Temporary Spy

by Lynne Connolly

  “Are you awake now?” At her nod, he slid her down his body, holding her until her feet found purchase on the surprisingly soft carpet. She glanced down. This side of his desk he had an Oriental rug, mirroring the one on the other side. “I have a bathroom here, but it’s rudimentary. I suggest we just get dressed and head for my place.”

  She frowned. “I should get home.”

  “Where’s home?” he asked casually. Too casually. But now he’d found her, he’d be able to find her again. No getting away this time.

  “We like to say Epping Forest,” she said, “but it’s Walthamstow really.”

  About to release her, his hold tightened. “We?”

  Briefly she wondered if she should keep him on tenterhooks, but then realised it would be pretty pointless. “I share with a girl. My business partner, actually.”

  “If you were a couple that might be considered a little too much. Day and night togetherness.”

  She shrugged. “It’s convenient.”

  “So you choose where we go. Your place or mine? I vote for mine, because I bet my tub is bigger. But since this might include your partner, you could choose that. Besides—” He raised a brow. “Is she as sexy as you?”

  “Yes! No! Oh, shut up, Finn. I don’t have a claim on you and you don’t have one on me. Let’s leave it at that, shall we? We could always go to our separate homes.”

  “Not tonight.” He kissed her forehead. “I want to share a bed with you, wherever that bed is.”

  Shock won out. It reverberated through her. “You do?” Somehow she’d imagined this as a one-time thing, a way of getting it over with before she got on with the job in hand.

  “Why, do you think I fuck every woman who comes through that door and then turn my back on them?” His put-on air of amusement told her she could really hurt him if she replied in the affirmative. He knew she wouldn’t think that, so if she said she did it would demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of him and his nature. She had never feared his infidelity while they’d been together. He wasn’t like that. If he went with a woman, she knew exactly where she stood. He didn’t play stupid games, although she wasn’t sure why that had always been a sore point with him. Like father, like son, they’d said, when he’d become a fixture in society events, but she hadn’t known his father well enough to tell what that had really meant, though she’d had her suspicions.

  “Not quite. You’ve never had Joy, and she’s mad for you.”

  He grimaced. “Nor likely to.”

  She nodded and pulled away, crossing the expanse of polished floorboards as casually as she could manage to retrieve her clothing. She didn’t look at him while she dressed but she could tell from the hot spot between her shoulder blades that he was watching. He clicked on his desk light and she shrieked and clutched her top to her chest. “They’ll see!”

  Grinning, he switched it off again, giving her a speculative glance she didn’t entirely trust. What was he planning? But he dressed in the dark, as did she, then bundled up the blanket they’d used and shoved it in its box under the sofa. Frowning, he stared down. “I think we’ve ruined this.”

  Crossing to his side, she saw the damp patch staining the expensive cream leather. “You might get specialist cleaning. Tell them you spilled a drink or something.

  He glanced at her. “Or tell them the truth, so they can get the stain remover right?” He touched her cheek. “I’m tempted to leave it there as a souvenir. But I promise I’ll make up something innocuous to tell the cleaners.”

  “Thanks,” she said gruffly, and moved away. Not that she was ashamed, exactly—she was still stunned from what had happened since she’d entered his office. She needed time to think about it. Time she didn’t have, if she was to do the job he’d employed her for.

  “Your place, then,” she said, when they’d left the building and got into his black sports car. She hadn’t checked the badge before they’d got into it, not being too interested in cars, but she’d bet it had a horse on it. It purred and roared more like a cat, though.

  He still lived in the same place. A flat in Wapping. Once Wapping had been the lowest place to live, the dockside, and nobody would have dreamed of going there unless they had business at the docks. Then they’d go armed and probably with bodyguards. Now, with the gentrification of the area, it was the place to live. And being in prime real estate, Finn had bought in advance of the rush, when prices were rising and before they reached their peak. Beth remembered how impressed she’d been, and how he’d shrugged it off and told her it was all business.

