The Unwilling Mistress

Yes, they had, but he was obviously a customer, and she was the only one to have arrived in the office so far this morning.

March forced herself to once again smile politely. ‘How may I help you, Mr…?’

‘Davenport,’ he supplied lightly. ‘Will Davenport. Mind if I sit down—March?’ he prompted after a glance at the name tag on the lapel of her suit jacket.

‘That’s what the chairs are for—Mr Davenport,’ she pointed out dryly.

He lowered his long length into the chair opposite hers. ‘Tell me, March,’ he drawled, ‘is everyone here as friendly as you?’ A derisive smile curved his own lips now as he eyed her mockingly across the width of the desk.

March felt the colour warm her cheeks at this deliberate rebuke. Probably deserved, she allowed grudgingly. Although that didn’t excuse his own high-handedness earlier.

‘Only when they’ve had their parking space usurped!’ she returned sharply.

He grinned unabashedly. ‘I live in London.’ He shrugged broad shoulders beneath the navy-blue sweater and thick overjacket he wore. ‘Parking spaces there are up for grabs to the first taker!’

March felt slightly disarmed by that grin. He really was very good-looking, that overlong silver-blond hair falling endearingly over his forehead, laughter lurking in those deep blue eyes, the hardness of his features softened by the grin too.

But the fact that this man was breathtakingly handsome really wasn’t the point, was it?

‘I was the first taker!’ she reminded impatiently.

He gave an irritated frown now. ‘Perhaps we could move on?’

Yes, perhaps they had better. Clive, when he finally did put in an appearance, wouldn’t be too happy with her for alienating a customer—perhaps their only customer on a day like today!

March drew in a deeply controlling breath, straightening some folders on her desk before forcing herself to resume that polite smile. ‘Are you interested in buying a property in the area, Mr Davenport?’

‘No.’

Her eyes widened, grey-green eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes, the same colour as her below-shoulder-length hair. If he wasn’t interested in buying a property, then why—?

‘I’m looking to rent a place for a couple of weeks,’ he added mockingly.

Her brow cleared at this explanation. ‘For the summer?’ She stood up, moving to the filing cabinet behind her. ‘We have some rather lovely cottages—’

‘No, not for the summer. For now,’ Will Davenport corrected even as she pulled open a drawer.

March turned back to him with raised brows before glancing frowningly at the snow still falling outside. It was January, for goodness’ sake, none of the people they had on their books rented the cottages out in winter—mainly because very few of the properties actually had any heating in them, apart from an open fire.

‘I’m in the area on business for a few weeks.’ Will Davenport obviously took pity on her confusion. ‘I’m booked into a hotel at the moment, but I hate their impersonality,’ he added with a grimace.

March really wouldn’t know whether hotels were impersonal or otherwise, never having stayed in one. Living on a farm, the middle one of three sisters, brought up alone by their father since March was four, there had been very little money to spare for things like holidays. And since their father died last year, that situation had only worsened.

She suddenly became aware of the completely male assessment of Will Davenport’s gaze as he studied her, from the top of her ebony head to the soles of her heeled shoes.

At twenty-six, she was tall and slender, with long shapely legs, smartly dressed in a navy-blue suit matched with a lighter blue jumper, pale magnolia skin, her make-up light, her lip-gloss peach, only the pointed determination of her chin indicative of the stubbornness of her nature.

Although Will Davenport obviously liked what he saw, his smile warmly appreciative now as he gave a mocking acknowledgement of his head at her questioning look.

Well, really!

He had literally pushed—parked!—his way into her life—and now he was looking at her as if she were the tastiest thing on the menu!

March moved abruptly to resume her seat behind the desk, glaring across at him as she wondered how much longer Clive and Michelle were going to be; quite frankly, she had had enough of trying to deal with Will Davenport for one day.

Clive Carter and Michelle Jones were not only partners in the estate agency of Carter and Jones, but they also lived together on the outskirts of town. The fact that neither of them had arrived yet had to mean that the snow was delaying both of them. More was the pity!

As the receptionist, March usually only answered the telephone and passed clients on to either Clive or Michelle. Something she really wished she could do with this particular client!

‘I’m afraid Mr Carter and Miss Jones aren’t in the office at the moment,’ she began crisply.

‘I think I can see that for myself, March,’ Will Davenport drawled mockingly.

March flushed irritably at his obvious sarcasm. ‘What I’m trying to say is that I think it would be better if you called back later and spoke to one of them,’ she snapped, grey-green eyes flashing a warning of her rising temper.

His mouth twisted. ‘You aren’t qualified to show me details of any properties for rent in the area?’

If he was meaning to be insulting—and he probably was!—then he was succeeding.

March frowned. ‘Of course I can show you the properties, Mr Davenport—’

‘Then perhaps you had better do so,’ he suggested dryly.

March drew in a deeply controlling breath as she desperately tried to resist the urge she had to wipe that confidently mocking smile right off that sculptured mouth!

The man was infuriating! Not only that, he was arrogant, mocking, and he had the cheek to—

Wait a minute… He was looking for somewhere to rent. She might just have the perfect place for him, at that!

Will wasn’t sure he altogether liked the cat-who-had-swallowed-the-cream smile now curving March’s lips. As if she knew something he didn’t…

Not that he could altogether blame her for being initially annoyed with him—he had taken her parking space earlier, something that had obviously infuriated her.

He had felt more than a little guilty about that when he’d entered the estate agent’s a short time ago and recognized her as she sat behind the desk, but that guilt had since turned to admiration. March was absolutely beautiful when angry. Those unusual grey-green eyes sparkled with the emotion, her pale skin having a blushing hue, as for her mouth—!

But he wasn’t quite so comfortable with that quietly satisfied look on her face now…

‘Tell me, Mr Davenport…’ she leant across the desk confidingly ‘…are you particularly looking for somewhere here in town, or would somewhere further out be of any interest to you?’

Will eyed her warily. ‘That depends in which direction out it was,’ he answered guardedly.

As far as he was concerned, the job he did was completely harmless, moreover he was completely professional, but he had learnt from experience that not everyone looked on it in the same way. The fewer people who knew the reason for his presence in the area, the better it would be. For the moment.

‘Over towards the village of Paxton,’ March told him lightly. ‘If you don’t know where that is—’

‘I do,’ he cut in lightly. ‘Towards Paxton would be perfect.’

March looked startled. ‘It would…?’