She went downstairs and poured herself a glass of rosé. She desperately wanted to speak to Sebastian and insist he dismiss her father’s information as rubbish. Yet her father was rarely wrong about anything, and she knew instinctively that he was right. There’d been gossip about De Greys floundering for months, but she hadn’t taken it too seriously.
It was hard to relate Sebastian to the man her father described earlier. She had to trust his instincts on this, which could only mean that whether she liked it or not, Seb had the power to ruin everything she’d worked for. Could he do such a thing to her? If he was buying De Greys, then he must have done his homework and be aware that the store had held the prime position in the only high street on the island for over one hundred years.
‘Hell.’ She took a large sip from her wine glass and slumped down in her favourite armchair. She couldn’t see how he could ever realistically fit in to her life anyway; he didn’t live here and travelled a lot for work. She wasn’t sure she’d like such a distant relationship.
She’d told him where her concession was, so he already knew he was about to make decisions about her fledgling business. She hated the fact that he wasn’t the man she’d thought him to be. Paige took a gulp of her wine to force down the lump constricting her throat. This changed everything between them.
The phone rang a few times during the evening, but Paige didn’t pick up. She read Sebastian's text telling her he would get in contact with her the following day.
Her impatience taking over, she dialled his number. ‘Sebastian,’ she said, before he had a chance to speak. ‘Is it true you’re about to buy De Greys?’
‘Paige –’
‘Well? Is it true?’ She clenched her teeth desperate to shout at him, or for him to deny it and prove her father’s information wrong. How could she be so wrong about another man? What was wrong with her?
‘Yes,’ he said simply. She couldn’t miss the change in his usual tone. ‘I was going to speak to you about it. Could we possibly meet up now?’
‘No,’ she snapped. ‘but I do want to know if you already knew where my concession was when I told you about it being in De Greys that morning we had breakfast in Marina Grande?’
His pause confirmed her suspicions. ‘Your name did seem vaguely familiar, but it was only that morning that I understood why.’
‘And you didn’t think you should explain everything when you had the chance then?’
He sighed. ‘I’m so sorry. It was our last day together, I didn’t want to spoil it. Please let me come and explain everything to you now.’
‘I said no.’ She took a deep breath.
‘I’m so sorry.’
Paige ended the call, not wishing to hear what else he had to say. She wasn’t going to give anyone the chance to deceive her again; she’d learned her lesson too thoroughly with Jeremy.
Chapter Six
The following morning, she still hadn’t come to terms with what she’d discovered about Sebastian, but put on a brave face to welcome her customers. She managed to sell three pairs of her most expensive designs to the vivacious younger wife of one of the island’s wealthiest men. Paige knew the woman would be meeting friends for lunch, where hopefully she would tell them she had bought the boots from Heaven in Heels. The thought helped lighten her mood on what would otherwise have been a miserable morning.
‘I tried to call you yesterday?’ Olly said, panting. ‘Hell, I hate these stairs.’
‘Olly, you’ve only run down two flights,’ she said trying not to laugh at her dramatic friend. ‘Your office is only two floors above my concession. You spend too much time at a computer, that’s your problem.’
‘I’m an IT consultant,’ he said, dropping his sandwiches onto her counter and handing her a cappuccino. ‘It’ what I do. Anyway, where were you, I rang at least twice during the day.’
‘Stop nagging, Olly.’ Paige noticed his unshaven face. ‘You’re my oldest friend, but sometimes I need my own space. Yesterday happened to be one of those times.’
‘Lunch with the parents went badly then, I take it?’ He glanced around the small space. Paige quickly snatched her notepad and pen away from him before he started doodling all over her rough sketch of the latest idea she had been working on before his arrival.
‘Yes, but not in the way you mean,’ she said, taking a pair of navy boots and arranging it neatly on the shelf. He sat down on the stool behind the counter.
‘So, what happened?’ He bit into his sandwich, eyes wide as he waited for her to answer.
‘I’ll tell you later, it’s a long story.’
Olly pulled a face. ‘Why not tell me now?’
‘Because I don’t want to, anyone could be passing.’ She could tell she had fired his interest far more than she was intending to. She tapped the side of her nose with her finger. ‘Later, I promise.’
‘Sounds juicy.’ He raised an eyebrow, and put his hands together pleading for her to continue.
‘No, not really,’ she said, refusing to be persuaded. ‘Anyway, shouldn’t you be fixing computers or something useful? After all, it is what you’re paid to do.’
‘Spoilsport,’ he frowned. ‘I’m wasted in IT. Messing about with screens and wires loses its attraction very quickly, you know.’ He glanced at his new Tag Heuer watch. ‘Sod it. I hate it when I only get a couple of minutes for lunch. I’d better get off. Can I call on you tonight? Or will you need your space then too?’
