Her Boss and Protector. Joanna Neil

with night-black hair and startlingly blue eyes.

      Her heart had begun to thump discordantly but she wasn’t at all sure why he was having this effect on her. It was probably more to do with the shock of seeing him standing there than with anything else.

      ‘What do you want?’ she asked, dry-mouthed. ‘You’ve just given the children the fright of their lives. It’s a wonder they didn’t fall off the roof.’

      ‘That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about,’ he said. ‘I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be letting them loose like that. They’re very young. Anything could have happened. They might have hurt themselves.’

      ‘I realise that. I was watching them.’

      He raised a dark brow. ‘Were you? I don’t think you were making a very good job of it. They shouldn’t have been up there in the first place, but from what I could see they were out here on their own for several minutes before you decided to do anything about it.’

      ‘Yes, well—at least they didn’t come to any harm, and there’s no damage done in the end, so I think it probably best if we just forget about it for now. Thank you for your concern, but I’ll handle things from here on.’ She used a dismissive tone and hoped that would be the end of it, but he wasn’t about to be fobbed off.

      ‘I’d like to come round and talk to you,’ he said.

      She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’ At that moment she was thankful that there was a sturdy padlock on the gate. ‘I’ve no idea who you are, and I’m certainly not inviting you around here after you’ve just scared the living daylights out of the children.’

      He gave a faint grimace. ‘I didn’t mean to do that. They took fright as soon as they saw me.’

      ‘I’m not surprised. You’re not supposed to be there. The owner of the house is away, and for all I know you could be a burglar.’ She had to admit that she had never seen a burglar dressed in a suit before now, but anything was possible.

      ‘I am the owner,’ he said. ‘I’ve been away on a course, but I arrived back just a short time ago.’

      ‘Anyone could say that,’ Jade said. ‘The agent assured me that the owner would be away for another fortnight at least.’

      ‘There was a change of plan.’ He studied her. ‘Perhaps it would help if you take a look at my driving licence. Would that satisfy you as to my identity?’ There was a thread of sarcasm in his voice, and he probably expected her to refuse the offer, but Jade wasn’t giving in to intimidation of any sort.

      ‘It might,’ she said.

      He reached into his jacket pocket and took out a thin wallet, handing it to her through the wrought-iron bars of the gate. She read the name on his licence—Callum Beresford—and winced. It was the name the agent had mentioned to her. She handed the wallet back to him.

      ‘I had to make sure,’ she said. ‘I hope you understand my concerns.’

      ‘I do.’ His mouth made an odd shape, his expression halfway between cynicism and a grimace. ‘Perhaps I should even be grateful for your vigilance.’ He frowned. ‘I’ll go around to the front of the house, shall I? I really think we should talk some more.’

      Jade guessed that it would be less than neighbourly to refuse his request. After all, he had at least been concerned for the children’s welfare. She hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. ‘All right, give me a minute, and I’ll let you in.’

      She started to walk back to the house. She wasn’t looking forward to prolonging the conversation with him, and she wasn’t at all sure what awaited her as far as the children were concerned. Given everything that had gone on today, they were totally wound up and she was dreading to discover what they might be getting up to next.

      Going into the kitchen, she saw that they were bent over something on the floor. Connor was busily pouring milk into a saucer, spilling most of it in the process, and she frowned, wondering what was going on.

      ‘We found a kitten in the garden,’ he said, looking up at her. ‘He’s hungry. We’re going to give him some milk.’

      Jade glanced around and caught sight of a pathetic-looking little black kitten that was staring at them with large eyes and trying unsuccessfully to blend in with the kitchen units. She gave herself a mental shake, and didn’t even think of making an issue of it. By now, she was just thankful that they were both over their fright and she was busy trying to work out how she was going to get along with her new neighbour. They hadn’t had the best of beginnings.

      She opened the front door to Callum Beresford and stood back to let him into the hallway. He made an imposing figure on her doorstep and she was more than a touch wary of him. His blue eyes studied her assessingly and seemed to miss nothing.

      ‘We’re in the kitchen,’ she murmured, waving him through. ‘You’ll have to excuse the mess. We’ve not long arrived home.’

      He walked ahead of her as she indicated, and stopped at the doorway into the room, looking in on the scene of devastation in there. Standing beside him, Jade’s heart sank. It was worse than she remembered. There were toys strewn all along the worktops where Connor had abandoned them, and the rest of the bags were where she had left them when they had first come in. Added to that, there were puddles of milk all over the floor, though the kitten was doing his very best to lick them up.

      Callum’s features were impassive. She had absolutely no idea what he was thinking. He probably had her down as the worst housekeeper in the Cotswolds. The children stared up at him, open-mouthed. Connor was the first to recover, and looked up at him, his eyes dark with suspicion. ‘Who are you?’ he said.

      ‘I’m the man who lives next door,’ Callum answered.

      ‘In the big house?’ Rebeccah asked.

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘No one lives there,’ Connor said doubtfully, still giving him that mistrustful look. ‘Is you a ghost?’

      ‘I don’t think so. At least, I wasn’t the last time I looked in the mirror,’ Callum answered, straight-faced. Seeing the children’s worried expressions, he quickly added, ‘No, I’m not. I’ve been away from home for a while, but now I’ve come back.’

      Connor was clearly still unconvinced, and Jade said, ‘This is the man who was trying to talk to you in the garden. He’s not cross with you, and there’s no need for you to be frightened.’ She hoped that was true. She glanced at her neighbour, her expression willing him to agree with her.

      ‘That’s right,’ he murmured, but when he looked back at her niece and nephew his expression was serious, and Jade began to wonder whether he had ever had much contact with children. These two were a handful, to be sure, but his manner with them was verging on cool. ‘I do want a word with you, though,’ he said. ‘I think you have something of mine, don’t you? I would like to have it back.’

      Jade stared at him. ‘I don’t understand. I didn’t see them take anything.’

      His gaze flicked over her, skimming her jeans-clad figure and taking in the snug fit of her cotton top. ‘Perhaps that’s because you weren’t taking too much notice of what they were getting up to.’ He kept his voice low, but his tone was curt, condemning, and her mouth quivered slightly at the unfair criticism.

      He turned back to the children. ‘When you leaned over to look at the tree, I think one of the branches broke off, didn’t it? Did you pick up the little birdhouse and feeder that was attached to the branch? It’s important to me. It belonged to someone who was in my family, and I wouldn’t like to lose it.’

      Connor gave him a sombre look, but said nothing, and Jade guessed that he was too overwhelmed by the presence of this tall stranger to admit to anything. Rebeccah, wanting to do the right thing, spoke up for both of them. ‘We didn’t mean to take it. We just wanted to look