City Woman (5 page)

She got him the files he required and closed the door quietly behind her. Three-quarters of an hour later she had phoned the nearby deli and ordered thick-cut beef on rye, his favourite
sandwich, and some salads and coleslaw. Setting a tray with a crisp linen tray-cloth and gleaming silver, she had made a pot of coffee and carried the meal in to her boss.

He lifted his head from his work and smiled at her, that gorgeous sexy smile that made his brown eyes crinkle up. She immediately wanted to plant a hot passionate kiss on that so sensual mouth.
She wanted to tell him to forget Devlin Delaney, that she was here to fulfil his every need. But all she said was: ‘I thought you might be hungry; you look as if you need some
sustenance.’

‘I’d be lost without you, Dianne,’ he replied and she felt a surge of triumph. Had he ever said that to the blonde bombshell? She was sure he hadn’t.

Beaming at the memory of the compliment, Dianne slid between her satin sheets and switched out the light. She could conjure up his image much more easily in darkness. Which fantasy would she
have tonight? The wedding one, where she glided down the aisle in a fairytale dress far superior to anything worn by a royal bride, to be greeted by Luke, her husband-to-be, at the altar, and then
to imagine him placing the gold wedding band on her finger, his eyes caressing her warmly? No. Tonight she wanted passion. She remembered the smile on his mouth and in his eyes. Tonight she wanted
the seduction scene where his eyes smouldered into hers and he muttered thickly as he tore the silk camisole from her body, ‘I want you, Dianne! God, how I want you!’

‘Oh yes . . . yes, Luke . . . yesss . . .’ Dianne breathed quickly in the dark. This was her favourite fantasy of all.

Three

‘Oh shut up!’ Devlin thumped the insistently chirping alarm clock that was guaranteed to set teeth on edge, and buried her head under the pillows. This was most
unDevlin-like behaviour but she had not slept well and she knew she had a gruelling day ahead of her. She had three meetings to attend, two with personnel managers of firms that were negotiating
membership terms for their employees and one with a PR firm that was anxious to persuade her to endorse a client’s product. She was guest of honour at a chamber-of-commerce luncheon and she
dreaded making a speech. Then she had to go out to RTE to record an interview for a current affairs and business programme.

For one moment she was sorely tempted to call her secretary, pretend she was stricken with flu and get her to cancel all her engagements. A day in bed with no-one to harass her seemed like such
a good idea. Today she didn’t feel like being Devlin Delaney, successful and ambitious businesswoman. She felt like keeping her head firmly under the pillow. It was just as she used to feel
when she woke up on Monday mornings knowing she had a full week of school ahead of her.

People often said to her: ‘It must be great being your own boss.’ Well, that was the greatest misconception possible. She might be the boss, but she still had commitments that she
couldn’t ignore. It was easier by far for one of her employees at City Girl to duck out for the day than it was for her, she thought grumpily, as she slid unenthusiastically out of bed.
Bleary-eyed, she caught sight of herself in the mirror, and thought – if only they could see me now. So much for the get-ahead businesswoman. It was tough going sometimes to live up to the
image that the media had created for her. A shower and coffee refreshed her somewhat and as she placed the text of her speech in her briefcase, she was already mentally gearing up for her first
meeting.

City Girl, even at eight-fifteen a.m., was a hive of activity. Lots of women came for early-morning workout sessions or swimming, before going in to work. Informal business meetings were often
held over breakfast and as Devlin traversed the Coffee Dock to order some breakfast to be sent up to her office, she noted the presence of a prominent female politician, a high-profile
business-woman and a board member of a government-sponsored agency, deep in conversation over coffee and croissants. A lot of networking went on at City Girl, especially over breakfast, and this
pleased her enormously.

As she sat by her window overlooking St Stephen’s Green, eating yoghurt and honey, Devlin toyed with the idea of phoning Luke. The longer the interval, the more her courage failed. She had
never seen him so angry in all the time they had worked together. The least he could have done was to phone her and apologize for walking away at the airport. That had been the height of rudeness,
she argued silently with herself. After all, they had had a meeting scheduled. It wasn’t very professional of him, she decided, to let his personal feelings interfere with their business
relationship.

