Joanna Neil - Tamed by her Brooding Boss

He nodded. ‘By the quayside. I don’t live too far away from here, but it’s more than a short walk and it’s uphill all the way.’ He pointed to the steps that were built into the hillside, with a protective rail to help along the way.

Sarah glanced at the steep, green slopes, covered with a rich array of grasses and shrubs. At intervals there were houses dotted about, overlooking the sea. ‘Do you live in one of those?’ she asked.

‘No. You can’t see my house from here. It’s further back, about a mile inland. I walk to the village sometimes to stretch my legs and take in the scenery.’

‘It must be a big change for you after all those years of living on your parents’ country estate.’

‘Yes, it is. But I like having my own space.’ He looked out to sea for a while, and they both watched a sailing vessel move across the horizon. ‘I wondered if you’d ever come back to Cornwall,’ he said. ‘You were in Devon for several years, weren’t you? Did you stay with your father there? He’d remarried before you left here, hadn’t he?’

‘Yes, he had … and Sam was already a year old by then. I did stay with my father in Devon for a short time.’ She moved restlessly, uncomfortable with memories that crowded her brain, and he followed as she began to walk along the cliff path.

‘But then …?’

‘I began to wonder if I might be in the way. What newly married couple wants a teenager around?’ She pulled a face. ‘Anyway, it wasn’t long before I went away to medical school, and I was glad to be independent. And it was easier to rent my own place, once I found friends to share with me.’

‘How did your father feel about that? After all, you and he had quite a few years here in Cornwall when it was just the two of you together.’

She shrugged awkwardly. ‘It was never all that comfortable for either of us once we were left on our own. He was withdrawn a lot of the time, and he preferred to be by himself. He’d have cut himself off from everyone and everything if it had been possible, but instead he had to go out to work to keep a roof over our heads. Then he met Tracy and everything changed.’

He frowned, looking at her with an intent expression. ‘That must have been hard on you after all that time of being out in the cold, so to speak.’

She pressed her lips together briefly. ‘She obviously sparked something in him that gave him a renewed zest for life. I guess I was glad he’d found some reason to join the human race once more.’ The path led down from where they were to the centre of the village, where the grocery store and the post office stood side by side. ‘I need to buy some fresh vegetables and a loaf of bread,’ she announced. ‘Are you heading in the same direction as me?’

‘I am. I thought I might get some sticky buns and one of Martha’s hot coffees to take away.’ He sent her a quick glance. ‘Perhaps you’d like to help me eat them—I didn’t have breakfast and I missed out on lunch with being called out so early this morning. It’s lazy of me, I know, but I can’t be bothered to go back home and cook.’

Her green eyes widened a fraction. ‘It’s the middle of the afternoon,’ she said in astonishment. ‘You ought to know better than to go without food in our line of work.’

He nodded, his mouth making a crooked line. His whole countenance changed when he smiled, and her heart gave a small lurch. ‘Consider me told off,’ he said. ‘How about the buns? Do you want to share?’

‘Okay.’ She pushed open the door of the shop and a bell jangled to alert Martha, the proprietor, to her customers. ‘But I’ll go one better than that. Why don’t you come over to my place and I’ll heat up some soup and warm some bread rolls in the oven? Then you can have the buns for afters. I only live about five minutes’ walk from here.’ The suggestion was out before she had time to consider whether she was wise to get in closer contact with this man who had haunted her, metaphorically speaking, ever since her change from teenage brat to emerging womanhood.

‘Well, that’s too good an offer to miss … if you’re sure?’ His brow creased. ‘I don’t want to put you to any trouble.’

‘It’s no bother. But if you were to collapse through malnutrition, I wouldn’t want to have it on my conscience.’ She gave him an admonishing glance and he laughed.

‘Thanks, Sarah. Besides, I’m curious to see where you’re living now. I heard you’d bought a place, rather than renting. That sounds enterprising, coming from a girl who wanted to be free as a bird and explore new pastures.’

‘Hmm.’ Her cheeks flushed with warm colour. ‘I was very young and naïve when I came out with that statement.’ She’d been brash, full of youthful defiance, keen to let him know that she wouldn’t be staying around for much longer. In truth, in her mind, she’d been running away. Her mouth made an odd twist. ‘It’s actually not up to much, and I think you might be quite disappointed when you see it. I know I was, but I was already contracted to buy it.’

He gave her a perplexed glance. ‘You mean you bought it without seeing it?’

‘That’s right. It came up for auction and I didn’t have time to suss it out before putting in an offer. It was just about as much as I could afford.’ She lifted her arms in a futile gesture. ‘And I was in a bit of a hurry.’

‘It sounds like it.’

‘Can I help you?’ Martha bustled forward, ready to serve them, her face creasing in a smile. ‘Have you managed to sort yourself out, my dear?’ she queried gently, looking at Sarah. ‘You did quite a bit of stocking up last time you were in here, didn’t you? I must say, you don’t look quite as harassed as you did then.’

‘I think it’s all beginning to work out,’ Sarah answered cheerfully. ‘You had pretty well everything I needed to get me started with the cleaning and so on … but I just want a few bits this time around.’

Martha collected together everything off Sarah’s list, and she and James left the shop a few minutes later, loaded with packages. James was munching on one of the buns he’d bought.

‘Here, let me carry those for you,’ he said, relieving her of a couple of bags. He peered inside them. ‘There are a lot of vegetables in here for just one young woman.’

‘Ah … perhaps you didn’t know …’ She sent him a quick, sideways look. ‘I’m not on my own these days.’

‘You’re not?’ His step halted momentarily and he frowned, glancing at her ring finger and then, seeing that it was bare, said, ‘Have I missed something? Are you involved with someone?’

‘No, it’s nothing like that.’ She walked determinedly up the hill towards her cottage.

He sent her a puzzled look, but they’d reached her house by now and she stood still, looking up at the blotchy, white-painted building with its peeling woodwork. ‘This is it. This is where I’m living now.’

He stared, his gaze moving up to the roof where a few slates were cracked or missing altogether. To his credit, he managed to keep a straight face as he said slowly, ‘I think you might have your work cut out here.’

She laughed. ‘You said it … but that’s nothing. Wait till you see the inside.’ She’d already reinforced his view that she was as reckless as ever, buying on impulse, so what did it matter if he looked around and saw the pitiful state it was in?

They walked along the drab hallway to the kitchen, where he set the bags and packages down on the pine table. He glanced thoughtfully around the room for a moment or two, taking in the flaking ceiling and the windows that hadn’t seen a lick of paint for quite some time.

‘The cupboards and worktops look as though they’re made of solid wood,’ he commented after a while. ‘I suppose they could be stripped back and restored to their original condition—or painted, depending on how you feel about it.’