  When he parked in the private parking area, she couldn’t help commenting, “I’d have thought you’d have moved on. You know, sell it and move. It was always what you planned.”

  He grinned at her. “It’s convenient for work, and it’s kind of grown on me. Besides, it impresses the chicks.” He gave her a lascivious wink and she burst into laughter. He’d always done that to her, thrown her off balance in a delightful way.

  This building had once been a warehouse, like many of the other buildings hereabouts, but the outside had been cleaned, the ironwork painted dark brown and the woodwork white. Not imaginative, but very smart. The colours looked good against the reds and honey tones of the old bricks.

  He led her to the lift and they stood either side of the car as they rode up to his floor. The top floor, of course.

  “It’s worth double what I paid for it,” he said. “But, to be honest, if I’d bought it at the height of the market I wouldn’t have cared.”

  She realised that, although he meant it, he was making conversation, keeping it calm. He gripped the brushed steel bar either side of him so tightly his knuckles turned white. She was glad he was feeling the strain as well, because in his office they’d unlocked more than she’d thought, and she wanted him again. Badly. Surely, it hadn’t been like this between them before. She remembered kindness, companionship, friendship and great sex. Not this desperate wanting.

  Wherever she looked, she saw him, because the top part of the lift was lined in steel polished to a mirror shine. His dark suit only accentuated the powerful muscles beneath, the creased white shirt revealing shadows where his beautifully developed pecs invited her to touch, taste. Fuck, everything.

  Inevitably he caught her looking, but as he opened his mouth to speak the ding told them they’d arrived.

  She remembered the way. He had half of the top floor, the other half belonging to another single man. Or it had, in her day. “It was just another investment.”

  But when he opened the door, she saw he was lying. It wasn’t just another investment. He loved this place.

  The modest hall opened on to a huge living area. She walked straight through, ignoring the smaller space for the present. When she’d left him, and this, three years ago, it had been a perfect show home, the space accentuated by long, low sofas and a mixture of modern classic furniture and carefully chosen antiques.

  He’d transformed it. Now it looked like a home. The sofas were still long and low, but in red, not beige, and upholstered in thick wool, not leather. That was why she’d half recognised the sofa in his office. It had come from here. The bold splashes of modern art had given way to more interesting pieces, a long landscape frieze showing a swathe of the river as it had been two hundred years ago, when Wapping had been one of the busiest ports in Europe. The high bookshelves, built to resemble columns, echoing the iron pillars that supported the roof in a couple of areas, were filled with proper books. Books he’d read or referred to, not the shiny, never-read kind. “You love it here.”

  He scratched his head. “Yeah, well. That as well.”

  He’d found a home here. His father was the son of aspirational builders, someone who’d bought well, rebuilt and hit the market at the right time. His parents bought houses full of the right furniture and the right fittings, things they hardly dared touch. Every time anyone stood they had to plump up the cushion where they’d been, or his mother did it ostentatiously. They�
��d sent him to public school, held lavish parties, did all the right things. Except give him the love every child had the right to. He’d found that elsewhere, in his grandparents, the ones who’d started the family business. And looking at this place now, she realised he’d found his way back. From the driven businessman to the well-rounded man. And that made her want him more. Damn it.

  “Come on.”

  She knew the way. His bedroom looked the same as the living room, like a home filled with things he enjoyed rather than a showplace. Abruptly he touched her waist and without thinking, she sank back into his arms. He nuzzled her neck. “I know what you’re thinking. You might as well be shouting it.”

  She sighed and finally said, “What made you redo the flat like this?”

  “My grandfather died.” When she would have said how sorry she was, he continued. “No, it’s fine. He went how he always wanted to. A heart attack, sudden. My parents inherited the house and they threw out most of his things. So I took them. I couldn’t bear to see them just thrown out like that. I sold some, and sent the money to Granddad’s favourite charity. I kept some of the other bits, and they worked well here. At least I thought so. It reminded me of what a home looked like. So, there, now you know.”

