Happily, she didn’t bump into anyone on her way to the garage, and within minutes she was motoring through the gates at the end of her driveway. Security conscious as ever, Mia waited until they’d closed fully behind her before continuing her journey into the village, clicking her window wipers up another notch as the rain fell faster. She took her time along the narrow, winding lanes, knowing not every driver slowed down in conditions such as this, nor did they always keep over to their side of the road, and she certainly didn’t want to get into an accident.
Despite her caution, she arrived at her destination with a few minutes to spare, and she gave herself a quick once over in the vanity mirror in the car before retrieving her umbrella from the glove box and making a dash for the shelter of the pub.
Once inside, she left her already-soaked umbrella in the stand by the door, then made her way into the bar. She caught sight of Arjun instantly. How could she not? A handsome Asian man in a sharp, clearly expensive suit was something of an oddity in this particular establishment, so he stood out. And besides, she had been expecting him.
He spotted her, and his face lit up as he gave her a wave.
She smiled politely, painfully aware that if she looked as though all her Christmases had come at once, people would notice. Then she made her way around to where Arjun waited at the bar, nodding and exchanging greetings with the villagers she knew along the way.
“Hello,” she said when she finally reached him. They moved in for a double-cheek kiss, then parted. Mia surreptitiously put a little more space between them.
“Hi, Mia. I’m glad you made it. What can I get you to drink?”
“I’m driving, so just a white wine spritzer, please. Plus I’m back at work this afternoon.”
Arjun nodded and passed her order to the barman—who Mia knew to actually be the landlord.
“Hello, Liam. How’s it going?”
He gave a nod of acknowledgement and turned to start making her drink, throwing his words over his shoulder, “Hello, Mia. Long time, no see. Things are all right, thanks. You here to eat?”
She nodded out of habit, though he still had his back to her as he added the soda to her wine glass. “Yes. Just a working lunch. Is there room in the snug?”
“Sure is. Bit early for most folk, so plenty of room at the minute. You go and sit down, I’ll be over to take your orders in a few minutes. Specials are on the board.” He turned and placed her drink on the bar with a smile.
She picked it up and lifted it to him in a mini-salute. “Thanks.”
Chapter Nine
Mia and Arjun sat at the table nearest the fire, and she took off her cardigan and draped it over the back of her seat. Arjun did the same with his suit jacket. He either didn’t plan to wear a tie to his meeting, or simply hadn’t put it on yet.
Arjun looked around, as though assessing his surroundings, then returned his attention to her. “So… working lunch?” he asked with the pointed raise of a dark eyebrow.
She bit her lip, and colour rushed to her cheeks. “Yeah, sorry about that. This is a very small village, and the locals are incredibly nosey. If people thought we were on a date, the gossip would spread like wildfire.”
With a frown that only slightly marred his handsome face, he replied, “But I thought we were on a date. Albeit a woefully short one. Or have I overstepped the mark? Has your… relationship status changed since we last spoke?”
You could say that. Last time we spoke I was casually sleeping with my gardener, and had just entered into a relationship with the two men you met that weekend as well. Now I’m in love with my gardener, engaged to one of the other guys, and haven’t seen the third guy since that weekend. But he just sent me some beautiful flowers. Pretty fucked up, huh?
God, how could she possibly answer that question truthfully? She fidgeted with one of the drip mats on the table, finding it nigh-on impossible to meet his eyes.
“Mia?” he prompted after several more seconds had passed. “Are you all right? Have I said something wrong?”
She eventually forced her gaze to his, but was saved from having to reply right away when Liam arrived. “You got your favourite table then, Mia,” he said with a grin. “What can I get you to eat, guys?”
Mia turned her attention to Liam, shaking her head. “Sorry, we haven’t even looked at the menu yet.” She gave a tight smile. “Too busy chatting, I’m afraid.”
He nodded understanding. He probably heard that excuse a dozen times a week. “Not a problem. Shall I pop back in another five minutes or so?”
“That would be perfect, thank you.”
With a nod, the landlord withdrew.
“We’d better decide what we want and get our orders in. I don’t want to make you late for your appointment,” Mia said, then picked up one of the menus.
Arjun copied her, but before he opened it, he fixed her in his gaze and said darkly, “Once we’ve ordered, are you going to answer my question?”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Y-yes.” She hurriedly opened the menu and lifted it high to cover her face—specifically her blazing cheeks. So much for coming out to lunch to distract herself from the complications in her life. Instead, it looked as though she’d merely added another one to the rapidly-growing list. Telling him the truth was inevitable, but the question was—would he walk away, or would he consider dating her anyway? You total idiot. Are you subconsciously thriving on the unpredictably of juggling multiple men, or what? Perhaps you need your head looking at.
The moment Liam left their table for the second time—this time with their food orders—Mia turned to Arjun to find him looking at her expectantly. Unluckily for her, nobody had joined them in that particular section of the pub, so she was left with no further excuse not to answer him. She took a sip of her drink in an attempt to lubricate her parched throat, then said, “You didn’t say anything wrong, Arjun. My… relationship status… i-it’s complicated.”
