‘I wasn’t aware that I should be somewhere else, Mr Gold,’ she stammered. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything in the diary for tonight.’
‘Precisely,’ he smiled, ‘which is exactly why you should go home.’
Erin felt her eyes linger a little too long on his strong tanned hands. She also noticed that his eyes were a rich, intoxicating brown. She wished she could think of something to say, but she found her brain fog and her throat clam up.
Adam let his smile linger, as if he was aware of his young PA watching him and was enjoying the moment. ‘So how was it?’ he asked. ‘I hope it wasn’t too painful a first day.’
Erin smiled. ‘I loved it. Everyone seems really nice.’ You seem really nice, she wanted to add. ‘Is there anything else you need me to do before I go?’ Please say yes.
Adam leant back in his black leather chair and folded his arms behind his head. ‘I don’t suppose you could dig me out Karin Cavendish’s phone number, could you?’
She thought she saw a flicker of pleasure stretch across his face as he noted her disappointment.
Erin nodded. ‘I’ll bring it through straight away,’ she said, rising.
What did you expect? she thought, scolding herself. Men like Adam Gold would only consider women like Karin Cavendish. He was hardly going to be interested in her, was he?
‘How was your first day, then?’
Richard Pendleton was already home by the time she got back to the flat, standing in the little kitchen cooking chilli con carne. Not for the first time she wondered why he was back so early. In the four weeks she’d been staying at his flat, Richard had never once worked late, let alone clocking up the two-in-the-morning marathon sessions he’d constantly complained about when she’d been down in Cornwall. Still, she shouldn’t grumble; this week he’d been the most attentive he’d ever been since they first got together eighteen months ago. Not that Richard had ever really been particularly devoted, especially since he had moved to London the previous autumn. He was always taking about ‘his own space’, even though they lived two hundred miles apart and he had almost blown a gasket when she had asked him if she could stay for a few weeks while she was working for Karin. Now those weeks had become a month, she had been expecting him to start making noises about how his Earl’s Court apartment was too small for two but, ever since she had landed the job at Midas, his mood seemed to have softened. Maybe he was getting used to her. The kitchen was a small gallery kitchen with smart wooden units and a little window that looked out onto a tiny manicured patch of lawn that the estate agents had dared to call a ‘delightful’ and ‘mature’ garden. She went to stand next to him by the oven and he spooned some sauce into her mouth.
‘Mmm, that’s actually edible!’ she teased. ‘Not bad for a pillar of the establishment.’
Richard was still in his pinstriped suit trousers and a white shirt, looking considerably older than his twenty-five years. Erin had noticed that, since he had begun work, he had adopted a rather superior expression, and the arrogant, offhand mannerisms of a man who believes himself to be a cut above. Leave him alone Erin, she thought, you’re just stressed and tired.
‘So come on,’ urged Richard, ‘what was Gold like?’
‘Oh Richard, I’m knackered,’ she replied, sinking onto a bar stool and kicking her heels off. ‘These early starts are going to kill me.’
‘Well, that’s international business, darling. The man works across several time zones. I bet he was still in the office when you left him, wasn’t he?’
‘How did you guess?’ she said flatly, pouring herself a glass of wine from the open bottle next to the cooker.
Richard ladled the chilli onto two plates and led the way into the main living area that had a couple of sofas at one end and a table and four chairs at the other. Erin had started eating when she looked up to see Richard was clearly still waiting for answers.
‘Why are you so interested, anyway?’ asked Erin, tearing off some pitta bread and dipping it in the sauce. ‘You’ve never shown this much interest in my writing.’
‘I’m hardly going to be interested in those silly fantasies, am I?’
She raised her eyebrows and Richard backtracked furiously. ‘Sorry, sorry. Out of order. I’m just excited for you now, that’s all. I mean, to be so close to such an important businessman. I bet you’re going to hear all sorts. Hey, maybe you could get us a few share tips,’ he winked.
‘That sounds illegal, Richard,’ she scolded. ‘I’m sure your senior partner won’t like you saying things like that.’ Richard’s cheeks flushed.
‘Actually, speaking of our senior partner, I was telling him today about your new job and he was very impressed indeed. He called Gold a genius. I mean how much do you know about the company?’ But, before Erin could reply, Richard ploughed on, keen to show his recently acquired knowledge.
‘Well, apparently the Midas Corporation isn’t just a property development company at all,’ he gushed, clearly pleased with his research. ‘In fact it’s a pyramid of companies.’
‘How do you mean?’ asked Erin.
‘One small company at the top of the pyramid owns or has controlling stakes in a massive number of other companies, and whoever controls the parent company effectively controls everything beneath it. In this case, Adam Gold owns a hundred per cent of Midas Investment Group, the parent company, which makes him very rich and very, very powerful indeed.’
‘Well, I could have told you that without the economics lecture,’ said Erin.
‘Ah, but one of the guys at work was saying Gold’s got to be really, really fishy to be worth over a billion in such a short space of time …’
‘Maybe he just has the Midas touch,’ said Erin sarcastically, suddenly feeling a need to jump to Adam’s defence.
Richard shrugged. ‘Maybe. Anyway, the important thing is that Charles, our senior partner, was asking who does the Midas Corporation’s legals in London. I mean, White, Geary and Robinson offer a very comprehensive service across corporate, property, tax and litigation requirements, you know.’