‘Okay, maybe more than sometimes,’ she answered a little breathlessly.
Doug turned to leave, presumably to do as he’d been told and greet their guests, but just before he started walking he glanced over his shoulder. ‘The answer is yes, he is always rude, so ignore him. I do.’
The sound of Abby’s giggles reverberated around his head as Doug walked back to the foyer. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d made a woman laugh like that, the sound filled with fun and joy. And innocence, for God’s sake.
When he reached the foyer, the Taylors company representatives were out in force. He glanced quickly at his watch; still fifteen minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting. Clearly Taylors were far more eager to get the meeting underway than his team were. So far he’d only seen Geraldine, and Abby of course, though she looked like she’d already been here too long.
A sigh slipped from him, a usual occurrence when faced with a whole day of meetings with his father. The sooner he cracked on with it though, the sooner he’d escape. Pushing back his shoulders, he went to say hello.
The morning slipped by quite harmlessly, with presentations from his Crumbs team setting out the facts on the brands under discussion. Following the light lunch – which went on for two hours, so thank heavens they hadn’t gone with the gut buster option – the Taylors team took to the floor to give what was supposed to be a quick run down of their capabilities.
They went on, and on. And on. Several times Doug shifted forward in his chair, ready to tell them to get a move on, but each time his father shot him a warning look.
Taking a pen out of his inside pocket Doug started doodling on his pad, feeling closer to old age and death with each passing minute.
He nearly cried in relief when the arrival of fresh tea and coffee signalled another break. As everyone shuffled out for some much needed caffeine, he caught Abby trying to stifle a staggeringly large yawn.
‘I take it you’ve seen more interesting paint drying?’ he remarked under his breath.
She flushed scarlet, slapping a hand to her mouth. ‘No, it’s very interesting. Very, very, umm, interesting. I just had an early start, that’s all.’
‘Liar.’ She looked so shocked he almost laughed. ‘That was a bored yawn, not a tired one.’
‘How can you tell?’
‘If you weren’t yawning through boredom after the last two hours of monologue, I’ll start to think there’s something wrong with you.’
Her answering grin was infectious. Damn, this woman brightened up his days. ‘I think my agenda’s just gone down the toilet. We’re meant to be finishing at five-thirty and it’ll already be five o’clock by the time we start again.’
‘Is that a problem for you?’ he asked, aware now of her situation at home.
‘No. As you’re all staying the night I took your advice and booked myself into a room, too, in case there are any issues with the evening meal like there have been with the meeting room and then the lunch.’ Thankfully she took another breath. ‘My father promised he’ll be home early but he’s pretty useless at keeping those sort of promises so I also asked Mandy to make sure she would be there when the girls got home from school.’ She bit her lip and gave him an embarrassed smile. ‘You didn’t need to hear all that, did you?’
‘No?’
She laughed. ‘Sorry. Truth is, I’ve been kind of looking forward to a night to myself. No teenagers, no crying toddlers, just me and a big bed in a hotel room.’
A mental image of her lying on that big bed flashed through his mind, hair released from its ponytail, leaving a trail of soft blonde curls tumbling across the pillow. The image continued past her face, down her slender neck and onto plump, curvy breasts with taut pink nipples. ‘I think I’ll nip outside for a bit of fresh air.’
It was after six when Doug finally climbed to his feet to begin the negotiations. ‘There’s been a lot of talk today about the declining sales of the three brands under discussion, particularly when viewed against the positive growth of our other biscuits, so it isn’t hard to understand why Crumbs are thinking of divesting. But before we talk money, I want to show you a couple more pieces of information.’ He clicked onto his first slide. ‘This is data you’ve already seen, but instead of showing you it separately, I’ve chosen to align the sales graph of these brands with the promotional spend on them.’ Unsurprisingly, there was a correlation. ‘The next graph shows the same idea with three of our growth brands.’ Again, there was a correlation. ‘Now what happens if you look at sales per amount of promotional spend on the brands?’ When he showed that graph, there was an audible intake of breath from Teddy, Taylors’ Chairman.
