In The Billionaire's Bed. Sara Wood

      ‘I’ll rectify that. But your gossips shouldn’t jump to conclusions,’ he shot back. ‘She’s my PA, not my wife. I’m divorced.’

      Somehow she managed to stop herself from declaring that she wasn’t surprised. Her fingers played with the handle on her mug. The woman with egg-whisk hair had been a long shot, but a possible ally, nevertheless. Now her last hope was gone. Her body slumped a little in the chair.

      ‘There’s no way I can persuade you to let me live here till the new owner takes over?’ she begged in a small voice. ‘You see, I’ll lose my business if I can’t work from my boat—’

      ‘Wait a minute!’ His frown was ferocious. ‘I had the impression that you were asking to moor here occasionally. You’re talking about a permanent arrangement?’

      ‘Yes,’ she admitted meekly. ‘I’ve been here three years, you see. It would mean nothing to you, to let me tie up, but it would be everything to me. My whole livelihood would go if I have to leave. I have people who rely on me for regular—’

      ‘That’s your problem, not mine. I want you gone. See to it.’

      Catherine rose to her feet, wondering what he would look like with half a pint of blackcurrant tea poured over his head. But dignity stayed her hand.

      ‘Very well. I’ll go,’ she said coolly. ‘But when it’s known how you’ve treated me, it will be your problem, too.’

      ‘Is that a threat?’ he growled.

      She shrugged. ‘I just know what the local people are like. Treat them with courtesy and respect and they’ll go to the ends of the earth for you. Treat them or their friends badly…’ She shook her head as if he was making a huge mistake. ‘I just hope your plumbing doesn’t fail, or that you ever need help in the garden.’

      And she stalked out before he could reply. Despite her bravado, she was shaking from the confrontation. And miserably she faced up to the fact that she was on the brink of leaving her beloved Tresanton Island for ever.