AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I see nothing obvious about it. You must be mad.’
‘I’m being practical,’ he returned. ‘You live locally, so there’s no travelling involved. You’re currently unemployed. You’re totally trustworthy, computer literate, and you’ve worked capably in administration, according to your former boss’s grudging reference.’
‘How did you know that?’ she demanded furiously.
‘Your father told me. And, like me, he thinks you could do the job easily. For one thing, the firms I’ve hired are all local, and you’ll probably know them. That’s a big plus.’
He added softly, ‘I’m naturally aware that you’re just waiting to tell me that you’d rather be boiled in oil than accept any help from a totally unreconstructed lowlife like me, but, in fact, I’m the one who needs your help. And all I’m asking is that you think about it.’
‘I have thought,’ she said. ‘And the answer’s “no”.’
‘May I ask why?’
She bit her lip. ‘Because while you may have persuaded my father to trust you, I don’t. So, I prefer to keep my distance.’
‘And so you can,’ Jago said evenly. ‘Didn’t you hear me say that I have to be away a great deal over the coming weeks? Which is exactly why I need a project manager at the house.’
He paused. ‘Besides, you’ll be company for Barbie.’
She said tautly, ‘Who exactly is Barbie?’
‘She’s going to keep house for me.’ He smiled reflectively. ‘I hadn’t banked on her wanting to move in so soon, but it seems she can’t wait for it all to be finished.’
‘How sweet,’ Tavy said icily, aware that her heart had given a strange lurch. ‘In which case, why not let her be project manager? She sounds ideal.’
‘Oh, she is,’ he said gently. ‘In so many ways. Except she doesn’t know one end of a computer from another. Nor does she have your all-important rapport with the locals.’
He got lithely to his feet, and smiled down at her.
‘But with her around, you’d certainly be safe from any unwanted molestation, wouldn’t you. If that’s what you’re afraid of.’
‘I’m not even remotely scared,’ she fired back.
‘Excellent,’ he said smoothly. ‘That’s one weight off my mind.’ He paused. ‘Now, I hope you’ll give some reasonable thought to my proposition, and not allow yourself to be ruled by your very natural prejudice against me. You can contact me at Barkland Grange when you’ve made your final decision.
‘As I’ve said—it’s a job, nothing more and purely temporary.’ He added softly, ‘Besides, half the time you won’t even know I’m there.’
Tavy watched him wander across the lawn and round the side of the house. A minute later, she heard the sound of the departing Jeep.
She leaned limply against the back of the bench, trying to calm her flurried breathing.
If it was anyone else in the world, she thought passionately, she’d seize the opportunity and be grateful. But not Jago Marsh. Not in a million years.
Manipulative swine—talking to her father first, and getting him on side before approaching her.
And how could she now explain to Dad that the situation was impossible without involving the additional explanations she was so anxious to avoid?
Sighing, she glanced at her watch, realising the wedding chat would be drawing to its close and it was probably time she took a tray of tea and biscuits to the study.
And by the time Julie and Graham left, she would probably have amassed a list of perfectly acceptable reasons, excluding all personal stuff, why working at Ladysmere would be a bad idea. Or enough to convince her father that she was making a considered, rational decision.
And now all I have to do to convince myself, she thought as she returned to the house.
As it turned out, she’d forgotten that this was the Sunday that her father went to take Communion to the local Care Home, so she had no chance to speak to him until after Evensong, over their supper of cheese salad.
She said abruptly, ‘Dad, I can’t accept this job offer at Ladysmere.’
Her father helped himself to mayonnaise. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, darling. Any particular reason?’
All the carefully formulated excuses vanished like morning mist. Astonished, she heard herself say, ‘Jago Marsh made a pass at me.’
‘This afternoon?’
