Free A Pretend Engagement by Jessica Steele

glad to end the call.

    To her surprise, Leon Beaumont went and filled the kettle and set it to boil. Clearly he was thirsty. Clearly she was not going to make him a drink. `As "Johnny's friend", perhaps I should have that cup of tea,' he commented smoothly, when she just stood there looking at him.

    `I didn't think you'd appreciate me telling. Russell who you were and what you're doing here.'

    `That's why you suggested you'd meet him rather than allow him to come here and collect you?'

    `That, and the fact I didn't want to advertise that I'm being blackmailed to skivvy for the grouch of the year.'

    `Hell's teeth!' His sharp exclamation shattered the air. `Without question you are the most Yippy female it has ever been my misfortune to meet!' `Thank you,' she replied pleasantly. In her view Leon Beaumont didn't deserve any better. There was a lot she would do, a lot she would put up with from sisterly love, but being subservient was not one of them. But all at once she started to feel totally fed-up. `Tea or coffee?' she asked shortly, going over to the work surfaces.

    `Tea,' he elected. `What happened to "I've had it up to here with men""

    'Russell? He's a friend.'

    `That's different?"

    'Don't you know any women who are just friends and nothing more?' As she said it, Varnie studied the tall, good-looking man, virility exuding from every pore. She didn't wait for an answer. `No, I don't suppose you do,' she said cryptically. And, to her amazement, he laughed. It wasn't prolonged laughter, but his eyes lit up, and as she looked at him Varnie felt quite breathless. Ridiculous! She coughed, feeling choked suddenly, and quickly, to cover her slip in mentioning Johnny and Russell knowing each other, `Russell's a friend of Johnny's too we all met up one time.' And, before Leon could make anything out of that, `All right with you if I leave you a casserole to help yourself from when you're ready?'

    She'd fully expected him to be difficult. But, to her surprise, `I think I can manage that,' he agreed, paused for a moment, and then added, `You'll be home before midnight, I take it?'

    Varnie stared at him. Surely he wasn't telling her to be back before the clock struck twelve? `I must remember to wear my glass slippers!' she retorted, and left him to make his own tea.

    In her room, however, she restlessly began to wonder what on earth was wrong with her. For heaven's sake, she was used to dealing with difficult people. You couldn't work in the hotel business and expect everyone who stayed with you to be all sweetness and light.

    While it was true that Beaumont Esquire was very far from being all sweetness and light, why on earth was she so scratchy with him all the time? Hang on a minute-had she forgotten she was here as his housekeeper when that had never been her intention? To be fair to him, though, he did not know that, did he? He thought-and she had never said a peep to the contrary-had, in fact, fed him the information- that her being there was by prior arrangement with his assistant.

    If she had to be scratchy with anybody, then surely it was his assistant she should be scratchy with. And would be, she determined, the very moment she set eyes on that diabolical brother of hers. Although she knew in advance from previous upsets with Johnny that she would soon forgive him and they would be back to normal in no time.

    And anyhow-she roused her down-on-the floor feelings-Leon Beaumont might think her the most lippy female it had ever been his misfortune to meet, but he wasn't exactly backwards when it came to forthrightly speaking his mind too!

    Varnie was still feeling restless and out of sorts when, as she knew she had to, she returned downstairs to prepare her `temporary employer' his evening meal. He was no longer in the kitchen and she was glad about that. She wasn't yet ready to see him again as she faced the fact that, while she was perfectly free to leave, no matter how fed up she was, because of Johnny there