Page 105 of Perfect Liar
A man came up and gestured for my hand with a little smile.
“Ah, there she is, the lovely one I’m dying to thank for my job security.”
He squeezed my hand with affection.
“I’m James Jackson. Glad to meet you, Miss James. Welcome to London.”
“Thank you. It’s so nice to meet you too,” I said.
He was tall and elegant with light-brown skin, warm brown eyes, and a showy grin. His head was shaved, his facial hair tightly groomed. His presence felt a little like Will’s, intelligence, authority, and charm whirling around him.
Will flashed his marvelous grin.
“She might as well sign your checks.”
Obvious trust and respect and even friendship floated between them. James had made principal at the firm, directing Will’s staff and operations, researching ideas for investments and acquisitions. In other words, he’d become Will’s right-hand man.
Will raised his hand and called out to a client.
“David, come have a drink with us.”
The two men shook hands in a manner that surpassed just a cordial business greeting. David might’ve been a new client, but he had attended Oxford University with Will...they had partied and chased women together, I wagered.
“This is my wife, Caroline,” David said.
She offered her hand to Will.
“It’s quite nice to finally meet you. David talks about you nonstop.”
Will gripped her hand for a moment.
“Does he? We certainly have some catching up to do. I want you to meet Ellie James.”
Caroline turned to me and smiled.
“Hello, Ellie, love. Let’s go somewhere and chat while they talk about their boring business.”
Thanks to my gran, I could play the elite-class social game as well as anyone. After a quick check of my nerves, I reinforced my posture and set my glass on the bar, and just like she’d done to Will, I offered Caroline my hand.
“Champagne?” I asked.
Stunned at first, then tickled, she took my hand and grinned without uttering a word.
Before letting me pull away, Will squeezed my other hand, expressing his approval and his amusement.
I led Caroline to one of the sofas, calling over my shoulder at Will with a playful smile.
“Will, send us over a bottle, please.”
He dragged his stare up from my ass and winked and then jerked his chin, sending the bartender over with our bottle of Dom.
Pretty, pretentious Caroline, the stay-at-home mom, talked about her lack of girlfriends, her collection of designer shoes, and her two young children. She also pushed hard for a story about Will and me, admitting she read the tabloids.
I gave her my own version of the old story about destined lovers, and she devoured it like a stupid fairy tale.
If only.
My shallow exchanges with Caroline reminded me how much I missed Jess. I mean, we’d been together nearly every day since our freshman year at UConn.