Free Her Heart's Desire by Lauren Wilder

nice balance.
    James was finishing breakfast as she entered.
    ‘Oh, I’m not late, am I?’ Marisa inquired as he approached.
    ‘No, not at all, in fact, there has been a change of plan. I shan’t be requiring you in London today after all,’ he said, turning his attention to the Times.
    ‘Oh.’ Marisa felt a huge pang of disappointment.
    ‘Still, plenty to do around here.’ He folded his paper, tucking it under his arm. He excused himself and left briskly.
    Marisa slumped into a chair and felt sorry for herself; she had been so excited to see London, with him. She wondered why the sudden change and why was he so distant today after their lovely walk in the forest on Friday?
    She worried if he was upset with her. Maybe he didn’t really like her being so friendly with the children. Had she overstepped a boundary? Or maybe Mrs. Reed had said something about interfering with the children’s routine. Had she been complaining to James? Now that wouldn’t surprise her at all.
     
    * * * *
     
    The weeks soon passed by and before she knew it, Marisa realized she had been at Highcroft for almost three months. James never seemed to spend much time in the office with her since the cancelled London trip, and she felt quite lonely. She looked forward to spending her free time sightseeing, getting out and about, and mingling with the tourists as she explored the surrounding area.
    She had visited Oxford, Henley, and Bath, all stunningly pretty English towns that took her breath away. She enjoyed taking lots of photos and couldn’t wait to create an album to show Melanie.
    She still longed to see London and felt sad she had never gone there with James. He had been very distant over the last few weeks. Any attraction he seemed to have had for her had vanished. He never spent time alone with her, and there had been no more near intimate moments.
    She was very disappointed but decided it was for the best. She would have been nuts to get involved with her boss.
    She enjoyed being at Highcroft though. She felt quite settled, and thoughts of Mike had nearly disappeared. The pain was no longer raw. The dreadful sickness in the pit of her stomach had passed almost as soon as she arrived at Highcroft.
    She knew her attraction to James had been a pleasant distraction, and it had stopped her obsessing over Mike. What was it Mae West said? To get over one man the best thing you can do is get under another. Well, she hadn’t managed that, but she had certainly thought about it enough!
    She felt a pang of sadness upon realizing she would never know what his kiss felt like or how his hands on her body would make her feel. She had fantasized about making love to him so many times, and now it would never happen. She resigned herself to the fact her crush was over, and it was good that nothing had happened between them. She concluded it must have all been in her head. She decided to take William up on his offer of a night out. She called him on his mobile, and they arranged to meet at Marylebone station on Friday evening. Marisa felt excited. She was going to see London at last!
     
    * * * *
     
    William was feeling very smug. He was very pleased to hear from Marisa. He had almost given up asking her out, so he was rather surprised when she had called. He started making mental plans. He would take her to some swanky west end wine bars, then on to Whiskey Mist for some dancing and hopefully a bit of a fumble if she was up for it.
    He hadn’t got any vibes from her, but maybe after a few glasses of champagne and his charming company, she would be a little more interested in getting to know him better.
    He knew he had better go careful, though. He certainly didn’t want to upset her. She was so sweet and sexy, and he knew James thought a lot of her. He decided to see how the evening went before making his move. He wondered if James was keen on her himself. He certainly talked about her a lot. Hmm, surely not so soon after Corinne ? William was