Page 3 of Unwanted
“Well, aren’t you a prickly little hedgehog” she said, her head tilted to the side and a small smile on her face. Calling me alittlehedgehog was a bit rich seeing as I was already six-foot-one and she couldn’t have been much over five foot. I huffed and turned away from her, inching closer to my side of the sofa. “You don’t own this sofa, hedgehog, so suck it up – I’m staying.”
The door to my office suddenly flew open, dragging me back to the present, and there she was looking murderous and beautiful. My secretary, Brian was on her tail trying to stop her, explaining that I wasn’t to be disturbed, but he didn’t know what an unstoppable force Verity could be.
“I’m sorry Mr York,” huffed out Brian. “I did tell Ms Markham that you weren’t to be disturbed but–”
“It’s fine, Brian,” I said casually. I’d perfected casual, urbane grace over the last decade. It was a hard-won skill, but it served me well in business. I’d have been happy to spend the rest of my life tucked away with my figures and spreadsheets, but once York Evans Finance had started managing serious money for large multinational companies, I’d had to start wearing suits and being an adult. If it hadn’t been for Toby, I would have never managed it. No company with any weight behind it would let a scruffy, monosyllabic nobody manage their money.
“Yes, thank you so much Brian, but I can take it from here,” Verity turned the full wattage of her smile at the unsuspecting Brian and his eyes went wide before he returned it with a small one of his own, seeming to totally forget that Verity had just barged through him to get to me.
“So,” Verity started as she stepped into my office as Brian backed away, closing the door behind him. “What fresh brand of bullshit are you trying to sell me now, hedgehog? Where are thevery important peoplegathered here for the non-existent meeting you pretended to have scheduled? And on what planet do you not remember who I am?” Her hands were on her hips now, one stiletto-clad foot tapping in an impatient rhythm and her eyes were flashing. Christ, she was magnificent. My heart was beating so hard it felt like it was in my throat, but I managed to force myself to smile the way Toby had taught me – cool, unconcerned, with just a touch of arrogant smirk to it.
“I must apologise,” I said, my voice steady, tone indifferent, whilst inside I was vibrating with anxious energy at being this close to her. “Have we, er…” I trailed off and then raised an eyebrow. “Most ungentlemanly of me but I don’t always remember all the women I’ve… well…” I let my silence speak for itself and felt a perverse rush of satisfaction as her face flooded with colour, real fury now leaking into her expression.
“You unbelievable bastard,” she hissed. “I can’tbelieveyou don’t remember me. And no, I am not one of your forgettable fucks. Last time I saw youIwas seventeen, andyouweren’t a colossal dickhead.”
“Ah, Verity,” I said, tapping my chin as if I were searching my memory banks – as if I hadn’t been having intermittent dreams about seventeen-year-old Verity for over two decades. “So sorry. My school years are a little hazy. A lot’s changed since then.”
“Clearly,” Verity snapped, her tone suggesting that the changes – at least with regards to me – were not for the better. Well, as far as I was concerned the Harry of twenty years ago was a skinny, fantasy-fiction-obsessed loser who could bloody well stay in the past where he belonged. Today’s Harry didn’t get rejected by girls like Verity. Today’s Harry had supermodels and actresses clamouring to go out with him. There was no waytoday’sHarry was being humiliated, ever again. And okay, maybe today’s Harry still read fantasy fiction, but nobody needed to know that.
I managed a light laugh and that cool smile again. “Is that why you’ve clawed your way in here and slammed the door in my secretary’s face? Old times sake? Want to sing the school song and all that? Sorry to disappoint you but I’m afraid I hated every minute of that place, so I’m not really ever going to be in the mood to reminisce.”
The colour in her face faded at that comment, leaving her almost unnaturally pale. “You hatedeveryminute?” There was actual hurt running through her tone which surprised me. Truth be told I hadn’t hated the time I’d spent with Verity. Not by a long shot. It had been the highlight of my senior school years – the only highlight. But I’d be damned if I was going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that. So I managed a casual shrug.
“School and I did not mix well. To be honest, I try not to think about it at all.”
“Huh.” Verity sounded deflated now – the heat had left her words and I found that I wanted it back. “Well, I loved school. It was alifesaverfor me and Heath.”
The fact that she had loved school came as no surprise to me. Who wouldn’t love being worshipped and adored by hundreds of other teenagers at that age? But why would she use the term lifesaver? What an odd choice of words. I frowned.
“What do you mean–?”
“Listen, let’s forget our history then,” Verity cut me off, walking forwards to take the chair opposite me across the desk. “Whatever. Who cares?” That flash of hurt swept her expression again, and I had the most insane impulse to jump out of my chair and shoutI care!at her at the top of my lungs. “Just as long as you’re not using it against my company to put us out of the running for this job.”
“I think we can be assured, seeing as I only have a hazy recollection of our school days at best, that it has no bearing on my selection of architecture firm for the project. I’m just not sure that your designs really gel with the vision that we want to–”
I was cut off by her hand slamming down on the wood of my desk. She was leaning forward now with that rage back in her expression. Perversely Ilikedthe rage, better that than her deflated stance from a minute ago.
“That’s bullshit! Our designs blow all those other amateurs out of the water, and you know it. You’re just being an arsehole because of something that happenedtwenty years ago– when really it’smethat should be pissed off withyou!”
Just as her voice rose to a near shout, the door to my office was pushed open and Toby chose that moment to stroll in. Christ, the last thing I needed was for him to be involved. I was struggling to keep my expression neutral after Verity’s last rant. Why on earth would she think that she had the right to be angry about our past? She wasn’t the one who was left completely humiliated back then.
Toby, always comfortable in any situation, moved into the room with his hands in his pockets. He looked between me and Verity, who was still leaning over with her hand flat on my desk from where it had slammed down, and he smiled.
“You must be Verity Markham,” he said, completely ignoring the tension in the air and Verity’s furious stance. At the mention of her name, Verity straightened and her eyebrows shot up. “Toby Evans, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Great to meet you, Mr Evans,” said Verity, as she shook his hand and gave him an insincere smile. “I’m so sorry, you have me at a disadvantage. How is it you know who I am?” She gave me a strong side-eye and I felt colour creep up my face. It was years since I’d last blushed, damn it! I was fervently wishing I hadn’t told Toby anything about Verity, but the bastard had a knack for extracting information, and he was my best friend. Shooting him a death glare before he could open his mouth, I cut in.
“Toby’s just a lot better than me with names. It must have been from his research into the bids.Isn’t that right, Toby?”
Toby looked between us again, still smiling and gave a non-committal shrug. “Something like that,” he said vaguely, and my hand balled into a fist.
“Well, Mr Evans, I hope you’re a bit more reasonable than Mr York,” Verity said, flashing me another furious look before looking back at Toby and smiling. “Hedoesn’t see potential in our bid.”
“Call me Toby, please.” God, the bastard was enjoying this. He shot me a quick look, and I pressed my lips together. No way was I offering Verity to go back to calling me Harry – the less familiarity the better as far as I was concerned. I couldn’t believe she’d already called me ‘hedgehog’. “And I’m quite sure Hazza didn’t mean anything by it. I say, why don’t we all go out and discuss it further? Tonight, at The Ivy?”
Verity gave Toby an assessing look. “No offence, Toby, but are you blowing smoke up my arse? Because your partner here seems to think we’re a no-go.”
“I assure you I wouldn’t dream of blowing smoke anywhere near your arse, Ms Markham.”
