Page 33 of About Last Night
‘Totally wrong. No way.’
She blew out a breath and relaxed back into her chair. ‘Thank God for that. I don’t think I could have worked with someone who treated me as if I was invisible.’
The flash of hurt in her eyes made him want to go over and pull her against him, to wrap her up in his arms and give her the reassurance she visibly craved.
This impulse must have shown on his face because colour rushed up her neck and her gaze shot away from his and down to where her hands now gripped her thighs, as if she was fighting urges of her own.
Forcing himself to maintain a façade of cool, he flipped her a smile. ‘Ah, don’t let him get to you. The guy was clearly an idiot of the highest order. I suspect he’s the type who feels emasculated by smart, attractive women.’
Something sparked in her eyes and she opened her mouth as if to speak, but shut it again and gave him a grateful smile instead. ‘I’d better go,’ she said, inclining her head towards the door. ‘I’ve still got a ton of research to do on a music producer I’m interviewing tomorrow.’
‘Okay.’ He watched her get up from the chair, wondering what was going through her head at that precise moment. If it was anything like the notions he’d been conjuring up since her ‘punishment’ remark, there was no wonder she was finding it hard to hold it together.
‘Lula,’ he called out, as she reached the door, not wanting her to go yet, but aware he didn’t have a good reason to ask her to stay.
She turned and faced him again, her brows drawn up in question. ‘Yes?’
There was a beat of silence while he thought of something suitable to say. ‘Thanks again for helping me out with the interviews. I really appreciate it.’
Her shoulders appeared to relax and she smiled, as if she’d keyed herself up for something that now wasn’t going to happen. ‘It’s my pleasure,’ she said, before opening the door and striding purposefully away.
Despite the brief diversion into flirty banter, the next week went pretty much the same way as the previous one – with her still avoiding him as much as possible or keeping things polite and professional when she had to be in his company.
His frustration grew by the day and he found himself deliberately going out of his way to be in the same room as her or sit next to her whenever the opportunity arose just to feel her vibrate with the same tension he experienced whenever she was in his vicinity.
It gave him a perverse satisfaction to see her squirm. She was obviously feeling the same heat he was and he became more and more determined to get her to show it.
He needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t the sort of guy that women – thatshe– could walk away from easily.
They interviewed two more candidates together who’d applied for the station manager’s job, but Tristan hated both of them.
He was beginning to feel a little possessive about the station now that he was getting to know the staff better. The place had an exhilarating, ever-changing buzz about it and he was surprised to find himself less and less inclined to get back to his business in Scotland.
His second in command seemed to have everything under control there – bar a couple of things that needed Tristan’s specific attention – which was both heartening and humbling. He’d always thought things there would fall apart without him, but apparently, he wasn’t as essential to its smooth running as he’d imagined.
When his father had handed over the running of their business to him after he finished university, he’d felt the great weight of responsibility to their family legacy on his shoulders. He hadn’t realised just how much it had consumed him until he’d stepped away from it.
Despite the minor knock to his pride when he realised hewasn’t as key there as he’d thought, he felt lighter and freer than he had in a long time.
Working at Flash had been good for him.
On Friday afternoon he was finishing off the schedules for the following week when the broadcast assistant, Claire, knocked on his office door.
‘Hey, Tristan, we’re all going out for drinks this evening to celebrate my birthday, fancy coming along?’
He could tell from the colour on her cheeks that it had taken some courage to come and ask him. Even though he made sure to be friendly to the staff, Claire in particular still treated him with detached reverence.
He thought about it for all of two seconds. ‘Sure, I’d love to.’ He hadn’t done any socialising with the staff since he’d started working here and he was gratified that they’d want to include him.
Perhaps Lula would be there too tonight and he’d get an opportunity to spend some time with her outside of work. Maybe he’d get her to loosen up around him in a more relaxed environment? To show some more of that spirit that bubbled underneath the surface of her control.
Memories of how they’d loosened up the last time they’d been out together flashed through his head and a sizzling heat swept through his body.
The sight of Claire’s delighted smile dragged him back to the present.
‘That’s great! We’re meeting at eight at The Zoltan cocktail bar on Clerkenwell Road. See you there later,’ she said.
He raised a capitulating hand, still a little distracted by his erotic recollections. ‘Sure. See you there.’