His full lips turning down at the corners, and his dark eyes registering disappointment, he said, “Oh, I see. You’re dating one of the gentlemen you were with that weekend?” A thin line appeared between his eyebrows. “Elias, wasn’t it? Or perhaps it’s Alex?” He paused, then gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “A banker and a surgeon—both worthy choices for a woman such as yourself.” With a deep sigh, he continued, “I’m only sorry I didn’t call you sooner. And now I’m too late.”
“No you’re not.” As her words reached her own ears and filtered into her brain, Mia could scarcely believe she’d said them. Had she said them, or was she imagining things?
A look at Arjun’s face gave her the answer—but unfortunately not the one she’d hoped for. His frown considerably deeper now, he said, “I’m not? But how is this possible? You’ve implied your relationship status has changed, and when I last saw you, you told me you were nobody’s girlfriend, which leads me to believe that now you are. How can you date me if you are in a relationship with someone else?”
Fuck, we can’t have this conversation here! And what are you even going to say? You barely know this guy—you can’t tell him the most intimate details of your life. Who’s to say he won’t blab about it? But then, if you don’t tell him something, you’ll never see him again. He might be super smart, but even a genius wouldn’t be able to figure out your situation without a nudge in the right direction. Bollocks!
She cleared her throat, then looked him square in the eye and said firmly, “I think, Arjun, this is a conversation for another time. And definitely another place. A private place. I know it sounds like I’m making excuses, fobbing you off, or whatever, but like I said, it’s complicated and I don’t want to do you, myself, or my situation a disservice by not explaining it fully. Perhaps you could visit me at the house after your meeting? Or do you have to hurry back to Kent?”
For a deeply unpleasant moment, she thought he was going to get up and walk out. Instead, he let out a sigh, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. When
he opened them again, his expression had softened, much to Mia’s relief. “I can’t pretend I like the idea of having to wait until later on to find out what you have to say—my imagination is already running wild and supplying lots of scenarios, each one more unbelievable than the last.”
And I bet even your clever brain hasn’t even come close to the truth, since it takes unbelievable and adds a hearty measure of nuts.
“But… I like you, Mia, and I respect you, so I believe I owe it to both of us to hear what you have to say. I’m not sure exactly how long I will be at the university—are you available for the rest of the day? Does it matter what time I visit you at the house?”
She shook her head. “No, it doesn’t matter what time. Within reason!” She chuckled. “If you turn up at midnight, all you’ll get is a sleepy, grumpy woman.”
Arjun gave a small smile. “Of course it won’t be that late. I can’t imagine I will be on the road any later than five thirty. Shall I send you a text message when I am about to leave the campus?”
“Yes, that would be best. I’ll send my full address and postcode by return. So,” she added brightly, then took a sip of her drink before continuing, “What is your meeting about? Is it something you’re allowed to talk about?”
“Oh yes, I can talk about this. Though admittedly there isn’t a great deal to say at the moment since everything is in the research and discussion stages. Basically, I am hoping to forge a kind of partnership with the university. They have an excellent technology department and I’d like to help them build on it. I’m in a position where I can fund scholarships for students, buy or upgrade equipment, spend time with the lecturers and the students, teaching, mentoring… whatever it is they most need.”
Mia tilted her head. “That sounds wonderful, but if you don’t mind me asking… what do you get out of it?”
“A sense of accomplishment, mostly. I will be helping young people, nurturing minds. Those young people with their big brains will hopefully go on to achieve wonderful things.”
“Young people?” Mia chuckled. “What are you, Arjun, mid-twenties? You’re not exactly old yourself.”
“Yes,” he replied, “I’m twenty-five, so still young myself. But that doesn’t matter. I have the means, and since I have been working to establish people in my company who I trust to take many of my day to day tasks on, it means I have more time. I can either spend that time earning more money which I really don’t need, or I can do something truly worthwhile. Give something back, as they say.”
“Wow. That’s very altruistic of you. I’m impressed. I’m sure the university will be incredibly eager to have you on board—they’d be mad not to. No-strings funding and a technology genius partnering with them? It’s a no-brainer, really, isn’t it?”
Arjun shrugged. “You’d think so, but sometimes red tape and bureaucracy can get in the way of these sorts of things. I guess all I can do is wait and see.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you,” Mia said with a warm smile.
He returned the gesture, and it reached his eyes for the first time since the topic of her relationship status had been brought up. “Thank you.”
Mia’s stomach flipped. Incredibly good looking, insanely smart, and selfless? Are there any negatives to this guy? He can’t be perfect, surely… otherwise why the hell is he still single?
She resolved in that moment to find out—providing he turned up at her place later and heard her explanation, that was.
Arjun, still smiling, sat back in his chair. She tried not to look as the movement caused the sides of his shirt to gape the tiniest bit over the broadest part of his chest, revealing a glimpse of dark hair. “So, Mia, apart from a keen interest in expensive cars, what do you like? What’s your story? It seems odd that I know next to nothing about a woman who has driven my very favourite car, but there we have it.”
