Page 69 of Love Is: Two Bodies One Soul

ChapterTwenty-Three

Owen pushed openthe office door and let Lexie go before him.

‘Are we late?’ she asked, turning to him, her cheeks still pink from the cold outside.

Owen glanced at his watch and answered, ‘A bit, but we can blame it on the train.’ Then noticing George watching them from the goldfish bowl of his office, he added, ‘We’d better go straight in. Face the music.’

‘After you then.’ Lexie did a nifty sidestep.

Refusing to move, Owen argued, ‘No. Ladies first.’

Lexie laughed. ‘Coward!’ She gave him a playful slap on the arm, shrugged her coat off and headed for George’s office, calling back over her shoulder, ‘Shall I tell him the news, or do you want to?’

Owen caught up, and taking Lexie’s hand in his, he said, ‘Better if I do it. Don’t be surprised if he’s pissed at being left out of the loop.’

They reached George’s office, and knocking on the open door, Owen said, ‘Hi, can we come in? We’ve got some news.’

‘I know,’ George said and buzzed through to Kate. ‘Looks like it’s three for coffee this morning and plenty of biscuits.’

Through the open door, Lexie heard Kate saying, ‘Righto.’

‘Shut the door.’ George waved his hand at the seat opposite his desk. ‘Sit down.’

Owen moved another chair forward for Lexie, and they both sat as Owen said again, ‘We’ve got something to tell you.’

‘I said, I know.’

Lexie glanced at Owen. He gave her a puzzled look and turned back to George. ‘How do you know? Roger said he’d get started first thing Monday, but Grist, it’s only a minute past nine.’

‘What are you talking about?’ George frowned at them. ‘Who the hell is Roger?’

‘One of the richest men in the world,’ Lexie chipped in.

George scowled at her and shook his head. ‘I know nothing about this, Roger. Is he an interviewee for a future article you two have cooked up together without telling me?’

There was a knock on the door, and Kate entered with the coffee.

‘Morning.’ She beamed at Owen and Lexie. ‘Good weekend?’

‘Very nice, thank you,’ Lexie said primly.

Owen stared at the floor, not sure he could hold back the laughter. By any kind of measure, nice was a colossal understatement. Life-changing would be a better description. He slid a sideways glance at Lexie and decided he would never be the same.

‘That’s good,’ Kate said, as she placed the tray on George’s desk. ‘Plenty of biscuits, as you requested.’

‘Thanks.’ George nodded and then watched as Kate left them before he turned his attention back to Owen and Lexie. ‘Now then, down to this matter. I assume you’re okay to talk about it in front of Lexie?’

Lexie and Owen exchanged another confused glance.

George repeated, ‘I know.’

Owen decided if they were to get anywhere with this conversation, some clarification was needed. ‘What do you know, George?’

‘I just want to say first. I’m pleased.’

‘You are?’ This wasn’t the reaction Owen had expected. He’d been hoping for mild irritation but expected much worse. George famously hated not being consulted on anything. It was an affront to his control-freak personality.

‘Yes,’ George took up the conversation again, smiling at them both in a way that Owen was thinking decidedly odd. ‘I’ve always thought of you as a brother, and when Mum came to see me on Saturday afternoon, I was delighted. And I hope you don’t mind, but I told her you’d probably be okay with it when you got over the shock.’

---