The Billionaire's Marriage Mission

Beth stared after him. He was going? Just like that? But then, why wouldn’t he? She had made it pretty clear she couldn’t wait to see the back of him, after all. But still…‘These clothes,’ she called after him. ‘When will you be around so I can pop them back to you after I’ve washed them?’

He turned at the gate, surveying her through slits of brilliant grey light for a moment or two, his face expressionless. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said lazily. ‘Sandra has umpteen pairs of jogging bottoms and T-shirts; she won’t miss those.’

They were his sister’s clothes? The fact that this gave her satisfaction was a warning in itself. ‘I couldn’t possibly keep them,’ she said primly. ‘I must drop them by at some point.’

He shrugged. ‘There’s a mail box just outside the gates for any letters and parcels that get delivered when I’m up here. It’s always unlocked. Drop them in there if you must.’ His tone stated she was being unnecessarily pedantic.

‘Right.’ She nodded briskly, masking the umbrage she was feeling at his complete disinclination to any more contact. ‘I’ll do that.’ Harvey was whining slightly at her side and she kept her hand on his collar. The dog obviously didn’t want to see Travis leave and she wouldn’t put it past Harvey to go galloping after him if she let go. ‘Goodbye, then.’

‘Goodbye, Beth,’ Travis said softly. ‘It was nice meeting you.’

The rest of the day was a definite anticlimax. It didn’t take more than half an hour to settle in to her temporary new home and, after raking out the ashes of the fire and laying a new one ready to be lit that evening, Beth took Harvey for a long walk in the woods surrounding the property.

The May day was another warm one and after a couple of hours the path they were following dropped steeply beside a tiny stream that burrowed its way out of the hillside. Beth sat on the grassy bank as Harvey cavorted in the water, his splashing offending the birds in the trees surrounding them, who showed their displeasure by giving alarm calls and the odd bout of mad fluttering.

In spite of Harvey’s antics it was very peaceful. Beth, her back resting against an ancient oak tree, allowed her mind to wander, and it was a full minute before she realised that all she was thinking about was Travis Black. Which was crazy—worse than crazy. She didn’t know what had got into her.

She sat up straight, annoyed with herself. He had been kind, she had to give him that, but the whole episode was now a closed chapter, so why was she wasting one second thinking about a virtual stranger? And a much too attractive stranger at that. Travis was the sort of man who ought to have ‘Danger to Women’ stamped across his forehead in big red letters.

Harvey decided to come and shake himself at her side in the next moment, which effectively cut Beth’s musings short, but for the rest of the walk she made sure Travis was kept firmly on the perimeter of her thoughts. It was a battle, but she managed it.

A golden twilight was scenting the air when Beth finally pushed open the gate of Herb Cottage much later that day. She was exhausted, but pleasantly so. Harvey was making it clear he felt his paws had been walked off and that he was ready for his dinner as he plodded after her.

She saw the big bunch of flowers lying on the doorstep almost immediately, her pulse quickening as she walked up the garden path. The pale pink rosebuds, freesias and baby’s breath were wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pink ribbon. The small card read, ‘A little housewarming present’. It was signed simply ‘Travis’.

She stared at the firm black scrawl, her heart thumping. He had bought her flowers. It was the last thing she’d expected after their somewhat terse parting. Why had he done that?

She opened the door, clicking the latch down once she was in the cottage so there couldn’t be a repeat of last night’s performance. Walking into the tiny kitchen, she lay the flowers on the draining board, continuing to stare at them until Harvey’s whine reminded her he was waiting for his meal.

Once the dog was fed, she dug out a vase from the bits and pieces in the cupboard under the sink and placed the flowers in water. They were gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

They didn’t mean anything; he was probably just being kind. She nodded at the thought. Which was fine. People were allowed to be kind without any ulterior motives, after all. These flowers didn’t mean he was interested in her. She frowned at the sweetly scented blooms as she carried the vase through to the sitting room. But his doing this was a…complication.

She plonked the vase down on the old-fashioned dresser and went to fix herself a quick meal of salad and cold meat. She ate her supper on a tray in the sitting room, staring at the flowers, Harvey sitting to attention at her feet as he eyed her last piece of home-cured ham hopefully.

The flowers didn’t mean she would necessarily see anything of Travis Black again, she told herself later as she washed the dishes before getting ready for bed. From what he’d told her, he was a busy man and time was at a premium. And, as she didn’t want to see him again, that suited her perfectly.

Nevertheless, in the short time before she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help anticipating the next day and whether there would be a knock at the door. And she didn’t like the way her pulse quickened at the possibility either.

There was no knock at the door, not on the following day or the subsequent ones. Travis had obviously returned to Bristol after his weekend at his bolt-hole. Beth told herself she was immensely relieved that a difficult episode had finished on a good note, and she was, in a way. She didn’t want to see Travis again—she didn’t want to get mixed up with any man again—so she couldn’t quite understand why she found him popping into her mind at odd moments.

She washed and ironed the T-shirt and jogging bottoms and packaged them up with a note thanking him for his hospitality and the gift of the flowers, depositing the parcel in the post box he’d spoken of on Saturday morning. Once that was done she felt a little better about everything. She had kept the note polite and friendly but faintly dismissive, covertly indicating she didn’t expect their paths to cross again.

