Читать книгу The Complete Boardroom Collection - Джанис Мейнард, Yvonne Lindsay - Страница 30

EIGHT

‘I know. It’s fantastic news, Freya! My friend must have taken fifty photos yesterday before she made up her mind but I had a feeling that she would, fast! What was that? How did Scott react to the news?’

Toni grinned and scanned through some of the images on her camera one-handed. ‘Your brother gave that poor woman the benefit of his full-on charm offensive. I have never seen him so cooperative. He even shaved a little and changed into a smart shirt! I know! Amazing. She was putty in his hands. But it worked. We have a deal! I am so pleased for you both. In fact, Scott was so relieved that the building is safe for the rest of the year that he took off into the snow to bring back coffee and doughnuts. It’s a dangerous mission but he refused to be deterred.’

Freya’s laughter echoed down the phone as she described how it was positively balmy in Rome but she would be back in a few weeks to do more to help out. With a quick promise to meet up as soon as they could, Toni closed the call and put down the handset. Her fingers lingered on the phone as she breathed out slowly.

In a week and a half she would be back at work in some freezing photographic studio and this world of old maps and charts and wood-panelled walls would be a distant memory.

But what about Scott?

He was serious about renting out her house so there was no hope that she could be free of him. And that was the problem. She didn’t want to be free of the man.

They had worked side by side over the past four days and the more time she spent with Scott the more she liked him.

Scott Elstrom was clever, quick and actually willing to listen to her ideas, which made a nice change from her normal work where she was still the minion girl Friday who did most of the running about for the guys with the professional qualifications and experience. Scott treated her like an equal.

The hard, brash exterior was a total front—the armour he wore to get by in his world. Gut instinct told her that he had been badly hurt at some time but she wasn’t going to pry. If he wanted to tell her about it he would if and when he was ready. She still wasn’t sure what his true reasons for coming back to Elstrom Mapping were but he was certainly working hard to save the business.

In four days, and with fingers which were still strapped up and obviously hurting, Scott had helped her to clear the main office, made an inventory of everything that had been left behind in the mapping room where the few staff used to work, and had passed her the first box of items to photograph.

Yesterday’s visit from the location scout had been the icing on the cake!

She’d loved this old building and had immediately seen the potential for several historical documentaries and dramas already commissioned during the year.

It was a start and meant Scott could get to work on the inventory without having to worry about the lights being turned off. He might even be able to afford to replace the central heating boiler and the flaky electrics which made the lights flicker on and off.

Lifting her camera to her eyes, Toni captured a few images of this amazing room with all the rows of tools and the huge drawing tables.

She heard his footsteps pound up the staircase before the front door closed and slowly turned towards the office as Scott came bounding in and dropped his bakery bag on to the table in front of his office window.

There were snowflakes caught in his hair and on the shoulders of his coat and as Toni stepped into the office he lifted his chin and looked out of the window with a wistful smile on his face. As though he was looking out at the light snow and thinking of other people and other places.

Her breath caught in her throat and she pressed the shutter and kept on pressing it. Over and over again.

The tingles ran down her arms to her fingers. That was it. That was the image she had been looking for.

There was always a moment when she knew that she had taken the perfect shot of her subject. Sometimes it took days of careful staging to make the subject feel comfortable in the setting and other times it was completely spontaneous. Sometimes it never happened and they had to make the best of what they had taken.

Not today. The picture she was going to paint was already forming in her mind and she could practically see the way her paint was going to capture his swept back blond hair and dark eyebrows, damp now with melting snow.

Sniffing back a wave of emotion, Toni lowered her camera and smiled as Scott turned to face her.

It was as if every cell in her body was suddenly totally fascinated by the freckles across the bridge of his long straight nose and the way the crease lines at the sides of his eyes were white against his tanned skin.

Scott Elstrom was not a handsome man at all. He was gobsmacking gorgeous.

His presence jumped out at her, grabbed her by the bra straps and pulled her with such force that she could almost feel her body leaning forward towards him.

