The Unwilling Mistress Read online

  ‘You’re right—there isn’t!’ she came back scornfully.

  ‘It really would be better, for everyone,’ she added firmly, ‘if you were to leave.’

  Not for him it wouldn’t. He liked the Calendar sisters, both of them, although that feeling went a little further where March was concerned. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt either May or March by what he was doing.

  ‘You just don’t see it, do you, March?’ He gave an impatient shake of his head at her continued mulishness.

  ‘Here you have the ideal opportunity to have some sort of say in the design of Jude’s hotel and country club, by having the architect living on your own doorstep, and you want to throw away that opportunity through what I can only describe as prejudice—’

  ‘Prejudice!’ she repeated incredulously. ‘Don’t you understand, Mr Davenport, that we don’t want the hotel and country club here at all—’ She broke off as Will shook his head. ‘What?’ she prompted tautly.

  ‘That just isn’t going to happen, March,’ he reasoned lightly. ‘Jude is a businessman. A successful one. And he isn’t going to back off on this just because of a bit of local opposition—’

  ‘It’s more than a bit,’ March assured him angrily.

  Will gave a grimace of frustration at her continued blinkered opinion.

  ‘The preliminary proposal for the hotel and country club has already been approved by the local planning people. I’m just here—’

  ‘To put the finishing touches to it,’ March finished heatedly.

  ‘In a word—yes,’ he confirmed ruefully. ‘March—’

  ‘You aren’t going to convince me,’ she cut in determinedly. ‘This is farming land. Has been farming land for generations—’

  ‘Successfully so?’ he put in softly, knowing by the way the sisters lived, the necessity for at least two of them to have jobs outside of the farm, that it wasn’t even enough to support the three of them.

  But he regretted his gentle prompting almost as soon as he had made it, March’s face paling, eyes suddenly huge, her whole demeanour one of deflation now.

  But he knew it was extremely difficult nowadays for small farms like this one to make enough just to subsist, only the larger, more modern farms that had been turned into a commercial concern managing to survive. It wasn’t fair. Meant that more and more of these small farms simply went to the wall. No, it wasn’t fair, it just happened to be a fact of life. No matter how much March might try to fight against it.

  ‘Jude is offering you a more than fair price for this land, March—’

  ‘Only so that he can make millions out of it once it’s been absorbed into the rest of the estate!’ she came back scathingly.

  Will gave a rueful shrug of his shoulders. Of course Jude was intending to make money out of his latest venture; as Will had already said, Jude was a businessman. And Jude hadn’t become as successful as he was by being delicate about it.

  ‘It’s very difficult to stop a moving train going at full speed,’ he pointed out regretfully; Jude had been moving at high speed ever since Will had known him.

  ‘Really?’ March challenged derisively. ‘The odd obstruction on the track seems to be effective!’

  Will frowned. It was true that Jude couldn’t force the Calendar sisters into selling their farm. But Will knew it was also true that Jude could make things very difficult for the sisters if he chose to do so. He knew, because he had checked this afternoon. The Calendar farm was in the middle of the estate the other man had just bought, their utilities were provided across the land Jude now owned, meaning he had the upper hand…

  Unless…

  ‘If you’re really determined not to sell—’

  ‘We are,’ she snapped.

  ‘The why don’t you work with me on this rather than against Jude?’ he reasoned patiently.

  That suspicion was back in her gaze. ‘I don’t understand what you mean by working with you.’

  Neither did he, not really. The idea had only occurred to him as they were talking. Surely there must be a way for this to work out so that no one was hurt in the process, a way for the sisters to keep their farm, but to keep Jude happy at the same time. Most of all, Will knew, he wanted to stop March continuing to look at him in that scornful, suspicious way!

  ‘I’m not sure myself yet,’ he admitted self-derisively.

  ‘But there has to be a way.’

  Her mouth twisted scornfully. ‘Well, when you think of it, let me know. In the meantime—’

  ‘I’m staying put,’ he cut in determinedly.

