Magenta Mine (Invertary 3)

“I’m in.” She was relieved to find the embarrassment wasn’t as overwhelming now she had a plan.

Harry was going to seriously regret messing with Magenta.

15

“Have you seen this?” Rachel slammed the paper down in front of Harry.

He was perched on a chair at the table in Lake’s office, wishing he still had a bag of frozen peas wedged against his crotch. It had been two days since the mine incident, but he still ached. “Black and blue” did not cover it. Thankfully, everything was still in working order. He knew because thinking about Magenta still had the same effect it’d always had. Seemed there was nothing that woman could do to put him off.

He looked at the front page of the Invertary Standard. There he was, lying on the ground writhing in pain while Magenta glared down at him. The heading said: Mayhem at Magenta’s Mine.

“That’s a rubbish headline,” Harry said. “It doesn’t tell you anything about the story under it.”

Rachel glared at him, so he smiled sweetly. It had no effect.

“‘Millionaire programming genius Harry Boyle,’” Rachel read, “‘bit off more than he could che

w this week when he conned his current crush into spending a night with him in the local mine. Unfortunately for the pair, the mine acts like an echo chamber, making it easy for the town to hear every word, gasp and moan they made during their night together. Magenta Fraser did not take the news of the town witnessing their liaison well. After kicking Harry in the groin, she stormed off, leaving their relationship in the dust, along with her man. She has been unavailable for comment.’”

Rachel slapped the paper down. “It goes on to say that the town’s men are taking notes on your seduction technique because you talked your way into Magenta’s knickers in record time.”

Was it wrong he felt proud? Probably.

“This has gone viral on the web. Someone shot footage of the spat and put it on YouTube. It’s going to affect business.”

“I don’t see how,” Harry said. “Most of people we deal with are geeks. They can’t get near a woman. This will impress them.”

Rachel smacked him on the back of his head.

“We also deal with the government. Lots of governments. Do you think this makes you look mature? Respectable? Reliable? We deal with people who don’t like attention, and you’re on YouTube.” She folded her arms over a form-fitting black suit. “Now do you see how it affects business?”

“Fine. You’re the business guru, tell me how we sort this.”

She fixed him with a glare. “We move back to London, you wear a suit, you keep your head down and we quietly take meetings where you act like a grown-up.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to go back to London. I want to close the deal on the office space we found here. I need to stay in Invertary. I need to sort this out with Magenta.”

She slapped the table in front of her. “Are you out of your freaking mind? The girl doesn’t want anything to do with you. Most men who get kicked in the balls figure that out for themselves.”

“Nuh-uh, she’s interested. You weren’t in there with us. Trust me, she’s interested. I just need to figure out what’s holding her back. There has to be something.”

“For the love of all things chocolate,” Rachel wailed. “Listen to yourself. You’re screwing up the business we worked hard to build so you can chase a woman who does not want you.” She turned to Lake, who had been sitting silently at his desk through all of this. “Tell him, will you?”

Lake stared at Harry for a minute. Harry almost squirmed. He could believe Lake used to be an interrogation specialist.

“You want her. Get her,” Lake said.

Harry grinned. Rachel threw up her hands in disgust. “I’m surrounded by cavemen. Is it the effect of the Highlands? Does everyone who comes up here get the urge to go all Braveheart? Is that what this is?”

“You can take my life, but you can never take my freedom,” Harry said solemnly.

“I give up. I need chocolate.” With that, Rachel stormed out of the room.

Harry turned to Lake. “Any ideas on how to fix this?”

“Well, for one, I wouldn’t take any more advice from Betty.”

Yeah, Harry had already figured that part out for himself. “Anything else?”