He's Talking Secrets Read online

  Copyright © 2015 by Taylor Rose.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in Australia

  First Printing, 2015

  www.TaylorRose.com

  Prelude

  For the first time in, well….years Brandon De Lecour was excited, really excited, even if he wasn’t quite showing it on the outside. He is so accustomed to being a CEO and an internationally recognized face; he is hoping that these next two weeks are going to give him a chance to be a complete unknown, somewhere in England. Or at least that’s the plan.

  If you looked at Brandon De Lecour “on paper” he is a man who has everything. As the CEO of Garden Gate Seedlings Inc. a company that Brandon started as a young boy collecting seeds and cuttings from neighbors or when he went running through the local bush land in his home town in California. He then grew them and sold the plants. Twenty-five years on Garden Gate Inc. is one of the biggest suppliers of seeds and seedlings, internationally, employing hundreds of people in twelve different countries. He became an overnight sensation when he walked out in front of the cameras on the world’s biggest day time television show to do what he thought, at the time, was a one off segment on a garden overhaul. Little did he know that this would lead to developing his own television show which is viewed by over 800 million people worldwide. He is living a life most men would envy. He is aware that his natural good looks have made him an international success found only from being on television. He is the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. But he really doesn’t take himself too seriously unless you are talking about the business arena. Why not use what you have? Brandon never worked too hard for the attention of beautiful women, has a garage full of fast cars, owns several luxury apartments in several different countries and regularly travels internationally. Brandon is absolute perfection as a specimen of the male race, with devastating dark good looks and a charm which is just so smooth no women can resist him. To date he has managed not to get involved or more importantly attached to any of the woman he has dated. At this stage in his life he is feeling restless and out of touch with where he started and where he thought he would take his interest in the environment and growing plants. Instead of changing the world and saving the environment he spends his days under fluorescent lights locked up in board rooms, in front of the cameras or flying from country to country. With production of his sixth series just about to start he is feeling restless and somewhat disconnected. Brandon has made a decision and what seems like a rash moment, to his staff, Brandon is walking out of his offices in London having announced that he was taking an entire two weeks off work. He knows that he has a great management team in place who will deal with any issues that may arise in that time. This is his time to rediscover his roots (so to speak) his gut instinct is telling him that there is something out there for him that he needs to discover. He left his London office on Saturday morning and after driving around England he stumbled into a village pub at lunchtime Sunday afternoon, booking a room for a few nights, only to ascertain from the publican that the Lady of the local Manor House is in the middle of a complete garden rejuvenation project. Maybe this is exactly what he is looking for? He does have a preconceived idea of what the Lady will be like as he makes his way up the driveway to apply for a position he isn’t even sure he wants…..

  Lady Sophia Birmingham - is not looking for love, and that is set in concrete. Sixteen years ago at the age of eighteen she entered into an agreement which she misinterpreted would grow into love, only to discover that her only role was to produce at least one heir to her husband Lord Archibald Birmingham the Sixth who at the time was thirty years her senior. While she had become fond of him, theirs was not by any measure a blazing love affair. Six years ago Archibald came home a distraught and gibbering man only to announce that he had several inoperable brain tumors and only given months to live. Up to now no children had been produced, sex was not worthwhile and only happened sporadically. If Sophia was honest with herself sex with Archibald was an incredible let down. No emotion and certainly no closeness were ever involved. It was an exercise to produce a child, not an experience to remember. However the night that Archibald came home with his news, Sophia felt genuine sadness for her husband. One thing lead to another and for the first time in ten years of marriage there appeared to be some small form of affection in the act of sex. Shortly after this, to everyone’s amazement Sophia had an announcement to make herself, one that she had given up on, she was expecting! Archibald fought the tumors just long enough to see his beautiful little girl being brought into the world and died just three short weeks later. Sophia nursed him right to the end.

  Archibald not only left behind a new born baby but a wife who hadn’t signed up for all the extra responsibilities and expectations of being a Lady of a very sizable holding with two villages as part of the Estate. Now there are two communities relying on the Glen Dorking Estate either directly or indirectly for their livelihoods. You see, Sophia Laird had never thought she was anything special and looking back on her thirty four years she often took a moment to wonder how she arrived at this point. Sophia Laird was a middle class girl who loved to ride horses; at one time she even had dreams of representing her country in Dressage or Eventing. When she applied for the position of assistant Equine Manager at the Estate she didn’t think she would be marrying the Lord just months later…..

  Chapter One:

  Sunday Afternoon.

  Some men are just too good looking, really. And the one walking into the courtyard right now would be a fine example of that. Those eyes, yes, they would mean trouble to most women, if they looked too deeply, too long or too hard. And what’s more Sophia was not in a good defensive position, as she had her shirt off, exposing the world’s most sensible yet boring bra ever manufactured. Not a good upper hand position. Damn those thorny little weeds that catch in your clothing, so much so that they force you to de-clothe in order to remove them.

