Page 31 of Strictly Business

Perhaps hewascrazy. Surely he was crazy to allow this to happen, to become so involved with a woman that he let her sidetrack him from his focus on his brand new business enterprise.

He’d come to this city with a single-minded purpose, prepared to do everything that was needed to secure his company’s viability. But from the very moment he’d seen Alice in the Hippo Bar, he’d been a marked man.

He hadn’t believed it was possible to be so distracted, so obsessed. Alice was a miracle, his perfect woman. And to think he’d had to come way up north to find her. Right now all he could think about was this evening.

Please say yes, Alice.

Actually, in a perfect world he wouldn’t wait till this evening. He would summon Alice to his office, lock the door and explore the possibilities his wide desk offered. But of course that wasn’t going to happen, so he kept picturing other fantasies about tonight – the way he would rush through Alice’s front door, dump the takeaway food on her kitchen counter and start to undress her.

Say yes, Alice. The only possible answer is a big fat yes.

Alice stared at the message from her boss thinking thoughts so lusty and steamy she could hardly sit still.

All it took was a few words on a screen –Missing you like crazy.

Surely this wasn’t normal. Maybe it was some kind of post-divorce reaction? Perhaps, after almost a decade of struggling inside a failing marriage, she was finding Liam’s attention just too exciting. The whole situation was getting out of hand. Their relationship was heating up way too quickly.

With this much fire, someone could get burned. And guess who it would be?

Not the boss!

She should be cooler and calmer about the whole thing. She wasn’t a teenager. She was an adult in her thirties and she should be able to manage a relationship in a super-cooland controlledadultway – ultra-discrete at work and totally in control outside.

Taking a deep breath in and out, she scooped up her hair, gave it a little twist and used the butterfly clip from her top drawer to secure it away from her collar.

Not that it helped to make her feel any cooler or calmer. This was a fire that wouldn’t be easy to tone down. Maybe she should speak to Liam. She could suggest they take things more slowly, talk more, rather than rushing straight into bed.

Right. Taking a deep breath, and with one eye on Shana, she began to type a carefully worded, super-polite and admirably restrained reply to Liam’s request.

‘I’ve printed out these spreadsheets for you to look over,’ the company accountant told Liam.

‘Good, Merv, thank you.’

Merv began to set his work on Liam’s desk and as he did so, three emails appeared on Liam’s computer screen. One was from Alice.

‘They’ll be fine,’ Liam said a touch impatiently as Merv carefully made sure that each document was placed neatly and precisely and in exactly the right order.

‘You might like to take a closer look at the projections for wages over the next six months, Mr. Conway.’

‘Yes, yes, sure.’ Liam’s eyes darted back to the screen.

‘From these figures I’d suggest you consider leasing more of our IT equipment rather than owning it.’

Liam’s hand hovered over the mouse, eager to click on Alice’s response. ‘I’ll consider that. Yes, thank you, Merv.’

‘And then there’s the –’

‘I’ll give this report my thorough attention and then get back to you.’

At last Merv got the message. ‘I’ll leave it with you then.’

Within a split second of his turning to leave, Liam clicked on Alice’s message.

If you could bringIndian curry and white wine, the green plates will be ready and waiting. 6.30?

A

P.S. I’ll take care of dessert.

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