Chapter Ten
And the following week had come around far too quickly. There I was Monday morning, nervous and undecided on what to wear as shown by the pile of discarded outfits littering my bed. Which was ridiculous. It was only a temping job for a month, if that. But after the last one…
It wasn't like I owned a lot of clothes I could wear to the office. The company I'd worked for full-time had been pretty casual. And when I'd started at the agency, I'd invested in some trousers and shirts that I could wear out of work too. Because spending the cash on a suit where I wasn't trying to impress the boss to keep me on full-time had seemed like a waste of money.
Blowing the long pieces of fringe out of my eyes with a huff, I pulled on a pair of black trousers. Couldn't go wrong with those. I settled on my favourite forest-green blouse, high necked with sheer sleeves. One I normally wore on a night out paired with several silver bangles and a pair of wide-legged moss-green trousers which I didn't think I'd get away with wearing on the first day of a job.
A glance at the clock told me that would have to do or I'd be late. Grabbing my handbag on the way out, I headed to the train station.
A half hour train ride later, I arrived at Manchester Piccadilly station. A brisk five-minute walk and I was in front of Cooper Garson Limited's building. It wasn't obvious. A glass-fronted coffee shop, already filled with customers wanting their caffeine fix, with a narrow blue door to the side. A plaque with the firm's initials—C & G Ltd—was the only clue I was in the right place. I rang the buzzer, and the door lock clicked open. Pulling the strap of my handbag higher up my shoulder, I climbed the wooden stairs.
At the top of the staircase, the office opened out into a room on either side. Shiny wooden floors reflected the light of the many windows along the wall. All open plan apart from two sections that had been closed off to make private offices.
“Kimberly?”
I turned around to be greeted by a college-aged woman with long blonde hair.
“I'm Fiona from HR. If you follow me, I'll get you set up for the day.”
So I did, and the first morning passed the same as any other of my usual temping jobs did in a blur of faces and procedures. Being shown where the bathroom and fire exits were and a video on money laundering. I was hoping they'd give me a copy of it in case I ever needed help getting to sleep one night.
Tony—my supervisor—showed me to my desk, and introduced me to Jaz, the guy sitting opposite me. Then left me with a pile of papers that needed entering into their systems.
Jaz moved along his desk until he could see me around the computer and gave me a smile I couldn't help but return. And he was cute. Skin the colour of burnt caramel and eyes so dark that they almost looked black. Hair cropped short to his head and a scattering of black stubble across his chin.
“If you need help with anything, give me a shout.”
“Thanks. You may regret that offer.”
His laugh was a deep rumble. “No worries. I still remember my first day. Remember it more as a daze of new people and not knowing what the hell I was doing. Not sure the last bit's any different now.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up so far.”
It was early afternoon by the time I looked up from the pile of papers that didn't seem to be getting any smaller despite my best efforts.
“I'm going to do a coffee run. Can I get you something?” Jaz asked.
“God yes. I'd love a cappuccino. I might not make it through this lot otherwise. Thanks.”
“That's okay. It's your turn tomorrow,” he replied with a flash of a smile. I returned my attention back to the next set of numbers waiting for me.
“Jaz?”
My hand stilled at the familiar voice.
“I was off on a coffee run. Can I get you one, Kyle?”
“Sure. A mocha, please. Then can we go through the Gallagher accounts?”
I recognised that voice. Had heard it in my dreams often enough whispering words into my ear as we lay together in bed. Slowly I lifted my head to see the spiky dark brown hair of the head bent over Jaz's desk. Jaz glanced my way then wagged a finger between us.
“Kimberly, have you met our account manager, Kyle Robinson? Kyle, Kimberly is our new temp. First day so don't scare her off.”
Kyle laughed and lifted his head from over the paperwork on Jaz's desk. Rich, brown eyes widened as they met mine, and the laugh died on his lips. Lips I had kissed. Lips that had tasted my skin. A voice I never thought I'd hear again. The man I thought I'd never see again but had wanted to. So much.
But there he was, just as gorgeous as I remembered. In a suit. A suit? Mr I'm-used-to-high-risk-situations was what? An accountant? That was definitely or something. When he'd said high-risk situations, I had visions of death-defying leaps out of aeroplanes, machine gun slung across his back. Maybe he had a different definition of high risk: gambling with money. Not quite what I had imagined him having to do when called away in the middle of the night for work. In fact, I couldn't imagine why he would be. An accounting emergency? Seemed unlikely.
