Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss Page 10
She gave a soft laugh. ‘You make them sound positively sinful.’
‘Mmm...that, too,’ he murmured, nuzzling the sensitive flesh behind her ear. ‘I could lose myself in you, Ellie.’ His lips drifted sensually over the column of her throat, and as she turned her head a fraction he swooped to claim her mouth. Her body tingled as his lips pressured hers, and his kiss made her blood sizzle, sending ripples of pleasure surging through her from head to toe. She was lost in that kiss, swirling in a mist of heady delight.
‘I ache for you, Ellie,’ he said, his voice roughened with desire. His hands shaped her, exploring the rounded contours of her body and bringing her up closer to him so that her soft curves meshed with his powerful frame. ‘You make me feel so good.’
It was sheer bliss to have him hold her this way, and for a while she felt exhilarated in the delicious sensations that quivered along her nerve endings, yearning for this moment to go on and on.
But with a four-year-old just a short distance away and liable to come into the kitchen at any moment, it would have been madness to go on.
‘James, we can’t do this,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Jayden is...’
‘I know.’ He sighed raggedly. He held her for a few seconds longer before reluctantly easing back. ‘I want you all to myself.’
She looked up at him, a bemused expression on her face. She was besieged by a whole array of conflicting emotions, not least of which was where Sophie fitted into any of this.
‘What is it?’ he asked, giving her a quizzical look.
‘You said you want me all to yourself, but aren’t you dating Sophie? That’s what Noah’s article said and Sophie seems to be at the manor house quite often.’
Her question must have caught him unawares because he was serious all at once, and he appeared to be deep in thought. ‘Sophie’s family has been linked to ours socially for many years,’ he said at last. ‘Her parents are on very friendly terms with my father.’
‘But you’ve taken her out? That’s true, isn’t it? You’ve been out with her recently?’
‘Yes, I have.’ He frowned. ‘The situation with Sophie is complicated. She helps out a lot with my father so I see her quite regularly, and there are social occasions when we meet because of my father’s friendship with her parents. But none of that has to affect you and me.’
‘Doesn’t it? I think you might be wrong there.’
She moved away from him. She wasn’t sure he’d given her a straight answer, and as far as she was concerned, that meant he was out of bounds from now on.
‘Why, Ellie? You were with me all the way just now. You wanted me every bit as much as I want you. I felt it. So what went wrong?’
‘Nothing. You’re right, I did want to be in your arms but I came to my senses. I can’t get involved with any man who casts his net wide. I’ve been caught that way before, and I vowed I would never let it happen to me again. I went out with a man for quite a while, and I really liked him, but then I went out with some girl friends and saw him wining and dining another woman. They were holding hands and whispering to one another, and they walked out of that place with their arms around one another.’
He sucked in his breath. ‘I’m sorry that happened to you, Ellie. But this isn’t the same. It isn’t what you think. It’s all to do with heritage and family links—all the sort of things my father holds dear. I don’t want to cause him any upset while his health is in such a precarious state. But my seeing Sophie doesn’t mean anything, believe me. She’s just the daughter of a family friend.’
‘I wonder if Sophie understands that?’
He frowned. ‘She doesn’t have anything to do with what’s between you and me.’
‘No? It doesn’t sit well with me, James.’
‘Ellie—the truth is, I’m not ready for any sort of commitment yet. I have a lot of responsibility as well as having to look out for my father and overseeing the management of the estate. But I don’t see any reason why we can’t have fun and enjoy things the way they are.’
‘I understand that but I’m not sure I can go along with it.’ She frowned. ‘I need time to think, so perhaps you should go. I think we’ve said all we need to say. I was carried away for a moment, but it won’t happen again. I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘You know I like being with you.’
‘And I like being with you, but I’m pretty sure this is not going to work out the way you were perhaps expecting.’
She’d made up her mind, and he must have seen that because he went to say goodbye to Jayden and left the house soon afterwards.
Ellie shut the door behind him and felt a bleak wave of emptiness wash over her. She missed him already.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘ELLIE, WHAT’S GOING on?’ Noah sounded really concerned. ‘I saw the papers this morning and wanted to talk to you about what I read in there. I’ve been ringing you for ages but I couldn’t get through.’
‘It’s the press, Noah. They won’t leave me alone.’ There was a note of desperation in Ellie’s voice. ‘They’ve been calling all morning and I stopped answering the phone, until I saw your name on the caller display. I switched off my mobile phone because they even managed to find that number. It’s driving me crazy. And it’s not just that. They’re camped out at the front of the house, too.’
‘Have you tried calling the police?’
‘Yes, they’ve moved them on once, but they keep coming back. It’s been going on since six o’clock this morning.’ She gave a heavy sigh. ‘At least they’ve stopped knocking on the door. I’ve locked myself in. I don’t know what else to do.’
‘I suppose you could try speaking to them.’
‘And have more rubbish printed about me? I can’t do that. It’s bad enough that they dragged up all the stuff from my past—they even found pictures from the local newspaper back then. They made me look like the all-time drunken party girl. That headline: “TV’s Ellie Saunders as you have never seen her before.” It made me feel sick.’
