had just been going to drive off knowing that? ‘Where do I put Harvey?’ she asked stiffly.

In reply he got out of the car and opened the back of the estate. Harvey jumped in and settled on the big blanket there as though he had been doing it all his life. Beth glared at the animal as Travis pulled the door down. He then walked round the vehicle and opened the passenger door for her without saying a word, but she just knew he was smiling inside.

She slid in. ‘Thank you.’ It was said through gritted teeth.

‘My pleasure.’ He closed the door very gently.

Once he had joined her in the car she became even more aware of the height and breadth of him and felt all the more vulnerable because of it. She also became rather more aware of the truly disgusting smell emanating from her clothes. ‘I hope I don’t spoil the seat,’ she said in a small voice as the car began to move. She had noticed the car was a top of the range Mercedes Estate. She bet it was the first time the beautiful interior had been subjected to such abuse.

‘It’s leather; it’ll sponge down if necessary. Once we get to my place you can have a shower and I’ll sort out something clean for you to put on. It won’t be pink, though,’ he added, deadpan.

‘Not your colour?’ Beth asked in the same tone.

‘Clashes with my eyes.’ He grinned without looking at her.

‘Right.’ He was trying to put her at her ease. And, she reminded herself, he was providing a roof over her head for the night and if he hadn’t come along she would have been in a real fix. ‘This is very kind of you,’ she said belatedly.

‘That’s me all over. Orphans, strays, lost sheep…’

‘Yeah, right.’ He was joking but the way she was feeling it was a little too near the mark. Beth forced all emotion out of her voice as she said, ‘If yours is the only place on this road I was lucky you came along.’

‘Especially as I don’t live here all the time. I mostly work and live in Bristol.’

‘Oh, yes?’ She glanced at the hard profile. ‘What do you do?’ He wasn’t the type of man you could easily pin a label on.

‘Industrial design.’

That covered a thousand and one possible avenues, but as his voice had been dismissive Beth didn’t like to ask what he specialised in. Instead she said, ‘So your home here is a sort of weekend place?’

‘More of a bolt-hole,’ he said shortly. ‘And you? Do you work?’

She nodded. ‘Although I’m taking a break for a while. I’m an architect.’

She waited for the surprise which normally—and, as far as Beth was concerned, unflatteringly—followed this statement when she was talking to a man socially. As far as the male race seemed to think, the fact that she was slender and finely boned with honey-blonde hair and big blue eyes precluded her from having a profession which involved visiting construction sites and dealing with builders, among other things. The least of the offenders usually attempted to hide their amazement and say something like, ‘Really? How interesting,’ as they eyed her up and down blankly. The worst guffawed and said they didn’t believe it.

Travis merely nodded. ‘Work for a practice or local authority, or freelance?’

‘A practice. They’re holding my job for six months.’

She’d anticipated more questions but when none were forthcoming settled more easily into her seat, having become aware she was holding herself as taut as piano wire. The trees either side of the narrow lane formed a canopy overhead and the night was pitch black, the car’s powerful headlights cutting through the darkness but somehow emphasising the loneliness of her surroundings. Her stomach kept flipping over like a pancake on Shrove Tuesday.

And then suddenly there were massive gates in front of them which Travis opened by remote control within the car. They drove through on to a pebbled drive and almost immediately the vista opened up and Beth saw a large house a hundred yards or so in the distance.

She didn’t know what she had been expecting—probably a cottage similar to the one she was renting or something a little bigger—but it wasn’t this mansion of a place in what was virtually a small park. She glanced at Travis—a quick look—but his eyes were on the windscreen. As bolt-holes went, this certainly wasn’t the norm. Mind you, she was beginning to think Travis wasn’t exactly the norm either, she thought ruefully.