Double Dare (12 page)

"Perhaps not soon enough to satisfy my insatiable lust for you," he whispered, his eyes growing dark.

She stood there looking at him, mesmerized. He was making it difficult for her to leave without actually doing much at all. Part of her was unable to believe that she had to walk away from him, making her unwilling to do so.

He smiled, stretched, and got up. His cock was long and hard, half risen. Her sex clenched. Her sense of purpose floated away.

"I'll phone for a taxi," he said, breaking the hold.

She turned to watch as he walked from the room, leaving her standing by the bed. She listened to his muted voice in the next room. When he came back and stood in the doorway she took in the look of his naked body. The way he wore it with such nonchalance was unbearably sexy.

"Two minutes," he said. He looked her up and down, his expression unfathomable.

She walked over to him. She wanted to say something, to voice the desire that held her captive. His strange thoughtfulness while he watched her made it difficult, even though she had to admit it was hellish sexy. Enigmatic was good, but she was experiencing a yen to unravel the more mysterious side to him.

She laid her hand along his jaw, moving against the graze of stubble that met her touch then reached up to kiss him. "Soon?" she whispered.

His expression was guarded, but he smiled in response, his eyelids lowered, his gaze on her mouth. "Soon." He grabbed a robe, pulling it on, and led her to the door. "How about dinner tonight?"

She smiled. For some reason, she'd felt as if he wasn't going to make a follow up date and leave it to her, like some kind of test. Outside, the taxi sounded its horn. "I'd love to," she said and reached up for a hurried goodbye kiss.

* * * *

Just over an hour later, after a shower and a change of clothes, Abby was on the phone to their broker at the London stock exchange. The release documents were, as promised, on her desk when she got in to work. Once she'd got the ball rolling, she set the FTSE index screen to streaming and tucked into the breakfast bagel she'd ordered in. There was nothing to do now but wait for the result, then she could write it up and move on.

After she'd eaten, she sent Caroline an email asking for some of her legal advice time, then stretched and stood up, looking out the window and down at the busy street below. When she'd first taken over the office she hadn't liked to get too close to the window. She always felt like she might fall through it. Then time assured her of its invincibility and now she would lean into it, imagining what it would be like to fall through the space, into another world. The people swarmed on the street far below. She was high on life, her affair with Zac, her work on the Ashburn portfolio.

She looked at her watch, just a few minutes to wait for the results. How many hours till she met Zac? What was he doing now? Where was he? She shook the questions off. She had to survive at least another few hours before she could have him again. Ludicrous though it was, it was killing her.
I'm crazy for him
, she realized.

There was a knock at the door and before she had time to answer, Tom walked in. He was carrying two stemmed glasses and a bottle of what looked like Bucksfizz.

Abby stared at him, bemused.

"Well, Abby, what an absolute coup on your behalf. I've been watching the FTSE and I think we can anticipate a celebration." He walked over and put the glasses down, then perched himself on the edge of the desk while he unwrapped the foil on the bottle and glanced at the computer screen.

"Yes. The company has been in sustained growth for several months now," Abby replied, as casually as possible, trying not to react to his unexpected appearance. The bottle was chilled. He'd been prepared for this. How did he know, and why was he so interested?

He turned the bottle, easing the cork free, glancing over her as he did so. When it popped he poured out two glasses. He smiled then passed her a glass, watching her as she took it.

"Thanks. This is a nice surprise. I didn't realize you did this sort of thing." As soon as she'd said it, she wished she hadn't.

"I don't." He gave a slow, suggestive smile. "Cheers." He chinked his glass against hers.

He was harboring a personal interest. A sinking feeling hit her. She sipped the drink, unwillingly.

"How did you convince Adrianna it was the time to sell?" He sidled nearer.

She reached over and fiddled with her mouse, then changed the angle of her screen to create a sense of distance between them. "I happened to read that the company owner was going through an expensive divorce, in the gossip magazines. I did a bit of scouting and found there were rumors about redundancies. The owner preferred that to selling his own stock...something to do with the wife benefiting if he did. I only had a couple of days to action this sale before the news made the company seem unstable for the foreseeable future."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Gossip magazines?"

She shrugged, withheld a smile that she would have given readily had she not felt so uncomfortable in his presence. "The information is out there, so I figure why not source it and use it. I didn't mention my sources to Adrianna, only the redundancy aspect, but she agreed that it would hit the share price. The divorce case goes to court today. It was a great time to sell."

"I always knew you were unconventional, but I have to admit I'm stunned."

Stunned into leaving me alone, with any luck
. She took the opportunity to move, taking her seat at the desk. "I hope that the formidable Adrianna will be pleased with the result. It may help to win the contract renewal."

He nodded, eyeing her legs as she crossed them.

The phone rang and she snatched at it, grateful for the interruption. It was the broker. She wrote down the figures he quoted next to the price paid and the growth percentage over the past month. Tom moved behind her to read her note.

"Superb," she said as she put down the phone.

"The client should be pleased with it." His hand went possessively to her shoulder and he reached down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Let me take you to lunch at Fat Francos, my treat."

