Country living is murder. Honestly, I had no idea how different it is to the city. I was born and bred in London, you see, and had only enjoyed the odd rural holiday weekend.

When I rented Basildon Hall, I was looking for two things: privacy and a house that had a nice deep lake and some rough land for testing Trouper. The house had seemed perfect on both counts, and it was easy enough to have the proper data lines put in. What I hadn’t bargained for was living without tech support.

The day we arrived, the line went down. Andrea usually works miracles, but even she couldn’t locate the engineer. Thank heaven for Sophie!

“I would have found him.” Andrea was a little huffy. “She really shouldn’t have just gone like that.”

“Well, I’m glad she did.” I knew my PA was jealous. Andrea is brilliant at her job, and she didn’t like Sophie showing her up. For me, the focus is always on getting the job done. I don’t care how, but I did understand that Andrea was hurting.

I tried to soothe her. “And it wasn’t time wasted, Andrea. Thanks to you we have contacts in the local council now. That will come in useful.”

That got me a smile and notice of more trouble. “You know the girl I hired to help out didn’t turn up?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well, the maid who came with the Hall is sick, and Charlotte says she can’t hire anyone else. I called London, but they say it will take at least a week to send someone up.”

It surprised me because normally Andrea doesn’t tell me about her job.

“I’d not bother you, Richard but you need to know because Charlotte can’t cope. Lorelei just drops everything on the floor, and Tanaka is practically obsessive-compulsive about neatness. She says it took her an hour to muck out Lorelei, and then she had do it again because the woman had a bath and left water all over the stripped oak floor. Then Tanaka had a hissy fit because he found dust on the back of a radiator.”

If Charlotte quit, the Duchess would have my balls. “I can make my own bed, and so can you, right?”

“Yes, and Sophie has already said she can do for herself, too.” Andrea is always fair, bless her.

“Good. Tell Charlotte to focus on the guests. They’re all that matters.”

“Will do,” Andrea said.

“Come on, let’s get Trouper set up. I’m dying to show her off.”

Actually, setting up just meant getting the bot out of the protective casing. It took just a couple of minutes before we were staring at her. And it took a split second for me to descend into complete panic.

I’m not kidding. I’m a successful businessman, one of the best inventors on the planet, and yet I was standing there with sweating hands, shaking knees and a chest tighter than a vice.

“You okay?” Andrea was looking concerned. “You’ve gone a bit pale.”

“Fine.” But I wasn’t. Fear and self-doubt were rocketing through me.  I’d been wrong about Celine; what if I’d lost my edge? NASA had problems with Rover and Russia was stumped with their craft, too. Who on earth was I to think I could handle a project like this by myself?

God knows what I would have done if Sophie hadn’t knocked on the library door at that moment. “Sorry to disturb you, but would you like to give me your breakfast orders for tomorrow?”

“This isn’t the time,” Andrea was hovering protectively, about to chuck Sophie out.

“Yes, it is.” I looked at Sophie’s sweet curves and was comforted instantly. “Sophie, do you mind if I use you for a practice run?”

She clapped her hands in excitement. “Is this it? Is this Trouper? Ohmigod, yes!  I’d love it! What do I do?”

“Listen to my speech and tell me what you think.”

“Sophie doesn’t know anything about AI!” Andrea wasn’t happy. “You need an informed opinion.”

“As there’s only you, and you have heard it a million times before, that won’t work,” I said gently.

“Please do let me!” Sophie was begging like a kid for ice cream. “I’ve seen I, Robot and all the Star Wars films!”

Andrea humphed, but she saw I needed it and shrugged. “I guess it can’t do any harm.”

Sophie put down her iPad and was dancing on the spot. “You’ve no idea how exciting this is! You see it every day, Andrea, but to me this is Christmas!”