  She gave him a disgusted look. ‘Please yourself,’ she bit out dismissively. ‘But don’t expect any more invitations to dinner,’ she added tartly as she reached for the door-handle.

  As a parting shot, it was pretty weak, and they both knew it, Will giving March a rueful smile. ‘I still owe the two of you dinner,’ he reminded lightly.

  ‘And I’m sure May would enjoy that,’ she came back tartly.

  ‘But not you,’ he acknowledged dryly.

  ‘As far as I’m concerned, eating with the enemy is as bad as sleeping with them,’ March snapped—and as instantly regretted it if the colour that flooded her cheeks was anything to go by. ‘I meant—’

  ‘I know what you meant, March,’ Will assured her laughingly. ‘And let me assure you—I do not want to “sleep” with you.’ He moved to open the door for her.

  ‘Nor,’ he added huskily, ‘do I consider you an enemy.’

  They were standing only inches apart now, Will very conscious of the warmth of March’s body, the heady perfume she wore, the light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, the pouting perfection of her mouth.

  He also knew that if she didn’t soon get out of here he was going to kiss her again!

  As if aware of the impulse, March moved outside onto the top of the stairs. ‘The sentiment isn’t reciprocated,’ she told him waspishly. ‘And next time you speak to Jude Marshall…’

  ‘Yes?’ he prompted warily.

  She gave a humourless smile. ‘Tell him to come and fight his own battles—we’re sick of dealing with his minions!’ she added insultingly.

  An insult Will had no intention of responding to! ‘I’ll tell him.’ He nodded.

  Although he doubted the challenge would mean too much to the other man; as far as he could tell, Jude was otherwise occupied at the moment with the attractions of the actress April Robine!

  March gave him a sharp look before clattering down the metal steps and moving lightly across the frozen yard to the farmhouse.

  Will watched her every step of the way, admiring the coltish grace with which she moved; long-legged, her youthful energy dented by their conversation but not diminished.

  He closed the door slowly behind him as he moved back into the warmth of the studio. Apart from that time he had held March in his arms, it hadn’t been a very successful encounter.

  Apart from—!

  He was quickly discovering that the only thing that did mean anything was holding March, kissing and caressing her!

  He closed his eyes, easily conjuring up the feel of March, her warmth, the passion he knew they had shared. He wanted March Calendar, found her mercurial changes of mood fascinating, her seductive beauty affecting him as no other woman ever had.

  But, at the same time, his desire for March only made this situation more complicated.

  Impossibly so…?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ‘FLYING a little high with your friend in the Ferrari, aren’t you, March?’ Clive taunted sarcastically as March placed a mug of coffee down on his desk.

  Making the hot drinks throughout the day was apparently also the job of the receptionist, March had learnt shortly after starting work here two years ago. In fact, after only a few weeks’ employment March had been amazed at the amount of jobs that came under that title.

  If truth were known, Clive and Michelle were just too mean to employ anyone else, preferring to leave al
l the little incidental jobs to March rather than employ an office junior. After all, it would cut into their profit!

  March innocently returned Clive’s mocking gaze as she stepped back from his desk. ‘I didn’t know Ferraris could fly,’ she easily returned his sarcasm.

  She had never found working for Clive to be easy, and over the last few months, as his flirtatious attitude had increased whenever Michelle hadn’t been around, she had found it even harder; obviously Will Davenport’s appearance yesterday wasn’t going to make that particular situation any easier!

  ‘Very funny,’ Clive sneered humourlessly. ‘You—’

  ‘Stop teasing her, Clive,’ Michelle cut in with light rebuke in the gentle softness of her voice. ‘Clive was saying last night that you have a new boyfriend, March.’ She turned to her interestedly.

  March had never been able to understand how two such different people could not only work together but have lived together for the last ten years too. Where Clive was brash and outspoken, Michelle was quiet and considerate. Where Clive had screen-star good looks, Michelle’s were rather mousy, with her light brown hair and brown eyes, her features tending to be a little plain unless animated.

