Page 26 of Tangled With the Wrong Guy
‘I wouldneverbetray Emma,’ he said. ‘She’s a national treasure.’
‘But Christmas at the office can be the ultimate test, right?’ said Chloe, spotting an opening. ‘Months of ignoring the person you really fancy because shagging them would be ill-advised, possibly a sackable offence, then boom, all that self-control goes out of the window thanks to a few too many glasses of cheap warm wine and the Christmas spirit?’
‘Yep. One minute you’re discussing whether the trains will be running properly on Christmas Eve, the next you’re being hauled into the stationery room for a snog and a naked butt photocopier pic. And then someone important walks in and there goes your career.’
This was a promising revelation, but she was still reluctant to risk pushing him further.Softly softly catchee monkey.
‘I stayed here in Paris last year,’ she said instead. ‘Spent the break with Aunt Daisy, avoided the whole Christmas drama back home scenario. The thought of bumping into Dan in the pub, and all the others who’d have been whispering about me behind their hands was too horrible. And Mum would’ve been carping on about how I should’ve been having my first marriedChristmas, lamenting the loss of her beloved Dan and hisexcellent prospects.’
‘Good call. I haven’t been a fan of Christmas for a good few years now.’ He paused, and the briefest suggestion of pain flickered across his face. ‘My mum always gets flustered and grumpy in the kitchen, and the aunts and uncles get pissed and every simmering family resentment resurfaces with a vengeance. And believe me, in our family those are many and deep.’ He frowned. ‘Fuckin’ deep.’
All in all, Chloe thought, that had been a fairly intense reaction to the mere mention of Christmas.
‘My dad always gets really loud and hearty after too many beers,’ she said, mentally picking over that reaction. ‘It’s absolutely cringe.’
He laughed. ‘My parents don’t drink, they’re teetotal.’ He paused. ‘Which is actually worse? Pissed parents or teetotal parents?’
‘Mine usually drink in moderation,’ Chloe replied. ‘They doeverythingin moderation. Especially life.’
‘Like me. I’m looking down the barrel of a life of moderation.We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’
‘Oscar again?’
‘Yep.’
Was he reaching out? Could she finally risk more questions?
Chloe bit the bullet. ‘What you said before, about being discovered in the stationery room. Did that happen to you?’
‘Jeez, Chloe. There’s no getting past you, is there?’ He smiled, then grimaced. ‘Okay, let’s just say, when the naked butt belongs to an important client, and that client’s brother, who’s pretty high up in that company, walks in on you, and your hands are in close proximity to that naked butt …’
‘Oh my god, Joel. That’s disgraceful.’
‘I was just lifting her up,’ he said, ‘onto the photocopier. Really, I was.’
She couldn’t help laughing. ‘You meanhoistingher? Fuck’s sake, Joel.’
‘It sounds bad, I know. And it looked … well. All I can say in my defence is that I’d had a few too many. As we have seen, I don’t respond well to alcohol. Also in my defence, I’m going to claim I was pretty much, um …’
‘Seduced?’
‘Morecoerced. Still sounds lame, I know.’
‘Well, we have also established you have trouble saying no.’
They went quiet again. The moon had retreated behind a cloud, and the cool breeze had picked up. They were nearing the perimeter of the cemetery, and the glow from the street was illuminating Joel’s pained expression.
Chloe tossed the latest intel into her mix. He hadn’t mentioned her name, but Zara was surely the client. She held the cards in that professional relationship. Some men found power sexy, right?
Chloe couldn’t help picturing her.Sleek. Long, sleek, shiny black hair; sleek, toned body in a dress that forgavenothing, eyes like a cat’s; long, beautifully manicured nails, one gracing the index finger beckoning Joel towards the stationery room, another on the ring finger awaiting its prize.
In Chloe’s mind, sleek Zara had plied Joel with drink, sent him all the lingering looks, the softly spoken words –only one thingIwant for Christmas [wink] –all the while fully aware her brother was close by. He discovered them, and bingo. Joel was compromised, at risk of losing a client, maybe an important one. And probably at risk of being punched, too. Very hard.
What to do? Persuade Rohan that his intentions were honourable, for both their sakes. Convince him that Joel was serious about–
Another lightbulb moment. Perhaps Zara had been trying to avoid an arranged marriage? A nifty double-trick of snagging the guy she fancied, and branding herself as damaged goods?
Chloe let her imagination go wild. Zara was probably pregnant, too. If she had to avoid an arranged marriage, then surely that would be the finishing touch, the master stroke. No question that her family would agree to her marrying Joel. And quickly, before the pregnancy became obvious.