Yes, but maybe you were sending out conflicting signals she chided herself, kissing him back that way. ‘Oh this is ridiculous!’ she muttered, as she rose and marched over to her
desk. She dialled Luke’s private number. They were adults after all; the sooner they cleared up this misunderstanding the better.

The PA answered. This did not surprise Devlin: she had met Dianne once and knew that this efficient young woman was not one to let the grass grow under her feet. ‘Is Luke there,
please?’ she asked pleasantly.

‘I’m afraid not,’ came the crisp Sloaney voice. Dianne wasn’t giving away any information.

‘Well, this is Devlin Delaney. Could you tell him I called and ask him to call me back. I’ll be in the office until noon; otherwise he’ll get me at home tonight.’

‘I’m not expecting him back at the office until this afternoon. He has a business meeting with his solicitors this morning and he’ll be on site until lunchtime, but I’ll
certainly give him your message.’

‘Thank you,’ said Devlin, hanging up.

Dianne’s news had disturbed her more than she cared to admit. Surely Luke wasn’t meeting his solicitors about City Girl! He couldn’t have been serious yesterday. Or could he?
Suddenly, Devlin wasn’t too sure.

‘Any calls I should know about?’ Luke appeared at her door, and Dianne devoured the sight of him in his jeans and T-shirt. He always wore jeans and a T-shirt when
he was going on site and she loved the way the white material clung to his hard muscular body. She loved the way the dark hair curled at his throat and the idea of being held in his tanned muscled
arms was her greatest dream.

‘No calls,’ she lied to her boss. She wasn’t going to tell him Devlin rang. Something was going on between those two: they’d had a row of some sort or other. What other
reason could Luke have for haring back to London when he was supposed to be staying over in Dublin. And wanting to meet his solicitors too.

No she wasn’t going to tell him Ms Devlin Delaney called. If it ever came to light she could always say she forgot. Because she was so efficient as a rule, she was sure Luke would overlook
it this once.

‘I’ve prepared that report on the Shepherd’s Bush project and it’s being typed up. I have your itinerary for your trip to Holland. Your flight leaves from Heathrow at
eight tomorrow morning. Would you like me to drive you to the airport?’ Dianne asked, hoping against hope that he’d say yes.

‘The Shepherd’s Bush project already? That’s good work, Dianne. Thank you. I appreciate the late hours you’ve worked on it.’ Luke smiled and Dianne glowed.
‘I’ll get a taxi to the airport and save you the trek out; but thanks for the offer. Just hold the fort here for me until I get back.’

It’s no trouble, she was tempted to say, but that would not be the way of a sophisticate and Dianne was nothing if not sophisticated. Let him take a taxi to the airport, but she’d be
waiting for him when he got back. She was going to make herself indispensable to Luke Reilly, and DD was going to fade into insignificance – that’s if
she
had anything to do
with it.

‘I’ll organize some coffee for you, Luke – oh, and I got Sally to collect your suits from the cleaners. They’re hanging up in your office.’

‘Dianne, you’re a brick,’ Luke declared.

I know, she smiled to herself as she went to get the coffee.

Luke flicked casually through the itinerary Dianne had organized for his Dutch trip. Usually once he knew his itinerary, the adrenalin would start to flow for the business
ahead. Right this minute the thought of going to Holland on a business trip was an irritation.

He had really hoped that Devlin would ring. Even as he sat listening to his solicitor tell him what dissolving their partnership entailed, he decided that if she phoned he would ask her if she
wanted to discuss things. Obviously she didn’t.

Flicking through his Rolodex, Luke found the number of his solicitor’s office and picked up his phone to call him.

‘When will he be back?’ Devlin tried to keep her tone steady.

‘I’m picking him up late on Friday night,’ Dianne said crisply.

‘Thank you,’ Devlin replied.

‘You’re welcome, Miss Delaney.’

Was she imagining it, Devlin wondered as she hung up, or did Dianne sound almost insolent? She couldn’t believe that Luke had gone to Holland without returning her call. He must really
have meant it when he’d said he’d had enough. The thought left her feeling faintly sick.

Her secretary popped her head through the door. ‘Are you ready to start interviewing? The first candidate has arrived.’

