CHAPTER THIRTEEN
After the first few days in the office Draco relaxed into the environment at Compton Finance, no longer feeling as if he had to look over his shoulder, or get ready to be frogmarched out of there. It could still happen, but he was going to enjoy this while it lasted.
Susanna, their line manager, called by morning and afternoon to give them company news—inclusive to them even though they were temps—and to see how the new database was going. Draco felt part of the workplace. He was even getting to know some of the other people working there. It was a new experience for him, having an-almost regular type of her a job, or at least a taste of one. He’d taken up plenty of jobs over his time since leaving home, labouring, computer restoration, rebuilding systems after crashes, even little bits of bespoke software. Good earners, all of them. Nothing that fitted the bill of nine-to-five work in a defined workplace. Bizarrely, and unexpectedly, he found he enjoyed it.
He put it down to Lara. There was a real appeal about the regular hours though. He watched the other workers, wondered what they did, and found them on the staff list on the intranet, matching jobs with faces. Some of the jobs sounded really interesting. IT of course, but also the edgy challenging stuff, like working the company patch at the stock exchange.
If it had been a regular student placement, he might have asked to tag along to get a taster of it, but he didn’t want to make Lara worry about his motives, and she would. Besides, she appeared to have got into her head he had to be supervised at all times, which he found highly amusing. It was easy to distract her, with flirtation and seduction. On that score he’d been proved right. His very first reaction to her was the feeling she wanted to be seduced. She did. So was he just the lucky guy, or was it really about him?
The voice in his head reminded him it was all about the danger for her, and hunger for risk was at the core of her interest. He was an outlaw in her mind, and she flirted with the notion as much as with him as a person. At first it didn’t bother him, but his ego wanted to believe it was more, that it was personal.
His phone bleeped, a text message from Rowan.
“Problems?”
“Nothing gets past you does it?”
She smiled briefly.
“Good news, actually. My Nan is recovering. She had a mild stroke but there’s very little damage, thank goodness. She and my great aunt are moving in together, with my sister Rowan and her little one too. Our great aunt rattles around in her house these days, so it makes sense.”
“That sounds good. Do you need to go to them, to help the move in?”
“No, it’s all in hand. Rowan’s roped in her friends. She’s organized. She might look like a punkabilly but she’s a sensible girl.”
“What the hell is a punkabilly?”
“Rockabilly and punk cross.” He chuckled. “Basically she looks like a rebel, multi coloured hair, piercing. Looks like the sort of girl you wouldn’t want to mess with or bump into in a dark alley, but she’s a very good mum.”
Lara laughed. “I can’t wait to meet her.” He face fell. “Whoops. Sorry, I don’t know why I said that.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He stoked his thumb along her jaw.
He glanced at the time. “Coffee, darling?”
Lara rolled her eyes. “Now you’re overplaying your part. But yes, nice and strong, and no milk today.”
That’s what she was like—one-day she’d want milk, the next she wouldn’t.
Draco rose to his feet and headed off to the kitchen. He figured he’d be milk one day and she wouldn’t want him or the danger surrounding him any more.
He was midway through prepping two mugs of coffee when a presence behind him broke his train of thought. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Harry, Lara’s cousin and minder, standing in the doorway, arms folded, observing.
Draco took his time to remove the second mug from the shelf in the machine and then stirred each cup thoroughly before giving Harry the satisfaction of acknowledging him.
Inclining his head, he picked up the coffees and walked toward the doorway.
Harry stood his ground.
Draco paused. “Something I can do for you, Harry?”
Harry moved toward him in what Draco assumed was supposed to be a threatening manner, backing him into the kitchen.
Draco lifted the cups higher and turned sideways, as if to let him past.
Harry faced him. “I’ve been watching you.”
“Really?” Draco laughed softly. “I haven’t seen much of you since I started here.” Harry was all words and no action. Draco assumed he’d stayed out of it until such time they’d been accepted.
Harry ignored the comment, leaned in and spoke under his breath. “Don’t mess this up for Lara.”
“Ah, the caring cousin.”
Annoyance flashed in Harry’s eyes. His thin lips closed tightly.
“But you don’t need to worry,” Draco continued, “Lara’s interests are my top priority.” He smiled, intending to indicate they’d grown close.
He knew he shouldn’t have done it, but he couldn’t resist. The last thing he wanted was Harry getting angry enough to expose him. He was the one who’d agreed to push it along for Lara, the fact he was getting nervous and twitchy at this point was ridiculous.
“You were hired to do one job. The quicker you get it done and leave, the better.”
