Business Arrangement Bride. Jessica Hart
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Название: Business Arrangement Bride
Автор: Jessica Hart
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon Cherish
isbn: 9781474015004
isbn:
That wouldn’t solve her immediate problems, though. It would take too long for her mother and Bill and, anyway, she would have to find a job that earned enough to cover childcare costs. What she needed right now was some money to put down as a deposit on a flat and cover the first few months rent until she had some proper income from the agency but, short of robbing a bank, Mary couldn’t think where she was going to get it.
Her thoughts were still circling worriedly as she puffed up the last flight of steps and rounded the landing to stop dead when she saw who was waiting outside her office door.
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘It’s you.’
Her heart had lurched violently at the sight of him, leaving her breathless and a little shaken. Tyler Watts was the last person she had expected to see this morning.
He looked as grim as ever and his massive presence was overwhelming on the cramped landing. Mary was suddenly very conscious of the fact that her skirt was creased, her hair unwashed and she hadn’t even had time to put on any lipstick.
She had overslept after a broken night and had fallen into yesterday’s clothes as she hurried to get Bea ready for the day. Normally her mother would look after her, but Virginia was preoccupied with her coming meeting with Bill. Bea wasn’t sleeping well at the moment and Mary would have been exhausted even if she hadn’t had her own worries to keep her awake long after she had got the baby back to sleep.
She had spent half the night replaying that conversation with Tyler and wishing that she hadn’t lost her temper. His attempt at blackmail had been outrageous, of course, but it wasn’t as if he had been trying to force her into white slavery, was it? All he wanted was a bit of coaching.
Would a few tips on how to make a relationship work have been so hard to do? Mary asked herself. It was only what she would discuss over a bottle of wine with her girlfriends, after all. They were all relationship experts now. And, in return, she could have had an introduction to Steven Halliday and a chance at a contract that would save her agency.
But no, she had had to get all righteous and uppity because he unnerved her. The way he was unnerving her now.
‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded rudely.
Tyler was looking from her to Bea. ‘You’ve got a baby.’
‘My, he’s a quick one.’ Bea got very heavy after three flights of stairs and Mary shifted her to her other hip. ‘We can’t fool him, can we, Bea?’
‘Is she yours?’
‘She is, and before you ask, no, her father’s not around.’
Mary pulled her bag round and fished one-handedly for the key. Having already accused him of being a bully, a blackmailer and being emotionally stunted, it seemed a bit late to try sucking up to him, and she was too tired and fed up with her whole situation to make an effort any more.
‘What do you want?’
‘To see you,’ he said and then looked at his watch. It was half past nine. ‘Do you always start work this late?’ he asked disapprovingly. In Tyler’s world, everyone was at their desks at eight o’clock on the dot, and he was probably at his even earlier.
‘No, not always,’ said Mary, still searching for the key. ‘It’s been one of those mornings.’
Where was that key? She sucked in her breath with frustration. Of course, she hadn’t had time to transfer the contents to a different bag so she was still carrying the one that had broken so inopportunely last night, and the muddle at the bottom was even worse than usual. She had managed to knot the broken strap together, but it hardly made for a professional image.
Still, it was too late for that.
This was hopeless, thought Mary, rummaging fruitlessly. She glanced at Tyler, still waiting for her to open the door. Her unwelcoming greeting didn’t seem to have put him off, but then she guessed he was a man who didn’t go until he had said what he was going to say.
‘Look, would you mind holding her a moment?’ she said, handing Bea over to him before he had a chance to answer. ‘I’ll just find my key.’
Appalled, Tyler found himself holding the baby, his arms extended stiffly so that she dangled from his hands. He stared at her nervously and the baby stared back with round eyes that were exactly the same grey as her mother’s.
‘Ah…here it is.’ Mary produced the key from the depths of her bag and inserted it in the lock. She opened the door on to a room that was surprisingly light as the autumn sunshine poured through the two windows set into the sloping roof, and she waved a hand with a trace of sarcasm. ‘Come into my luxury penthouse,’ she said.
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