The Only One. PENNY JORDAN

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      A bare, golden stubble decorated the fields, birds scratching amongst it for food. The hedgerows shone scarlet with berries and as she drew in lungfuls of clean, fresh air, Brooke decided that she was not sorry not to be returning to London.

      Back at the Lodge she brushed her hair, and reapplied her make-up, changing out of the jeans and sweater she had worn to walk Balsebar, back into her tweed suit.

      Although she normally enjoyed the walk from the Lodge to the house, on this occasion she felt very tense. If the chairman of Hart Enterprises was as formidable as his reputation suggested she didn’t want to arrive wind-blown and hot, As she walked up to the house Bill Edwards watched her from an upstairs window, sighing faintly and glancing at his watch. When Adam had told him what he had arranged he had been dumbfounded. Adam’s affairs were legion; common knowledge among his senior staff, but this was the first time in all the years that Bill had known him that he had ever contemplated mixing business with pleasure.

      Whatever her other attributes might or might not be Brooke Beauclere was certainly a very, very attractive woman, Bill thought appreciatively watching the elegant swing of her body as she walked towards the building. She carried her height well, and her stride was that of a woman who feels confident and at home with her body. Oh yes, he could well understand why Adam was so keen to pursue the chase, but Adam was notorious for his cold detached view of everything he did. Once he had captured his prey he would no longer be interested in her—that was what always happened—but if the woman was employed by Hart Enterprises?

      Sighing Bill turned his attention back to studying the resume which had arrived by special messenger only half an hour ago. Reading it he couldn’t help but be impressed by Brooke’s qualifications. She appeared to have all the attributes necessary to make a first rate PA, but he doubted, after seeing that flaming banner of red hair, that she could match Adam’s clinical detachment once their affair was over.

      Having knocked on the door and been told to enter, Brooke was slightly surprised to be confronted by a mild-looking man in his early thirties, who responded to her evident surprise with a slight smile.

      ‘Bill Edwards,’ he introduced himself, ‘I’m sorry that out chairman can’t interview you himself. He’s been called away on urgent business, but I am empowered to offer you the job, provided we can both agree that you and it are well matched. Please sit down.’

      The interview was a pleasant one. He asked Brooke a little about the history of the house, which she willingly told him.

      ‘There’s always a sense of sadness at the passing of these old families,’ he sympathised when she had explained that her uncle had been the last male Meade, ‘although presumably if you had a son the title could be revived?’

      ‘I should think so, but it’s hardly important,’ Brooke told him. ‘I believe Mr Hart intends to occupy the Dower House himself?’

      Noting the ‘Mr Hart’ Bill frowned slightly. He had been pretty sure that during the cocktail party Adam had made arrangements to see the girl again. She didn’t look like the type well-schooled in deception and the ‘Mr Hart’ had tripped naturally off her tongue. Neither, now that he had a closer look at her, did she resemble Adam’s normal conquests. Her chin was too determined somehow, and she met his look quite frankly and openly. ‘How do you think you will like working for Mr Hart?’ he questioned her thoughtfully, watching her reaction.

      ‘I’m not really sure—not having met him, but if he’s prepared to take me on as his PA sight unseen, then….’

      Suppressing a sigh Bill wondered if he ought to tell her that she most certainly had met ‘Mr Hart’, and then decided against it. Coward, he taunted himself, as he wound up the interview, but Adam had left him with specific instructions. He wanted Brooke Beauclere as his PA.

      When he mentioned Brooke’s salary, naming the same sum as Adam’s present PA earned Brooke raised her eyebrows and looked rather stunned. ‘That’s very generous, isn’t it?’ she queried.

      ‘It’s exactly what Betty—Mr Hart’s present PA earns.’

      ‘But surely that’s with a London weighting allowance….’

      Bill laughed. ‘You’re the first prospective employee I’ve ever interviewed who’s tried to negotiate her salary downwards.’ He found himself liking her more and more, and worrying more and more about her ability to cope with Adam, but felt honour-bound not to say anything to her. Adam was his boss and a good one, he owed him his loyalty and his livelihood.

      ‘There’s just one thing,’ he said as he stood up to escort Brooke to the door. ‘Mr Hart would like you to start here on Monday morning. It’s extremely convenient having you living at the Lodge. He’ll be moving into the Dower House over the weekend and initially you’ll be working from there….’

      ‘But the place is practically derelict,’ Brooke told him. ‘It’s been empty since our last tenants left and that’s three years ago.’

      ‘We’re moving in a team to check it over today. Just as long as A … Mr Hart can have a terminal set up linked to our main computer he can work, although I believe he intends to supervise the renovations here himself. You don’t think you’ll find that too painful?’ He was making a last ditch attempt to dissuade her from taking the job, without being seen to do so, Bill acknowledged, but Brooke shook her head. ‘Sentiment of that kind is something I can’t afford right now,’ she told him simply, extending her hand to shake his. On her feet, she was an inch or so taller than he was himself, Bill thought ruefully, beautifully composed, and coolly remote; the thought of what Adam could and probably would do to that fragile shell of hauteur made him cringe in anticipation of her pain, but there was nothing he could do about it, and for the first time since he had come to work for Adam, he found himself almost actively disliking him.

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