Her voice impeded, she said, ‘Thank you. That’s very kind of you.’
‘It’s the least I can do.’
‘Perhaps if I give you my friend’s address, you’ll ask the garage to let me have the bill?’
Flatly, he said, ‘I shall do no such thing. As I ran into you, the responsibility is mine…Now, then, more coffee?’
‘Please.’
As he reached to replenish their coffee cups, his tone careless, he enquired, ‘I take it you have no plans for the weekend?’
‘I’ve trespassed long enough on your hospitality, so the first thing I must do is find a hotel…’
His mouth tightened. Once again she wasn’t reacting as he might have expected and he couldn’t afford to let her move into a hotel. While she was under his roof, he wanted to keep her there.
‘Then I intend to visit some employment agencies,’ she went on, determinedly, ‘and see what kind of jobs are currently available…’
That was another thing he couldn’t let her do.
‘Surely there’s no need to look for work immediately? Won’t you be receiving some kind of redundancy payment?’
‘I was given six months’ salary, which is really very generous. But when my flat is finished the rent will go up considerably. And, apart from that, I have financial commitments that make it necessary to find another job without too much delay.’
That could well be to his advantage, he thought. And then, though he already knew, he asked, ‘What exactly did your previous job entail?’
‘Tying up with the buyer to gather data and taste as many of the new vintages as possible; describing and cataloguing the wines; sending out promotional leaflets; organising the various social occasions and parties that are part of a sales push and making sure we received maximum press coverage.’
‘Sounds like a job and a half. But I gather you enjoyed it?’
She sighed. ‘Yes, I did, very much. Losing it came as a blow.’
‘It must have done.’
‘What are the chances of joining another vintner?’
‘Unfortunately, not very high, unless I was prepared to work abroad.’
‘And you don’t want to do that?’
‘Not really.’ She needed to be on hand to try and make sure that Didi didn’t go off the rails again.
‘But you’d prefer to be in the wine trade?’
‘It’s what I spent over three years studying for.’
‘Three years?’ He seemed surprised.
‘I did one year at college and another two on the practical side.’
‘Where did you get your hands-on experience?’
‘I spent two years working at the Château de Renard, learning about soil composition, planting methods, culture and yields, what factors need to be present to produce a good vintage, how to most successfully blend the various grape types—’
She stopped speaking abruptly, wondering if she was boring him.
But, looking anything but bored, he exclaimed, ‘Then you’re just the woman I need!’
As she stared at him, he explained, ‘You have exactly the kind of knowledge and experience that I’ve been hoping to find.
‘Our family home is at Castle Anders…’
‘Is Castle Anders the name of a place or is it a…?’ She hesitated and broke off in confusion.
‘A real castle?’ he finished for her.
‘Well, yes…’ she said, flushing a little.
Looking amused, he told her, ‘It’s a real castle.’
So his family home was a castle!
Her heart sank. If, hating the thought of never seeing him again, she had harboured any faint hope of staying in his life, that killed it stone dead. With money and a privileged background like that, he was right out of her class.
‘Though the estate is still extensive,’ he went on, ‘the castle itself is quite small as castles go. No larger, in fact, than, say, a reasonably sized hall, but with more turrets.
‘But, to get back to the point, although Anders is only just over an hour’s drive from London, we’ve a small vineyard on the estate.
‘The winery hasn’t been in production for quite a number of years but I’ve always had it in mind that if and when the opportunity arose I’d try and give it a new lease of life.’
Finding her voice, Tina hazarded, ‘So you’d like some advice?’
‘I was thinking of rather more than that. As your needs and my needs seem to coincide, I was offering you a job.’
‘A job?’
By rights she should have been ecstatic, but now a miracle had happened she simply felt numb.
‘You said you needed one,’ he pointed out.
With no chance of any other relationship developing, working for him would be one way of staying in his life.
But wouldn’t it be awkward and embarrassing, put her in an untenable position, to work for a man she had been to bed with?
‘I do, but I…I really don’t think…’
He had hoped for a more positive, a more favourable, response. But, wary of exerting too much pressure, he said easily, ‘Well, you don’t have to decide right this minute…
‘Tell you what, I’ll ask Jervis to bring the car round and as soon as you’re up and dressed we’ll go over to Anders. After you’ve seen the castle and the vineyard we can talk about it further.’
She had opened her mouth to refuse, when she hesitated. Though nothing could come of it, she found she badly wanted to spend a little more time with him, see his family home.
Watching her face, trying to gauge her reaction, he wondered how to play it. Would it be best to turn on the heat or allow her a breathing space?
But what if she decided against going to Anders? He couldn’t afford to let her take the initiative and walk away. Somehow he had to make her want to stay with him.
His mind made up, he rose to his feet in a leisurely manner and, removing the tray, set it down on the Elizabethan blanket chest.
When he didn’t immediately leave, unwilling to let him see her get out of bed naked, she stayed where she was until, with an innocent look, he queried, ‘Something wrong?’
‘My dressing gown’s still in my case,’ she explained awkwardly.
He crossed to where her case was and returned a moment later with her lightweight dressing gown over his arm. Instead of handing it to her, however, he stood by the bed and held it for her.
When still she hesitated, he said quizzically, ‘Don’t tell me you’re shy, after last night?’
Watching her bite her lip, he laughed softly. ‘Why, I do believe you are. But then if you remember how—’
‘I’m afraid I don’t remember much about it,’ she broke in desperately.
‘Much?’
‘Anything,’ she admitted.
‘Ah,’ he murmured softly. ‘Well, if you’d like me to refresh your memory…?’
Thoroughly hot and bothered, her equilibrium gone, she exclaimed, ‘No!’ Then, less vehemently,