by Terri Pray
She watched him through half-lidded eyes. Tiny lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes, emotions flashed over his face in rapid succession. The slight smile fading into a tight lipped grin, only to ease into a more comfortable grin by the end of it.
“When do you want me at the office?”
He blinked, staring at her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, how else do you think you’re going to be able to track him down unless I’m there? I know Bill, remember. I’ve seen some of the people he’s met for a drink. Unfortunately he tends to use the same pub Barb and I go to on occasions. So I might have met this other man. Either way I’m not going to be able to help you whilst at my desk, unable to answer questions.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sue clutched the small box in her hand. She’d barely made it into work in time with her side trip to the store, but it had been worth the risk.
Hadn’t it?
Barb had thought so, even if she didn’t fully understand the meaning of the small gift. Then again she’d also enjoyed the look on Bill’s face when Sue had been able to announce she’d be heading back out again shortly on the orders of their boss.
Did he know what was going to happen?
Sue replayed the look she had seen in Bill’s eyes. Had there been any hint of fear? No, there had just been the normal piggish look of hunger and greed that she had come to know so very well.
“Are you sure he’ll like that? It just seems a little odd to me.” Barb leaned against the desk, her gaze narrowed on the fancy paper bag with its string of white and black ribbons. “Not the sort of thing I’d normally expect a man to like. You’re going to have to explain the engraving to me at some point though.”
“I will, just give me a few days. He’s not the normal sort of man.” No, he was one in million. He was someone who wanted her to reach into the depths of her heart and explore all of those naughty little desires with her. How was she supposed to tell Barb the meaning of the words she had asked the jeweler to engrave?
What would her friend say?
Well, there was no point thinking about it just yet. She had to see what Alan would say first. For all she knew he might not even want it, or be insulted by the thought of wearing it. She swallowed hard, a cold sweat threatening to coat her upper lip.
No, don’t think about that right now, there’s enough to deal with, and he’ll like it. He has to.
“I’ve noticed that. It’s just, well -- you know him best.” Barb squeezed her shoulder and then glanced at the clock.
I barely know him at all. Panic clutched her heart. What if she was moving too fast, trying to push things too quickly? It could all backfire in her face and then what?
At least this time I know what I want.
“What time did he want you to meet him?”
“I’ll have to head out in a few. Fortunately, meeting the boss at the other building is not the sort of thing I’m likely to be fired for.” Sue pushed back from the desk and slipped the small bag into her purse. “I’ll call you after this all goes down.”
“You’d better. I’d give a month’s worth of paychecks to be a fly on the wall.”
* * * * *
Sue. Another night with her, only to wake up with her in his arms. No sex, just a peaceful night sleeping with his arms wrapped about her shoulders, holding her close. They’d both needed that. Had it mattered that they had both had to work that morning? No, not really. At least she had made it to the other office building on time, even though he had been forced to run the gauntlet with Barb.
At least Sue had friends who could and would look out for her, and they’d have another night together, all being well.
Unless something went seriously wrong.
Such as? Face it, she loves you, you love her, what could go so wrong that she’d want nothing to do with me?
He glanced up at the clock. It wouldn’t be long before she’d arrive at this office and then maybe they’d get to the bottom of the matter with the leak.
“So what have you found out about the rumor mongers?” Neil Martin looked up from the couch in Alan’s office. “And you could have at least answered the phone last night.”
“Morning, Dad, good to see you too.” Alan gave a brief smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see you in my office this time in the morning. As for the phone, I had the ringer switched off. I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“When Kevin Dexter calls me first thing to tell me the rumors have spread about the meeting this week and what are we going to do about the security leak then you can damn well bet I’m going to be in your office trying to find out what’s going on.”
Dexter? The senior partner of Harpers? Shit, this was not what he’d been expecting to deal with first thing in the morning. Sure, he’d planned on trying to find out a little more before his meeting with Sue later in the day, but this changed things.
“Fill me in.” He hurried across the room and switched on his computer.
“It seems that someone in his senior management was sent an email, with a tip-off about the meeting. As they’ve been trying to keep the entire thing a secret he was less than happy about it being public information. He’s got a couple of his backers about ready to pull out. Just as well you changed the date; it smoothed things over a little, but they’re still very concerned.”
“Not good.” Alan frowned and settled in behind his computer. “All right, we know that the blogger ring is focused mainly on insulting women they know, or have had sex with, or both.”
“Right.” His father nodded. “You mentioned something about that the other day.”
“I went back over the posts yesterday. There wasn’t anything there about business matters until roughly the same time we started having issues. I’ve been trying to match some of the posts with the personnel roster and I’ve come across a couple of possibilities as to who Dangerous Liaisons might be.”
“Dangerous who?”