‘Interesting, isn’t it, that the three brands we’re planning on divesting are actually, if you consider the small amount we spend on them, the most profitable. Then again, if you look at the latest piece of biscuit market research conducted by Mintel, it’s not so surprising. It’s the plain biscuits that are preferred by the younger generation. The market of the future.’
He glanced over at Abby and could tell the moment she realised that he’d basically repeated to the meeting what she’d told him last week.
‘What are you trying to say?’ his father growled.
With a sigh he dragged his gaze from Abby’s startled face to his father’s irate one. ‘I’m not trying to say anything. Merely showing some further data to inform our thinking.’
‘It sounds like you don’t want to sell,’ Teddy blustered, tossing his pen dramatically onto the desk. ‘So why the bloody hell have you invited us here?’
‘Of course we want to sell. Don’t listen to the boy’s twaddle.’ His father again, charming as ever. ‘We’re here to make a deal.’
Doug fought for his control. ‘And all I’m doing is making sure the deal is appropriate, considering the brand value of the items we’re discussing.’
‘You’re trying to screw more money out of us, you mean,’ Teddy countered, folding his arms across his flabby, overweight chest and reminding Doug of Toad of Toad Hall.
‘I’m trying to secure a fair price,’ Doug countered mildly, sitting back down.
‘This is outrageous.’ Teddy hauled his body onto his feet. ‘Your father and I already have a gentleman’s agreement on this. Now you’re trying to gazump me.’
The venomous glare his father levelled at him washed over Doug, as had the contemptuous way he’d called him a boy. Both had been served up so often they now failed to inflict any real pain.
‘Let’s take a break,’ Charles told the group, eyes fixed ominously on Doug. ‘I’m sure little Goldilocks can arrange for some more tea and coffee outside.’
Abby’s expression froze and Doug immediately felt the surge of anger he’d failed to feel a moment earlier. ‘My personal assistant is called Abigail. As she’s also the one who’s worked tirelessly over the last week to ensure we’re all here today, sitting round this table, have the decency to show her the respect she deserves.’
Silence. It was as if everyone in the room stopped breathing, stopped moving. As his father’s face turned puce, Doug knew he’d end up paying for his outburst someway or another. Still, whatever the old guy was going to dish up, it would be worth it for the look on Abby’s face. It was clear she didn’t know whether to thank him or be terrified for him.
‘Abby, would you please ask the catering team to put together a few refreshments.’
She blinked, then lurched clumsily to her feet. ‘Sure, no problem. I’ll call them now. They won’t be long.’
‘Let’s reconvene in twenty minutes.’
As the group straggled out, his father marched menacingly towards him. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
Abby peered anxiously through the small window in the meeting room door. Father and son were still talking. Or rather Charles Faulkner was … shouting? He certainly looked no less angry than he had when the meeting had adjourned. Doug, of course, was simply standing there, hands in his pockets, looking bored. It s
eemed like he didn’t do strong emotion, whether that be happy or angry.
She let out a slow breath. He probably didn’t actually need her to go in and protect him, but still, it didn’t seem right to abandon him when he’d only been sticking up for her.
‘Young lady.’
She turned to find Teddy, the overweight, bombastic head of Taylors. Embarrassed to be caught spying on her bosses, Abby hastily moved away from the door. ‘Can I help with anything?’
‘Yes. I’ve got a complaint about my room and I want you to handle it for me.’ He took her arm and started to push her towards the lift. ‘Come with me now and I’ll show you the problem.’
The way he was almost manhandling her, it looked like she had no choice. Abby didn’t feel entirely comfortable as they moved into the empty lift. Several times she’d caught the man’s gaze on her during the meeting, and not always on her face. It was broad daylight though, in a busy hotel and they were all due back to the meeting in ten minutes. She could put up with this weasel until then.
‘What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in one of these dreary business meetings then, eh?’