‘Don’t be sarcastic. The sooner you move out of your parents’ place and get your own flat the better,’ she laughed, unable to feel cross with him for long. ‘Then you won’t be next door to spot whether I’m at home, or not.
‘You know I’ve only just finished paying off my uni debts. Anyway, I’m saving for a deposit to buy one of the new waterfront flats.’
‘You’ll need to stop treating yourself to expensive watches then.’ She shook her head. ‘Come around whenever you like, though give me a chance to have at least one cup of tea before descending on me.’
‘No worries, sweetcakes,’ he said, using the name she hated so much. He grabbed the remainder of his lunch and left.
She stepped back to assess the spacing between the boots and shoes in front of her.
‘Sweetcakes?’ said a deep voice she recognized instantly.
Paige swung round. ‘I don’t have anything to say to you,’ she said wishing he’d go and leave her to simmer in peace.
Seb stood, unsmiling, with one hand in his pocket. ‘I tried to call you a couple of times again last night.’
She could see he wanted to speak to her, but there was nothing he had to say that she wanted to hear. ‘I don’t think we have anything left to talk about, do you?’ She busied herself putting the empty boxes behind the counter into the storeroom. She came back out to face him once more.
He frowned. ‘If you let me explain, then you might not be so concerned about what’s going to happen here.’
Was it her imagination, or did he look guilty just then? ‘Really? I doubt that very much,’ she held her arms wide to encompass her shop. ‘You know how I feel about this place, or at least you should do after I went on about it in Italy.’ She spotted a customer coming her way before she could say anything further.
‘Who told you?’ he asked, taking a step towards her, stopping when she moved away from him. ‘We hadn’t even met when I took on this project.’
‘No,’ She smiled at the customer, wishing Sebastian would leave her in peace to simmer quietly. ‘But you did know that Heaven in Heels was here when we were still in Italy. You had plenty of time to explain everything then.’ She waited for him to answer, determined not to allow him the satisfaction of seeing her disappointment in him.
The customer held up a boot. ‘Could I try this in a five, please?’
Paige nodded. ‘Of course.’ She walked towards her storeroom and Sebastian followed.
‘Paige, please let me explain,’ he whispered.
‘No, Sebastia
n.’ She almost spat his name. ‘I’m busy at the moment, and I’d like you to leave.’ She turned her back on him and looked for the correct boots.
He bent his head down from behind her; he was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek.
‘I would have told you last night if you’d answered and given me the chance to do so,’ he said quietly, before leaving.
She grabbed two colours of the same design and returned to her customer. She took the boots out of their boxes and, forcing a smile, handed one pair over. Paige breathed a sigh of relief, as, only half listening to what the woman was saying, she heard his footsteps receding down the Victorian arcade that ran the length of the grand store. Paige was grateful for the clever design that allowed her concession a chance to make the most of pedestrians taking the short cut from Queen Street on the main thoroughfare to the cafes and restaurants at the back of De Greys.
It hadn’t occurred to her until now exactly how unsettling it was going to be having Sebastian in such close proximity. It certainly wasn’t going to be easy trying to run her concession in the same premises where he now appeared to be based, at least for the foreseeable future.
She could hardly avoid him, especially if he chose to seek her out again. Running her shop single-handedly, with just the occasional help from her sister, meant the only time she was away from the place was on buying trips. So, she mused, she would undoubtedly be seeing a lot of him. Then again, if his project involved her losing her place in the store she wouldn’t be here to see him at all.
‘Why did he have to come here?’ she grumbled, carrying a pair of boots to her client.
‘Did you say something?’ the older woman asked.
‘Sorry, I was mumbling.’ Paige replaced the pair of discarded boots back into their tissue paper.
‘Man trouble, I presume?’ The woman lifted her Dior sunglasses, giving Paige a knowing look.
She nodded. ‘Nothing I can’t sort out,’ she fibbed, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded.
‘If you take my advice, dear girl, you’ll steer well clear of the pretty ones, they’re always the most trouble.’ The woman took out her purse, and selected a credit card. ‘By husband number four, I finally worked out where I was going wrong.’
Paige laughed. ‘I’ll try and remember, though I haven’t found husband number one yet.’ She found it odd that the image she’d held for so long of Jeremy being by her side was fading rapidly.
‘You soon will do, I’m sure of that.’ She pressed in her PIN number with a perfectly manicured scarlet fingernail. ‘That divine specimen talking to you as I arrived was the epitome of the type I’m warning you about, handsome, and definitely more trouble than he’s worth. Take my word for it.’