  The gods really are not working with me today, thought Sophia. Not a lot she could do about it now he had obviously gleaned an eye full in the short few seconds it took to approach her. A very satisfied smile was plastered on his face as he approached her. This reconfirmed her instance opinion of him, a womanizer, how could he be anything else with those looks and physic? Tall, dark and very handsome, summed him up precisely. He was tall, over six foot, with Sophia being only 5”7’ and shirtless she was feeling distinctly disadvantaged.

  “I’m looking for the Lady of the house, if she is around?” said Brandon with a very smooth smile. For a nano-second Sophia thought about saying that the Lady wasn’t in the house, which wouldn’t be entirely untrue. Sophia wasn’t in the house but standing in front of him, here in the courtyard, half naked. But then she would be lying and she was not a very good at lying. She then thought about putting on an accent and pretending she didn’t understand him, but her fair skin would have given this male stunner a major hint that there was something seriously unhinged about the woman standing in front of him as she certainly looked English and did the very worst of accents. The final straw that stopped Sophia from saying something flippant was the slightly determined look on his face which suggested that he would come back if this visit didn’t bear fruit. Then she would be faced with the embarrassment of trying to explain that one away. Unhinged, come back into mind.

  “I’m the Lady of the house” Sophia finally said as she put her shirt back on with a grimace, because it still had any number of thorny seeds still stuck to the inside of it.

&
nbsp; Brandon was very pleased for the interruption in eye contact as the shirt went on. He was sure he didn’t do a good job of hiding his expression of surprise. By the time her shirt was in place, he was wearing his business face again. She was not at all what he had expected. For a start she wasn’t old nor dowdy. His guess would have put this woman in her late twenties. She had long blonde hair that hung down past her shoulder blades that was beautifully shiny and thick, and whilst not up to the standard of beautiful woman he was used to seeing in London this woman had an earthiness about her that would have been instantly appealing, to some men. Brandon was also having trouble with the whole shirt missing, Ladies didn’t do that……..Did they?

  Sophia waited for the man to stop running an expression competition on his facial features. His thoughts were miles away, obviously. She didn’t mind, it gave her a chance to run her eye over his face without being observed. But Sophia concluded that no matter how long you looked at his face he wasn’t getting any uglier. Up close he had the sexiest eyes she had ever seen. His features were just too perfect, not even the trace of a broken nose to help diminish his faultless masculinity.

  Brandon looked up and saw that the Lady Sophia was looking at him, waiting for something.

  Yes, an introduction wouldn’t go astray. “I’m sorry, my name is Brandon De Lecour” he said as he held out his hand.

  “I’m Sophia Birmingham.” said the still young looking Lady taking his hand for a formal handshake. For the first time Brandon really looked into her eyes and saw a level of sadness. There was something else hidden in the depths of her eyes, that he couldn’t put his finger on but it was there, as though she was carrying a huge weight. He broke away from the eye contact at the same time he let her hand go. He was feeling very strange at this moment, he couldn’t quite get his thoughts together. This Sophia had beautiful eyes and her touch was solid yet soft. Focus Brandon, he thought to himself, you’re not going for your first job interview here. You’re the CEO of an international company, man, get it together. He shook his head and then spoke.

  “I understand that you are working on the Estate gardens, some sort of restoration project?” He said looking around him.

  “Yes, we are. Where did you hear about it?” Sophia asked. She put her hands behind her back, cocking her head to one side looking him in the eyes. That’s not a good sign Brandon thought to himself.

  “I’m staying at the Wobbly Boot and Ian, the publican, told me that you have a lot of people from the village up here helping out with a huge garden project.”

  “Well…….Yes” trust Ian to tell a complete stranger all about the goings on up here she thought. “We have been working on restoring all the gardens as close as possible back to their very original condition and layout. “ Sophia told him, still wondering why he had walked up from the village. Was he expecting a tour? Maybe he was from the Taxation Department and wanted to look at her books, she was entitled to write off the improvements as an expense after all. No, no government worker looks like this, this man who has an aurora of power and control about him now that she looked at him again. She had glanced at his hands and had felt them on introductions. They certainly didn’t feel like workers hands as she thought that her own must have been rough and worn from all the months of shoveling and endless planting that had gone on. With a rueful smile to herself she thought not for the first time, these are not the hands of a Lady.

  Brandon caught the smile and thought that Sophia must have had a private thought about her husband and her working in the garden, perhaps a romantic interlude having occurred somewhere. This made him glance around. Why and what was he feeling? Like he somehow was missing out on something? She keeps saying “we”. It was understandable that she would be married. While she wasn’t his type he had to admit that the shirt off told him that some guy was very lucky to have her, even if her underwear was not exactly sexy in fact it was the most functional piece of underwear he had ever seen. Where had that come from? Brandon wondered. Focus Brandon, focus.

