“Okay, let’s get this party started,” Freddie said as he walked into my office.

“Drew’s not coming?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

My resolve to not think about Drew had crashed and burned. My dreams had been filled with him. Echoes of what had happened yesterday had wormed their way into my subconscious and my entire night had been filled with the taste, scent and feel of him as my unguarded mind had replayed the incident over and over again. It was like watching the same movie on repeat. I’d woken up - headache free, thankfully - with fresh memories of him and nothing I had tried this morning had done anything to banish him. The man was like a computer virus, invading my every thought and wiping out complete sections of my rational thoughts.

“No. He was up to his ears in a new business proposition that we are considering.”

I nodded and fought down the disappointment. I wasn’t disappointed… I was glad. Yes. I was glad that I didn’t have to see him today. Or that’s what I kept trying to tell myself.

Bollocks. I was seeing him today. We had a riding lesson scheduled. At least Margaret would be coming with us. Being alone with him right now probably wouldn’t be a very good idea.

“Okay,” I said, dragging my mind back to the business at hand.

I ushered Freddie over to the corner couches where we could sit comfortably side by side to interview the candidates. We were speaking to them both today and then, hopefully, Freddie would make his decision and I could once again distance myself from Monticorp. I initiated the Skype connection and we waited for it to connect. The handsome face of Michael Danforth appeared on the screen and he greeted us formally.

“Good morning Michael,” I said, “I’m Jeanette Bower, we spoke on the phone?”

“Yes, Jeanette. Nice to finally meet you in, well, in person,” he said with a small laugh.

“You too,” I replied and the turned to Freddie. “This is Lord Frédéric Bingham, Earl of Avonlea and CEO of Monticorp.”

“Hello Michael, nice to meet you. Please call me Freddie.”

“Nice to meet you too, Freddie,” Michael replied.

I let Freddie conduct the interview. He was a great conversationalist and managed to disarm most people with his easy charm. While he distracted Michael with his questions, I watched the facial expressions and body language. Michael was confident and charming. He could probably give Freddie’s silver-tongue a run for its money. He had a deep, mellifluous voice and his dark eyes were engaged and friendly. His dark hair was cut short and he wore a suit - well, what I could see of him wore a suit. I liked that he had dressed up for the interview, even if it was over Skype. I had also checked out his social media profiles and was happy to find that he didn’t have any skeletons just waiting to jump out of the closet. Michael Danforth was as impressive face to face as he was on paper and over the phone.

Freddie wrapped up the interview and the call was disconnected.

“So, what did you think?” he asked.

“I liked him,” I replied, “He has an easy manner about him while maintaining his professionalism. His references all check out. His past employers practically gushed about him.”

“Good. Good,” Freddie murmured.

“What did you think?”

Freddie nodded thoughtfully. “I liked him too. I can see how he would fit into my organisation, but I wonder if his experience would be lost on a job such as media liaison. He seems much more qualified, maybe someone I could put in marketing.”

“Do you need someone in marketing?” I asked.

“I don’t not need someone in marketing,” he said, turning his grin on me.

I shook my head. “Let’s get on with the next one, shall we?”

I clicked on the button to call Elise Thatcher and we waited for it to connect. Elise’s bright, friendly face greeted us with a smile.

“Hi Elise,” I said, “I’m Jeanette, we spoke on the phone?”

“It’s lovely to put a face to the voice,” Elise replied.

“This is Lord Frédéric Bingham, Earl of Avonlea and the CEO of Monticorp.”

“How do you do Elise,” Freddie said with a smile, “And you can call me Freddie.”

“It’s nice to make your acquaintance,” Elise said.

Again, I let Freddie do the talking while I listened and made notes. The difference between the two candidates was more marked when seeing them face to face. I now understood what Freddie meant when he said that Michael’s experience and qualifications might be wasted in the press office. Elise was smart and qualified, but she was still green, which wouldn’t be a problem for dealing with Monticorp’s social media campaigns and the odd press conference. What she needed was time and an experienced hand to guide her.

She was also stunning, which was neither here nor there when it came to her appropriateness for the job, but an accurate description nonetheless. Michael was also good-looking and it would also have no bearing on whether he was employed or not. I knew that either one of them would have the press eating out of their hands, something I - with my plain Jane looks - had had to work hard to achieve. What I lacked in the beauty department I made up for with sheer force of will. I had made the press take notice of me in order to get my job done. It had been a hard slog, but in the end, I had managed it. I envied this pair who would merely have to smile to have the journalists paying attention to them.

When the call ended, Freddie turned to me.

“I want them both,” he said.

“O-kay,” I drawled.

“Elise has great potential but she is lacking in international experience. Yes, she has dealt with the Australian press, but she hasn’t had any dealings with the European press and we all know they’re the toughest.”

I nodded in agreement, that had been my initial thought too.

“Michael is way over-qualified to work on social media, but the two of them together would be a strong team. What do you think?”

“I agree,” I said.

“Excellent. How quickly can you get them both here? I don’t want to make a decision until I spend some time with them on the ground.”

“I’ll contact them both and get them here as soon as possible.”

Margaret and I stepped out of the car and headed to the stables. A horse had already been sent over to Freddie’s stables for Margaret and the poor girl was as nervous as I had ever seen her. How had she made it through the previous months of being a lady in waiting and not ridden? Surely there had been a time when the whole entourage had ridden together? Apparently not because Margaret looked like she was going to puke at any moment.