  “You reconnected.”

  “Maybe I did. Though what with, I’m not sure. All I know is I’m happier now.”

  “You did it. You made that huge success on your own terms and now people want you for what you are, not what your family is. The reputation of being a solid, dependable firm plus your brilliance—” He bit her neck and she yelped.

  “I wouldn’t say brilliant. After all, I let you go and I couldn’t find you afterwards.”

  “It was better that way.”

  “One day you’re going to explain that to me. Now come and bathe and we’ll talk about what to do about Joy.”

  He was right. His tub was deeper, wider and much better for two than hers. Inevitably, getting naked had led to fucking and now she lay against him, replete, his cock still inside her pussy. They’d splashed the floor somewhat, emptied out some water and heated it up and finally they were talking about the reason she’d been working in his office that day. He sounded weary. “Joy’s been hitting on me solidly for months, and hasn’t taken the hint. But she’s a bloody good PA. Or she was.”

  “Do you know it’s her selling your designs?”

  “I know it, but I can’t prove it for sure. I keep my designs close, because you can’t patent an idea, but it could have been a cleaner, or someone could have stolen the keys to my office. I did a design for a high rise in Hong Kong. The city’s changing, less of the powerhouse that it was, and the buildings are showing signs of wear. So I went over to present the designs and they showed me similar ones from a rival. Accused me of ripping the other bastard off. But I hadn’t. Not that I could prove it. I’d done the commission in a hurry, but only Joy had seen them so I thought I was safe. Turned out I wasn’t. That was only the last in a series of similar but not quite the same incidents. At first I thought someone had bugged my office, maybe installed hidden cameras, so I tested that. Had people in to scan one weekend. Nope, they found nothing. I know it’s her, I know she’s selling my designs and never to the same people. I don’t just want to catch her; I want to catch whoever’s helping her. Then I’ll hand it all over to the police.”

  “That was one of my first requirements.” She put her hand over his where it lay on the rim of the tub. “I don’t do vigilante stuff. I investigate, but if it’s a criminal offence I pass it on to the authorities.”

  He sighed. “I want it cleared up.”

  “Why do you think she’s doing it?”

  “Money. Maybe that’s why she hits on me, too. Thinks she can clean up, maybe, but do it with a ring instead of illegally.”

  “Not spite?” Beth had met Joy only recently, but the woman was eaten up with something—spite, jealousy, the feeling the world owed her a living. Anything rather than make an honest crust. And if she knew Finn, Joy was making more than a crust. He paid good work accordingly, and, until recently, Joy had worked well.

  “That wouldn’t hurt. But she’s greedy, Beth. She saves money where she doesn’t need to, questions my charity donations. Do I give more than I have to for the tax breaks? Well, yes, sometimes. I can afford it, so why not? And when I want to give someone a present, she asks for a strict budget and then buys below that.”

  “So you’re a typical boss?” she teased. “You let your assistant buy your girlfriends something nice? Can I expect that?”

  His arm went protectively around her waist and tightened. Inside her, his cock hardened a bit. “No. You know I’d never do that. I give presents to people who’ve worked hard for me, and I make sure to remember things like clients’ birthdays or anniversaries. You know that’s needed for good networking.” He sighed. “Which I’ve never much liked. But I don’t see any reason to behave like a cheapskate. Joy does. She’s probably been skimming for a while, but that’s not what I want you to look at. Have you found anything?”

  It galled her to admit it. “No. Nothing. I snooped around her computer one lunchtime. She usually has it passworded, so I thought that’d be a good place to start.”

  “You broke in to her computer?”

  She bit her lip. “You could say that. But you own it, don’t you? If it’s her personal property then it’s useless as evidence.”

  “Why? What did you find?”