‘I guessed you must be feeling pretty bad. It must have been a tremendous shock.’
‘Yes, it was. But it’s Lewis’s wife I feel sorry for. They’ve tried to make out that Lewis and I are having an affair—they even linked Jayden with both of us. Can you believe it? How could they do this?’ She frowned. ‘It just makes me realise how Lord Birchenall must have felt when the press bombarded him after your story was printed. Until now, I hadn’t imagined just how bad it could be.’
‘I know. Me, too.’ He was contrite. ‘I feel terrible about what I did. But I was just so full of anger at the time. I kept thinking how he threw us out and the family broke up. All I could think about was that here was a way of getting back at him at last, but I’m really sorry for it now.’ He pulled in a quick breath as a thought struck him. ‘Do you think he could be behind all this stuff in the papers?’
‘Surely not? I don’t think he would stoop to something like that. Lewis is his nephew. Whatever he is, he’s not vindictive, and even if he was, I can’t see James letting him do something like this.’
‘I guess you’re right. So, do you have any idea who might have gone to the papers?’
‘No. I can’t think straight. It’s been such a shock.’
‘Is there anything I can do to help, Ellie? Shall I come to the house?’
‘No, there’s no need for you to do that, Noah. I expect they’ll get tired of waiting and go home before too long. And I think I’ll switch off the landline phone.’
They spoke for a little while longer, and then Noah rang off. Ellie pulled the plug on the phone connection and began to pace the room. She’d tried to sound confident that they would go away, but she wasn’t.
She’d had to draw the curtains to stop journalists peering in at her and taking photos through the windows, and she’
d had to switch on the lights even though there was daylight outside. She was a prisoner in her own home.
Occasionally, she peeped out through the curtains in the hope that the crowd of photographers and journalists might have gone away but, no, they were still there. She clenched her fists in frustration. What was she going to do?
Then there was a loud rapping at the front door and she froze. She wasn’t going to answer it but the knocking went on and a man called out, ‘Miss Saunders? I have a letter for you. It’s important. Will you please read it now?’
She walked across the hallway and stared at the white envelope lying on the mat. What now? Was this some new ploy they’d dreamed up? Almost in anger, she snatched up the envelope and ripped it open.
Ellie, I guess things are pretty bad for you right now, so I’ve asked Charles to come and fetch you. Go with him and he’ll bring you to the manor house. You might want to bring an overnight bag with clothes for a couple of days. James.
Relief surged through her. James was there for her, he was thinking about her and offering to help free her from the mob outside. She felt an overwhelming rush of gratitude, and joy, too, that he would come to her rescue, despite what had gone on between them the last time they’d been together. She’d believed she was alone in this, but he’d been thinking of her all the time.
She opened the door a crack. ‘Are you Charles?’ she asked the young man who was standing there, and when he nodded she beckoned him inside, shutting and locking the door again quickly as the men and women from the tabloids rushed forward in a frenzy of excitement.
‘I’m a friend of James,’ he explained as they went to the kitchen. He was tall, with a strong physique, and looked capable of handling himself in a difficult situation. Was that why James had chosen him? ‘He didn’t come himself in case they recognised him. He thought they might follow you to the manor house.’
‘That makes sense.’ She waved a hand towards the coffee percolator. ‘Help yourself to a drink while I go and pack a few things. It’s all set up and should be hot.’
‘Thank you.’
She was shaking as she bundled a change of clothes into a holdall. How were they going to get through the baying pack outside? After all, Charles was only one man against the crowd.
She pushed her cosmetic case into a corner of the bag and zipped it closed. Then she hurried downstairs and went to find Charles once more.
‘I can’t think how we’re going to get away from here,’ she said. ‘Even if we’re quick, they’ll surround us.’
He nodded. ‘We thought of that. I parked round the back and walked to the front of the house so they didn’t see me drive up. They’ll probably assume my car is one of those parked on the road out front. If we go out of here the back way we might be able to fool them. Your car’s out front, so they won’t be expecting you to leave any other way.’
‘Okay. That seems like a good plan.’
A few minutes later they slipped out through the kitchen door and hurried to Charles’s car, a long, black saloon with tinted windows.
‘So far, so good,’ Charles said, as he started up the engine. Then he smoothly drove across the courtyard and out through the stone archway onto the road, where he picked up speed.
‘They must have heard us,’ Ellie said, looking through the rear-view mirror. ‘They’re running towards the road.’
Charles smiled. ‘Don’t worry. They’ll never catch up with us now.’
About twenty minutes later they arrived at the manor house and as James came out to greet her, Charles said goodbye. ‘You take care.’
‘Thank you—thanks for everything,’ she called after him, and he acknowledged her with a wave and a smile.
‘Hi.’ James took hold of her bag and she noticed he, too, was carrying a holdall, the long strap slung over his shoulder. He reached for her, taking her hand in his firm grasp as he led her towards his streamlined silver coupé.