Her enthusiasm was exactly what I needed to settle me. My heart stopped trying to beat its way out of my chest, and I could breathe again. “This is Trouper,” I announced. “She’s pint-sized, but she has the strength of a platoon of marines. If you want the job done, there’s no better choice.”

I’d been working on that speech for five years, and on Trouper ever since I was sixteen. You might not think so, though, because at first glance, my robot looks like a miniature tank.

Trouper is small, just a foot long, and it weighs five kilos. This means you don’t need a massive space ship to get it around the solar system. All it takes is a rocket.

“It travels in a protective casing that includes a heat shield,” I explained.  “As it descends there are little rockets to guide it and a parachute to cushion the landing.”

“What does it do?” Sophie asked. “Can it take pictures?”

“Sure! Trouper is programmed to land and immediately look around, mapping terrain and sending back pictures and videos.”

“How does it know where to go?”

“It has a computer on board that works out the best routes to take.”

“Do you guide it, like a car?”

Andrea gave a small, superior smile. “It can take twenty minutes for a signal to travel to Mars,” she pointed out. “And sending images can take an hour or more.”

“Richard will have thought of that,” Sophie grinned. “He’s the best, right?”

Like I said, comforting.

“Trouper will take orders from Earth, but it’s best if she makes her own decisions as much as possible.”

“Can Trouper go into water? What if there’s a sand storm? And what about pressure? Some planets have an atmosphere that will squish you if you land on them, right?”

Sophie put me through my paces, asking a million questions, and by the time I’d answered them all and demonstrated Trouper going through the kitchen garden, picking soil samples, I was settled again.

God knows why I had the near meltdown. Celine had been a disaster, but I’d had loads of those and they’d never affected me.  I decided that it was due to the sheer size of the challenge. Curiosity, the Mars Rover, the cost of $2.5 billion to develop. If Trouper were to succeed, I’d have to source double that.

It was the biggest project of my life, and the fact that it came hard on the heels of a failed relationship had simply rattled me. So thank God for Sophie.

“I love it,” she sighed as Trouper trundled back into the library, carrying samples of rocket, soil, and carrot. “Tanaka and Vladimir will love it too, Richard.” Her eyes were twinkling with fun. “Vladimir already thinks you’re almost as good as a Russian engineer. After this, Tanaka will claim you’re really Japanese.”

“God, I hope so!”

“Nervous?” Sophie cast a knowledgeable eye over me. 

“Of course not,” Andrea snapped.

“Yes,” I confessed.

“I’m the same before big dinners,” Sophie comforted me. “When the Duchess of Weir told me that Prince William was coming, I nearly peed myself with fear.”

Andrea rolled her eyes, but I knew Sophie was just being honest.

“I’m not usually this uptight, but Trouper means a lot to me. It’s the project of a lifetime.”

“And it’s going to be brilliant!” She had no hesitation, bless her. “I know nothing about engineering or space exploration, but even I can see the potential. Everyone’s going to want a Trouper. Companies can use it to scout mines, underwater wrecks, and dangerous terrain. It will be hotter than Smith’s Flaming Curry Puffs.”

“Thank you!”

“And thank you for the private preview. In years to come, I’ll boast I was the first to see Trouper and that it was Richard Cummings himself who showed me.”

“Not without permission!” Andrea said quickly.

“Yes, of course,” Sophie wasn’t worried at all by Andrea’s patent jealousy. “I meant when I’m an old lady, not now.” She picked up her iPad. “And now I must be off. Andrea, yoghurt and a soft-boiled egg for breakfast? And a strawberry smoothie and steamed vegetable plate for lunch?”

“Yes, please.” Andrea was still grumpy but added, “Thanks. It sounds lovely.”

“Excellent,” Sophie responded briskly. “Richard, what would you like?”

“You!” She was irresistible.

“Coming on strong,” Sophie giggled. “I have vanilla cream French toast if you want something sweet for breakfast and there’s mackerel coming in fresh for lunch.”

