Forbidden Night With The Duke. Annie Claydon

have heard from Sonia, they hadn’t been close. But what had happened two weeks after Sonia had left her job, the cancelled wedding and the missing groom, had been a talking point for months.

      The smile slid from Jaye’s face for a moment. ‘I haven’t been in contact with Sonia since then, either.’

      Which meant he hadn’t been in contact with his child, either. Megan knew exactly what it was like to be the unwanted child of a rich and influential man, who had no scruples about rewriting history whenever it suited him. Maybe that was why she wanted to slap Jaye now. Not for Sonia, but for the child.

      ‘I heard she had a baby.’

      A pulse beat at the side of his temple. ‘That’s what I heard, too.’

      A baby who had no place here. If Jay hadn’t turned suddenly, in response to his name being called, Megan thought she might have slapped him. There was no excuse now. He knew he was a father, and clearly he’d decided that was a technicality that he could afford to overlook.

      ‘I’m sorry...’ When he turned back his face was impassive. ‘I have to go, it seems that lunch is ready. I hope we’ll be able to speak more later.’

      Then he was gone, helping John Ferris to chivvy everyone through to the next room for lunch. Megan waited for the press of people to thin a little and slipped out of the room, turning left instead of right, and making her way back to the great entrance hall and up the stairs.

      * * *

      Jaye had remembered Megan as soon as he’d seen her application form. The nurse who could always coax a smile from her patients. Her enthusiasm for the work of his charity had shone through her answers to the carefully worded questions on the application form, and after he’d interviewed her, John Ferris had agreed that Megan was the one candidate who stood out from all the rest.

      He’d wondered whether Megan would remember him, and, despite the awkwardness of the situation, rather hoped she would. When Megan had replied within the hour to the email inviting her here, he’d supposed that either she was inclined to overlook the most damning and humiliating episode in his life, or that he’d made much less of an impression on her than she’d had on him.

      Wrong. On both counts. When he’d scanned the room for her, his heart beating a little faster at the remembered warmth of her blue eyes, he’d found only ice. And her pointed remark about Sonia told him that she remembered him all too well, and that she was inclined to overlook nothing.

      There was time. Four days was more than enough time to gauge her feelings, and talk about it. Jaye’s gaze rested on the empty seat at the dining table. It was possible that Megan had taken some time out from the group to decide what to throw at him next, but he doubted it. When he’d seen her working on the wards, he’d been impressed with the way that she sized up a situation, took decisions and then acted on them.

      ‘Have you seen Megan Wheeler?’ He buttonholed one of the teenagers from the village, who’d been co-opted to help show everyone to their rooms. ‘Blue jacket. White top with a...’ He waved his hand to indicate the soft folds of Megan’s blouse.

      Emma smirked. ‘That’s called a cowl neckline.’

      ‘I thought you’d be the one to ask about that. Have you seen her?’

      ‘No.’

      Jaye turned, hurrying from the room, a sudden anger biting at his heart. If Megan wanted to walk out, that was her decision. But he was damned if she was going to make it on the basis of what she’d heard about him and Sonia, because that was almost certainly a lie.

      * * *

      The retractable handle of her case wasn’t pushed down far enough, and Megan was struggling to get it into the boot of her car. She turned as she heard the scrunch of gravel under Jaye’s feet.

      ‘Leaving so soon?’ He decided to confine his opening salvo to the obvious facts.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘This course isn’t an optional extra. We’re expecting all of our new employees to complete it.’

      ‘I understand that. I’ve made my decision.’ He thought he saw scorn in Megan’s eyes. Such beautiful eyes, blue and clear, and apparently unable to hide her feelings. He liked that.

      ‘And...clearly I’m a factor in that decision.’

      ‘Yes.’ Her lip curled, and Jaye suppressed the impulse to smile. In a world where people tended to tell him what they thought he wanted to hear, this was almost refreshing.

      ‘I don’t suppose you’d care to elaborate on that?’

      She pulled the case out of the open boot and pushed the handle down. Jaye resisted the impulse to help her as she heaved the case back into the boot and slammed it shut. Then she turned to face him.

      ‘I’m looking for an employer who I can trust. That’s non-negotiable.’

      ‘It’s non-negotiable for us, too. I think we should talk about this, Megan.’

      ‘There’s nothing to talk about. Actions speak louder than words.’

      Jaye was blocking her path to the driver’s door and she walked round him, getting into the car. He jumped as she wrenched the door shut, slamming it hard, as if to demonstrate her point.

      A frisson of How dare she? melted into the irrational impulse to beg, if that was what it would take to make Megan stop. Jaye walked around to the front of the car, planting his hands on the bonnet. Megan glared at him, and he wondered for a moment whether he’d made a mistake and she was capable of driving straight over him.

      ‘Is it going to hurt you so much to listen? Because if it does, you’ve made a good decision.’

      Here, outside the public part of the house, it was impossible that someone wasn’t watching, and now that he had to raise his voice to make himself heard, they were probably listening, too. But however much it dug at his pride to be seen blocking her path to prevent her from leaving, he couldn’t give up now.

      ‘We want medical professionals who can listen to other people—’ Megan cut him short by suddenly winding down the window and leaning out.

      ‘I think you should know that appealing to my professional pride isn’t going to work.’

      It seemed to be working. Megan was no longer scrunching her face up in a scowl, which was a distinct improvement. The feeble winter sunshine tangled in the gold of her hair, making him feel as if he were looking at an angry angel.

      ‘Noted. Let’s make it personal, then. I’ll get on my knees if that’s what you want...’ That would provide a talking point for whoever was watching.

      The ghost of a smile flitted across her face. ‘That would be embarrassing for both of us.’

      If Megan was the woman he thought she was, there was no risk in what he was about to do. All the same, Jaye felt a slight tremor in his chest. He’d been wrong before, and he didn’t relish the idea of explaining how he’d let one of the best candidates the charity had seen in years slip through their fingers, without putting up more of a fight.

      ‘All right, then. If you can face the idea that you might be wrong, we’ll go inside and talk. If not, have a nice life.’

      He turned, making for the path that led around the side of the house. Jaye felt his heart clench with inappropriate joy as he heard the car door open and then close again, and Megan’s footsteps behind him.

      Walking down the stone steps that led to the semi-basement kitchen, Jaye opened the door for Megan and she walked inside. Now that lunch had been served the place was deserted, but there were still enough cups left in the dresser to throw a few if Megan got the urge. He motioned her towards the large kitchen table and she sat down.

      ‘Coffee?’ Something hot, to break the ice.

      ‘Yes. Thank you.’

      He