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CHAPTER 9
He watched the car drive away without responding to Anthony’s questions. In truth, James didn’t hear the other man, his mind and senses still tied up with the young woman who was the daughter of his father’s old rival.
James admitted to himself that he had, quite unjustly, pictured a different kind of woman from the one he just saw, when his father had first told him about his love for Diana Seymour.
The fact that everyone had told him the daughter was the spitting image of her mother, both physically and in temperament, had prepared him for a cold, calculating, beautiful woman with her eye to the big prize. The sort of woman who didn’t mind trampling over anyone who got in her way.
He hadn’t been too sure of Audrey&
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“He said what?” Amy stared at Audrey, shaking her head.“Look, it wasn’t like that, Addie. I promise you.”“You know about it, then?” Audrey was beginning to feel very confused. Nothing was as it seemed. They were sitting in the living room at Seymour House with a tray of coffee in front of them, but she had succumbed to pressure from Amy and related all that had passed between her and James before she’d even had a sip of coffee. Now she reached forward and took a hefty gulp of the scalding-hot liquid before asking again.“Amy, am I the only person in the world who doesn’t know about George Mayer and my mother?”“It was all so long ago, Addie. Of course, I knew George, having been born in the
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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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The next week in London was hectic but Audrey welcomed it. She worked late every night at the hospital in an effort to begin setting the wheels in motion for an easy takeover by her replacement. Once home, she ate her dinner and then had an hour or so cleaning out cupboards and things of that nature before falling into bed about midnight. She wanted to leave the flat in pristine condition when she left. As promised, Audrey returned home at the weekend to help Amy with the heartrending task of sorting out her parents’ belongings and clothes. Thankfully, she saw nothing of James while she was home, but when she and Amy accepted an invitation for Sunday lunch from Anthony, Gillian Blackburn mentioned that he had taken Clarice to dinner in the previous week.“I didn’t know he was in London.”&
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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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Audrey saw and heard nothing of James in the short while before she left London for good, and she was grateful for the break. The evening she’d spent in his company and particularly the last minutes of it, had unsettled her far more than she liked. She’d found she couldn’t get him out of her mind for more than a few minutes at a time and it unnerved her. His touch… his kiss had unnerved her. James Mayer unnerved her. She had dealt with James more easily when he was being obnoxious, she admitted to herself a day or two after their dinner together. Audrey hadn’t wanted to enjoy being in his company but she had found herself doing just that. And his kiss… Why was it this man only had to touch her for bells to ring? It was humiliating, the response he triggered in her body
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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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James left the house twenty minutes later. Amy had agreed she would consider the possibility of becoming a temporary live-in housekeeper for a while for his father but stressed this would depend on both George’s wishes in the matter and how she felt she would fit into the household when she met him again. Amy had also suggested the issue should be raised naturally in conversation rather than James mentioning it beforehand. It was the best he was going to get and a great deal more than he had expected. When the taxi he’d called dropped him outside the charming cottage, James didn’t immediately go inside in spite of the drizzling rain. He stood in the shadows, cursing the fact he’d let his heart rule his head back there at Seymour House.&n
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Audrey glanced at her. She remembered her mother telling her the Mumfords’ son had been the same age as Amy’s eldest son and great friends with the boy. Amy had had so much taken away from her by the sea, which had been the village’s livelihood at one time, but she never seemed bitter or sorry for herself. Nevertheless, with the strong maternal streak she had, Amy must have mourned the fact she would never have grandchildren of her own flesh and blood. The thought caused her to reach out and hug the older woman briefly.“What would I do without you? You are and always will be my family, Amy. Don’t you ever forget that.”“Sweet girl, you are as much my daughter as you were for Diana and Henry. You’re stuck with me forever, no matter what. Don’t you forget that!”“Oka
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