Draco leaned back against the nearby work surface nonchalantly. “But Harry, I really like it here. This apprenticeship is my opportunity to tie down a real job for the long haul.”
He said it to annoy Lara’s cousin, but the words echoed around his mind. Would it be so bad to work in a place like this? Of course not. The thing was, he never would’ve had the opportunity, if he hadn’t had an invitation from the boss’s daughter and a false identity to work under. There was no point in getting comfortable with the idea.
“You’re way off course there,” Harry replied, smugly. “Find the source of the fraud and give the evidence to Lara.”
Draco’s heckles rose. “I’ve been meaning to ask, why didn’t you get off your arse and sort it for her, if you’re so devoted?”
Harry’s expression turned to thunder.
“Oh wait,” Draco continued, “silly me, I don’t suppose you have the skill set, do you?”
Harry spoke under his breath, and through gritted teeth. “I helped Lara find you against my better judgement. If I could’ve helped her myself I would’ve done it.”
“Of course you would. I see that now.” Draco sipped his coffee.
“If you had any sort of criminal background and there was any threat to her safety, I never would’ve agreed to this.”
“Lara told me you were the one who did the dirty work, hiring a PI to find me.”
That touched a nerve. “She shouldn’t have told you, and if you ever try to use it against me, you’ll regret it.”
Draco eyeballed him, his dislike becoming intense. “You’ve got me all wrong, I’m not threatening you.”
“Where are you hiding out anyway, do you crawl back under your rock at night?”
“So Lara didn’t share that information? Interesting.” Draco knew he’d hit a few buttons. Harry looked livid, as if he barely had a hold of his rage. “You can dig all you want, but if Lara didn’t want you to know, I’m not about to share.” The last thing he wanted was Harry turning up at their love nest with his futile attempt to be threatening.
He wanted to tell Lanky to deal with it, get over himself and face up the fact she wanted some other guy. Why? Because Lanky Harry wanted her for himself. This face off wasn’t about security and taking care of Lara, it was about Lara and wanting her. Draco was all too willing to use his fists, to wipe the smile off Harry’s face. That could jeopardize things for Lara and her project, though. So he resisted the urge to test Harry’s metal physically. There were numerous reasons he had to keep himself clean. Sky was in London too. She and Rory were spending time together and they had him worried. He needed to stay out of jail, not go down the path Sean did, in case he had to play big brother and pick up the pieces of her broken heart.
“Catch you later, Harry.” Picking up the coffee cups, he left,
Back at the desk he found Lara watching him approach, as if she had something on her mind. Had she seen Harry going in to the kitchenette? “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you could really do the database with one hand behind your back?”
That was a relief, “Yes. To be honest I could do with something more challenging to get my teeth into.”
“More challenging than this intense work we’ve been doing today?” She queried. Again there was a simmering, sexy look in her eyes.
“You liked it. Is it the danger?”
He blushed, but she didn’t look away. “I don’t know. I’m curious about everything. What about you?”
She was canny, turning the question back on him. “I’m a guy. Guys are into everything.”
She stared at him in disbelief for a moment then burst out laughing.
“Its natural curiosity.”
She gave him a warning glance.
“Don’t be shy.” He reached out and took her hand, teasing his fingers against hers.
“I can’t help it. I’m not used to talking about sex out loud.”
“I bet you talk about it with your girlfriends.”
She did a funny little shrug and stared down at his hand on hers.
When she’d said she was inexperienced he hadn’t really given it much thought. Looking at her with faint flush on her cheeks from embarrassment, the curiosity in her eyes when she lifted her eyelids to meet his gaze, he understood. She wanted to know.
Draco wanted to be the one to help her find her way, to discover everything about her. To watch her while he brought her to orgasm. “That was pretty hot, what we did here, under the desk.”
“Hot and dangerous.” She chuckled but rolled her eyes at the same time. “Imagine if anyone had seen you doing that.”
“I was watching out. If anyone had come close or looked over for any length of time I’d have taken my hand away.”
“Left me hanging,” she said accusingly, her eyes sparkling.
“Only to keep you safe. And I want to make sure you’re safe.” In every way.
Her eyes smoldered. Her independent character went into stand by when it came to sexual intimacy.
“Safe and under your spell.”
“You seemed to like giving into my demands.”
“It was… an adventure.”
“We have time for more adventures.”
“Do we?” she asked softly. “If you can build a database with one hand tied behind your back, I imagine you’re pretty close to the answer I need.”
Did she want it to last as long as possible, as much as he did? It seemed that way. He already had the answer she needed, but he hadn’t decided what exactly to do with it. Not yet. “Close,” he eventually replied, and returned to his workstation.