Page 8 of For Love or Money
‘So you work from home?’ he asked when she caught up with him in the kitchen.
‘Yes.’ Lesley was about to invite him to sit down, but he was already pulling out a chair for himself at the kitchen table.
‘Make yourself at home,’ she mumbled.
‘Thank you,’ he said, oblivious to her sarcasm. He whipped off his coat, draped it on the back of the chair and sat down, stretching out his long legs in front of him.
There was something about his air of utter assurance that reminded Lesley of a stockbroker she had dated briefly when she lived in London. ‘You went to one of those schools, didn’t you?’ she asked knowingly.
‘What schools?’ Al frowned.
‘You know – the schools where they train posh boys for taking over the world. You learn how to barge around other countries, subjugating the natives and making them do all the work, while you lounge about on verandas inventing cocktails.’
‘If you’re referring to public schools, then yes.’
‘I knew it!’
‘Harrow, though,’ he said, as if in mitigation.
‘How does that make it any better?’
‘Well, it’s the coolest one, obviously.’
‘Cup of tea?’ she asked, automatically flicking the switch on the kettle.
‘I’d love a coffee, thanks.’
‘I only have instant,’ she said. It was a lie, but she wasn’t about to start making fancy coffee for Al. She still didn’t know why he was here, so best not to encourage him.
‘It’ll have to do.’
‘I hope your parents didn’t waste too much money on that charm school,’ she said under her breath. She folded her arms, leaning against the worktop. ‘So if you’re not asking me out, why did you come here, Al?’
‘I want to hire you.’
‘Oh!’ She was instantly mollified. That explained his brusque manner – he was just in business mode. She shouldn’t have been so hard on him. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘I think I might have some real coffee after all.’
‘Excellent!’
She opened a couple of cupboards and pretended to do a bit of rummaging before ‘finding’ the coffee. ‘Aha!’ she said for dramatic effect, holding it up triumphantly. Today was looking up, and a new client definitely deserved real coffee.
‘So have you been back to Dinner Dates since?’ she asked him as she spooned coffee grounds into the filter.
‘No. Actually, I was only there the night I met you as a favour to Helen. I help her out sometimes if she’s a man short at the last minute.’
‘So you were there under false pretences?’ Lesley gave him a hard look. ‘What if some poor woman fancied you?’
He shrugged. ‘Iamactually single at the moment. So if I did hit it off with someone, it would be perfectly above board.’
Huh! If Lesley had known that at the time, she mightn’t have been so quick to give him the brush-off. Maybe he’d have been up for a casual hook-up.
‘What about you?’ he asked as she placed two mugs on the table and sat opposite him. ‘Have you been back?’
‘No. I’ve kind of stopped looking for now.’
‘Oh. You’ve met someone.’ For some reason, his face fell.
‘No, I’m just taking a break from the whole dating scene. I’m going to concentrate on my career for now.’