As one peaceful May day after another passed, Beth found herself eating and sleeping better than she had in years. This was partly due to the peace and quiet, but also because the days were sunny and warm and she and Harvey could tramp the countryside to their hearts’ content, returning home tired and happy as evening shadows stretched across the cottage garden.

Green valleys and wooded hillsides, little grey farms and whitewashed cottages provided surroundings so different from the clamour and bustle of London that Beth felt she’d been transported to another world rather than a different part of England. She seemed to come across something enchantingly different almost every day. A buzzard soaring from a rocky crag, a brood of baby ducklings swimming in a little pool amidst the heather, ponies frolicking and chasing each other by the side of a dashing stream and the delicate pale rosettes of butterwort leaves on a green river bank.

It all worked a magic she had desperately needed. As her skin took on a golden glow from the sun and her blonde hair turned a shade lighter, so her mind was renewed. Suddenly the thought of tomorrow was exciting and pleasurable rather than something to be got through with gritted teeth and a determined smile. Here she didn’t have to pretend to anyone. She shopped locally but, apart from politely passing the time of day with the shopkeepers, kept herself to herself. In London she had been the most gregarious of souls, here she was positively hermit-like. But it was wonderful, liberating. She felt reborn.

And so the month of May passed, June coming in on the crest of a heatwave as the weather turned even warmer.

It was on the second of the month, some three weeks after she had moved to Shropshire, that Beth saw the Mercedes snaking its way past the cottage one Friday evening as she was throwing a ball for Harvey in the garden. She froze, her eyes following the vehicle as it disappeared from sight without stopping.

As far as she knew, Travis hadn’t been around since that first night. She supposed he might have been, but she hadn’t seen anything of him.

Harvey barked to remind her to continue with the game but now she did so mechanically, suddenly feeling all on edge. Which was ridiculous, plain daft in fact, but she couldn’t help it.

Had he noticed her in the garden? She became aware that she was in a pair of her oldest jeans and a thin vest top, make-upless and with her hair bundled into a high ponytail to keep her neck cool. She looked a mess.

As the realisation hit her, Beth hurried back into the house but there brought herself up short. She was not going to change or brush her hair or anything else. What on earth was the matter with her? He wouldn’t come to see her anyway.

Deliberately she made herself go into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine and then walking through into the tiny back garden, which was only big enough to hold a profusion of flower-filled tubs and an old wooden bench. It was a sun-trap though, and she often spent the last daylight hours lazily watching fat honey-bees buzzing busily from flower to flower.

Harvey flung himself down at her feet and promptly started to snooze, twitching and whining in his sleep now and again as he dreamt. Beth envied his placid equanimity.

It could only have been twenty minutes later when the knock came at the front door. She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard it, not with Harvey waking up with a start and barking his head off. Setting her glass down, she forced herself to walk calmly into the house and through to the front door. Taking a long deep breath, she opened it. She had no doubt who it would be.

‘Hi.’ Unlike her, Travis looked unruffled and cool, his dark blue shirt open at the neck and his light cotton trousers crease-free. ‘Neighbourly visit to see how you’re doing,’ he drawled easily. ‘How are you? Everything OK?’

‘Me? Oh, I’m great, thanks.’ She knew she’d gone brick-red and it was utterly humiliating, especially in view of his aura of relaxed self-confidence. She’d just forgotten how big and attractive he was. ‘Would…would you like to come in for a minute?’ she asked reluctantly when he didn’t say anything else.

‘Thanks.’ He followed her into the cottage, Harvey bouncing about delightedly at the reunion. Immediately the cottage seemed to shrink. ‘This is cosy,’ he said, glancing around.

‘I’m having a glass of wine in the garden. Care to join me?’ Beth hoped she sounded less flustered than she felt.

‘Sounds good.’ He smiled slowly and her pulse accelerated.

She all but scampered through to the kitchen away from his disturbing presence, remembering belatedly that the bench was the only seat in the back garden and whereas it was fine for one it was a mite too cosy for two. He stood in the doorway as she found another glass and poured the wine, the piercing grey eyes on her hot face. Beth felt all fingers and thumbs.

‘Thanks.’ He took the glass and stood aside for her to go into the garden. Suddenly she seemed to have forgotten how to walk. Annoyed with herself, she led the way.

Once outside, Beth waved towards the bench. ‘Please sit down,’ she said as casually as she could, picking up her glass and perching somewhat precariously on the edge of one of the tubs of greenery opposite the bench. ‘And thanks again for the flowers,’ she added, ‘but you shouldn’t have.’

‘Shouldn’t I?’ He sat with one arm stretched along the back of the bench, one leg crossed over the other knee. It was a very masculine pose. But then Travis was a very masculine man, she thought inanely. ‘Why is that?’

‘Why…’ For a moment her brain scrambled. Then she said quickly, ‘After all you’d done to help, it should have been me buying you something to say thank you.’

He smiled, shrugging his shoulders. ‘I think not. All I did was provide a bed for the night.’

She hoped her nose wasn’t shiny but ten to one it was. It also felt a little sunburnt and was probably glowing like a beacon. She tried to ignore the effect his smoky voice had on her nerve-endings as she said, ‘Nevertheless I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t happened by. It was a ridiculous position to be in. I’m not normally a fluttery type of female.’