Page 26 of Never Gonna Happen

‘Right,’ said Jamie, looking away. ‘I was kind of hoping you might not be THAT sorry.’

Emily’s heart started to pound; common sense told her to change the subject now, but her curiosity got the better of her. ‘What do you mean?’

Jamie sighed. ‘Oh God, you’re going to make this really difficult, aren’t you?’ He laughed awkwardly, blushing to the roots of his hair. ‘I thought maybe you might consider us . . . spending more time together.’

‘What, like dating?’ asked Emily, trying not to sound shrill.

Jamie looked at her and nodded, his face open and very clearly not winding her up.

‘Why would you want to date someone like me?’ she asked, hating how needy for validation she sounded.

‘Why wouldn’t I?’ he asked.

Emily thought about it, feeling like she was tackling a jigsaw where none of the pieces fitted together. She shuffled all the elements in her head and tried to make sense of them. Fact 1: Jamie, who she fancied the pants off despite her best efforts and had filthy dreams about, was asking her out. Fact 2: He was Mr Hunter’s son and dating him was absolutely against all her rules and could result in her losing her job. Do NOT lose your head over this one, Wilkinson.

‘I’m not sure,’ she said. ‘I guess I just never imagined I was your type.’

‘And what is my type, exactly?’ he asked, the tiniest edge creeping into his voice.

‘I don’t know. I guess I’m just really different from Louisa. She was beautiful and successful and . . . willowy.’ Emily guessed it sounded like she was fishing for compliments, but she was genuinely taken aback that last night’s flirting was more than just the heat of the house and too much prosecco.

‘What the hell does willowy mean?’ asked Jamie with a laugh. ‘And since when were you not beautiful and successful? You’ve whipped this whole house into shape in less than a month AND put my bellend of a brother back in his box. You’re funny and smart and . . .’ His voice petered out as Emily felt a warm glow in the pit of her stomach.

‘And . . . what?’ she asked.

‘I was going to say “hot”, but it felt like it undermined the other two.’

Emily laughed, struggling to believe she was about to do this. ‘I’m really flattered, Jamie, but I can’t go out with you.’

He was quiet for a moment, his mouth set into a hard line. ‘Is this a money or a class thing? Because that would be pretty disappointing.’

‘No,’ Emily replied quickly. ‘It’s not that.’ She sighed heavily, knowing that the only way to explain this was to lay her cards on the table. ‘The relationship I was in before I came here was with a guy called Mark. He was my boss, and we had a thing for two years before he decided to give his marriage another go.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Jamie. ‘But I really can’t see how that’s relevant.’

‘After that, I made a promise to myself to keep work and private life separate.’

Jamie shrugged. ‘OK, but I’m not your boss.’

‘No, but you’re part of the family I work for,’ she said. ‘It’s a conflict of interest.’ They were passing Wedmore Cottage, so Emily gave Rupert’s reins a gentle tug to get him to stop. She could stare at that house all day.

Jamie said nothing for a minute, letting her admire the house while he searched for loopholes. ‘Do you really care that much?’

‘I do, I’m sorry,’ said Emily, desperately wanting him to understand. ‘I really like this job, I want to make a go of it. I don’t want to have to sneak around, I did that for two years.’

Jamie blew all the air out of his cheeks and shifted in his saddle to look at her, his eyes searching for an answer. ‘If things were different, if I was just the guy who looked after the horses, would you say yes?’

Emily gave him a sad smile, feeling like she’d been kicked in the guts but also sure this was the right thing to do. ‘Of course,’ she said shyly. ‘I fancy you rotten. If things were different, I definitely would.’

Jamie laughed. ‘But it’s never gonna happen.’

‘No,’ said Emily, holding her head up with absolute certainty. ‘I’m sorry.’

He nodded slowly. ‘OK, I understand. Gutted, though.’

‘Yeah, me too,’ said Emily. ‘Will you still teach me to ride a horse?’

Jamie sucked air through his teeth and stared at the sky. ‘I’m not sure I can bear the pain.’