  A definite attraction of opposites, March had dismissed uninterestedly after a couple of months of working here; Michelle was probably completely overwhelmed by the fact that a good-looking man like Clive was interested in her, and Clive, as March had come to know only too well, probably thrived as the more attractive of the pair. He certainly liked to feel that every woman in the vicinity found him irresistible, and any woman that didn’t quickly became the target of his sharp tongue.

  Which included March!

  After only two weeks of working in the agency, the needed money aside, March could quite happily have given in her notice. But the gentler Michelle was so much the opposite, so appreciative of everything that March did, that she hadn’t liked to let the other woman down by leaving. Luckily it didn’t happen too often that she was left alone with Clive in the office, and he usually behaved himself when Michelle was around.

  ‘What’s he like?’ Michelle prompted interestedly, brown eyes glowing warmly as March gave her a cup of tea.

  ‘Will isn’t my boyfriend,’ March dismissed, not quite meeting the other woman’s gaze. ‘I—he—he’s a family friend,’ she hastily invented—well, he was apparently a friend of Max’s, and as Max was almost a member of her family…! ‘He’s just staying with us for a couple of weeks,’ she added dismissively.

  Which reminded her, she would have to deal with the paperwork of acquiring a rentee for two weeks through Carter and Jones.

  ‘Yesterday’s kiss didn’t just look friendly to me,’ Clive put in speculatively.

  March eyed him coolly. ‘Well, I can assure you that it was.’ Damn Will for having kissed her in front of Clive in that possessive way!

  Admittedly, at the time she had been quite grateful for his proprietary attitude, but not if it was going to make Clive more unbearable to work with than usual.

  ‘Any more news about the Hanworth Estate, March?’ Michelle changed the subject with ease.

  Although it wasn’t really much of a change now that March knew that Will was Jude Marshall’s architect!

  ‘Not really.’ She grimaced, warming to Michelle for her concern; it had been Michelle who had initially told her what Jude Marshall’s intentions were for the neighbouring Hanworth Estate. ‘I suppose we will just have to wait and see.’

  ‘Personally, I think you and your sisters are idiots for not selling,’ Clive told her disgustedly. ‘The man must be offering way over the odds, for a farm that is virtually worthless.’

  March felt the rage building within her at this man’s complete lack of sensitivity, her eyes sparkling, bright spots of angry colour in her cheeks. ‘It isn’t worthless to me—’

  ‘I’m sure Clive didn’t mean to be unkind,’ Michelle put in apologetically. ‘It’s your home, of course it isn’t worthless to you. It’s just such a pity that it’s in the middle of the Hanworth land,’ she added sympathetically.

  ‘A pity’ wasn’t quite the phrase March would have used! ‘I—’

  ‘Good morning!’ greeted a cheerful voice that made March stiffen with recognition. ‘I wondered if you were free for an early lunch, March?’ Will Davenport prompted lightly as he came into the agency.

  March slowly turned to face him, unable to hide her amazement at this man’s cheek. They hadn’t parted on good terms at all last night, and she was sure she had made her feelings completely clear about ever seeing him again. And yet here he was, cheerfully offering to buy her lunch as if the two of them were the best of friends.

  And, after what she had said to Clive and Michelle earlier, that was exactly what the other couple thought that they were!

  ‘Go ahead, March,’ Michelle invited. ‘It’s almost twelve o’clock anyway.’ She smiled encouragingly after giving Will an appreciative glance.

  Michelle obviously had a weakness for good-looking men, March decided disgruntledly, grudgingly acknowledging that Will did look extremely handsome this morning in fitted black denims and a blue jumper the exact colour of his eyes. He was also smiling at March as if last night had never happened!

  But what choice did she have but to collect her coat and handbag in preparation for going out to lunch with him? Or, at least, seeming as if she were going out to lunch with him, because once they were outside she intended telling him exactly what he could do with his lunch!

