Chapter 17 #2
“Congratulations!” I beamed as I kissed him on both cheeks.
“Angel! Thank you so much! And you are looking just divine.” His eyes swept over my body and I gave him a little wiggle. “Is that your man?” He looked over my shoulder to where Bradley was charming a red headed woman.
“No, he’s just my date for the evening and completely straight I think, so keep your hands to yourself,” I teased, and he put his hands up in defence.
“Alright, alright. Oh by the way, I have to congratulate you too. I hear you just landed the contract for Harrington House? That’s going to be a huge project, isn’t it? Very impressive.”
“Thank you. I’m surprised you’ve heard about it though. We haven’t got anything official nailed down yet.” I grabbed another glass of champagne from a passing server and took a sip.
“Oh well, Riley Fitzpatrick is a dear friend of mine and Mr Tell was just filling me in on the details.”
I froze. No. No fucking way.
“I’m sorry?” I gasped, my voice hoarse.
“Mr Tell? Gorgeous, isn’t he? He has that intimidating alpha male thing going on that just has me…
” He stopped short, taking in my expression.
“I’m sorry, I assumed you’d met him already given that you’re working for him.
Here, let me introduce you.” Before I could stop him, he’d turned and motioned to someone behind him.
Oh Jesus. This can’t be happening.
Bradley was still deep in conversation but I grabbed his arm and yanked him to me, much to the dismay of the redhead.
“Code red, code fucking red!” I hissed.
“What? Oh shit…” Before we could formulate a plan, Patrick returned with the two people I least wanted to see. Alfie Tell and his date, Angie Carter.
I died a little inside as I looked at them. Alfie was ravishing in a tuxedo and my mouth began to water at the sight of him. Until I took in Angie and my mouth dried at the smug look of delight on her face. All I wanted was to be swallowed up by the floor.
“Mr Tell, Miss Carter,” Patrick gestured from them to me, “this is Lola O’Connell, she works with Mark Tafferty, and this is her date…I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?” Patrick paused as Alfie glared at Bradley, who was struggling to wrestle his arm out of my grip.
“Bradley Mason. It’s good to meet you.” Bradley extended his hand and Alfie gripped it but said nothing, pinning Bradley with a fierce stare that had me wilting in my pumps.
To Bradley’s credit, he didn’t wilt but instead gallantly attempted to get us out of this code red situation.
“Can you excuse us for a moment? We need to…wait, Mr Tell with the Harrington House project? As in Tell Hotels?” He looked at me, clearly wondering why I’d need to get away from the man who was bringing us the contract of a lifetime. How was I going to explain this?
“That’s right,” Angie answered. “Lola, it’s so good to see you again.
You left so abruptly the last time I saw you.
” She gave me a malicious smile and I blushed, remembering how she’d caught Alfie and I mid-tryst in the garden.
“I love your dress by the way, it’s so quaint.
Darling?” She gazed up at Alfie. “I’m out of champagne. ”
To my relief he ignored her completely. Alfie Tell was the most important person here, he wasn’t getting anyone’s drink. A server must have been following him around because a tray laden with full flutes was immediately under her nose. She sulked but had no choice but to take one.
“Miss O’Connell,” Alfie said coolly, “it’s good to see you again. I have something to discuss with you.” He de-tangled himself from Angie, who looked like she was about to throw her drink at me.
“I can’t, I?—”
“I’m sure your date can spare you for a moment.” He spat the word like it was poison. “Our conversation ended so abruptly the last time we spoke. I’d rather we finished it in private, but if you’d prefer to do it here…”
I bit my lip, desperately trying to find a way out of this, but I couldn’t.
He’d backed me into a corner and he knew it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the board member of The Chelsea Flower Show I was so desperate to talk to.
My gaze flitted from her to Alfie as I tried to decide which way to go.
I felt Bradley’s hand on my arm and I looked up. He was concerned and clearly willing to step in but I gave him a reassuring smile. I didn’t want to drag him into my drama.
Reluctantly, I took Alfie’s outstretched hand. As soon as my skin touched his, I was instantly alert, more awake, more alive. All thoughts of the board member disappeared.
He led me away through the sea of Rolex watches and red bottomed shoes, past the doors to the gardens where the bright red ribbon was still waiting to be cut, and on towards a side door that led out onto a small balcony. Two waiters were there already having a sneaky cigarette.