His mouth twisted and her discomfort levels rose a notch further. Smiling usually involved a pleasant lifting of facial features but in Teddy’s case his face morphed into an image of Shrek on a bad day. ‘I’m finding the meeting interesting, actually.’
The doors pinged open and when he signalled for her to go ahead she had no choice but to walk down the corridor towards his room, knowing full well he was leering at her backside. Why oh why had she put herself in this position? ‘Mr Taylor,’ she began, turning round and narrowly avoiding barging into him, ‘we probably don’t have time for this now.’ Please let her not sound as nervous as she felt. ‘Why don’t you tell me what the issue is and I’ll go down to reception and deal with it from there?’
His mouth shifted into another sort-of-smile. ‘You wouldn’t be scared to come into my room by any chance, would you? Because that’s not particularly flattering to a gentleman like myself.’
‘Of course I’m not.’ At least I wouldn’t be if you really were a gentleman.
‘Good.’
It only took three further strides before he halted, slipping his key card into the slot. Her pulse tripped but even as the unease she’d been feeling switched to full blown anxiety, she knew she had to follow him inside. Any other action would be considered rude – and the end of her fledgling career at Crumbs.
The door shut with a thud behind her and instantly the atmosphere felt stifling, her heart hammering so fast it was hard to breathe. ‘About this complaint?’
‘What complaint?’ He raised his eyebrows and took a predatory step towards her. ‘You followed me to my room, you naughty girl.’ His voice was an octave lower now and rough enough to send prickles of fear running up and down her spine. ‘It would be a shame to waste the happy coincidence of you, me and a bed all in the same place, don’t you think?’
Abby’s heart thumped so hard it bounced off her ribcage. ‘I think it’s time to go back to the meeting.’
‘Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, they won’t miss us. Damn things never run to time, anyway. So tell me, Miss Abigail, where did Doug find a cute thing like you?’ He started to stroke a finger down her cheek. It was like being prodded with a cold sausage. ‘I’ve not been able to take my eyes off you all day.’
‘Don’t touch me.’ The tremor in her voice undid her demand.
‘Why not?’ He leered down her open neck blouse. ‘Why wear something like that if you don’t want a man to look or touch?’
With trembling fingers she attempted to do up her top two buttons but he swiped her hands away. ‘Oh no, lovely. We’re undoing buttons here, not doing them up.’
He plunged his fat fingers into her cleavage and Abby screamed. ‘Get off me.’ As his hand clenched over her breast she grabbed at his shoulders and tried to push him away. When that didn’t work, she thrust up her knee. She must have made some contact with his sensitive parts because he yelped.
‘You bitch.’ He bent over, groaning so loud she almost didn’t hear the knock on the door.
‘Teddy?’ The handle rattled. ‘Open the door.’
Abby froze as Doug’s quiet, deep voice resonated through the woodwork. Oh God, she didn’t want him to see her here. It would be mortifying.
‘Open up now, or I’ll knock the door down.’
He hadn’t raised his voice but the steel running through it must have convinced Teddy it wasn’t an idle threat because he pushed himself upright and yanked the door open. ‘What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing, barging in on a man in the privacy of his room?’ he thundered.
Abby plastered herself against the wall in the vain hope Doug wouldn’t notice her. Fat chance. His cool blue eyes skimmed the room and though his face showed no emotion when he registered her, she knew what he saw. Hastily she straightened her blouse, doing up another button for good measure. Her cheeks burnt with both embarrassment and anger. All she wanted to do was escape.
Ignoring the blustering Teddy, Doug directed his gaze at her. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, I’m fine.’
‘Why wouldn’t she be? What sort of man do you think I am? Abby and I were just enjoying a little alone time.’
‘I know exactly what type of man you are.’ Doug’s voice was hard and flat but it softened when he spoke to her. ‘Abby, would you mind going downstairs and telling everyone I’ll be down in a few minutes?’
Nodding quickly, she fled the room as fast as her shaking legs could manage.
