The Mistress Assignment by Penny Jordan

Author:Penny Jordan [Jordan, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin Treasury - Harlequin Presents '90s
Published: 2011-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘Hi, KELLY, it’s Dee.’

Kelly smiled as she recognised their landlady’s voice. It was eleven o’clock in the morning and Kelly had just served her third customer and put on the kettle to make herself a cup of coffee.

‘Anything to report?’ Dee asked her. ‘Has Julian been in touch?’

‘He rang yesterday,’ Kelly told her, ‘but I couldn’t really talk to him; I had someone here in the shop. You know that Julian is hoping to persuade his girlfriend’s brother to finance some new venture he’s getting started?’

‘Was hoping,’ Dee corrected her wryly. ‘Brough has turned him down.’

How did Dee know that? Kelly wondered curiously.

‘Look, we could do with having a meeting,’ Dee told her. ‘How about lunch tomorrow?’

‘Tomorrow? No, I’m afraid I can’t,’ Kelly told her. ‘I’m going to Staffordshire.’

‘Staffordshire?’ Dee queried sharply. ‘On a buying trip? But I thought...’

‘No, not that. Actually I’m going with Brough; he’s asked me to undertake a private commission for him.’

‘And you’ve agreed?’ Dee asked her. ‘Be very careful, Kelly. Don’t forget his sister is dating Julian and hopes to marry him and he’s bound to be extremely suspicious of your role in Julian’s life. You haven’t told him the truth, have you?’ Dee demanded.

‘No, of course I haven’t,’ Kelly reassured her immediately.

‘Well, you mustn’t. It would ruin everything.’

‘I’m not a complete fool, you know, Dee,’ Kelly informed her a little irritably. She liked Dee, but sometimes her autocratic attitude irritated her a bit. She wasn’t like Beth, who accepted Dee’s slight bossiness with placid gentleness even whilst she accepted that the older girl’s heart was in the right place and her motives good.

‘No, not a complete fool,’ Dee agreed dryly, ‘but certainly foolish enough to agree to go to Staffordshire with Brough. I understand he’s a very attractive man,’ she added slyly.

‘Not so far as I’m concerned,’ Kelly responded immediately, ‘but the china he wants me to copy certainly is and, not only that, it’s extremely rare and may even be unique. It’s a wonderful opportunity, Dee,’ she added, warming to her theme, her enthusiasm for the project colouring her voice. ‘An almost once-in-a-lifetime chance to work on something very different and very special.

‘Oh, Beth rang, by the way,’ Kelly informed Dee. ‘She’s having problems with her interpreter, apparently, but she never said a word about Julian, thank goodness.’

‘That is good news,’ Dee agreed.

‘I do feel worried for Eve Frobisher,’ Kelly told her.

‘You must concentrate on the business in hand,’ Dee advised her. ‘Eve Frobisher has her brother to protect her interests. Has he said anything about Julian to you, by the way?’

‘He’s certainly made it plain that he doesn’t approve of my relationship with him,’ Kelly informed her.

‘Mmm... You know, I’ve been thinking... It could work to our advantage if you let him think that he might be able to persuade you to have second thoughts about Julian. Men love that—feeling that they’re taking charge, doling out advice to some poor, helpless little female. It feeds their egos, and it wouldn’t do any harm to get Brough Frobisher on our side.

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