Chapter 13
Aiden was already at his desk when Tallulah arrived the next morning. She hung her bag over the back of her chair and turned as he appeared in the doorway.
“Did you get home okay, last night?” he asked.
“Obviously.” She unlocked her computer. “I’ll put the coffee on in a second.”
“Already done.” He gave her a satisfied smile, walked over and poured two cups from the jug. “Here.”
She frowned at him. “You really don’t know how to be a boss.”
He laughed. “I want to call a management meeting this morning. Can you organise it? Ten thirty?”
For once, the whole team, apart from Francesca, was available and arrived in the conference room a few minutes early. Tallulah handed round coffee and placed bottles of water on the table.
“What’s this all about?” The chief financial officer carried his coffee to where Tallulah sat at the end of the table, laptop in front of her. His large stomach protruded into her personal space, and she caught a glimpse of pale, hairy flesh where the buttons of his shirt gaped above his waistband.
“I don’t know, Mr Riordon.” She averted her eyes as she dragged his name from the recesses of her memory. “I’m just a temp. Mr Marlowe told me to organise the meeting. I’m sure he’ll be here in a moment.”
Mr Riordon grunted and returned to his seat, leaning sideways to mutter something in his neighbour’s ear.
At ten thirty exactly, Aiden pushed the door open and strode across the room to take his seat at the table. Everyone turned towards him.
“What’s this about?” Riordon’s aggression was barely concealed. He was the sort of senior management Tallulah was used to. “We only met last week. Your father called meetings once a month and no more.”
“I’m not my father.” Aiden stood up again and removed his suit jacket. Underneath it he wore a thin tee-shirt. Despite the air conditioning, the room felt hot and airless, and Tallulah was glad of her cool cotton dress. She tucked the full skirt around her knees and waited for the meeting to begin.
“I won’t keep you long,” Aiden said. “The matter I brought up at the last meeting, regarding the anomalies in the cash flow, is becoming more urgent. Your report didn’t convince me, John.” He frowned at the chief business officer. “I want you all to think hard about your areas and let me know if you have any suspicion that something is awry.”
“The anomalies weren’t that unreasonable,” John Etherton said. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “For a project that big.”
“Really?” Aiden’s frown deepened. “In my view, they show shoddy financial planning, incompetence, or something worse.”
Tallulah typed the word ‘fraud’ on her keyboard and put a question mark next to it.
Riordon frowned. “Are you sure about this? I checked and couldn’t find anything sinister.”
“Absolutely,” Aiden said. “My father was extremely worried when he told me about it. He hoped we wouldn’t have to get an external auditing team in, but if we can’t get to the bottom of it ourselves, we won’t have an alternative.”
“External auditing team?” The chief business officer frowned. “We’ve had them before. Regulations and tax issues, you know?”
“This would be a team experienced in fraud,” Aiden said.
There was a silence while the members of the management team inspected their neighbours and, after that, a flurry of conversation.
Aiden raised his voice. “Anyone who has any concerns can come to me at any time.” He stood up and left.
Tallulah finished typing and closed her document. The men loitered to converse in lowered voices, expressions of deep worry on some faces. She let them all drift out of the room before she closed her laptop and went back to her office.
Aiden came over to her desk. “Did you see anything suspicious in any of them?”
She shook her head. “They all looked concerned, but that’s understandable. There was a bit of muttering about your officiousness after you left, and some talk of you being mistaken. They wondered if your father’s ill health had made him over suspicious.”
Aiden dragged one hand through his hair.
“Should you have warned them?” Tallulah asked.
“It won’t do them any good, and if any of them are involved, they might panic. That might make them careless. I can’t believe John Etherton thought that sort of anomaly was acceptable.” He scratched his head. “I really have to get a haircut.”
“It suits you,” she said. The shaggy hair gave him a rakish look.
A single wavy strand fell into his eyes, and he pushed it back before drifting into his office while Tallulah wrote up the minutes and considered the problems in the company. She was becoming obsessed, and it wasn’t even a permanent job.
“Can you still work late?” Aiden opened the door between the offices a minute later and leaned into hers.
“Yes.” Tallulah stood up, forcing herself to hide her enthusiasm. “I’ve had a brainwave. It’ll be a bit of extra work, but it might save us some time in the long run.”
Aiden nodded. “A brainwave? I’ll look forward to hearing about it.” He propped one shoulder against the wall. “Would you consider extending your contract for another month? Maybe a little longer?”
She rubbed her hands over her face. It was hard to say no to the money. Working for Aiden wasn’t boring either. “At the same rate?”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “At the same rate. I’ll talk to HR.”
“Okay. No more than a couple of months, though.” Her final year started in October, but her blood warmed at the thought of spending more time with Aiden, although what she wanted to achieve from it, she had no idea.
At lunchtime, she accessed the construction files for the completed housing development in Hertfordshire. She printed the entire report which appeared to be the size of an encyclopaedia and looked like a thick paving slab when she placed it on the corner of her desk. Taking the financial report for the project, she put that on top of the brick and gave it a wistful look. She wanted to start on it immediately but still had a pile of her regular work to get through before the end of the day.
