Darling James

Chapter 1-3

I really had no reason to turn up at headquarters—I was on leave before starting another mission that would keep me away from hearth and home for a year or so—but I had to see if I was losing my mind to be dreaming so constantly of Mr Trevalyan.

Miss Travis, his secretary, looked up from her typewriter. “Yes? It’s Tanner, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” I smiled at her.

In spite of the fact it was the most charming smile I had in my repertoire, she frowned. “Were you here for a reason?”

“I…uh…hoped I might speak with Mr Trevalyan?”

“He’s away right now. He usually spends these next few weeks in the States. It’s his son’s birthday.”

“Ah.” s**t. Why hadn’t I looked more deeply into his background? “In that case, I’ll just push off—”

“But I’m glad you’re here.”

“Are you now?” I could have given her my s*x-on-wheels smile, but frankly, she wasn’t my type. Not that she wasn’t pretty, but she was blonde, and lately I’d found myself drawn to redheads. In addition, she was a nice girl. I kept my tone business-like. “May I ask why?”

She rose and went to a filing cabinet, then opened the third drawer down, walked her fingers through the folders, and finally chose one.

“You didn’t fill this out completely when you did your paperwork.” She handed me a neatly typed sheet with my handwriting scrawled wherever a response was expected, except for one very obvious omission: where it asked for next of kin, I’d left it blank.

I raised my gaze to meet her grey eyes. “I don’t have a next of kin.”

For a second her expression softened, but then it once again became purposeful. “I’m very sorry, I’m sure. However, it’s company policy. You must have someone listed. A friend, perhaps?”

Bugger. “All right, let me have it.” Without giving it much thought, I scribbled a name on the line. “There. Will that suit?”

Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’d appreciate it if you kept that between the two of us.” I knew whose name I had written, but I was a competent, skilled agent. I wouldn’t get killed, and as long as I didn’t, Mr Trevalyan shouldn’t be likely to discover I’d chosen him to be notified if anything did happen to me.

“Very well.” She slid the paper into its folder, placed the folder back into the file cabinet, and resumed her seat. “Was there anything else I could help you with?”

Every titbit of information you can give me about one James Trevalyan. “No, ta very much.”

She gave me a prim smile and turned back to her typewriter. I glanced at the closed door to Mr Trevalyan’s office, then straightened and started to leave.

“Oof.” I’d walked into someone.

“Watch where you’re going, mate.” It was Rogers, Mr Trevalyan’s second-in-command.

“So sorry, I’m sure.”

“Yes, well—” He glanced from me to Miss Travis.

“Were you here for a reason, Archie?” Miss Travis asked.

“Uh…” He glared at me. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

What the…? “As a matter of fact, I was on my way out when I bumped into you.”

“Are you blaming me?”

I gave him the onceover and the cocky grin that warned against messing with me, then turned and walked out, but not before I heard, “You’ve got to be careful around him, Jenny. He’s got a reputation…”

I shook my head and made my way to the building’s small gymnasium. Yes, I did have a reputation, but it didn’t include toying with innocents.

* * * *

I opened a copy of The Sun to see a voluptuous brunette clinging to James Trevelyan’s arm. She looked familiar, but I chalked that up to her hairstyle and the heavy amount of makeup on her face. According to the by-line, they were coming from having attended a ball thrown by Lady Creighton for her son’s fortieth birthday.

James was everything I wasn’t. Suave, wealthy, titled—well he would be when his father, Baron Pennington, kicked the bucket.

Not as if that meant anything to me. All I desired was James.

Careful what you wish for, eh? I longed for him, yearned for him, wanked off to thoughts of him, but the truth of the matter was he preferred the ladies. He even had a nineteen-year-old son, who lived in the States with his American mother, Mr Trevalyan’s ex-wife.

I’d always had a healthy libido, and I wasn’t about to give up s*x because the one I wanted was unlikely to want me, so I decided if I couldn’t have James, then any redhead would do. And as I had for the past ten years, I’d just make sure I stuck to the ladies.

But that voice…Mine would never be like crushed velvet, but I had a way with accents. If I set my mind to it, I could make my voice sound like someone who’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Not only that, but I’d brush up on my vocabulary as well.

The next time I spoke to Mr Trevalyan, he’d be sure I’d gone to Eton and Cambridge.