I can’t remember what I said because I was thinking how pretty she was. The flashing blue eyes, cascade of sun kissed hair and creamy skin exuded vitality. The lush body was lickable, from the high, full breasts to the richly swelling bottom.

But it was her kindness that got to me. Sophie worked hard, laughed at life, and held no grudges. Andrea’s touchiness, Vladimir’s grumpiness and Lorelei’s endless rude comments and stares didn’t make a dent. Sophie was confident, secure in her success. It was an attitude that was intoxicating.

“Like what you see?” Sophie asked me mockingly. “Or do I have flour on my nose?”

“I’m loving the view. Come for a walk after dinner?”

Andrea frowned but said nothing. Sophie on the other hand went a little pink, but she said, “Sounds lovely.”

Score! I was grinning like a bastard, and even Andrea’s raised eyebrows didn’t touch me. When I went into the red drawing room, I found Tanaka reading a journal paper and Vladimir working on his laptop while Lorelei whined, “Vladimir, darling, I’m booooooored!” He totally ignored her until she purred, “Hello, Richard. Want to come and sit with me?”

She made it sound like an invitation to bed her. I suppressed the impulse to run and said, quite casually, “Andrea was saying there’s a spa just a few miles from here. If you fancy a day out as a treat, with seaweed wraps and massages, she’ll book for you.”

Thank heaven it distracted her nicely. As Andrea quietly took her aside, I told the others we were back on track. “Sophie found our missing engineer, in the pub, of all places, so we’re good to go.” 

Engineers like us like to be doing, not sitting on our hands or drowning in dull speeches. Tanaka had been stuck in the Arizona desert for weeks, hanging around waiting for the cloud cover to clear so he could sign off on the telescope, and Vladimir had been to three conferences in a row, so they were both fed up. 

Knowing they were itching to get into some real work, I teased them, “You’ll see Trouper first thing in the morning.”

“We could see now,” Tanaka suggested instantly.

“Yes.” Vladimir shut his laptop with a snap, startling and annoying his wife, who said, “But Vlad, dinner is in twenty minutes. I thought we were having a drink together first.”

He just shrugged. “We can have a drink after.”

Not the most diplomatic reply, but Lorelei should have known it wasn’t badly meant. Vladimir was as fascinated by the prospect of seeing Trouper as she would be about Paris Fashion Week.

Clearly, she didn’t know because she gave her husband a poisonous look. “Richard would rather wait and have a drink with us, I think.” She pouted at me, adding suggestively, “Isn’t that so, darling?”

Then I was getting full venom from a very jealous Cossack!

“Nibbles and dip,” Sophie came in, bearing a tray and rescuing me once again, bless her. “Dinner will be ten minutes late, I’m afraid.” Her eyes were sparkling. “I was a little side-tracked earlier.”

“Perfect!” Tanaka picked up a carrot stick and turned to me. “That’s enough time for us to take a quick look, right?”

“Yes, definitely,” Vladimir rumbled.

The hook was in! “I guess we can run Trouper over the kitchen garden.”

Of course it took an hour, and by the time we got back, the first course was on the table, cold and congealing. Lorelei and Andrea were sitting at the table, their plain salads in front of them, and Sophie was standing between them, chatting.

“Yes, it’s all nice, but you should only taste, not eat!” Lorelei was saying to Sophie.

“You’re very probably right,” Sophie said peaceably, “but I am a cook, you know. Food is my passion.”

“But you won’t get a man, not looking like that!” Lorelei exclaimed.

I was totally gobsmacked, but before I could blast the nasty cow, Andrea spoke up. “I think Sophie looks lovely. And I don’t think men are all that stupid, either. Character is much more important than looks.”

“You’re saying I have no character,” Lorelei cast it right back at her.

I’ve seen my share of bitch fests, but this one was beyond me. I was horribly certain that this was going to end badly. Blasting Lorelei would have Vladimir storming out, and I needed him, but I would be damned if I’d let the little bitch trample all over my lovely Sophie.

