Shattered Dreams Read Online Free Page B

atrocious in
their own right but, when accompanied by the serious lack of
housekeeping skills Mrs Dandridge struggled to hide, which included
her complete inability to cook anything even remotely palatable,
Harry just had to wonder how they remained in employment anywhere
for more than a day.
    “ Send her in,” Harry muttered, and sat back to
wait.
    He had
no meetings arranged with anyone as far as he knew. He was also
sure that he had never met Miss Madeline Fenton in his entire
life.
    While he
waited, he frowned and tried to remember his last conquest. He was
fairly certain she had been called Margot, or Marguerite, so there
could be no repercussions there; besides, he had taken precautions
to ensure that there were no mistakes left behind.
    Whoever
Miss Madeline Fensham was, if she had no connection to the Star
Elite, he had little choice but to hear what she had to say and
then send her away.
    “ The master wants to see you,” the butler growled at
Tilly.
    Tilly’s
stomach dropped to her toes as she stared after him and then looked
down at her dress in dismay. She opened her mouth to ask for a
moment to get changed into something that didn’t smell, but then
closed it again with a snap. The unfriendliness of both of the
butler, and the woman at the table, assured her that she would get
little sympathy from either of them.
    She
sighed and clutched her bag a little tighter as she hurried after
the butler, who didn’t bother to wait around to see if she was
behind him as he stomped through the house.
    “ Hurry up, he doesn’t have all day,” he growled impatiently
when she eventually caught up with him in the hallway.
    Tilly
merely threw him a dark look and walked a little slower.
Unfortunately, the butler didn’t seem inclined to wait any longer
than he absolutely had to because she hadn’t even reached him
before he threw the door open.
    “ Miss Fenning - thing,” he mumbled, but didn’t bother to look
at the man inside. He couldn’t, because his eyes were too busy
studying Tilly’s ample bosoms as she passed.
    Tilly
walked into the room and felt her stomach drop to her knees. The
world around her faded into insignificance as her eyes met
his.
    She
wondered faintly if there had been some sort of mistake, because
this veritable God before her could hardly be classed as a
middle-aged businessman like she had been led to believe he
was.
    He was
tall, lithe, and wonderfully, disturbingly handsome. His chiselled
jaw was strong, the sharpness of which only emphasised the steely
glint to the brilliant green eyes, and high cheekbones. His dark
blonde hair was slightly longer than was fashionable, but that too
only highlighted his rugged appeal.
    Something warm and wonderful began to unfurl deep within her.
It was a struggle to keep her eyes off him. Sheer determination
drove her to keep her face as impassive as possible, but she was
helpless to do anything about the faint blush that stole over her
cheeks, or the betraying hand that reached up to self-consciously
poke a stray lock of hair back into place.
    She
almost groaned aloud at the faint odour of manure that followed her
when she walked hesitantly across the room. She tried not to move
her skirts too much, but was aware that she fooled neither of them
as she watched his nose twitch.
    Thankfully, he was far too much of a gentleman to mention it,
and merely studied her with a rather disconcerted frown on his
handsome face.
    In that
moment, she felt wild, unkempt and bedraggled, and thoroughly
embarrassed to be seen in such a state by someone like
him.
    “ Come forward.”
    The
husky timbre of his voice slid down her spine like warm honey, and
Tilly dutifully shuffled toward his desk before she had even
realised that she had moved.
    A part
of her wanted to turn around and leave, while another part of her
wanted to take a seat and stare at him forever.
    “ Please, take a seat,” he suggested, and waved an elegant hand
toward one of the two chairs closest to