  ‘Make sure you’re back by one,’ Clive told her hardly.

  ‘I’m taking Michelle out to lunch today to celebrate our tenth anniversary,’ he added derisively.

  ‘It won’t matter if you’re a few minutes late,’ Michelle assured March with a definite twinkle in her eye.

  March accompanied Will down the street, not having spoken so much as a word to him yet. Probably because she knew that once she started talking she might not be able to stop—and none of it would have been pleasant!

  She had hardly slept at all last night, for thinking of that time in Will’s arms, alternating between anger that it had happened at all and a wish for it to happen again. Completely illogical, March knew, but nevertheless that was how she had felt.

  It hadn’t helped that May had been full of questions last night on March’s return from the studio. Of course March had told her sister nothing of her time in Will Davenport’s arms, only confirming that he was indeed working for Jude Marshall, as his architect. But that hadn’t stopped May from speculating, especially as March had returned without the cup of sugar she had supposedly gone over there for!

  ‘As pleasant as this change might be,’ Will spoke teasingly at her side, ‘are you going to remain silent all through lunch too?’

  March turned to glare at him. ‘I have nothing to say to you,’ she snapped. ‘And we aren’t having lunch!’ she added disgustedly.

  ‘Oh.’ He looked disappointed.

  She gave an impatient sigh. ‘I only left with you just now because to do anything else would have been too awkward to explain.’

  ‘I can deal with awkward,’ Will assured her. ‘After all, I’ve been dealing with you for three days now!’ he added mockingly.

  ‘Not awkward for you,’ she told him irritably, wishing her heart would resume its normal rhythmic beat, that she wasn’t so aware of the intimacies she had shared with this man the previous evening.

  Although, to look at Will, that time in his arms might never have happened as he grinned at her in innocent enquiry.

  ‘I had only just finished explaining that you’re a family friend when you walked in the door,’ she said exasperatedly.

  ‘Well, that’s a definite step up from being one of Jude Marshall’s minions,’ he acknowledged dryly.

  March felt her cheeks flush as he repeated the insult she had deliberately thrown at him the previous evening. ‘“If the cap fits”,’ she bit out harshly.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever worn
a cap,’ Will remarked consideringly. ‘Maybe when I was at junior school—’

  ‘I didn’t mean it literally,’ March cut in impatiently.

  He chuckled at her obvious discomfort. ‘Lighten up, March,’ he encouraged as she continued to scowl at him.

  ‘May certainly didn’t seem to bear any grudge when I had coffee with her this morning,’ he added brightly.

  ‘May obviously has a more forgiving nature than I do!’ She gave him a glowering look, not in the least surprised that he had called at the farm to see May this morning, or that her sister had given him a cup of coffee; May just didn’t seem to see this situation as March did.

  May also hadn’t spent any time in this man’s arms, hadn’t completely forgotten the farm—and everything else—as she’d been kissed and caressed by him. As she’d kissed and caressed him back!

  It wasn’t that she was a complete innocent—she had had boyfriends in the past, had even believed herself a little in love with one or two of them. But never before had she responded in the way she had to Will, knowing even now that she had wanted to make love with him, to lay naked in his arms as they made love to each other. That was just another reason for her to be angry with him!

  ‘Probably,’ Will accepted ruefully now. ‘She had a phone call from her director while I was there; her screen test has been moved forward to tomorrow. Something to do with the star of the film being in the country next week.’

  March frowned at him. ‘I’m sure May is perfectly capable of telling me that herself when I get home this evening.’

  He shrugged. ‘Your big sister has the impression you don’t approve of her proposed acting career.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘That’s absolute rubbish!’ she gasped indignantly. ‘You’re making that up,’ she accused uncertainly.

  Surely May couldn’t really believe that…?

  Will gave her a searching glance, knowing by her hesitant tone that she wasn’t at all sure about her last claim. And with good reason, if his conversation with May this morning was anything to go by.