Of course, Sophie fixed it. “I would love to be as clever as Andrea or to model like you, Lorelei. And I know I could do with some slimming, but I am the way I am.” She stood up and grinned at them both. “Luckily I’m also very happy!”

“And I love the way you look,” I said loudly. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

That earned me an eye roll from Andrea, but Lorelei was impervious. “Some men do like fat women,” she said. “I hear they have clubs for that kind of thing in the US. It is a perversion, though, right?”

I was an inch away from kicking her out, Russian Space Agency be damned, but to my surprise, Sophie burst out laughing. “You are a card!” she giggled at Lorelei. “And on my next holiday, I’m going to cross the pond to visit our cousins. Sounds like my kind of country!”

“America is heaven for foodies,” Andrea was giving me a warning frown as she backed Sophie up by diffusing the conversation. “New York has brilliant restaurants from all over the planet.”

“I like a woman with meat on her bones.” To my horror, Vladimir was eyeing Sophie up. “And that dress is very—” he made an expressive motion with his hands that described her breasts to a T.

“Thank you very much,” Sophie said smartly. “And now, please do enjoy your dinner. I’ll come back soon with the next course.” Then she ran out of the room, but all of us could hear her laugh as she went.

“An easy-going woman,” Tanaka observed. He had to speak up because Lorelei was tearing strips off Vladimir. Giving the angry Russian beauty a long look, he added, “I agree with Andrea. Looks are lovely, but character is much more important. Also,” his eyes lingered on my PA, “I like clever women.”

Andrea melted, but it was an extremely sticky dinner to say the least. When it was over, I escaped into the kitchen as fast as I could. I just walked into that place, redolent with delicious scents and welcomed by Sophie, who was just putting the last plate into the dishwasher.

“Hiding?” she giggled at me.

“Absolutely! As Lorelei has been cursing Vladimir for the past hour, Andrea and Tanaka have taken refuge in the billiard room. I slunk out, pretending I had calls to make.”

“You did say they were difficult. You were out for ages with the boys. Did they like Trouper?”

“Yes! We only ran the first test, the soil gathering and chemical analysis. Tomorrow we go to the lake. It’s twelve metres deep in the centre, and dark, so Tanaka suggested—” and then it hit me. “Why am I boring you with all this?”

I gazed at the soft swell of breasts under the cheerful buttercup-printed cotton. She really was beautiful. I wanted to bury myself in those luscious curves, embrace them, to pound my way into—

“Richard?” Sophie was laughing at me. “What are you thinking?”

I pulled myself together. “It’s still light outside. Want to come for a stroll? We can walk up to the lake.”

“I’d love a walk, but what about your guests?”

“They can look after themselves for a while.”

A second later we were sneaking out the back door. It was a glorious summer evening. The sky was duck-egg blue, turning pink at the horizon, and all the birds were singing. The air was filled with the fresh scent of summer grass. It was heaven.

We strolled in silence, simply enjoying ourselves. I could feel the stress of that horribly tense dinner just melt away. Without thinking about it, I took her hand. Clasping it in mine, feeling its warm softness, a deep tranquillity ran through me. I had the absurd feeling that I was home, somehow.

We were walking up to the lake when our solitude was broken by raucous catcalls. Some lads on bikes, dressed in leather jackets and jeans, were messing about by the side of the lake.   

“Trespassers,” Sophie said quietly. “Think they’re after Trouper?”

“Unlikely. They look like village lads to me.”

There was more laughter and a yelp. It was a sound that went right through me.

“Oh hell!” Sophie began to run. “That’s a puppy! And they’ve roped a brick to its collar!”

We were tearing up the hill, but we were too late. There was another yelp and then a splash.

“Nooooo!” Sophie screamed. “You bloody buggers!”

The bikers took one look at us and ran for their rides. As they went roaring off, all we could see was ripples.