“Er…” She toyed with the drip mat again, her heart sinking. She didn’t particularly want to have to discuss her father, but how on earth was she supposed to get to know this guy if she refused to talk about herself? The fact he was interested was a huge plus point in his favour, so she just had to bite the bullet and get on with it. Be a bloody grown up. It was odd how, several weeks on, it was becoming more difficult to talk about her father, rather than easier. Didn’t they say that time was a great healer? Or was it that she was starting to emerge from some kind of buffer of shock, and would now feel his loss more keenly? She hoped not—it was bad enough already. Often, keeping busy was the only thing that allowed her to keep functioning.
Just before the silence got to be too much, Mia looked up and met Arjun’s dark eyes. “My story… well, let me start by saying it’s not a particularly happy one.”
Arjun raised his eyebrows, and his expression turned into one of sympathetic anticipation. “All right… duly noted.”
She swallowed hard, then started talking. She didn’t give him a blow-by-blow account of her life up until now, but just the headlines, which of course included the deaths of both her parents, albeit years apart. She finished by filling him in on more superficial details like her hobbies, favourite films, TV, music, that kind of thing. And, just as she was about to invite him to return the favour, Liam’s wife, Heather—who was the chef in the pub—appeared with their meals.
“Hello, Mia love,” she said warmly. “Lovely to see you. Hello, welcome,” she said to Arjun, who inclined his head and flashed her a smile, making her blush.
“Hi, Heather. Good to see you, too. These look amazing,” Mia replied, taking in the plates of food.
“Thank you. I’ve got one Ploughman’s, and one chicken fillet sandwich.”
“The chicken sandwich is mine, Heather, thanks,” Mia said.
The woman put it in front of her, and the Ploughman’s in front of Arjun. “There you go, folks. Enjoy.”
“I’m sure we will,” Arjun said, giving Heather another smile. “Mia is right, these do look amazing. Thank you very much.”
“Oh, er, no problem,” she replied, clearly flustered at having Arjun’s attentions on her. “C-can I get you guys anything else?”
“No, I think we’re good, thanks. Arjun?”
He shook his head, and Heather took her leave, but not before giving Arjun a surreptitious glance and raising her eyebrows at Mia as if to say Who’s the hottie?
Mia pressed her lips together to suppress a smile, then reached for her sandwich.
Time was not on their side, and by the time they’d eaten their lunches, they only had a few minutes until Arjun needed to leave for his meeting. “Perhaps you will permit me to tell you about myself this evening, Mia? If I’m not being too presumptuous, I could collect a takeaway on my way to your house and we could share a meal before we talk? I won’t stay too late, of course, since I do have to get back to my house in Kent tonight.”
Arjun visiting meant she wouldn’t have much time to speak to Thomas. Shit—I really can’t leave him hanging after what happened earlier. He’s probably wondering what the fuck is going on. It’s already been hours since I threw him out of my office. For all I know, he might have packed his bags and left me a letter of resignation.
Deep down, she knew that wouldn’t the case. Thomas might not be a tech genius, but he was still an incredibly smart and perceptive guy, and he had to know that her little performance had been purely for Betty’s benefit. But then, he hadn’t tried to contact her since… was he waiting for her to make the first move, in case she was still with Betty, or was talking to clients or whatever? They hadn’t discussed anything work related, so he had no idea what her schedule for the day was like. Perhaps he was just being considerate, professional. She hoped it was that, anyway. She had slapped him in the face. Poor guy.
Realising she hadn’t answered Arjun, she said, “Yes, that would be fine. I’m afraid there’s not a great deal of choice around here for takeaways—mainly pizza and Chinese, I think. There might be more near the university, of course, businesses catering to the
students. But would the food still be hot when you got to my place?”
“Hmm, yes, I see your point. But pizza or Chinese is fine with me. Do you have a preference?”
She shrugged. “I just ate a very filling lunch—you can’t possibly expect me to think about dinner just yet.”
“Fair enough. How about I call you when I leave my meeting and we’ll go from there?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Chapter Ten
Back at home, Mia made herself a pot of tea and took it up to her office. She hadn’t seen Betty or Thomas since she’d returned from the pub, and James had likely already gone home, so she figured she could get in a few undisturbed hours of work.
She spent the time waiting for the computer to boot up having a long-overdue tidy up of her desk. She cleared away a bunch of documents, threw some scribbled notes she’d finished with into the recycling box she kept in a cupboard in her desk and put postage stamps on a stack of letters that needed to go out. It was only when the surface was relatively clear of clutter that her gaze fell on the bunch of flowers. Shit, the flowers! Things had been so hectic since Thomas had brought them to her that morning that she’d barely given them a second thought, never mind thanked the man who’d sent them. God, Alex must think her either rude or ungrateful—possibly both. Particularly if he believed she’d been at home yesterday. She had no idea whether he might have spoken to Elias or not, and if he had, what they might have discussed. She glanced at her left hand—despite the short amount of time she’d had the ring, her finger felt bare. Did Alex know the engagement was now official?
Resisting the temptation to bang her head on her desk, Mia retrieved her phone, then snapped a photo of the beautiful display. She attached it to a text message to Alex, and wrote,
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