‘Hey—’ he grinned ‘—ready for coffee?’

A shot of pure lust hit her hot and wet in all of the wrong places.

Oh, my. Not now. Please, not now. This is not good.

‘You bet,’ she whispered in a quivering voice. ‘Any time.’

He shot her a worried look. ‘Sore throat? You have to watch these colds this time of year.’

Oh, please don’t be nice to me, she willed. Focus on the work instead.

‘Not at all,’ Toni replied, lifting her chin. ‘Just chattering too long on the phone to Freya. She’s so pleased with the location deal she just couldn’t wait to call.’

‘Damn right,’ Scott said and shrugged off his jacket. ‘You did a great job, so today we have chocolate cream éclairs instead of doughnuts. Prepare for the sugar rush!’

His shirtsleeves were still rolled up and Toni couldn’t stop herself from focusing on how the blond hairs on his arms prickled to attention as he dived into the bag and pulled out the coffees and pastries.

‘Don’t you mean that we did a great job? I only made that first call. It was your idea to dig out all of those old photos of the building and I know she loved those sepia prints with the horse-drawn carriages outside. Light bulbs were flashing inside her head with every new image.’

Toni reached out and wrapped a napkin around the piece of iced pastry which was in great danger of oozing fresh cream all over his desk and tried to ignore the way that Scott’s lips closed around the top of his coffee. ‘The shameless charm offensive didn’t hurt either, you old smoothie.’

Scott replied with a low grunt but she could tell from the slight flush at the back of his neck that he was slightly embarrassed. ‘So what have you been up to?’ he asked, rapidly changing the subject between slurps of coffee and bites of pastry.

‘Box number four. The instruments have been photographed from every angle and I was just about to start work on that stunning map you prepped this morning. Want to take a look?’

He nodded and, picking up his coffee, strolled out of the office and followed her into the map room, brushing sugar from his fingers as he walked.

‘So tell me about this sea chart,’ Toni said as she adjusted her camera settings on the tripod. ‘The colours are amazing. Is it all hand-painted?’

Scott looked up from his coffee. ‘Absolutely. I’m working on the catalogue entry next.’ He pointed towards the mapping table where he had unfurled the leather scroll for Toni to photograph. ‘This is a portolan from a Spanish cartographer who had a workshop on the Canary Islands in about 1730. He made it his business to collect every scrap of information from the captains and navigators who stopped there on the way back from trading journeys to the Caribbean or Far East. Each map took months but they were traded for huge sums.’

‘I can understand why,’ Toni replied, looking down her viewfinder. ‘Such beautiful workmanship and what tiny writing. I will need to do something special for those sections.’

She stepped back and planted a hand on each hip as she tilted her head. ‘Are you going to sell it?’ she asked as she walked around the chart and studied it from every angle.

Scott got slowly to his feet and stood next to her, the sleeve of his shirt bristling against her top as he pointed to dark marks on the corners of the leather and a strange stain right in the middle of the chart. ‘If the price is right. My father intended to restore these pieces before he put them on the market. There is a specialist map dealer who begged us to sell it about ten years ago. A Russian oligarch wanted an original sea chart for his new office in London but my dad refused. It was too precious to him.’

A deep sigh made Toni look up at Scott and he smiled back at her.

‘I love my father, Toni, but he is clueless when it comes to people. His world centres on books and research studies. He has published brilliant works on the history of sea charts. They’re amazing! Elstrom men were sea captains whose mission was to create navigational charts on a sea journey and detailed land maps when they arrived on the east coast of America or Canada or around the top of the world into Russia. That was how the company got started. Men and paper and a hard life in the worst conditions where a lot of the crew didn’t make it back. So my father used the family histories and documents to create a personal history of the exploration and how map-making is part of who we are.’

‘What will your father do when he’s feeling better?’ Toni asked.