  “Nothing,” she admitted. “Clean as a whistle. No hidden sections, no passworded areas, nothing. And her password was a simple one. My guess is that if she uses a computer she keeps it at home.”

  “She must use one to pass on the designs.”

  “Then it’s beyond us. That’s the police and a search warrant.”

  He sat up, and she felt the reason why. He’d hardened again. “Are you too sore?”

  She was a little, but she would never admit it to him because she felt that aching need again. Four times? More?

  He began to thrust and she gave herself up to the wonder that was Finn. Never, ever would she have enough of this man.

  Except that she had to.

  Chapter Four

  Later on that night, in bed, he rolled over and found her awake. “You’ll stay?”

  “For now. You don’t want me back for good.”

  “Are you fucking kidding?” He lifted up on one elbow, his body a dark shadow against the light drapes. They hadn’t bothered to close the curtains. It seemed to be a pattern with them, a new one. “You’re telling me what I want now?”

  “No.”

  He hadn’t changed in every way, then. He’d always been prickly about her putting words into his mouth. Maybe someone in his past—probably his pushy mother—had done it for him. “I didn’t mean that. I meant that we’d only make the same mistakes, the same assumptions. I don’t want that, Finn. You were always the best, and I want to remember you that way. I don’t want it to end in fights and recriminations.”

  “You think that’s what happened before? You never gave it a chance to get that far. What changed your mind? Why did you walk away?”

  Because you wanted more than I could give you. “Our lives had changed, were changing. Neither of us could commit. We didn’t have the time or the inclination.”

  “I did. I do.”

  She didn’t answer and eventually he sighed and lay down again, curling his arm around her and holding her so close she wasn’t sure he’d ever let her go.

  The lingering kiss he gave her outside her flat early the next morning gave her shivers, as if they hadn’t made love once more before they’d risen. And by then it was making love. Even if she knew they’d part after she’d done this work for him.

  Inside, she found her flatmate and business partner waiting. Since it was barely seven, she was still wearing the ratty dressing gown she preferred. She had the kettle on and, without Beth having to ask, made a pot of tea and poured. “Now,” she said, sitting opposite he
r. “You’re back with him, aren’t you?”

  She shook her head. “It’s only temporary. But he’s gorgeous and I’d be stupid to turn him down.”

  Deepa leaned across the table, took Beth’s chin in her hand and tilted up her head. “You don’t fool me. You’ve not slept with anyone in the last year, and before that only once. You hated it. I thought you were turning Indian or something.”

  Beth grinned into Deepa’s warm, brown eyes. Deepa’s mother was the traditional kind. “Not after meeting your mother and the way she gets up at five every morning.”

  Deepa indicated her clothing. “You might have noticed that’s not mandatory. But being a good girl until you marry is. Not that I’ve been a good girl all the time. But it does make for a quiet life to pretend that I have.” She released Beth and leant back, picking up her steaming mug of tea. “Besides, we’ve been too busy. Well, we’re not too busy now. And it’s time you moved away from home and got a place of your own.”

  Beth choked a laugh. “Yes, Mother.”

  “The word’s ‘maa’. Get it right. And I mean it. You moved in here after you left him. You were devastated, and don’t pretend otherwise. I let you stay because I felt sorry for you.” At Beth’s spurt of laughter, she frowned. “And I may have liked you as well. But, girl, it’s time for change. We’ve made it. The business is working well, and it doesn’t need us every day, twelve hours or more. We have managers. So time to get your personal life back on track.”

  “Why does everybody think they know what’s best for me?” Beth sipped her tea. Heaven. Nothing like tea first thing in the morning. She looked around for the bread. Perhaps she had time for a slice of toast before her shower. No, she didn’t need a shower. She’d had one before she left Finn’s place. Even though they’d fooled about somewhat, they’d still got clean. “But yeah, it’s time I got my own place. You’re right.”

  “Good, then that’s decided.” Deepa gave her a grin. “Not that I won’t miss you.”