And a little disappointing. Had I built him up in my head to be this exciting, lifesaving, action type of man? I mean he was still sexy as hell, but…an accountant? It didn't fit the image of the man I remembered from that night.
We stared at each other, the silence a gulf between us.
Wait. Jaz had introduced him as Kyle. What happened to Beck?
My eyes watered, and I tried to swallow around the tightness in my throat. Hurt washed over me swiftly followed by confusion. I coughed to try and clear my throat. “No. I don't believe I have met Kyle.”
Beck. Beck I'd met. On an intimate level. But why would he lie about his name? Or his job? Imply it was more interesting than being an accountant when he'd probably never see me again? There was no reason to lie to me about who he was.
The moment he introduced himself on the plane flashed through my mind. Why would he lie about his name then? To a stranger he thought he would never see again. Could easily have said he worked in an office. Not or something like he had which led me to believe…I don't know what, not a suit working nine to five in an office.
Kyle held out his hand across the desk towards me. I stared at those long, tapered fingers with their blunt nails. Fingers that had caressed me, nails that had scraped across my skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
Jaz glanced between us, a frown creasing his forehead. If I didn't want to face twenty questions from him later, I needed to pull myself together.
Pasting my best effort of a smile onto my face I slipped my hand into his. Eyes closing at the contact as memories of that night played in slow motion, and the touch of his warm, calloused hand shot a jolt of awareness straight up my arm and tightened my chest.
I yanked my hand from his grasp. “A pleasure to meet you.” And then added with a touch of snark, “Kyle.”
At least he had the decency to drop his gaze. Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard then cleared his throat. “Likewise.” His eyes closed briefly before he busied himself with the papers on Jaz's desk again. “I hope you enjoy working here. If you need anything, Jaz should be able to help you.” He clapped a hand on Jaz's shoulder, turning his back to me. “Come to my office when you get back with the coffees.”
And then he strode away without a backward glance. Like he hadn't just thrown a bomb into my life then walked off with no explanation before any of the debris could hit him. Left me to try and figure out where all the pieces were supposed to go.
“Erm. Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.”
No, I wasn't okay. Not really. But I wasn't about to try and explain to Jaz that the guy I'd slept with—couldn't stop thinking about even though I thought I'd never see again—had just turned up as my boss. Sort of. “Yeah, I'm fine. Bit of a headache, that's all,” I lied. Jaz didn't seem convinced, but I hoped he'd drop the subject.
“Okay. I thought you were going to drop a bombshell about our new boss.” He glanced over his shoulder before carrying on. “He's really…private. It's driving everyone in the office crazy trying to find out anything about him. Doesn't join us for office drinks when we occasionally go out. And Linda's made it her mission to find out about him by using her so-called womanly ways.”
He laughed as he shook his head. I had to repress a shudder at the idea of being one in a long line of women from the office that had slept with Beck. Kyle. Whatever the hell his name was. “New boss? So, he hasn't worked here that long then?”
Jaz shook his head. “He only started at the beginning of the month.”
As I tried to do the numbers in my head my eyebrows drew together. So Beck had probably started there right around the time we met. “Did he replace someone?” Jaz leaned in closer across the desk.
“That's the weird thing. The senior accountants make this big deal about not having loads of layers of management, yet Kyle started in this role that they created. We never had account managers before, and he's the only one we have now. I have no idea what he actually does except look through account files. Bob thinks he's secretly auditing us, but I don't think so. And Bob's a little overactive in the imagination department.”
I gave Jaz a weak smile. “Sorry I can't be more help in dishing the dirt on your boss.” If Jaz wanted to know what his boss looked like naked then I could help, but I couldn't even have told Jaz Beck's real name.
“Don't worry about it. Right, I'll go get those coffees.”
And didn't that feel shitty? What little I thought I knew about Beck hadn't even been the truth.
My fingers reached automatically for my necklace beneath my shirt. Fingertips tracing the smooth infinity symbol that wrapped around the diamond heart. Ever since my mum had given it to me for my eighteenth birthday I'd worn it every day. Tracing its shape had become a soothing habit. For the millionth time, I wished my mum was still alive. She always knew what to say to make me feel better.
But for once, the feel of the infinity symbol beneath my fingers didn't offer comfort. Beck wasn't the only one who had lied to me.
I dropped my hold on the necklace, wishing I could go back in time to when she had given it to me. Before I'd found out my mum had the ability to lie to me. Simpler times.
Instead, I was stuck there in the office knowing Beck was somewhere nearby.
Nearby and a liar.