Stately Pleasures

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The second time Alice arrived at Davenport Manor, she wasn’t nervous. She was stunned, almost into numbness. After the absolute shocker of an interview where she’d come across as a bumbling buffoon, she’d been convinced she was out of the running for the role. After all, who would employ someone to do such a pressurised, important job if they couldn’t handle a simple interview?

And yet, they’d taken her on. She was so surprised she’d actually thought she was asleep and dreaming the whole thing when she received the phone call. But after a pinch hard enough to make her yelp and leave a bruise, she came to her senses. And rejoiced. She’d done it. Alice was temporary property manager of Davenport Manor. She’d be working alongside Erin for a couple of weeks, but then the place was hers. Sort of. As far as she was concerned, baby Clarke couldn’t arrive soon enough.

Alice walked through the front entrance, beaming as she realised it would be the last time she did that. After today, she’d arrive earlier—today she’d been required to turn up at ten, as the doors opened to the public, giving Erin time to brief the staff beforehand—and use the side door that all the other staff members and volunteers did.

Thankfully, Erin was waiting inside the entrance hall for her. She’d doubted she’d be able to find Davenport’s office again, but she didn’t want to come across as stupid by having to ask, so Erin’s presence was a lifesaver.

The older woman smiled as she caught sight of her, and waddled forward with her hand stuck out. “Hi, Alice.” They shook hands, then parted.

“Morning, Erin. How you doing?” She nodded at the other woman’s belly.

“Oh, you know,” Erin replied, spreading her hands across the stretched expanse of skin and stroking it through her loose dress, “Okay. Not brilliant. Ready to have him or her out, so I can feel like myself again. But then I guess that won’t happen for a while either, because I’ll be suffering sleepless nights, sore and leaky n*****s… you know the drill.”

She laughed, and Alice nodded because it was what was expected. But really, she didn’t know, and she now knew more about pregnancy and motherhood than she cared to. Ugh. She was a career girl through and through, and babies weren’t on her agenda for the foreseeable future, maybe never. If a maternal streak suddenly appeared, perhaps she’d reconsider. But at thirty, she doubted it would now. Not to mention the fact that she was missing a vital ingredient required for baby-making in the first place—a man.

As if by magic, a man appeared. Jeremy stepped from the gloomy hallway to their left and smiled at them. “Hello, ladies. Glad to see you here, Alice. I’m looking forward to working with you. I’m sure you’re going to be a valuable asset, more than capable of running the place when Erin here embraces motherhood.”

“Th-thank you, Mr Davenport. I can’t wait to get stuck in. I’m going to be like a sponge for the next couple of weeks, soaking up all the information Erin gives me.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Alice’s face grew hot. What a stupid thing to say; she sounded like a child! It was just as well she’d signed the contract they’d biked over to her the previous week—at least they couldn’t sack her for saying something daft. Why on earth did the man have such an effect on her? His proximity meant she could smell his no doubt very expensive aftershave, and f**k, was it intoxicating. It certainly didn’t help her state of mind.

“Please,” he said, seemingly unaware of what a prat she was being, “call me Jeremy. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I’ve got some errands to run, but I’ll catch up with you later. Have a great day, ladies.” He gave a little bow and swept out of the front door, leaving Alice wondering how a man could still look so aristocratic when wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Designer labels, she guessed. They had a way of making someone look loaded even if they were on the breadline.

Both women watched him go, then Erin turned to Alice and indicated she should precede her. They walked down a beautiful wood-panelled corridor, their shoes tapping loudly on the floorboards, then out of the open door at the end of it and into the gardens, which Alice could immediately see were glorious, the plants and flowers all in their summer splendour.

“I brought us here so we can look around before the visitors come out. The first lot will be in the house for at least an hour—though realistically most people are in there around two—then they’ll head into the gardens. So we’ve got a bit of alone time.”

Alice couldn’t help but wonder why on earth they needed alone time. But before she could dwell on the question, Erin answered it.

“I’m glad Jeremy’s headed out for a bit, because I want to fill you in on some insider knowledge that you won’t get from him. Not verbally, anyway.” She fixed Alice with a serious look.

Alice frowned, then nodded. “Go on.”

