replied. No need for the dear man to know that she knew the true reason for his visit—or for him to know how antagonistic she felt towards the man.
‘It was. Especially when he’s always so busy,’ Osgood agreed.
‘He mentioned he had business this way,’ Taryn commented non-committally.
‘Jake always has business somewhere,’ he answered proudly. And added, with yet more pride, ‘He heads the Nash Corporation. I expect you’ve heard of them?’
Taryn stared at him in amazement. Everybody who knew anything about engineering had heard of the Nash Corporation. Not that they dealt only in engineering. They were well known in the design, development and manufacturing world—a corporation that was involved in electronics, engineering and aviation, to name but a few. And Jake Nash headed that corporation!
‘I didn’t know he was that Nash,’ she answered with a smile. It did not make her like Jake Nash any better, but his uncle need not know that she was a touch anti-nephew just then.
‘He’s done well,’ he commented—a modest understatement, she felt. Mellor Engineering was quite a large outfit, but it was just not in the same league as the Nash Corporation. ‘Jake liked your cake, by the way.’
‘Oh, did he?’ she replied sunnily.
‘He said that if you’re half as good a PA as you are a cook, you’ll be snapped up the moment you put yourself back on the PA market.’
Too kind! She changed the subject. ‘I thought we’d have a chicken salad for dinner.’
‘Are you going to make some of that special potato salad you made the other day?’ he asked appreciatively. He was a joy to spoil.
Over the next few days Taryn felt her equilibrium start to settle down again. She had wanted that tranquillity back, and by about Wednesday morning she reckoned she had found it. It was not to last.
For all she took care of all the chores, Osgood Compton treated her more like a house guest than a housekeeper. They had enjoyed a shared lunch and, having left him to take what he called ‘a little zizz’—his usual afternoon nap—she was in the kitchen preparing vegetables for the evening meal when, to her astonishment, the kitchen door opened and none other than Jake Nash walked in!
Feeling fairly staggered, she asked, ‘Where did you leave your car?’ craning to see the whole semi-circle of the drive. Where had he sprung from? She rinsed her hands and grabbed up a towel and, turning to face him, began drying them.
‘I’ve walked up from the road. I didn’t want to disturb my uncle.’
Didn’t want…? Was she to take it from that that he did not want to disturb his uncle’s nap—or did she gather that Jake Nash was there to see her? Familiar feelings of hostility butted away tranquillity. ‘Come to check I haven’t run off with the family silver?’ she bridled, dark blue eyes flashing violet sparks.
For answer he gave her a smile of such sinking charm that she almost forgot that she didn’t like him. ‘We got off on the wrong foot,’ he suggested pleasantly, and held out his right hand.
Taryn stared at him, refusing to shake hands. ‘You want something?’ she said warily.
‘We both do,’ he acknowledged, his hand dropping back to his side.
‘We—do?’ She was cagey still.
‘Are you going to make me a cup of tea?’ he requested.
Taryn turned away to set the kettle to boil, knowing without having to ask that he had not been referring to a cup of tea when he had said he wanted something.
‘You’ll join me, I hope?’ he invited, when he observed she had taken out only one cup and saucer.
No need to be antagonistic just for the sake of it, she decided, taking out another cup and saucer and, since he was not yet ready to go and see his uncle, inviting him to take a seat at the kitchen table.
‘Cake?’ she offered.
‘You heard?’
Her lips twitched. He knew his uncle had passed on his compliment about her cake. She glanced at Jake Nash and saw he had his eyes on her nearly smiling mouth, perhaps noting he had reached her sense of humour. She sobered straight away, and busied herself taking two cups of tea over to the table. Against her sudden better judgement, she took him a slice of cake too.
Since he had invited her to join him, she sat down at the table with him, this good-looking, steady grey-eyed man. ‘So,’ she challenged, ‘if the phone lines from New York haven’t been buzzing again, what do you want that I might possibly want too? Presumably you believe there’s some sort of connection?’
‘You have a sharp intelligence, Taryn,’ he commented.
She fixed her dark blue glance on him. ‘So I can make a decent cake and I’m not too dim. So?’
‘You’ll be leaving here soon?’
‘Mrs Ellington phoned to say she will definitely be back by the end of next week.’
‘When you’ll be looking for a job?’
Taryn collapsed back in her chair. ‘You’re never offering me the job of your housekeeper!’ she exclaimed, bringing out that which her ‘sharp intelligence’ had brought her.
‘I’m quite adequately catered for in that department,’ he replied smoothly.
‘Of course,’ she murmured. ‘Your good lady will see to all your domestic arrangements.’
‘I don’t have a “good lady” in that sense.’
‘You’re not married?’
‘Nor living with anyone,’ he answered coolly. ‘I do have a kind soul who comes in and tidies up and cooks a bit most days.’ He shrugged, and challenged, ‘You like housekeeping so well that you want to continue with it when your stint for my uncle is done?’
She shook her head. ‘I needed a break from PA work—I’m now ready to go back to it.’
‘Back to Mellor Engineering?’
Subtle question. ‘No,’ she replied coldly. ‘And, to answer your next question, no, I was not dismissed on the spot,’ she informed him defensively.
He eyed her silently for long interminable seconds—and she was sure she was not going to say another word to the wretched man. ‘But you did leave—on the spot?’ he enquired, with that sharp intelligence he had. She refused to answer. ‘Care to tell me why?’ he persisted.
‘No!’ she retorted. ‘It’s nothing to do with you.’
‘You—had a small breakdown?’ he fished.
‘No, I didn’t!’ she exploded. Honestly, this man! If it was her house she’d chuck him out. She counted to ten, felt calmer and, since he had witnessed for himself that she had been upset that day in the lift, conceded, ‘I was—upset—at the time. But now I’m looking
