Devil Lover

‘And will you be leaving anyone special behind?’

‘A boy-friend, you mean?’ She watched him nod. ‘No one who really counts.’ She hoped Donny would forgive her for that. She wasn't seriously interested in him, although he didn't treat their friendship with the same casualness. He was one of the reasons she didn't mind leaving London, mere words didn't seem to be enough to convince him of her disinterest in making things more serious between them.

‘Good, good,’ he nodded again, studying the tip of one highly polished shoe. His ease didn't fool Regan for one minute; there was an astute brain behind his polite manner, a brain that missed little. ‘And what do you know of Helena?’

‘The little girl?’

Clive Western smiled. ‘I don't somehow think she would like being called that.’

‘I'm sure she wouldn't,’ Regan laughed, her cheeks flushed in her embarrassment. ‘My lecturers wouldn't be very pleased with me if they'd heard that slip-up. I meant to say young lady.’

‘I'm sure you did,’ his mouth quirked with humour. ‘And yes, Helena is the young lady. Although I wouldn't really call her that either,’ he added thoughtfully.

‘I know very little about her, except her age and that her mother is dead.’

‘Gina died just over ten years ago.’

‘I'm sorry,’ Regan said softly.

‘It was rough on Helena,’ he agreed. ‘She was only five when her mother walked out on her.’

‘Walked out …? I'm sorry, I thought you said——’

‘Oh, I did. Please, help yourself,’ he indicated the plate of delicious-looking cream cakes on the trolley. ‘You don't look as if you have to watch what you eat.’

‘No, I don't. But I—I won't, if you don't mind.’ She always ended up with more cream over her than inside her, and she didn't want to make a fool of herself when the interview seemed to be going so well. ‘I've just eaten lunch,’ she excused herself, the silent rumblings of her tummy telling her that it had been over three hours ago. And the cakes did look delicious!

Clive Western shrugged. ‘To get back to Gina.’ He frowned. ‘She'd already gone back to America, alone, before the accident happened.’

‘I see.’

‘The marriage was—well, it wasn't a success. I'm telling you this because you may find Helena won't take kindly to a female being introduced into her world, not a female she has to take notice of anyway. She's been surrounded by just men for so long now—staff, tutors, her father—that I'm afraid she's rather an independent young girl. She's attractive enough, she just needs a push in the right direction to make her into a beautiful young woman.’

‘She resents the idea of a companion,’ Regan said with a sigh. This job was certainly turning out to have a lot of the pitfalls that had been described to her during her recent course.

‘She resents any idea of change,’ Clive Western corrected. ‘But things can't go on as they have been. She's running wild down there in Cornwall. But the business is very time-consuming, requiring a lot of time travelling to our different branches all over the world. The personal appearance has never done any harm, and it certainly keeps the employees on their toes. They never know when the boss is going to walk in.’

‘And—er—what is the business?’ asked Regan.

‘Shipping, hotels, holidays.’

Wow! No wonder he looked as if he were made of money. ‘So Helena spends a lot of her time on her own?’

He nodded. ‘Except for the staff down there.’

‘She's never had a companion before?’

‘Years ago. Then she went to boarding school for a time. A bad bout of ‘flu turning to pneumonia put a stop to that just over a year ago. Since then she's been tutored at home. She's supposed to be delicate,’ he added dryly.

Regan frowned. ‘But she has a tutor living down there with her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then I really don't see … When would I get to do my job?’ She looked and sounded puzzled.

‘Helena only studies until three in the afternoon, after that her time is her own. Her tutor is a male, so that would be the time you took over.’

‘But I—— What would I do all day until she'd finished her school work?’

‘Walk, sunbathe, anything that you like doing.’

She shook her head. ‘I really don't think you need someone like me. Isn't there a relative or friend who could go and stay with her until she's well enough to return to school, someone who could be a friend to her, share things with her? If I accepted this job I wouldn't be earning my money.’ She knew the salary already, and it was a very good one. All the more reason not to accept it under false pretences.

‘Oh, but you would,’ he assured her. ‘It would merely be a reversal of the day. Up until three o'clock your time would be your own, after that, until Helena goes to bed about ten, you would be with her. Weekends you would be expected to be with her all day.’

‘I see.’ That changed things. The way he put it, it sounded a reasonable arrangement. Just a reversal of the day, as he said.

‘So, would you be willing to take the job?’

‘Yes, I—I think so.’ It all seemed to be happening so fast. ‘But don't you have other applicants to see first?’ What was she trying to do, see herself out of what looked like being a very interesting job!

‘There are no other applicants. The job wasn't advertised, and the agency doesn't have anyone else to send. Now, I've told you all the drawbacks, are you still interested in the job?’

‘Oh yes!’ Her eyes glowed brightly blue.

‘Good,’ he grinned. ‘Now I'll tell you some of the good things about it. The salary you already know, you would have more or less a free hand with Helena. The staff down there would treat you more or less as the mistress of the house, and once you've got over Helena's initial antagonism I think you'll find she can be quite a loyal friend. Now what's your answer?’

‘I think,’ she told him shyly, ‘that I would like the job.’

‘Then that's settled,’ he said with satisfaction, and obvious relief. He held out the plate of sticky confectionery she had earlier refused. ‘Have a cake to celebrate. I'd offer you something stronger, but then I'd have to join you, and as I still have a certain amount of work to do today … Go on, have one,’ he encouraged as she still hesitated. ‘I'm going to have one,’ he added enticingly.

Regan laughingly took a chocolate eclair, her favourite. ‘I bet you and Helena are great friends,’ she smiled. ‘You seem to have a way with females.’

He shook his head. ‘I'm afraid Helena is off me at the moment.’

‘She's at an awkward age. I'm sure she'll soon get over whatever it is you've done to upset her.’

‘Not that little lady. Helena isn't one to forget anything, but then neither is her father.’

Regan finished her cream cake, wiping her chocolate-covered fingers on the napkin. Ordinarily she would have licked them clean, but she couldn't do that in front of this man. It just wasn't fair how he managed to eat his without even seeming to get in the least sticky. And he didn't look in the least like a man who would bear a grudge. But then what did she really know about him? Nothing, except the polite friendly side of his character he had shown during this interview.

‘When could you start work?’ he asked now.

She shrugged. ‘Whenever you want me to. I've been taking a holiday since college finished, but that's over now. I can start at any time.’

‘Let's see, today is Thursday. I have to drive down on Sunday to pick up a few things. Could you be ready to go by then?’

It would take a bit of organising, but she would do it somehow. ‘That would be fine,’ she nodded.