She tensed. No matter where she moved, he'd moved closer. And now he'd kissed her cheek under the excuse of this good news. She pulled away and stood up. "Thanks, Tom, but no. Take the others. I've got to move quickly. I have some ideas on investing the profits and I want to act on them, pronto, to get them into the scheme of things before the contract renewal meeting."

He looked disappointed. "Shame. Another time?"

Damn
. Mercifully, there was a knock at the door. "Come in."

Caroline entered, bristling with purpose, her notebook in her hand "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?"

Tom gave a mock grimace, indicating that he was sorry Caroline had joined them.

Abby shook her head. "Not at all, thanks for coming so quickly." She looked at Tom, explaining. "Caroline is going to go over a few potential properties for the Ashburn portfolio, to see if I'm missing anything."

He nodded and took his leave.

When he'd gone, Caroline looked at the glasses and the bottle with curiosity. "Oh lordy, have I forgotten your birthday?"

Abby shook her head. "I think he's trying to show faith in me, now that I'm working on my own with this portfolio." She smiled, genuinely glad to have Caroline around. It was getting difficult to keep saying no there.

Caroline flipped open her notebook. "So, what can I do for you?"

Abby reached over to her top drawer and lifted out a folder. "I'd like you to look into the paperwork on these three properties, see if there are any loopholes we need to know about." She paced about, her mind alive with thoughts. "Blayne Castle, the first property on the list, that's the one I'm particularly interested in acquiring, if the client agrees to it. I think it could be restored and converted into an exclusive hotel. We'll need to know if there are any potential problems with planning permission." She watched Caroline thumbing through the pages in the folder. "The auction is on Thursday, but I need to put the proposal to the client by close of business tomorrow. Could we be ready by then?"

Caroline looked up and nodded. "Sure. I've got a couple of things to tie up for Ed, but he's flying out again this evening isn't he?"

Abby nodded. "I think so."

"I'll be finished on his bits and pieces soon. I'll be able to get onto this mid-afternoon, at the latest. There should be enough time."

After Caroline had gone, Abby checked the share prices. They had dropped immediately. No doubt the scent of bad news was picked up on the exchange after the Ashburn shares were pulled. Better to be a leader than a follower, she mused, especially when the ship is going down.

She sent the news on the share sale through to the formidable Adrianna. Once that was done, she picked up her mobile phone and sent a text message to Zac.

Now you have my contact number. Can we make dinner at 8? I need to go home and change. Soon. Abby

It was hard to get back to work after thinking about Zac, but it was important to focus. She had to begin her property recommendation report for the next day. She also had to monitor the investments Ed had made on the account, as well as going full charge ahead with her own ideas. That way she could prove to herself that she was capable of working alone, on any type of project. She was determined to succeed, and her motivation and energy levels were high—they were being fed by a powerful force, her affair with Zac. Her phone blipped.

8 is good. Let's meet at The Banker's Draft and go from there. Soon. Zac

Smiling, she crossed her legs high on the thigh, giving herself a quick clit squeeze. She promised herself tonight as her reward, and got to work.

When she broke to pick up some lunch, she stopped by Ed's office, hoping to find him alone for a brief chat. He'd started to become a nagging voice in her conscience. Even when they had been an item they'd never been exclusive, but she felt the need to tell him she definitely wasn't on offer any more.

The door was open but she found him arguing with Penny. He looked up miserably when Abby walked in.

Penny stood up. "I believe congratulations are in order," she snapped. Her voice and attitude were positively terse. Her gray eyes almost looked green.

Abby smiled. It looked as if Caroline was right about this one. They weren't bosom buddies, but she hadn't seen Penny deliver an outright flare of jealousy before.

"Thank you, Penny. It's so nice to have your support." As she walked by she patted her on the shoulder.

Penny snatched up her papers. "You obviously got charge of the easier account."

She turned on her dramatic designer heels and walked swiftly out of the door.

Abby looked at Ed with an enquiring expression.

He shrugged. "She's not taking things too well. All this hassle." He waved his hand over the piles of paper on the desk.

"That's what it's all about though, Ed, isn't it? Making things work to your advantage? I haven't always been so lucky with the investment advice I've given. This time I have been."
In my personal affairs too
. She followed her own thoughts for a moment.

He didn't look up, but nodded vaguely. He looked like a forlorn puppy and she thought twice about launching a discussion on personal matters just then.

"Anyway, I popped in to see how you are and to ask when your flight is."

"Thanks Abby, we're coping." He smiled, wearily. "We're on a flight this evening."

She nodded, wished him safe journey and headed back to her office. She was thinking about that evening too, but with more pleasant results. She smoothed her skirt down over her thighs and closed her eyes, savoring the anticipation.

* * * *

Zac sat in traffic, tapping his steering wheel. The multi-story car park where he was headed was in sight, but the traffic was crawling. He normally traveled into work by tube, but with the immanent prospect of having to shoot out with papers for his mother to sign, he'd decided to motor in for the rest of the week.

Yesterday had been a true test of logistics. He'd sent Nathan in with copies of previous documents, and he'd had to pay highly to get the release documents couriered out to his mother after hours and back to Abby's office before she returned to it the next morning. His Mother had agreed readily enough. She'd even said she'd get onto George about setting him up as a signatory, but he'd managed to put her on hold for the time being. This was getting complicated, he realized, with a wry smile.