‘Hi.’ She’d never been so glad to see him. He was long and lean and tautly muscled, every bit her saviour, and she felt safe for the first time in hours. ‘Thank you for this,’ she said, looking at him with heartfelt gratitude. ‘I felt so trapped and frightened, and then all of a sudden you were there for me, giving me a way out.’ She would be forever in debt to him for this.
‘I knew you must be worried sick. I’m sorry you had to go through all that.’ He unlocked the boot of his car and began to stow their bags inside.
She frowned. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Where no one will find us,’ he said. ‘Relax. We’re going on a boat trip.’
He held open the passenger-side door, and she slid into the seat. ‘A boat trip?’ she echoed. ‘But what about work in the morning? We have to be at the hospital.’
‘Not any more,’ he said, starting up the car. ‘I’ve arranged for us to take a couple of days off and brought in locums to take our places.’
Her mouth dropped open. ‘Why would you do that?’
He gave her a sideways glance. ‘I figured the press will lose interest after a couple of days if they can’t find you, and then they’ll move on to some other news story.’
She stared at him, wide-eyed. ‘This is all so hard to take in. How did you know I was in trouble?’
‘I saw the papers this morning. I tried ringing you, but you had your phone switched off and the landline was constantly engaged, so I guessed you were having problems. Then I rang Noah and he told me what was going on, so I thought the best thing would be to come and get you, except I didn’t want the press to recognise me and put two and two together, so that’s where Charles came in.’
‘I really appreciate you doing this for me.’ She looked at him earnestly and he gave her a brief smile as he turned the car onto the main road. ‘I felt so alone and then you sent me that note and it was as if a great weight had been lifted from me.’
‘I guessed you needed some help.’
‘Thanks again, anyway.’ She looked out of the window at the passing landscape, seeing the rolling hills gradually give way to lowland meadows and serene countryside where a river meandered lazily through a gentle valley.
‘Where are we headed? What kind of boat trip did you have in mind? I remember you saying once that you have a boat. What kind is it? Is it a yacht?’ She looked at him doubtfully. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go sailing on a wide, choppy sea.
‘Nothing as grand as that. Ever since I was a child I’ve enjoyed cruising the inland waterways, so a couple of years ago I decided to buy a canal boat. Now, whenever I get the chance, I like to spend leisurely weekends on the water. That’s where we’re going.’
‘It sounds great.’ She smiled. ‘It’ll be a new experience for me.’
‘Then I hope you like it. The boat’s fitted out with most things we might need for a comfortable journey.’
Ellie thought about his leisurely weekends. Had Sophie spent time with him on the boat? Her stomach lurched and she quickly pushed the unwanted image from her mind. James was doing this for her and she should be grateful for that. It wouldn’t help to dwell on the woman who was unwittingly driving a wedge between them.
They finally arrived at their destination and James parked the car at the marina, where a dozen or so colourful boats were moored.
‘Here we are. This one’s mine, the Louise Jane.’
Ellie made a quick guess. ‘Is she named after your mother?’
He nodded. ‘That’s right. I wanted something special to keep her memory alive.’
Unexpectedly, Ellie’s eyes dampened. It was a wonderful gesture, a loving tribute from a son who had lost his mother at a young age. It was something his mother would have truly appreciated.
The boat was long, and a pleasing dark green, with distinctive artwork painted across its length. There were pictures of flowers in bright re
ds and yellows, and other canal art showing watering cans and colourful tubs.
‘Let’s go on board,’ James said, ‘and I’ll show you around.’
He held her hand, supporting her as she stepped onto the deck, and then he closed the rail and led the way down wooden steps into the galley. Immediately, she missed his warm hand clasping hers. ‘I had her fitted out with a top-of-the-range cooker and fridge and as many cupboards as possible.’
‘This is really impressive, James.’ All the equipment was modern, and the stainless-steel surfaces gleamed softly. The floor was covered in warm-looking, solid oak timbers.
He acknowledged her praise with a faint inclination of his head. ‘I stocked the fridge and the cupboards recently and I’ve brought a few essentials with me, so we should manage well enough.’
She pulled in a deep breath. It was only just beginning to dawn on her that she and James would be alone on this boat for the next couple of days. It wasn’t something she might ever have imagined, especially since they had left each other in strained circumstances just a short time ago. Now, though, her treacherous body responded by being both excited and unnerved at the same time.
‘Come through to the main cabin,’ he said, ushering her into what looked like a cosy sitting room.
There were plush, upholstered bench seats on opposite sides, decorated with bright cushions, and in one corner there was an oak table large enough to accommodate four people.
‘The seats lift up, so there’s more storage space underneath,’ he explained, and she looked around admiringly.
‘Do you sleep in here?’ she asked, imagining sleeping bags laid out along the length of the seats. And that gave rise to a worrying question in her mind. Where would they both sleep tonight? How would she cope, being so near to him?
‘No. There are separate sleeping berths—partitioned off to allow some privacy. I’ll show you, and you can choose which one you want.’ He glanced at her, his mouth making a devilish twist. ‘Unless, of course, you’d like to share with me? It can get chilly out on the water at night, and I’d be more than happy to keep you warm.’