‘What he loves to do. Restore charts and maps. Research books and be the expert he was always intended to be. He was never cut out to be a businessman and certainly not a husband or father. He is clueless when it comes to family life.’

‘What do you mean, clueless? Freya seems to get on okay with him.’

‘Two marriages and two divorces. No happy ending for anyone.’

Scott rolled his shoulders back as though he was trying to stretch out the knots from sitting hunched over his laptop for several hours. ‘The only reason this collection is still in the archive at all was that my predecessor had no clue what was inside the leather scroll tubes and my father was too busy to explain. The really valuable pieces were sold about a year ago to pay the staff. They were top quality pieces in perfect condition. No catalogue needed.’

‘Your predecessor?’ Toni wrapped her hand on the tripod and turned to look at Scott. ‘Did your dad employ a business manager? You haven’t mentioned that before.’

There was a sharp cough and a low grunt from across the table. ‘Not exactly. My stepbrother joined the company two years ago straight out of business school. Travis ran the business when I was working overseas. He was a disaster as a man and as a manager.’

Toni nodded very slowly. ‘Ah. Stepbrother. That must have been difficult, for you and your dad.’ Then she sniffed and waved her hand from side to side. ‘I get it. You’re back to show this Travis who is the better man. A lot of pressure on you to get the job done, but that makes perfect sense now.’

Instantly the air temperature seemed to drop several degrees and she pressed her lips together and pretended to be extra fascinated in the sea chart.

‘Are you always so intuitive?’ Scott asked in a low, hoarse voice but there was just enough humour in it that she felt that she could breathe again.

‘Always. Only one of my many special gifts. Think of it as a free bonus with the portrait painter and photographer special package deal.’

He gestured with his head towards the camera as though signalling that he wanted to change the subject. ‘Speaking of which. How are we doing?’

Toni smiled and walked around to the laptop computer and full-sized monitor that she had brought from home. ‘Why don’t you take a look? I think this catalogue design works, but you’re the expert!’

She perched on the end of the high stool and opened up the online digital catalogue that they had agreed was the best format for displaying the inventory. The images could easily be enlarged so that all of the stunning detail popped out in full colour alongside a full description and history for each piece.

Toni felt Scott’s arm press against hers as he bent down to look at the screen so that as she turned to speak their faces were only inches apart.

His tanned forehead might be furrowed, rough and creased with life but his mouth was soft and wide.

Lush.

He already had the slightest hint of stubble at eleven a.m., so the rest of his body must be... No, she couldn’t think about what was below the glimpse of blond chest hairs curling out from the V of his shirt.

He half opened his mouth to say something, grinned and then changed his mind.

Her brain screamed out that this was a huge mistake and that she should tell him the presentation needed a lot more work and that she needed to get back to the photography. But her heart was too busy getting worked up over the boyish smile on his face and the very manly look in those eyes that were smiling at her.

He was dazzling!

As she perched on the stool, his head was only inches from her face, her bosom pressed against his shirt. In a fraction of a second, Toni was conscious that his hand had slid slowly around her waist, moving under her top so his fingertips could feel the heat of her warm skin. She felt something connect in her gut, took a deep breath and watched words form in that amazing mouth.

‘Did you know that Freya has a passion for baking?’

‘She never mentioned it,’ Toni whispered as Scott stepped a little closer into the gap between her legs.

Suddenly she wasn’t so sure that her decision to wear a skirt and leggings today instead of her usual black trousers was such a good idea.

Because, as Scott moved closer, her skirt started to hitch higher up her legs and her hands were too busy holding her up to do anything about it.

‘Cakes, mainly. Do you like cake, Toni?’

‘Oh, yes. I love cake, especially...chocolate,’ Toni replied, but the words were driven from her mind as Scott’s fingers wound up into her hair and then the base of her skull. His gaze followed the line of his hand as though her hair was the most fascinating thing that he had ever seen.

His fingers slid forward and stroked her cheek with the gentlest of touches.