“The name this particular blogger uses. But I’ve got someone coming who might be able to help. She already knows who one of the people behind the bloggers is. And she’s willing to help me put the rest of the pieces together.”
“Someone I know?”
Alan blinked and looked up. “Not directly. Her name’s Sue.”
“Who?”
“The woman who I had the date with last night and, erm, the night before. She’s also the one who brought me the information about the blogger ring.”
His father frowned slightly. “And what makes you think she can help? She doesn’t know anyone who works here, does she?”
“Dad, just trust me on this. And yes, she does. She works in our other office. I was planning on bringing her to the party.”
Neil laughed and shook his head. “Trust you? You’ve got nothing to go on. Hold on, are you telling me you went out on a date with someone who works for us? And you want to bring her in, as your date to a family and business function?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. She’s a very special woman and I happen to care a lot about her.” And if I told you the truth, that I love her, you’d have a fit.
“Alan…”
“Dad, can we focus on the blogger ring right now and not my personal life?”
“Fine, but you haven’t got enough to go on. There’s no way you can track who these people are, not even if this Sue character has some hint of what’s going on.”
“I’ve got enough to make a good start, Dad.” Alan tapped the keyboard. So many damn posts, and most of them made no sense. These were the ramblings of men that had been rejected or had managed to persuade a woman to get into bed with them, only to then what? Be dumped a few days later so they took their little petty issues to the online journals? If they were so brave, so sure of themselves, why didn’t they use their real names?
That was it, cowardice. Of course, why hadn’t he thought of this before?
The man he was looking for in their company would be a coward. It had to be someon
e who backed down to the other men around them, or tried to creep their way into power. Who did he know in the company that was like that?
“So, are you going to tell me about Sue? Or do I have to wait until she turns up? Do I know her outside of work? What’s her family like? Have you checked into her background?”
Alan didn’t bother looking up from the screen; he could well imagine the look on his father’s face and had no intention of feeding into whatever mood his father was in. “She works in one of the departments over in the other building and came here to warn us about what was going on. Unless you’re in the habit of mixing with secretaries, or their families then no, you don’t know her.”
“Are you calling me a snob?”
A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I’m just saying that you have some very definite tastes when it comes to company.”
“Well, maybe you’re right. So are you going to tell me about her?”
Alan flashed a quick smile. “Not right now, Dad.”
“But you will be bringing her to the party on Friday?”
“Yes, if she’ll come with me.”
“And the reports, the ones we need for the meeting, are they ready yet?” His father switched track within a heartbeat.
“Charlie promised them to me for tomorrow, but I’m not holding my breath. If they aren’t here on time, I’m going to fire him. Sorry, Dad, I know he’s been with the company a long time but I’m not willing to take that shit any longer.”
“Charlie? He’s been with us a while but he’s not exactly been reliable for the past year or so now.” Neil frowned, the slight catch in his voice enough to finally force Alan’s attention away from the computer. “I stopped by his office on the way up here. It looked like it had been semi cleaned out. He was still there mind you, just his personal effects were gone and he was on his cell phone with someone called Bill. Are you sure he didn’t think he’d already been let go? I can’t see why else he would clean the place out like that unless he was getting ready to bail.”
Charlie, Bill. The two men were alike from what little he knew about the man that had caused Sue so many problems at work.
The light switched on in the back of his mind. Could it really be that simple? Had the answer been in front of them all the time?
“Did he say much to this Bill?”
“No, but if it’s the same Bill I’ve heard Charlie talk about before then they’ve been friends for a while. Those two are regulars at one of the pubs in walking distance from here. The Stag?”
“I know it.” Most of those who worked in the building did. It wasn’t the best of places, but it was easy staggering distance for both the main bus line and the local train station. Which made it a popular destination for the Friday after-work crowd, and the sort of bar Alan avoided like the plague.
“Dad, I’ve got an idea. I need to get hold of Sue. I think she might be able to help me with putting a stop to this.” He couldn’t wait for her to arrive, as they’d first arranged; if he was right this had to be dealt with now.
“And just why do you think she can help you?”
“Because if Charlie is talking to the same Bill that Sue knows, then we’ve found our link.”
“And how are you going to prove it?”
“Sue. When she gets here she’ll be able to tell us if she’s met Charlie before.” A face-on confrontation. If he called Charlie into the office with the report and had Sue waiting there -- yes, it could work. If Sue agreed. Was it fair to put her in the middle of this? She should be safe, he’d be here, and Charlie was a coward.
He glanced at the time. It was later than he had thought. There was no point in calling her over, as far as he could figure she’d already be on her way over.
“But in order to do that you need someone who can stand up and say, yes these two people are the same men and you think this Sue will be able to do that?”
“Yes.” He looked up at his father. “I know she can. She’s a strong woman, Dad. Very strong. And I think I’m in love with her.”
