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She swallowed and said huskily, ‘We’ll both do our best to obtain a good sale for you, Mrs Birtles.’
There were various arrangements to be made. The items to be sold would have to be catalogued. Charlotte had had experience of this while working for an auction house during her university holidays, and offered to take over this chore.
‘It will give me an opportunity to teach Sophy how to prepare a catalogue,’ she explained, when Oliver said quietly to her,
‘Cataloguing is a bit of a chore—are you sure?’
‘Sophy is working for you?’ He frowned.
‘Just on a part-time basis at the moment,’ Charlotte told him. ‘To fit in with the twins.’ Pride forbade her to add that Sophy’s job would be more temporary than she had planned if he succeeded in taking the major part of her business.
He was still frowning. ‘I shouldn’t have thought your business merited taking on extra staff at the moment.’
Mrs Birtles had left the room to instruct her housekeeper to bring them all some coffee, and so there was no one to overhear them as Charlotte forgot how grateful she had been to him not five minutes before and hissed bitterly, ‘What do you know about my business? For your information, until you decided to open up in this area—’ She bit her lip, suddenly aware of what she was giving away, but it was too late.
Oliver was saying softly, ‘You took Sophy on because you knew, if she didn’t have a job, she’d lose her home.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Charlotte denied. ‘I’m a businesswoman, not a charitable organisation.’
There was no opportunity for them to say any more because Mrs Birtles had returned.
After they had finished their coffee, Charlotte offered to drive over the following week to take the necessary measurements on a day when Mrs Birtles had informed her that the house would be empty.
When Oliver shook his head, Charlotte stared at him. Didn’t he trust her to do the job properly?
‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come to an empty house, especially one that’s so remote,’ he told her calmly. When she started to object, he said quietly, ‘Yes, perhaps I am overreacting a little, but you forget, I’m from London. Few agents there can forget that Suzy Lamplugh disappeared after ostensibly showing a prospective client around an empty property.’
Charlotte stared at him, confused by the conflicting emotions she was experiencing. He was so compassionate, so caring, and she was so unused to this kind of protective concern from anyone, least of all from a man.
‘But I shan’t be showing anyone around,’ she told him when she had got herself under control and subdued the sudden rush of helpless pleasure his concern brought.
‘No, but you will be here alone. I’m glad you’ve taken Sophy on. Not just for her sake, but with two of you working together it should be much safer for you both.’
Charlotte opened her mouth to correct his misapprehension that she took Sophy with her when showing prospective customers around properties, and then closed it again.
Half an hour later, when they had completed a tour of the gardens, and Oliver offered to drive her back to town, Charlotte found herself agreeing easily and with a sudden sharp, exhilarating rush of pleasure.
She wanted to be with him, she recognised as he opened the car door for her. She wanted to be with him; she wanted to have him looking at her the way he was doing right now, smiling into her eyes and making her feel as though she were something fragile and precious, as though…
Stop it, she warned herself. Just because he’s being friendly, it doesn’t mean that… That what? That he found her attractive…desirable… What on earth was she thinking? Of course he didn’t.
He had kissed her, had held her. But he was a Londoner, a city dweller, sophisticated and worldly—kisses were common currency in his world and meant nothing.
Nothing at all.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘IT WAS generous of you to suggest to Mrs Birtles that she appoint us as joint agents,’ Charlotte said hesitantly.
She had been conscious of the occasional glances Oliver gave her as he drove, and her own conscience prodded her now into thanking him for what he had done.
‘Not generous at all,’ he replied promptly. ‘Just good business practice.’ As though he had felt her stiffen and withdraw from him, he added easily, ‘You’ve got entirely the wrong idea about me, Charlotte. I have no intention of trying to usurp your place in the business community, but this area is growing fast, and I honestly believe there is room for both of us—’
‘You aren’t planning to stay here,’ Charlotte broke in. ‘You just want to drain the area dry while there’s a boom on, and then you’ll move out.’
‘No.’ His response was sharp and decisive. ‘It’s true that originally when my partner and I decided to go our separate ways I wasn’t sure if I could afford the luxury of a country office as well as one in London, but I like it here. I’ve decided to sell out my share of the London office. I know someone who’s keen to buy me out—for a very generous sum. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I wanted—’ He broke off to overtake a man on a bike, and Charlotte wondered what he had been about to say.
‘I’m tired of London life,’ he told her when he had successfully passed the wobbling bike. ‘I’ve reached a stage in my life when I want to put down roots, establish a firm base.’