Drew heard us approach and looked up, a smile already on his face. He saw Margaret and that smile dimmed just a little. My stomach shouldn’t flutter with delight that he had wanted to spend time alone with me. My lips shouldn’t tingle with the expectation of another kiss. There would be no kissing. We were to be friends only from this point forward. No more flirting, no more finding excuses to spend time with him.

“Drew,” I said, “Have you met Margaret?”

He turned a sweet smile on the young woman beside me and she blushed.

“Margaret,” he said, “A pleasure to meet you.”

I cleared my throat, not at all happy with the tight feeling in my chest as they shook hands. I was being ridiculous.

“Margaret is another one of Alyssa’s ladies in waiting and needs a riding refresher before the hunt.”

“I’m glad you could join us,” Drew said but I didn’t think he was very glad at all.

I swallowed. Yep. It was a good idea to bring her along. No telling what mischief Drew would have tried to get up to without a chaperone.

Thankfully we were interrupted as the grooms brought out our horses. Margaret paled at the sight of Bold and Drew, who seemed to know why she was frightened, took the horse and moved him away. A small chestnut mare was brought forward for Margaret. Penny. I knew the horse and approved of Cliff’s choice. The little mare was a docile creature and should be the perfect mount for Margaret, if not a very good horse for a hunt. I couldn’t see Penny attempting any fences, but then I doubted Margaret would want her to. That’s why gates were invented after all.

“Do you need help mounting?” I asked.

She shook her head as she timidly approached the animal. She reached out and ran her hand down Penny’s nose and the mare stood still, unperturbed by Margaret’s obvious fear. I stood beside her quietly, letting her gain enough courage to mount. With a deep breath, she took the reins from the groom and slid her foot into the stirrup. More agile than I had imagined, she swung up into the saddle and I revised my opinion of her. Maybe she would be tempted to try a few jumps. She wasn’t at all the novice I was expecting.

I took control of Filigree and climbed up into her saddle, turning her around and heading out of the yard, allowing the others to follow me. We rode in silence for a bit and I kept checking over my shoulder to see how Margaret was fairing. Drew rode beside her, a contented smile on his face and I felt an irrational stab of something ugly. The assuredness that I’d had before, the certainty that he’d wanted to get me alone, fled as I watched him strike up a conversation with Margaret. Margaret was pretty in a sweet sort of way. She was just the type to appeal to Drew’s need to play rescuer. There was something tragically damaged about her and I just knew it would pull at Drew. He’d want to fix her. He hadn’t even tried to talk to me alone. He was quite happy to ride beside her and ignore me completely. I didn’t like it, not one bit.

“Shall we try a gallop?” I called, not waiting for an answer before urging Filly into a run.

I didn’t like the icky feeling inside me. Margaret was scared and Drew was just trying to help her relax. It was who he was and what he did. The guy was like some knight in shining armour that just had to rescue the damsel in distress. Wasn’t that the way we had first met? He’d rescued me from looking like a wallflower at the wedding and then he’d rescued me again when my bike had fallen over. I had no reason to feel jealous over the way he was attending to Margaret, in fact I should feel ashamed of myself. I was the one who was supposed to help her, that’s why I had brought her along.

I heard the heavy hoof beats of Bold as Drew gained on me. I urged Filly on, heading for a fence. He needed a refresher on jumping, or that’s what I told myself anyway as Filly and I cleared the rails. I didn’t look back to see if he followed me, I just headed for the next one across the paddock. I cleared the next fence and heard the telltale sound of Bold following me over.

“Jeanette!” Drew called to me, his voice gruff.

I didn’t want to slow, but Filigree came to a stop anyway allowing Drew and Bold to pull up alongside us. Margaret was nowhere to be seen.

“What has gotten into you?” he asked, his face a mask of fury. “You’re being reckless.”

“I just wanted to show you what it would be like in the hunt. You’re going to have to face fences like that and at speed. The hounds don’t stop to wait.”

“And what about Margaret? There is no way that girl is ready to attempt any of these fences.”

My face fell, he was right. I was being petty and silly and I had given very little thought to my actions.

Drew slid from Bold’s back and walked over to me. I dismounted and met him halfway.

“I sent Margaret back to the stables. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf.” His voice was softer now.

I stepped close enough to lean my forehead on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I was thoughtless.”

He sighed and rested his chin on the top of my head. He ran his free hand down my back and I relaxed against him. I was such an idiot around this man. His presence made me do things that I would never do in a million years. How could I have brought Margaret out here and then abandoned her like that? It was the worst of the worst.

Drew tucked a finger under my chin and raised my head. He stared into my eyes like they held the answers to the universe. I really wanted him to kiss me. My eyes dropped from his to his lips and he swallowed. I closed my eyes as he cupped my cheek, and leant in to his palm, relishing the feel of it against my skin. He wanted to kiss me too, but he wouldn’t. I had put the roadblocks up between us. I had told him we could only be friends. I was a complete imbecile. Why would I choose Lord Cameron over Drew? It didn’t make sense, even to me. But that’s what I had done and I had to stick by it.

As if he could read my mind, I heard him sigh. His brushed a gentle kiss against my temple and then stepped back, turning to Bold and remounting.

“I’ll go and check on Margaret,” he said before riding away.

I felt hollow as he rode away.