‘You have cream and éclair on your face,’ Scott whispered and, leaning forward, he raised one finger and brushed it along her upper lip. Then, as she watched, riveted, he slowly ran the tip of his tongue across his chocolate-covered fingertip.

It only took a fraction of a second but it was the hottest thing Toni had ever seen in her life. So hot she couldn’t help herself taking a sharp breath in some feeble attempt to cool her suddenly burning cheeks.

‘Perhaps we should stick to the doughnuts in future?’ she squeaked. ‘Messy eater.’

‘I’ll risk it.’ He grinned and followed the outline of her jaw with his thumb.

Scott slanted his head and slid closer and just for one second she thought that he was going to kiss her neck.

Instead, she felt a breath of warm sweet air from his soft lips against her cheek.

And every hair on her body instantly stood to attention.

Before she could change her mind, Toni rested both hands lightly on his hips so that the scent and sensation of his body could warm every cell in hers before she finally pulled her head back.

She knew without looking that her nipples were alive and proud and probably doing crazy things to the front of her top, but she truly did not care.

Scott looked straight at her, his chest responding to his faster breathing, and whispered, ‘Chocolate works for me,’ before sliding his hands down the whole length of her back, the pressure drawing her forward as he moved his head into her neck and throat, kissing her with just the barest contact of his lips on her collarbone, then up behind her ears, his hands moving up and down in a gentle caress of both sides of her back, inside her sweater. As though he wanted to find out what her skin tasted like without the chocolate and cream chaser.

The stubble on his chin and sideburns made her burn with instant fire, and instinct rather than sensible thought took over.

And chocolate was not what Toni was thinking about. At all.

For a moment their eyes locked together.

The need in his took her breath away and left her floundering, helpless.

What if he wanted her as much as she wanted him at this minute?

That could only spell trouble. For both of them.

Toni tried to break the mood by looking away first.

And then she made the fatal mistake of glancing back and fell dizzyingly into Scott’s startling blue flecked eyes. Eyes which called to her with a message that her heart could not ignore.

I like you. A lot.

Doomed.

Without a second’s hesitation, she leaned forward just an inch and started to angle her head so that their noses wouldn’t clash, their eyes still locked. His tongue moistened his upper lip, and she instinctively did the same. His eyes glanced from her mouth back to her eyes as his hand came up to cradle the back of her head, smoothing down the hair, caressing the warm skin between her neck and ear. And suddenly she wanted—needed—to crush her mouth against his and taste his sweetness and life and passion.

She could sense that her breathing sped up in anticipation for his kiss, her eyes half closed at the pleasure to come. She wanted him to kiss her.

But what he did instead made kissing seem tame in comparison.

Scott’s fingers moved down from her waist on to the rough tweed fabric of her trendy skirt until they reached her exposed leggings-covered thighs.

Toni breathed out a sigh of shuddering delight as his palms cupped her thighs, his thumbs caressing back and forth on the sensitive area on the inside of her legs, moving just a little higher with each caress.

She blinked up into Scott’s face and he smiled at her with an expression that told her everything that she needed to know.

This man knew exactly what he was doing and how her body was reacting to his touch. But she wasn’t the only one. His breathing was matching hers, hot and fast and snatched between gasps.

Just to prove the point, his gaze locked on to hers and his hands pushed her skirt just high enough for him to step closer so she could feel just how much his body was enjoying the moment.

Somewhere inside her head a voice was telling her that she should tell him to stop. Soon. Very...oh, Lord...soon. But maybe not straight away. Because this felt way too good to stop.

Toni was just about to arch her back over the drawing table when Scott suddenly moved his hands out from under her skirt, pressed them on to the table, stepped back and whispered, ‘I have an idea.’

An idea? What? Now?

Licking her lips and forcing her brain to form something close to sense took a second but eventually Toni managed to whisper, ‘Great. Although I was hoping that you might have more than just the one.’

‘Ah, but this is a classic. How would you like to be my date for dinner this evening?’

What?