Devlin took a deep breath and nodded. ‘Sure; ask Aoibhinn to come down, will you?’ Aoibhinn was City Girl’s chief beautician and the interviews were to fill two positions in
the beauty salon.

The rest of the day passed at its usual hectic pace, and the following day, sick of the place, Devlin called on Maggie, who had her own problems just then. Seeing how preoccupied she was, Devlin
kept her woes about Luke to herself.

She was going through the report Arthur had prepared for her the following morning when her secretary buzzed her to tell her that her solicitor was on the line. As if in a dream she heard Monica
Finlay say that a letter from Luke’s solicitors had arrived on her desk advising her that they had begun proceedings to dissolve their partnership.

Four

‘We are making our final approach to London Heathrow. Please fasten your seat belts for landing and put your seats in an upright position.’ At the
stewardess’s announcement Devlin felt knots of apprehension grip her stomach. It had been a real spur-of-the-moment decision to fly to London and, now that she was here, she wondered if she
had made a big mistake. Maybe Luke would just tell her to get lost. He hadn’t bothered to return her calls and their respective solicitors were currently working on the dissolution of their
partnership.

She couldn’t let it end like this. Not in bitterness and anger. Luke meant too much to her for that. But what would she do if he refused to see her? He had become so much a part of her
life: always there, as a sounding board and supporter. She couldn’t envisage running City Girl Ltd without him. She had taken him for granted for so long that it was something of a shock to
realize just how much she depended on him. She had been so busy she had never really given too much thought to their relationship. But one thing she knew very well – she did not want to lose
Luke’s friendship.

She phoned his apartment immediately after disembarking but there was no answer. She glanced at her watch and calculated that he was probably on his way to the office. It was just gone
eight-thirty.

After she had cleared customs, she took a taxi and gave the address of Luke’s office. It felt strange to be sitting in one of the big black London cabs again. Not that she’d been
able to travel around in them that much when she’d lived in London. Money had been very tight: it had been the bus and tube for her then. To think that she had worked here, lived here and
given birth to Lynn here. It all seemed so long ago. She had taken her baby home to Dublin to give her a better life. Perhaps if she had stayed in London, her daughter would still be alive. Tears
smarted at the back of her eyes and her heart ached with an unbearable longing. Whoever said time healed was a liar. Subdued and getting more tense by the minute, Devlin was sorely tempted to tell
the taxi-driver to turn around and bring her back to Heathrow.

By the time she got to the impressive block that housed Luke’s offices she was feeling really nervous. A quick glance in her mirror told her that outwardly she looked fine and showed no
hint of the turmoil that churned her up inside. She retouched her lipstick, paid the taxi-driver, took a deep breath and walked up the marble steps of the building. Now that
she
was here,
she wondered where Luke was. He could be at a meeting or on site. But surely if he’d been away on a business trip until Friday night he would stop by the office first thing on a Monday
morning. Well, she’d find out in just a few moments, she thought wryly as the lift rose silently to the top floor where Luke’s offices were.

‘Can I help you?’ a pleasant young receptionist asked her.

‘Sally, could you type this up immediately; Mr Reilly needs it.’ A tall thin model-like blonde had come out from an inner office. Devlin recognized Luke’s PA, Dianne.

The blonde woman’s thinly plucked eyebrows arched questioningly. And then she too recognized Devlin.

‘Oh Miss Delaney,’ she said coolly. ‘Can I help you?’

‘I’d like to see Luke for a few minutes if you could tell him I’m here,’ Devlin said, marvelling at how normal her voice sounded.

‘He has meetings scheduled for the whole morning. I could try and fit you in later in the week – perhaps Wednesday?’ Dianne said crisply.

‘If you would kindly tell him I’m here, I’d be much obliged,’ Devlin said firmly, holding the other woman’s stare. She was damned if she was going to be intimidated
by this creature.

‘Dianne, I need Van der Voek’s – Devlin! What are you doing here?’ Luke was standing at the door staring at her.

Devlin’s heart skipped a beat. ‘I just need to see you for a few minutes – if you could fit me in.’ Her eyes met his.

‘Certainly. Come on in.’ Luke held the door open for her.

‘What about your nine-thirty appointment?’ Dianne interjected coldly.