The Forbidden Innocent. Sharon Kendrick

be out galloping and enjoying life and the next. She swallowed. What if he had been badly injured—and if that were the case, then hadn’t she been a fool for letting him ride off alone like that?

      But Christine had said there was no news—and nothing for her to do until Mr Marchant returned—and so Ashley had gone to her own room, to quieten her thudding heart and try to calm herself. And once she had washed her hands and brushed her hair she looked around at the subdued comfort of her brand-new room to try to calm her ruffled nerves.

      She was more used to accommodation the size of a shoe-box but this one was huge. There was a queen-sized bed covered with a cashmere throw—as well as extra blankets in the cupboard, since Christine had warned her that these northern temperatures could plummet. A sofa heaped with cushions overlooked the gardens and there was a small television set perched on top of a beautiful chest of drawers.

      ‘Mr Marchant doesn’t really watch a lot of television and we don’t have it on much downstairs,’ Christine had confided. ‘But I told him that you can’t bring people out into the middle of nowhere without giving them anything to entertain themselves of an evening!’

      Ashley had smiled. No, she couldn’t really imagine the brooding Jack Marchant huddled over a soap opera or some kind of reality game show.

      Actually, she wasn’t a great fan of TV herself and, pulling a paperback from the small pile of books she’d brought with her, she sat down and began to read as she waited for news from the hospital. But for once the words failed to conjure up the power to take her into the imaginary world she preferred to the real-life version. Instead, she kept seeing images of that powerful body lying crumpled and temporarily winded.

      So that had been Jack Marchant. She had been expecting someone older—and more remote. Some bespectacled and crusty academic, perhaps—as befitted the author of several well-received military biographies who was branching out into novel-writing. But he had been the very opposite of that. Different, in fact, from anyone she’d ever met.

      Her book forgotten, she hugged her arms around her chest. Ashley had mixed with plenty of boys when she’d been growing up, but they had been just that—boys—with all their swagger and bravado. Whereas the man who had leaned on her today had exuded a commanding masculinity she’d never experienced before. And she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to deal with someone like that on a day-to-day basis.

      But you don’t have to deal with anything other than the work he gives you to do, taunted a small voice inside her head. He’s your boss, remember? You type his work for him, you live quietly in his house—and at the end of every month you collect the generous salary he’s providing. That’s the reason you’re here, after all.

      Her thoughts were broken by a sudden tap on her bedroom door—and she opened it to find Christine standing there, with her coat on and a battered shopping bag looped over her arm.

      ‘I’m just off home now,’ she said. ‘And Mr Marchant’s back from the hospital. He’s downstairs in the library and said he’d like to meet you.’

      ‘Is he okay?’ Ashley asked quickly.

      ‘Oh, he’s fine. It’d take a lot more than a tumble from his horse to damage someone like him.’

      But Ashley felt a fluttery kind of nervousness at the thought of seeing him again and, self-consciously, her hands skimmed down over her sweater and alighted on the waistband of her jeans.

      ‘Maybe I’d better change,’ she said doubtfully.

      ‘Maybe you had,’ said Christine. ‘But better not keep him waiting too long—he doesn’t like to be kept waiting. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Have fun.’

      Fun? Now why did Ashley get the distinct feeling that there wasn’t going to be much fun involved in this new position?

      After Christine had gone, she put on a plain skirt and a neat blouse, brushed and twisted her long hair into a French plait and then went downstairs to the library. The door was closed and the deeply growled and peremptory command of ‘Come!’ in response to her hesitant tapping almost made her lose her nerve and turn away.

      Pushing open the heavy door, she saw a dark figure standing by the fire with his back to her—a figure she recognised instantly and yet one that seemed even more intimidating than it had done earlier. Was that because the red flames threw his tall figure into a stark silhouette which seemed to dominate the room? Or because his physique was, quite simply, breathtaking?

      Suddenly, she felt insubstantial in the presence of such a remarkable package of masculinity. As if he could dominate her as he dominated the room. It was another unwanted moment of awareness and Ashley found herself struggling to make his name pass her dry lips.

      ‘Mr… Marchant?’

      He turned then and the flames illuminated his face—sending shifting shadows across features which were so still that they might have been fashioned from dark marble. He seemed to have a sense of total isolation about him—as if he had cut himself off from the rest of the world—and as Ashley stared at him she saw the brief flicker of something bleak in his eyes. Something like pain. And something like anger. And then it was gone. Instead, his look became coolly assessing as his gaze swept over her, though it was a moment before he spoke.

      ‘So, we meet again.’

      ‘Yes.’

      That same odd smile she’d seen earlier once again curved his sensual lips. ‘My lady rescuer.’

      Ashley shrugged her shoulders awkwardly. ‘I didn’t really do very much to rescue you.’

      ‘No. I suppose you didn’t.’ Jack studied her, remembering her wide eyes and trembling lips. The softness of her touch as she had shaken him. How potent gentleness could be, he thought suddenly. And how long since he had felt its subtle seduction? He flicked the thought away—even though his attention was momentarily distracted by the faint swell of her breasts beneath her sweater. ‘And no doubt you were too stricken by guilt to be of much use in any case,’ he challenged huskily.

      ‘Guilt?’ she echoed defensively, as unwittingly he touched a raw nerve. Because hadn’t her life been blighted by false accusations made by those on whom she depended? The foster mothers. The matrons in the care homes. Time after time she had discovered that the disadvantaged were an easy target. And now, as she looked into his hard black eyes, she wondered if here was someone else who would concoct crimes she was supposed to have committed. ‘I wasn’t aware that I’d done something wrong.’

      ‘Don’t you know that it’s inadvisable to startle horses? That they’re as temperamental as women?’ he said. ‘But don’t stand over there by the door looking so nervous. You’d better come in and sit down—I won’t bite! And if we’re to spend the next few months incarcerated together, then I’d better know something about you—don’t you think? Sit down—no, not there. Sit over here by the lamp, where I can see you properly.’

      She was acutely aware of his piercing gaze and authoritative manner, and Ashley’s legs felt curiously jellylike as she walked to the spot he’d indicated. Perching herself on the edge of the chair, she watched as he lowered himself into a similar one on the opposite side of the fireplace—though his own seat was more shadowed, she realised. Which meant that she couldn’t see him so well as he had insisted on seeing her.

      He had changed from the faded jeans into dark trousers and an expensive-looking shirt of silk, which hinted at the hard body beneath. With the more formal clothes, he now looked every inch the modern-day aristocrat— his long legs stretched out in front of him as he surveyed her from between narrowed and watchful eyes.

      ‘You’re much younger than I thought,’ he observed, his eyes drifting over the smooth surface of her skin, and he felt a flicker of irritation. Why the hell had the agency sent him someone like this—someone with that tight bloom of youth on her skin, which women spent the rest of their lives hopelessly trying to recapture?

      Ashley gave a little shrug. ‘The