Page 200 of The Grand Duel
We ride in silence the rest of the way to his first meeting of the day, our eyes doing the work our mouths aren’t and probably distracting the both of us from the work we should be doing.
It carries on during our walk into Charles Aldridge HQ, the ride up in the lift thick with a tension that only grows tauter when he shakes his head at me and curses under his breath.
We’re nearing the end of our meeting when I look across the table and find him completely enamoured with me. There’s no subtlety. No effort to hide the way he’s staring at me.
I frown, shaking my head, feeling my cheeks flush.
His brow creases.
I push back from the table. “Excuse me,” I say, standing. “I’ll wait for you outside, Mr Aldridge.”
I widen my eyes at him, telling him to get it together without uttering the words. I’m assuming he takes the hint because he smirks, his eyes tracking me as I round the conference table.
I leave the room and head for the toilets, knowing he’ll be another fifteen minutes or so in the meeting. When I’m done, I head back to the room and find a seat outside.
I’m sat for no more than three minutes when one of the guys that Edna introduced me to walks around the corner. “Miss Elton.”
I cringe internally at my name, forcing a smile. “Ollie, Hi.”
He comes to sit beside me. “It’s good to see you again. We thought maybe you had quit when you never showed up for work after the tour. I’ll have to tell the others you’re still around and that we didn’t scare you off.”
“Oh, no, I ended up taking the days off instead.” A lie. I ended up getting fingered in bed by our boss.
His brows rise, and I wonder if it’s because my face is now on fire from the inappropriate thought.
I’m as bad as Charles.
“Really? That would have been pretty short notice.” He smiles and tips his chin. “What’s your secret?”
I roll my lips, searching for the right words to make the lie believable.
“I think I already know,” he says, his eyes on my mouth. “A pretty face like that has to be near impossible for Mr Aldridge to say no to.”
I smile, hoping the reminder of what Charlie did to me in that hotel room isn’t visible to Ollie now. “Trust me, he knows how to say no and does so. Often,” I add, laughing.
He watches me with a wicked smile on his face. “Is that so?” he says, his gaze glued to me. His eyes slowly drop as he shifts, raking down my body.
He’s flirting with me.
Or trying.
“Do you think you’ll be working from here any time soon? We go to?—”
“No, she won’t be.”
I twist my head up to where Charlie stands in the doorway of the meeting room, his eyes burning as he pins them on Ollie.
“And neither will you if you don’t go and find something else to look at.”
“Aldridge.” He stands, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Sorry. I didn’t realise the seat was reserved.”
I sit and watch the two men. Or Charles. I’m definitely only watching Charles.
I’m pretty sure the man has lost his entire mind today.
“It’s not reserved. I just don’t like to see one of the smartest women I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with reduced to a pretty face. I’d like to think you know better than that, Ollie.”
“Obviously, I was just…”