Page 30 of The Upper Crush

‘Pass through? Is it a portal to another dimension? One where Kevin lives?’

His heart rate quickened. You don’t know how right you are, foxy lady… Even though anxiety prickled in his belly at the thought of her being so close to his family, so too did a frisson of excitement. This was the Estelle he wanted around, the sassy one that delighted in needling him.

‘May I take your jacket?’

She took a step backwards and one of the slippers whinnied then made a sound like it was galloping away.

‘No, thank you,’ she replied, unzipping her coat.

James wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see underneath, but was disappointed to discover a shapeless jumper over baggy jeans.

Her eyes narrowed. ‘What? Expecting a stupid tight skirt?’

‘I was hoping for Xena, Warrior Princess.’ The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them. Shut-up!

Her nostrils flared slightly, and her cheeks darkened.

Electricity tingled at the base of his cock, and he moved back. ‘Let me show you around.’

Holding the door to his right open for her, she walked through, one slipper whinnying and clip-clopping, the other making a jingling sound that reminded him of a revolting pink plastic wand his little sister used to wave about.

‘Well, that’s not annoying at all,’ he muttered, before realising he’d just vocalised his thoughts. Again.

‘What was that?’ she called over her shoulder, above the sound of a fairy being trampled to death by a horse.

‘Nothing,’ he replied, forcing his jaw to relax. ‘On the left here, we’ve got bathrooms for men and women.’

She pushed the door to the ladies open, revealing three stalls on one side, and a shower cubicle and a bank of sinks on the other. ‘Ooh, fancy. Are the tampons and sanitary towels free?’

‘Help yourself to whatever you want.’

‘I want that hairdryer. Check out the diffuser on that bad boy.’

James didn’t reply. He’d stocked the bathroom thinking of Estelle.

Shutting the door, she glanced around the corridor, her nose wrinkling. ‘Has it just been painted?’

He nodded, putting his hands behind his back in case any flecks of paint remained on his skin. There’d been no money to pay for a decorator, so he’d done it himself over the Christmas break.

The next door had a pane of glass in it, and Estelle gazed through into the small kitchen.

‘Then we’ve got two offices for general staff,’ he said, moving away from her. ‘And a small conference room. Our office is at the end of the hall.’

‘Where’s Max?’

‘Next door to us. He’ll be arriving shortly for our first meeting.’ James had made sure Max wouldn’t turn up until half-nine, giving him a chance to show Estelle around and check out her mood without an audience.

She twinkled and whinnied down the hall, then laid her hand on the last door on the left. ‘Is this us?’

‘Yes.’

Pushing it open, she stepped through. James followed.

The room was bright and spacious, with a set of full-height windows on the far side that overlooked the rose garden. In front of the window was a pink velvet chaise longue his sister hadn’t wanted, framed by two tall house plants in glazed pots. On the left of the room was a desk containing a computer screen, with an office chair behind it. On the right was an identical set-up, but with James’s laptop hooked up to the screen and his jacket over the back of the chair.

He watched Estelle taking it all in, trying to read her expression. Both she and her slippers were silent. He didn’t want to ask her if she liked it, as they were still, unofficially at least, at war. However, he hoped she did.

She skipped to the chaise longue, the sound of her slippers already grating on his nerves, and sat, jamming her fingers down the sides.

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