Love and Devotion by Erica James Read Free Book Online

second-hand car dealers. Coming from a lawyer, as was later pointed out to him, this was rich indeed.
    Bang on ten o‘clock, he’d opened the front door and got the surprise of his life. The attractive girl produced a business card: Maxine Stone, of Christopher Stone, Auctioneers and Valuers of Fine Art, Antique and Contemporary Items, Maywood, Cheshire. He stepped back to let her in, clocking at once that she was all curves and upmarket class. She was top-notch totty; the kind of girl he always went for. It was something to do with flying in the face of his father’s prejudice against the middle and upper classes. But apart from that, Miss Maxine Stone was gorgeous. Almost as tall as him, and dressed in an impeccable black suit, her hair was tied back in a prim little bun, which he found wildly sexy. She was looking him straight in the eye (hers were green) and smiling confidently. With a slim briefcase hanging from her left hand (no sign of an engagement ring), she held out her other hand. He shook hands with her and, conscious that he hadn’t yet uttered a word, said, ‘Can I take you out for dinner and then to bed for dynamite sex?’ That was what he wanted to say, but what he actually said was, ‘Come on through; my mother’s in the sitting room.’
    His mother, always the perfect hostess, welcomed Maxine Stone as though she was a long-lost relative and bustled around making tea and arranging biscuits on a plate. It was some time before they got down to the meat of the matter — the fate of an ugly set of bedroom furniture - but Will didn’t care. He couldn’t take his eyes off this young woman. He reckoned she was about the same age as him, early twenties, and as she perched on the edge of the sofa with her elegant knees locked tight, he was mesmerised. Captivated. Slain. Call it what you will. He wanted her! He watched her face intently as she chatted amiably with his mother, who, if given the chance, could keep an unwary caller hostage for hours. Keep on talking, he willed his mother. Keep talking so that I can plan how to ask her out. ‘Well, I find that hard to believe,’ he suddenly heard his mother say. ‘Don’t you, Will?’
    ‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘I was miles away.’ He was mentally unpinning all that ash-blonde hair and running his fingers through it. ‘What don’t you believe, Mum?’
    ‘That Maxine hasn’t been snapped up by a handsome young man.’ Only his mother could have been on first-name terms so soon with a complete stranger, openly enquiring about her marital status.
    His eyes locked with Maxine’s. ‘Perhaps she’s waiting for the right man,’ he said as his mother went out to the kitchen to refill the teapot.
    ‘Perhaps you’re right,’ Maxine said. ‘Shall we go upstairs?’
    ‘My, but you’re a fast worker.’
    ‘I was thinking of the bedroom furniture I’m here to value,’ she said, her professional poise still firmly in place.
    He smiled. ‘So was I.’ He got to his feet. ‘I’ll show you the way.’
    ‘I’ll bet you could, given half a chance.’
    The room was practically zinging with their attraction for each other.
    The wardrobe and dressing table were non-starters. ‘Not the kind of thing we deal in, I’m afraid,’ she apologised. ‘I can recommend a man in Crewe who might be interested, though.’
    More apologies flowed, this time from Will’s mother, Ruby. ‘I’m so sorry to have wasted your time. I wish I had something else to offer you instead.’
    Two weeks later, when he’d come home for another weekend and was lying in bed with Maxine, he said, ‘I know I’m a poor substitute for an ugly set of bedroom furniture, circa 1950S, but I do think we should do this more often.’
    They were married two years later, after he’d finished his training contract and was fully qualified. Carlton Webb Davis made him an attractive offer and Maxine continued to work for her father, Christopher Stone. They were perfectly matched: both ambitious, both