“I just want to make you aware of Jeremy’s, er—habits, that’s all. As you’ve no doubt noticed, he’s a good-looking, charming, clever man with a healthy bank balance. And let’s just say he uses that particular arsenal to his full advantage.”

Alice remained silent, so Erin continued. “I’m not sure how to put it politely. What I’m trying to say is that he has his fair share of women. He’s a bit of a playboy. He and Ethan, who’s the head of security here, are best friends—have been since university days—and they’ve left quite the trail of broken hearts behind them. The two of them are very close.”

Alice nodded. “Okay, thanks for the information, but I’m not quite sure how this affects me.” She widened her eyes and gasped as a thought occurred to her. “You haven’t…”

Erin waved her hands hastily. “No, no! God, no. I’m 100 per cent faithful to my husband, and I plan to stay that way. Now if I were single,” she wiggled her eyebrows saucily, “then that would be a completely different matter!”

Alice giggled along with Erin, whose face then took on a serious expression. She said, “I’m just pre-warning you, is all. It might not affect you at all. But you know the saying, forewarned is forearmed.”

Alice nodded thoughtfully. “Thanks. But I doubt he’d even look at me that way, never mind anything else.”

Just as Erin opened her mouth to respond, a group of visitors came out into the gardens, halting their private conversation. They turned their talk to work as they explored the remainder of the beautiful and perfectly-manicured grounds and then headed back indoors.

Room guides and visitors were in plentiful supply as Erin gave Alice a guided tour of Davenport Manor, so they never got chance to reconvene their delicate conversation.

Towards the end of their tour, a handheld radio that Erin had been carrying crackled to life.

“Erin?” Jeremy’s voice came over the radio waves.

Erin held the receiver to her mouth and pressed the button. “Yes, Jeremy?”

“Is Alice still with you?”

“She sure is.”

“Great. Could you ask her to come and see me in my office in ten minutes?”

“Absolutely. That will just give us time to check out the last room.”

“Thank you. Over and out.”

Alice looked incredulously at Erin. “Over and out? People really say that? I thought it was just in films.”

Erin smirked. “It’s his idea of a joke. Comes in pretty handy, though, because at least I know he’s done talking.”

Ten minutes later, Alice was walking along the landing which led to Jeremy’s office. As she grew closer, she saw the door was ajar, and heard that someone was in there. More than one person, in fact. She frowned. Surely he wasn’t in a meeting with someone else, having asked her to come and see him? Or maybe someone else was there to talk to her? She shrugged and stepped up to the door.

Just as she raised her hand to knock, a sound came from within the room that sounded distinctly un-meeting-like. A feminine moan, followed by a giggle, then the murmur of a masculine voice. Skin slapping against skin. More moans.

He couldn’t be…? Alice refused to believe it. There was no way he could have summoned her to his office then managed to squeeze in a quickie before she got there. Yet the noises coming from the room continued, growing ever more frantic, building into a crescendo.

She stood, motionless, outside the door. More voices, urgent and breathless. Alice had no idea what to do. Should she leave and come back later, running the risk of Jeremy thinking she couldn’t be punctual? Or should she knock and act as if she hadn’t heard anything? They’d have to pull themselves together, and quickly, if they wanted to avoid her seeing them in the act.

Alice could scarcely believe she was having to make the decision in the first place. Despite Erin’s warning, she hadn’t expected her playboy boss to be screwing someone in his office in the middle of the day. Especially with the door open! It was terribly unprofessional, and anyone could have caught them. f*****g.

As the word flitted through her mind, Alice fell to thinking of Jeremy, f*****g. Naked—or possibly semi-naked—and glorious, thrusting into… who? Alice had no idea. Was it one of the staff? Doubtful, unless Jeremy had a thing for the over-sixties.

What did his c**k look like? Was it big? Thick? Long? There was no doubt in Alice’s mind that he knew what to do with it—otherwise how would he be such a successful and notorious ladies’ man? Women talk, and if he was crap in the sack word would soon get around, and Jeremy would have to look further afield to get his rocks off.

She’d remained stationary as her mind wandered, gazing unseeing at the door. So when an exaggerated cough, clearly designed to gain her attention, came from behind her, she let out a little squeal and clutched her chest in fright before spinning around to see who’d crept up so stealthily on her.