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CHAPTER 7
Audrey was trying to maintain her calm, but the man in front of her and his awful accusations was rubbing her the wrong way. So being cool, calm, and collected went all down the drain.
“If you must know, Mr. Mayer, my mother was a wonderful woman, the best, if I may say so. And never, in a million years, would she have married my father simply because he was going to inherit a business and a big house. She wasn’t like that.”
Her fury strangely seemed to calm James. His voice was now lower than it had been a moment ago and without the growl to it.
“Calm yourself, woman,” he said but without using a mocking tone. “You’re overreacting right now.”
She didn’t think about what she did next… It was pure instinct. The sound of the slap echoe
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“Miss Seymour… I…” James stopped and expected until she faced him again. And Audrey did face him again. She was conscious of the dark shadow of his chest hair under the thin cotton shirt he was wearing. Her mouth went dry. Ridiculous, but somehow her body kept insisting that she acknowledge her sexual awareness of this man when it was the last thing she wanted to do.“I don’t want to argue with you, Miss Seymour,” he said flatly. “I really mean that. But I’m not prepared to let Seymour House go now when my father has expressed an interest in acquiring the property. For that reason, I will buy the house, with or without you on board. If it helps your ultimate decision, most of my time will be spent seeing to our business in the States.” Audrey flushed in spite of herself. She liked pla
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The intimacy of the dark, quiet garden was like a different world and, as she began to tremble, his lips moved over her face with swift burning kisses before returning to her half-open mouth. James plundered the undefended territory with ruthless expertise and Audrey heard herself moan as he triggered the desire for more. Her arms had wound around his neck and her fingers tangled themselves in the dark crisp hair at the base of his neck. He groaned in his throat and at the same time, she felt the unmistakable proof of his arousal against the soft swell of her stomach. It was all she needed to bring her back to reality and the enormity of what she was doing. This was James Mayer, the most arrogant Don Juan she ever knew. The same man who had caused her such ang
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Again, she supposed this was reasonable. Audrey took a deep breath. She didn’t quite know how they’d got on to this and she certainly hadn’t meant to show her heart to James Mayer of all people. But it was too late now to back off.“I like children… very much,” she replied flatly. “Some areas of this job can need extra-special training, particularly with children with congenital handicaps for instance, and I was thinking I’d like to specialize in this if possible.” Audrey raised her head and looked at him as the silence grew. His eyes were narrowed on her face and she couldn’t quite read his expression but he wasn’t pleased, that was for sure.“Of course, this might not be possible now, I see that,” she continued in a defensive tone this time.
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“What I’m trying to say so badly is that I need someone short-term to step in for Mary…” Was he thinking of asking her to take care of his father? Audrey looked at him with puzzlement mixed with shock.“I still don’t understand… What is it that you’re really asking me here?”“Audrey, I would like to ask Amy to come to the cottage and keep an eye on my father… If you don’t have anything against my request… Amy will fill in just until I can find a proper replacement…” he finally said. She sighed, trying to understand what she was really feeling about his demand. Amy wasn’t a servant or a maid in their house. She had always been free to come and go as she pleased. Her parents, Audrey herself, trayed her like she was one of the Seymour family. So, Audrey didn’t know
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