“Leave,” he snapped at them and I cringed as they shuffled off. He rounded on me, his eyes sharp. “What’re you doing here?”
“We were the suppliers on this project. Mark was supposed to be here but I’m filling in for him. Why are you here?”
“I’m a donor.”
My mind flitted back through the masses of paperwork I’d dealt with for the Serenity project and it suddenly clicked. His name was all over it, along with the list of other donors. I gave myself a mental slap for not remembering that.
“Oh.” I suddenly found myself exhausted, the roller coaster of the last two weeks catching up with me in a rush. I rubbed my forehead, trying to will away an impending headache. “What do you want, Alfie?”
“I want so much from you, O’Connell, I don’t even know where to start.
” He paced in front of me, to the edge of the balcony, then back again.
“I don’t know whether to kiss you gently or bend you over that balcony and fuck you raw.
” My insides convulsed at his words. He paced back to me, towering over me in that way that dominated my space, my very oxygen.
“But first, I think I might start with asking why you brought another man here with you.” His words had me plummeting back to earth and stoked the fires in my belly.
Anger was good. If I was angry with him I could keep him away.
It was his tenderness, his sensuality, that undid me. Be angry, Lola. Be mad as hell.
“He’s a colleague, Alfie. The invitation had a plus one and Rosie made me bring him.”
“He was touching you.”
“So? You brought a date too,” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest.
“Angie? She’s my PA and not of any relevance.” His tone was dismissive but the double standard infuriated me.
“Right. What kind of PA asks their boss to get them a drink?”
He cocked his head and his mouth did that smug tilt that made me want to scream. “I like jealousy on you, O’Connell.”
“Oh fuck off, Alfie.” His brows raised, amused by me. “Why are you doing this? I told you last week that I didn’t want you?—”
“And I told you, you were a liar.”
“This is pointless. We both know that you’ll get bored of me, that the only reason you want me is because I’ve resisted you and as soon as you do, the shine will wear off.”
“That might be true,” he said, oblivious to the way his words had cracked my chest open. It was one thing to suspect this was a game he would get bored of, but it was another for him to acknowledge it out loud. “But then again, maybe not. I’ve never been jealous before, not over a woman anyway.”
“That’s not reassuring, Alfie. This is all just a game to you.”
“Isn’t every relationship a game? Whether we play for a night or a lifetime, it’s still just a game.” His gaze pierced mine but I refused to look away. I gulped and his eyes caught the bob in my throat. He knew he was affecting me.
“The stakes are too high in this one.” A pause stretched between us as I watched him study me, watched the cogs in his brain turn as he figured out how to get to me. He took a step closer, invading my space. I stood my ground, refusing to relinquish an inch.
“The stakes are irrelevant. Your fear is the problem. You’re afraid that my controlling nature is too much like Adam’s.
That I’ll damage you the same way he did.
You’re also afraid that I’m not like Adam and that you’ll fall for me, that I’ll leave you like your father did, and you don’t know if you can survive another loss. ”
I shook my head. “How do you do that?”
“Reading people is my bread and butter. I especially enjoy reading women but I usually finish their book in a night or two. But you, you’re an endless sea of pages written in a language I don’t understand.
” He took another step towards me and this time I did relinquish my space.
I took a small step back. If he touched me, I’d be done for.
“Why me, Alfie?”
“I don’t know. You don’t know why either, do you?
But you feel it anyway, this pull between us.
” It wasn’t a question. He knew I felt it.
A hand reached up slowly, his fingertips hovering over my cheek, and my breath caught.
I couldn’t let him touch me. “Fear is just a wave, O’Connell. You need to learn to ride it.”
He was going to touch me. His skin would sear mine, then his mouth would find me, I’d fall into him, and then I’d lose him.
Then pain. So much pain. I couldn’t let him touch me.
I jerked away. Anxiety bubbled up in my chest, and my throat felt tight.
My head swam. He had to be some kind of higher power.
No mortal man could affect me like this.
I turned away, moving to the balcony’s edge, and rested my hands on the cool metal railing.
I needed some distance. I needed to breathe.
I felt like I was falling. Falling. Is this what it was like? I wondered if my mum had fallen for my father this way. If she had, I wondered how she’d survived when he’d abandoned her.