Toni felt as though someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water over her and she instantly pushed her bottom off the stool and tugged her skirt down.

‘A date? You? Me? Are you serious?’

‘Is that so outrageous?’

‘No. I mean yes,’ Toni blustered, desperately trying to come up with an excuse why she could not, dare not put her heart on the line again. ‘Technically, I’m working for you. An employee, in fact. And you have a girlfriend. You told me about the girl you left behind in Alaska the other day in the coffee shop. I’m sure that your lovely blue-eyed Dallas wouldn’t be too happy with that idea. I don’t date other girl’s boyfriends. Ever.’

Scott paused for a moment, grinned then pulled out his wallet and handed her a photograph. ‘Good to know. Toni, meet Dallas.’

‘Oh, you have to be kidding me? You keep a photo of...a very handsome husky dog.’ Toni peered at it, rolled her eyes and passed the snapshot of the dogsled back to its owner. ‘Tease. Dallas is one of your sled dogs, isn’t she?’

‘Hell, no.’ Scott grinned. ‘Dallas is my lead girl. She runs the rig. If she doesn’t want to tug and run?’ He sliced the air with his hand. ‘We’re grounded.’ Then a warm loving smile crept up out of nowhere and hit her with its full power. ‘But when she moves? That girl is poetry in motion. And smart. We get on just fine.’

‘So I see.’ Toni smiled. ‘Well, it’s obvious that any girl would have to work hard to compete with the lovely Dallas. That’s a special relationship.’ She sucked in air between her teeth. ‘I wouldn’t want to come between a man and his dog.’

Scott scowled at her then pressed his lips together, winced, and then slapped the heel of his hand to his forehead as he took several steps back towards the door. ‘You already have a boyfriend. Of course you do. How stupid of me.’

He gave her a short bow. ‘Apologies. I jumped to conclusions. Another one of those flaws I was talking about. I only hope your boyfriend doesn’t turn up at the house and thump me for asking his girl out.’

There was just enough of a change in his voice to make her look up. Unless he was a very good actor and she was completely misreading the signals, she saw a glimmer of genuine regret and disappointment cross that handsome face before he covered it up.

Interesting.

Decision time. Pretend she was seeing someone and lie through her teeth...or not.

‘You’re safe. I broke up with someone a year ago and right now I’m on my own. What I meant was that I’m between boyfriends and I don’t feel comfortable with starting a serious relationship right now. But thanks again for the invitation.’

It was astonishing to see how fast Scott could switch on that killer smile.

‘Ha. So you are single. That makes two of us.’ He looked at her quizzically, eyebrows high. ‘But who said anything about a serious relationship? What I’m talking about is a fling. A sweet, short and fun fling.’

* * *

‘A fling? Why on earth would you want a fling with me? You could have your pick of girls to fool around with.’

He stepped closer and ran his hands up both sleeves of her jacket and smiled as his gaze locked on to her eyes. ‘I’ve been through one very difficult divorce and since then my focus has been totally on my work. The last thing I want is to rush into that sort of commitment again. But I would like to get to know you better. A lot better. Maybe even get used to the idea that I can start looking for love again. Do you understand that?’

‘Looking for love again? Yes. Yes, of course I understand that. Isn’t that what we all want?’

Scott gave a small shoulder shrug. ‘Maybe. But in the meantime we’re both adults who understand the difference between a casual arrangement and a long-term relationship. This way, we can have the benefits. Without the messy complications.’

Then the tone of his voice cooled. ‘But I’ll be back in Alaska by the autumn. I can’t promise you anything but a good time for the next few months and I need to know that you understand that very clearly. No confusion or recriminations. A fling. Short and sweet. Now. What can I do to tempt you to take up my offer?’

‘Oh, Scott,’ she replied, shaking her head. ‘You’re temptation on legs.’

A smile that could defrost icebergs warmed the air. ‘It’s been said. And you’re a lovely girl, Toni. We seem to make a great team at work. Now that has to say something.’