At five o’clock, Aiden looked in again. “Ready to make a start?”
She picked up her files and followed him into his office, dropping the papers on his desk. He eyed the stack and raised one eyebrow. “What on earth—”
“It’s just an idea.” Tallulah didn’t want to explain her instinct. She was sure he’d sneer if she said the word intuition. “I’ll know in a couple of hours if there’s anything in it.
“Fine.” He opened his own file.
Tallulah leafed rapidly through her reports, checking the numbers of completed houses against the plans, the orders for materials against the bills and any discrepancies between projected and actual pricing. She made copious notes on her laptop.
It was half past seven when she looked up again, rotating her stiff shoulders and stretching her arms above her head to relieve her aching back. She pushed herself to her feet and shook her body.
Aiden stared at her. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Wiggle your hips like that.”
She gave him a withering stare. “I think I’ve found something.”
His eyes moved up to meet hers. “What?”
“Come and see.” She moved her laptop so they could both see the screen. “Here, for example. In the construction report, forty-two kitchens were used. In the accounts, fifty were paid for. What happened to the eight extras?”
Aiden checked the figures. “Maybe they passed them on to one of the other projects. Maybe it was a genuine mistake.”
Tallulah shook her head. “It might be, but if you look at the bathrooms, there’s the same thing. And even bricks.”
Aiden rubbed his eyes. “It does look suspicious. We should have a look at one of the other recent projects and see if there’s a real pattern.”
“How do you think it happened? It must be someone senior. No one else could have signed off these amounts.”
“I don’t know. I’ve got an idea though.” Aiden frowned down at the laptop. “Do you want to get some food? We haven’t really got time to start on another project tonight, and I’m starving.”
“Food?” Tallulah’s stomach growled, and her navel felt as though it had connected with her spinal column. She squashed the voice that told her she should avoid spending non-work time with him. The previous night had been fine, even if her sleep had been disturbed. “What did you have in mind?”
“Indian?” Aiden wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “We deserve it.”
She pulled back, and his arm fell away.
“You do, at least,” he said.
“You’re paying me to be a genius.” She couldn’t help smiling at him. “Okay. Indian sounds good.”
He leant forward and dropped a brief kiss on her lips.
“Stop it.” She pushed him. “What do you think you’re doing?” Her lips tingled.
“Just saying thank you.” He took her arm and urged her towards the door. “Come on. I’m starving.”
After a moment, she gave up and let him guide her along the pavement. It was eight o’clock, but the air in the street had barely cooled. Tallulah took a deep breath. “I wish it would rain.”
“Let’s walk towards King’s Cross.” Aiden took her hand and walked faster. “You won’t have as far to go home then.”
“It’s not that far from here,” she grumbled. She often walked farther. She tugged experimentally on her hand, but Aiden didn’t appear to notice.
“You can get a cab,” Aiden said. “Or I’ll walk with you.”
Tallulah shrugged. “Whatever you want.” The heat of the evening soaked into her skin, making her bones feel heavy and her body languid. She couldn’t be bothered to argue.
Aiden laughed. “You must be hungry. I’ll remember that in future.”
They picked an Indian vegetarian restaurant on a side-street off City Road, and after they’d eaten, Aiden leaned back in his chair. “Shall I ask them to call a taxi, or would you rather walk?”
“I’d rather walk.” Tallulah leaned her elbows on the table, forgetting again that Aiden was her boss. “After all that food, I need some exercise. I’ll never sleep otherwise.”
“I’ll walk with you.” Aiden stood up and sorted out the bill, while Tallulah waited at the door.
At ten o’clock, the sky still had some light, and the air was inert and muggy. Aiden took her hand. She glanced down, uncomfortable at the intimacy, but more uncomfortable at the thought of making a fuss about it. Maybe this is the way he behaves with most women. Maybe he’s momentarily forgotten I’m his assistant and he’s being gallant. She was exquisitely aware of the warmth of his hand and the way his thumb rubbed the back of her hand as they walked.
King’s Cross loomed ahead of them, and next to it, the Victorian Gothic splendour of the St Pancras Hotel stood out against the darkening blue of the sky.
“Do you want a drink?” Aiden swung Tallulah’s hand. “Before I start walking back? I’ve always wanted to go inside.” He pointed at the hotel. “Don’t you think it’s a brilliant building?”
Tallulah looked up at the ornate red brick tower. It was a familiar presence, so familiar she took it for granted; an iconic building, but it had never occurred to her to walk through the doors. It was a building for the rich.
“Well?”
“Okay.” She didn’t want the evening to end.
They walked past the doorman in his impressive livery and into the bar, where a waitress in a black and white dress showed them to a small round table and handed them a sheaf of menus. Separate booklets for wine, soft drinks, and cocktails.
Tallulah flicked through the cocktail menu. “Have you seen the price of these?”
Aiden didn’t bother looking. “It’s only once. I’ve always wanted to come here, so I’ll pay.”
Tallulah opened the wine list. The prices were equally outrageous.
“I’m going to have a cocktail,” Aiden said. He hadn’t even looked at the list. “An espresso martini, I think. What about you?”
“Isn’t that a bit girly?”