‘Don’t worry, I will,’ Paige assured her with as much conviction as she could muster. ‘Thank you,’ she said, handing the woman her credit card and a large cream bag with her brand’s simple black logo across the side. Paige decided she would have to find a way to keep some sort of distance between her and Sebastian.
‘Why can’t anything interesting ever happen to me?’ Olly moaned, once Paige finished describing the previous day to him. ‘And how do you think you’ll manage to stay away from this Sebastian character, if he’s going to be based at De Greys?’
Paige refilled Olly’s empty glass with some of her favourite Merlot. ‘I haven’t figured that out yet. I think I’ll have to deal with each occasion it arises. I do know it’s not going to be easy though,’ she said closing her eyes.
Olly shook his head. ‘Only you could fall for the bloke who’ll be deciding all our futures.’
Despite the heat of the evening, and the lit cathedral candles flickering away in the grate next to her settee, she couldn’t help feeling a little chilled. ‘I know. Isn’t it just my shitty luck?’
‘Yup,’ he sighed. ‘Mind you, there must be a part of you that finds it a little exciting not knowing when he’ll next appear in front of you.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ve heard some of the other concessionaires gossiping about him. I gather he’s some sort of A-lister in the looks department. They seem to think his arrival is going to liven up the place no end. Bastard.’
‘Not for me it won’t,’ she said, giving him a playful punch on his bony shoulder.
‘Ouch. I’m assuming that hurt more than you intended it to.’ He rubbed the pain away. ‘To make up for your spitefulness, I think you should offer to feed me tonight.’
‘Too bad,’ she said giving him a brief hug to make amends for being so rough. ‘I’m not in the mood for cooking.’
‘Don’t be such a misery. How bad can it be?’ He shrugged. ‘You never know, you might end up getting together with him.’
‘Stop it, Olly,’ she said, miserable at the thought of such an improbability. ‘It’s not funny. He was such a gentleman in Italy and I really enjoyed his company. How can I even consider being with someone who’ll probably be the reason I lose everything I’ve worked so hard to build up?’
‘It’s a shame though. You were glowing when you returned from your trip,’ Olly said pulling a sad face. ‘I don’t think I’ve seen you look so relaxed since we went on holiday to the Greek Islands with our housemates from uni after graduation.’
‘I can’t be with someone who could do that to my friends, or to me. I do have morals you know.’
‘You do. But don’t let them hold you back from being happy, Paige.’
Chapter Seven
Sebastian waited for his electric gates to open. He would have preferred to remain in Jersey and resolve his differences with Paige, but couldn’t put off the meetings he had scheduled on the mainland. Conference calls were fine to a certain extent, but he knew he needed a couple of days in the London office, however inconvenient they may be to his personal life.
He shook his head at the memory of the morning in Capri that had begun so positively. ‘Why her?’ he groaned driving into his double garage and parking the car.
The lights in the flagged hallway immediately lit up, it was a silent welcome of sorts. Sebastian smiled when he spotted Mrs Hutton’s note on the black marble worktop in the kitchen. Putting down his briefcase, he shrugged off his jacket before reading it.
Lasagne – 4 mins in the microwave. Please eat it. No takeaways! Harley taken to vet’s today for annual booster. Sulking in den. Will be in 9 a.m. tomorrow. Mrs H.
He whistled for Harley. Crouching, he didn’t have long to wait for the Labrador to come bounding through to greet him. ‘Hello, boy,’ he said ruffling the golden fur on the old dog’s head. ‘Has Mrs H been taking you to horrible places again?’
The dog did a figure of eight round Sebastian several times, his tail whipping his owner’s calves as he passed. ‘It’s good to see you too,’ Sebastian laughed. No matter how often he travelled, he always hated saying goodbye to Harley. ‘I suppose I’d better eat this food too. She’ll be checking the bin as soon as she gets here tomorrow.’ He stroked the dog’s ears. Harley followed him to the microwave and stared up at him, waiting for more attention. ‘I’m glad you’re pleased to see me. It’s good to see a friendly face.’
He opened the briefcase and took out several spreadsheets from a buff folder. Whether he liked it or not, his expertise lay in restructuring failing businesses. Despite his attraction to Paige, he had a duty of care to his shareholders to ensure he made the right decisions. He needed to work through the task list in front of him and get on with implementing the changes at the store. If it was going to survive for the next hundred years, then Sebastian knew he’d have to make some hard choices. He hoped Paige’s beloved Heaven in Heels wasn’t going to be one of those casualties, but if it was, then he was going to have to deal with her in a professional manner.
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