Make a great team at work! Oh, Scott, if you only knew. That was the worst thing that you could possibly have said.

Those were the precise words that Peter had used, right before he’d whisked her off to his hotel room and off her feet. She had fallen hard and fast in weeks not months. Blind to all the warning signs that screamed out to her not to go there. Her head full of dreams of a wonderful future working together. And all the time he was using her to get the work done and be his dirty little fling at the same time.

Six months with Scott Elstrom? Oh, no.

Toni chuckled under her breath and slowly slid out of the warmth of his embrace, even though it killed her to do it.

‘Lovely and convenient! Sheesh. I’m the one who actually pushed to work in your office and take your photograph.’

She flipped her right hand over from side to side. ‘Painter. Client.’ Then she blew out hard and shook her head. ‘So many great artists have fallen into that trap. Disaster waiting to happen.’

Then she gave a casual shoulder shrug. ‘Sorry, Scott. My answer is thank you but no. You’re going to have to work harder and find yourself another fling partner.’

She braced her back and shoulders and lifted her chin as Scott formed a reply, but was saved by her cellphone.

It was Amy’s personal ringtone.

Great timing, sis!

‘Sorry,’ she whispered to Scott, who was glaring at the phone as though he wanted to toss it out of the nearest window. ‘Amy...Peru. I should really answer it. Really sorry.’

It took a moment for her to slide her body sideways and out of the circle of his arms but even as she lifted the phone she could feel his gaze burning a hole in her back.

Tugging down the hem of her top as if Amy could see her, she opened the call and, before she could say a word, an entire orchestral chorus of Happy Birthday belted out at huge decibels into the quiet room.

Oh, great! Amy had sent her a musical birthday card to add to the surprise birthday present of a tiny locket that she had left for their neighbour to deliver that morning.

Scrabbling with her phone, she quickly turned it off, took a breath and turned sideways to look at Scott, who was standing with his arms folded and a lazy grin plastered all over his face.

‘Today is your birthday? You might have mentioned that earlier. I could have brought back extra chocolate.’

‘I had my party on Saturday, remember? At Freya’s house. No big deal.’

‘Oh, no—’ he shook his head and pushed out his lips ‘—you don’t get away that easy. I would fail in my duty if I didn’t take you out for a birthday dinner. What time do you want me to pick you up for your date?’

My date?

Her heart was thumping so loudly he could probably hear it from where he was standing. He smelt wonderful, his touch sent her brain spinning and he was so handsome that her heart melted just looking at him.

But a date? Oh, no. That was something else. What was she doing?

She had felt that wicked pull of attraction in the coffee shop and then working side by side and had forced it deep down. And she would have to do the same now, because the high tension wire that was pulling her closer and closer towards Scott would only lead one way—to heartbreak and pain.

She had learnt her lesson with Peter and dared not place her trust in a man like this again. She just couldn’t risk being used then cast aside.

She wasn’t ready to date anyone. Nowhere near.

‘A dinner date? Thank you, but I don’t think that would be a very good idea, Scott.’

‘Elstrom Mapping just had a big success today. That’s worth celebrating over hot food and a nice glass of wine. I might even run to a slice of birthday cake, seeing as I ate most of your brownies last Saturday night.’

Toni made the mistake of looking into those blue eyes. He was challenging her to take him up on his offer. And she didn’t have any plans for her birthday.

‘So this would be a business dinner? The hot food part does sound tempting.’

‘If that is what you want. I can do hot food and talk business.’

She sniffed once then nodded. ‘Okay, you’re on. Throw in a tablecloth and cutlery and you have a dinner date. Not a fling, of course. Oh, no.’ Then she opened up her smartphone. ‘Do you want me to book somewhere?’

Scott covered her hand with his long clever fingers.

‘Leave this to me. My treat. Let’s make it a night to remember.’

Then he flashed her a cheeky wink and strode back to his office, his taut bottom teasing her with every step.

No messy complications and not a fling. Toni groaned to herself. Right.