“I prefer to think of it as following in the footsteps of James Bond,” he said. “Come on, Tallulah. Make your mind up.”
Tallulah sighed. It wasn’t her money. “I’ll have a lemon martini.”
While he ordered, Tallulah inspected her surroundings. The room was big, with high ceilings, chandeliers at the top, and a smooth red carpet underfoot. The other drinkers looked as though they were customers at the hotel. The women were all thin, perfectly made up, and beautifully dressed, while the men carried auras of wealth and confidence. It wasn’t the sort of place you’d walk into by accident, for a casual drink. Tallulah wasn’t sure she liked it.
“What are you thinking about?” Aiden’s voice interrupted her musings.
“Just how different this is from my usual hangouts.”
“In what way?”
“It’s too homogeneous,” Tallulah said. “There isn’t much sense of energy. It’s a bit boring.”
“Depends who you’re with,” Aiden said. “I’m not bored.”
“I’m not bored either. I meant the general ambience.”
“Long words,” Aiden said. “Hopefully the drinks will compensate. Here they come.”
The waitress arrived carrying a tray of drinks. She placed two conical glasses on the table and added a bowl of olives. “Enjoy.”
Tallulah picked up her drink and took a tiny sip. It was delicious, the sharp citrusy taste dominating the sweetness. She licked the flavour from her lips.
“Good?”
“The problem with cocktails,” she said, “is that one’s never enough. You always want another.”
“That can be arranged.” Aiden eyed her almost-full glass.
“And then another,” she said. “And then you’re sorry. And the next day you’re even sorrier.” She took another tiny sip.
“Sounds like you’ve been there.” He picked up his own drink.
“Yeah,” Tallulah said. “I’m a quick learner.”
“You live close to here?”
“Ten minutes away.”
“Nice.” He finished his drink. “Do you want another?”
Tallulah looked longingly at her empty glass. Heat was pooling in her body; she couldn’t decide if it was the drink, the warm evening, or a raging case of lust. “I’d better not. It’s a work day tomorrow.” She’d indulged herself enough. Aiden was far too easy to talk to, and she’d chatted away in a completely uncharacteristic manner. Now she wanted to touch him.
“Come on, then.” He stood up and, offering a hand, pulled her to her feet.
They walked slowly along Euston Road, past the station, and crossed at the traffic lights to Pentonville Road. When Tallulah turned down the narrow street she lived on, Aiden paused. “Do you normally walk home alone?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him. “It’s pretty busy round here, and I’ve never had a problem. It’s perfectly safe.”
Aiden inspected the dim streetlight before returning his attention to her. “It’s not a residential street, is it?”
Tallulah tugged him forward. “No.” She pointed at a substantial Victorian building. It had an arched metal sign above the door, with ‘The Old Fire Station’ painted on it in white.
“You live in a fire station?”
“It was an arts centre for ages,” she said. “It closed down a couple of years ago, and it’s up for development now.”
“You squat?” His voice was blank, and she couldn’t tell whether he approved or not.
“Of course not. There’s no security in that. I’m a guardian.”
“A guardian? Of what?”
“The building. The company who own it have a few spread across London, waiting to be redeveloped. They don’t like to leave them empty, so they put in just enough facilities to make them liveable and let out rooms for a token rent. I’ve done this all over London, and it’s a great way to find a cheap place to live.”
Aiden raised his brows as though he’d never heard of such a thing. “Can I come in?”
Tallulah shook her head hurriedly. “My brother’s sleeping on the couch. It’s late, and I don’t want to disturb him.”
“The same brother who works for Marlowe’s?”
“Kyle.”
“Okay.” Aiden took her arm and pulled her to face him. “Thanks for staying late tonight. You’ve been a great help.”
Tallulah opened her mouth to tell him it was her job, and he kissed her. His lips were warm and firm, and she relaxed, breathing in the scent of him. Without taking his mouth from hers, he clasped her waist and lifted her to stand on the step above his. His mouth opened on hers, and he stroked one hand down her hip. She kissed him back, allowing her hands to tangle in his hair, holding his head in position, while he took her lower lip between his teeth and his hand drifted to her waist. Her head spun, and all the heat in her body moved between her thighs. She slid her hands down to cling to his shoulders. What am I doing? A note of alarm sounded in her head, as his fingers tightened on her waist. I work for him.
She pulled away. “Stop it. You’re my boss.” That wasn’t just a thank-you kiss.
He released her. “Is that what I am?”
“Sneaky is what you are.”
He stood on the bottom step as she spun round and ran up the steps to the door. “Night, Tinkerbelle.”
His eyes burned a hole in her back until the door slammed closed behind her. She leaned back against it, gathering her composure. Why did I let him do that? Let him? I encouraged him.
It must have been the martini, but she asked herself why she’d gone for a drink with him in the first place. It was one of her rules, along with her determination to be completely professional—don’t get involved with anyone from work. Now she had to work with him for at least another month, and she wouldn’t be able to look at him without remembering that kiss.
She trudged up the stairs, speculating over whether she could break her rules for once. It was only for a month. She’d finish her contract, and he’d go back to New York. Could it work?