Chapter Six
Doug was seething. The anger that was always with him, coiled in the far reaches of his soul, controlled and rarely vented, lashed at his insides. The moment he’d seen Abby’s terrified face he’d wanted to thump his fist hard into Teddy’s bloated, flushed one. What a shame that years of putting up with his father’s insults, of learning to bite his tongue and not betray his feelings, had made him too good at reining in his temper to lose it with this oaf. Still, he imagined the satisfaction of pummelling his knuckles into the florid flesh.
‘The deal is off,’ he told Teddy as the flabby prick tried to square up to him; half his height, twice his weight, twice his age. Arrogant as well as stupid. ‘Pack your bags and get out of here. I never want to see you again.’
‘What do you mean off?’ Teddy snapped. ‘You have no authority to say that. Your father would never allow it.’
Doug relaxed his jaw. Kept his hands unclenched. ‘I’m the managing director of this firm. The deal doesn’t go ahead without my agreement.’
‘We all know who carries the power in Crumbs,’ Teddy sneered, ‘and it sure isn’t the patsy son.’
The barb bounced off him. There was no insult this man could throw at him that Doug hadn’t already hurled at himself. ‘This can go one of two ways. I go downstairs and tell them the deal’s off because you’re not prepared to meet us anywhere near the price I’ve told you. Or I go downstairs and tell them the deal is off because I caught you assaulting my personal assistant. What’s it to be?’
‘They wouldn’t believe you.’
Doug thrust his hands into his pockets and narrowed his eyes. ‘You sure about that?’
Teddy let rip a crude oath and slumped onto the bed. ‘Fine, we’ll do it your way. But I won’t forget this, and your father’s not likely to, either.’
Doug smiled at the last statement. Considering his father already believed everything Doug did was monstrously stupid, this misdemeanor would be a mere ripple in the already tempestuous waters of their relationship.
Doug left the room without another word and made his way back down towards the meeting room. Before entering he glanced through the small glass window to check who was there. Everyone, it seemed, apart from Abby.
A knot of worry formed in his stomach and he found he couldn’t stride into the room without knowing where she was. How she was.
&nbs
p; Ignoring the room full of people waiting for him, he walked to the reception desk. ‘Can you put me through to Abigail Spencer’s room, please?’
Two rings and she answered. ‘Hello?’
‘It’s Doug. What room are you in?’
‘Oh, sorry, I’m coming down—’
‘No, you’re not. I’m coming up.’ Suddenly he realised how threatening he sounded. ‘Look, if you don’t want to meet me in your room, I understand. Perhaps you can come down to the reception and we’ll find somewhere quiet to talk?’
‘It’s 224.’
‘Okay then. I’m on my way.’
When she opened the door he knew immediately that she’d been crying. Her chocolate eyes were puffy and the end of her nose glowed red. Something in his heart stirred. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ Her lips wobbled as she tried to smile. ‘I was just, err, phoning home to check up on everyone. I’m sorry I wasn’t in the meeting.’
‘Jesus, Abby.’ He inhaled, searching for his calm. ‘I’m not here for an apology. I know exactly why you needed to hide out in your room for a while. I’m here to ask if you want to press charges, because if you do, I’ll support you. I’m happy to tell the police what I saw.’
‘Press charges? God, no, I don’t want to cause any trouble.’ She indicated for him to come into the room and closed the door behind him.
Doug felt pinpricks of awareness ripple through him. They were alone, in a hotel room. Then he remembered that’s exactly how Teddy had reacted and guiltily he pushed his inappropriate thoughts aside. ‘That bastard molested you, Abby. He’s the one causing trouble, not you.’
She lowered her eyes and went to sit on the bed. ‘I was worried you might think that I … you know.’ Her fingers fiddled nervously with the button on her cuff. ‘That I was in his room because I wanted to be.’
Two lungs full of air rushed out of him. ‘Of course I thought an incredibly attractive twenty-four-year-old would want to be in the same hotel room as an overbearing, overweight sixty-year-old. Why wouldn’t I?’
At last she looked at him, a hint of a smile flitting across her wan face. ‘How did you know to come and find me?’
Oh Crumbs Page 6