“What? You’ve had what -- two dates with her? How can you possibly think that? You shouldn’t be rushing into these things.”
“Since when did it matter just how many dates I had with a woman before I knew what I felt towards them?”
“You’re letting the stress get to you,” Neil grumbled and leaned back on the couch. “However, I think I’ll sit in on this little meeting. All of it. I’d like to see just what sort of woman has caught my son’s attention.”
Alan struggled against the urge to pace across the room. It didn’t help that his father had insisted on staying put until Sue arrived; this wasn’t exactly the way he had planned on the two of them meeting, but it couldn’t be helped now.
“Are you sure she’s coming?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Well, I don’t like being kept waiting.”
“She might have been caught in traffic. Give her a chance, Dad. Sue’s a good woman.” Not to mention attractive, intelligent, and the thought of her lying naked next to him in bed sent a wave of heat through his cock.
“And you know this from one meeting in the office and two quick dates?”
“It’s been a little more than that.” Shit, he hadn’t meant to say that.
“You bagged her?”
“Dad!”
“Well you brought it up.” Neil folded his arms across his chest. “So is she…”
“I’m not going to go into sexual details about my date with my damn father. I don’t even do that with any of my friends. Sheesh, you and Mum raised me better than that, Dad.”
Neil shrugged. “I did, but you can’t blame me for trying. So she’s hot, then? Well at least you’ve got some taste. I was worried for a bit that you might find some skank to go out with just to piss me off. You know the type of woman I mean.”
“Dad. I’m not in the mood for this.” He glanced towards the door. Maybe he could slip out, meet Sue and warn her?
“Well, it would be just the type of thing you’d try to pull on me. A way of getting back at me and your mother. Besides, I had someone try and tell me that you were out with a blimp of a woman who could have almost been old enough to be your mother.”
Shit. This was certainly not going to make things easy when Sue arrived.
“When are you going to learn that I don’t fall for stick insect women?” He needed to get something across to his father before things got out of hand. “I know you like women who look like fashion models, but I don’t.
“That’s just because you want to get back at me for interfering in your life. You know a woman like Victoria would be an ideal wife for you, and the children…”
“Dad, enough. We had this discussion already. I am not about to put up with you telling me who I should and shouldn’t date. I’m not interested in a woman who I can’t relax with, enjoy their company, their heart, mind, and soul. The type of women you try to team me up with are little more than pretty faces and empty hearts.”
“Now that isn’t exactly fair. Some of them are very nice women. I’d have loved to see you married to -- oh what was her name. You went to school with her.”
“Lynne? Shit Dad, I’m the wrong gender for Lynne. She’s a die-hard lesbian.”
“Now if you’d made a move when you had the chance then maybe she wouldn’t be.”
“Dad, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t change how someone’s wired inside. It wouldn’t have mattered if I’d dropped down on my knees and asked her to marry me every day for a year, Lynne is a lesbian. She’s happily married to her partner now of three years and nothing’s going to change that.”
Why today, why now?
Because his father wanted to push things when it suited him. Some things didn’t change.
“So were they right, the woman you were out with is on the robust side?”
“She’s a wonderful woman who I have a lot of respect towards. I enjoyed my evenings out with her.” If it had been a
nyone else other than his dad there would have been an argument.
A sharp rap on the office door commanded the attention of both men in the room.
“Come in,” Alan called out.
“Mr. Martin and, err, Mr. Martin, you asked me to escort Miss Night up the minute she arrived.” Steph pushed the door open enough to let Sue in.
“Thank you, Steph. And Sue, please come in.” Relief settled around his heart. Good, she hadn’t let him down. Odd, for the most part he’d had no doubts, except for the ones his father had brought to life.
Sue nodded, the small lines around her eyes tight as she whispered a thanks to Steph and walked into the room.
“You need to talk to me, Alan?”
“Yes, but first I’d like to introduce you to my Dad. Mr. Neil Martin. My father.”
Sue faltered, the color draining from her face only to flush back into both her cheeks. “Nice to meet you at last, Mr. Martin.”
“My friends call me Neil. Mr. Martin was my father and he’s been dead a good ten years now.”
Sue ducked her head slightly. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Now, please, as my son said, sit down. You’re not on trial here.”
She shot a quick look between the two men then hurried to the chair.
Great, his father had her terrified. She’d never talk to him again. Where was the strong woman he’d seen only the day before? Of course, she was meeting his father, who was also her employer; no wonder she was nervous.
“I must say I’m surprised. When my son told me the woman he had been out with last night could also help us with our little issue I hadn’t expected -- even after the rumors I didn’t think he’d go that far and go out with…”
“Dad, if you don’t mind.” Shit. Sue’s jaw had clenched, her gaze narrowed, and there was a distinct glint in her gaze. “Sue, please excuse him. He’s not been quite right since I turned down his last idea of whom I should date.”