  “I was just wondering if I could be of any use to you?” Brandon asked. And bingo, thought Sophia. It may seem a little cynical of her but having been a widow for six years she had seen several attempts from the opposite sex to turn up here and bat their eyelids at her, after all she is sitting on a very sizeable chunk of England. When the lawyers had read her late husbands Will which spelled out to her the total amount of monetary value attached to the late Lord Archibald Birmingham and all the Estate assets, Sophia had a comically un-ladylike moment as the floor of the lawyers office came up to greet her. It took her a few moments to realize that she had slid off the chair and landed on the lovely plush pile carpet with what seemed like the entire legal staff standing over her fanning her face. It was beautiful quality carpet but one shouldn’t be seen sitting on it.

  Sophia came back to the present moment. This Brandon De Lecour was a surprise though, most men were introduced to her via neighbors, associates or members of the numerous committees Sophia was on. Sophia had to hand it to him, he was cold selling. Perhaps he thought that his good looks were enough of a distraction that she would be falling all over him.

  “And what expertise would you be offering? From the garden landscaping angle, that is. You‘re American, are you not? And we are putting together a 1400th century English garden.” Sophia asked, this time with her hands on her hips. It would have been much more effective if she hadn’t had to look up so high. Why was he so tall?

  Well I’m off to a flying start, thought Brandon, now she has her hands on her hips and staring at me like I’m after something. Well I am, in a way he thought ruefully, I’m applying for a job I don’t actually need. He knew at that moment that this was exactly what he was looking for. Back to basics. “Yes I am American but I’ve had a bit of experience in the landscaping industry, on most continents. I will admit that it was a while ago that I did any hands on work but I do know a thing or two about plants, particularly older species” He smiled at this statement. Plants and seeds keep him from wanting anything in the world. In fact it had made him a millionaire by the time he had reached his early twenties. He knew his face was a very marketable asset and it had helped him, particularly with the females of the human species! “I have taken two weeks off work and would be happy to help you, for free. I just needed to get out of London for a time, get back to doing what I used to love the most in life.” he added. Why did he say all that? It was true he had no need for a weekly wage but this had him looking desperate.

  Oh he is smooth, very smooth. The smile thrown in with just the right amount of subtle confidence in his own ability, yes, very smooth indeed. Sophia was certain that he was not as big an expert as he hoped to portray. She looked at him critically for a moment. Narrowed her eyes and thought what to do with this latest dubious Beau. Then it occurred to her, put him to work. If he was a fake he wouldn’t last until lunch time. Morning tea, if she was lucky. Then she wouldn’t have to keep telling her wayward eyes to stop looking at the pretty boy face with those beautifully sexy brown eyes.

  “All right if you’re keen, you can start tomorrow, at 8am. Tomorrow we are moving soil into the very top garden. It’s done by hand shovel and wheelbarrow as we can’t get machinery up there.” This was said with as sweet a smile as physically possible on a face that knew what he was up to.

  “8am it is. I will see you than and look forward to perhaps meeting your husband then?” Brandon said and started to walk back done the path. What made him say that? He thought. She really did have very beautiful eyes and was rather nicely put together. But she really wasn’t his type and being a Lady to boot! He knew he had lost his way in his life but checking out a married woman was not something that he ever did.

  Just as well he didn’t look back at her as Sophia was frowning at the ground and a little confused. You and your husband? Why would he be making moves on her if she was married? She shook her head, this was not making any sense. Never mind, the shirt was still annoying her but s
he felt it better to go inside the house instead of putting on a show out here again. Sophia turned, still wearing the frown on her face.

  Brandon continued walking down the driveway wondering about the very curvaceous Lady. He realized with a bit of a start that, firstly he didn’t use her title once and she didn’t correct him on it. Secondly, he had a funny feeling that Lady Sophia would be there not just supervising the work, whilst sipping iced tea under the shade of an umbrella as he would have expected of someone who owned such a huge Estate but would probably be shoveling and wheel barrowing alongside everyone else. Brandon had a small smile on his face as he hoped he could keep up with her.

  Chapter Two

  Monday

  8 am and Brandon was standing at the back of the house, if you could call it that. It was like a small township all on its’ own with a gate house at the front of the estate about half a mile away. Looking around Brandon noticed there were several other buildings close to the main house and a huge building that seemed to disappear over the horizon which he assumed was a stable block. He wondered how many rooms the main four story brick building actually had. It was an unusual thought process going on inside his mind as he felt that for the first time in a long time he was impressed by someone’s wealth and power. He moved in a circle where money reigned supreme and those he associated with took it as normal everyday life to have privileges many would have found extravagant. But this was in a league of its’ own.