“See you Thursday.” He said, before heading out of the door.
“See you then,” I replied. As he left, I sat back a moment and smiled. I could do worse than to see how a non-date with Aidan hall went. Maybe it would take my mind off the brooding, unattainable Mr. Carter.
Maybe, maybe not.
Chapter 6
Aidan
I really liked Amelia, but I had a feeling her heart belonged somewhere else. From what I knew of my friend, H, she was wasting her time. Or maybe not. I decided to have a little fun and call H on his cell.
“Carter.”
“Yeah. Just thought I’d let you know I checked in on your Deputy this morning and she was very well-behaved.”
There was a silence and then H’s icy, do-not-fuck-with-me tone came down the line. “Care to elaborate?”
“She was reading company policy. Who does that H? You have spare time so you read company policy, not browse the Internet, or eat a sneaky chocolate cupcake.”
“She’s determined to prove that I was right to hire her.”
“You sure about that? Or is she wanting to impress you? Ever think she might have got the job to be closer to you?” I knew I was pushing him but I needed some clues.
“It’s not like that.”
“I really like her. I wouldn’t seduce her because it could fuck up business, but I might ask her out sometime.”
When H’s voice came back, it sounded strangulated. “Well, give her some time to settle first. I don’t want her scared away.”
“But you wouldn’t mind?” Push. Push. Push.
“It’s not my place to mind. It’s her life.” There was a pause. “But if you hurt, her I would kill you.”
No laughter followed his sentence. Just pure intent.
H had feelings for this woman though whether they were attraction or just fondness for someone from his past was yet to be discovered. But discover it I would. I would like nothing better than for my friend to find happiness, but if he wasn’t interested, then I’d go for Amelia myself.
I couldn’t wait for Thursday.
Manipulation and game playing was my specialty.
Amelia arrived at the office at three forty-five. My prior meeting had finished and so my assistant let her straight through.
“I did not realize you worked out of your house.” She told me.
“Saves on renting office space.” I shrugged. “Plus there’s only me, and I was rocking around this enormous place on my own. Figured two birds, one stone.” I got up from my seat, “let me show you around.”
“You seriously want to show me your home. Like is it going to include the bedroom too?” She rolled her eyes in that endearing way she had.
“No, Amelia. Not even if you beg. Just the business floor for you.” I smiled at her and she laughed in return.
I walked her around, describing how the interior had been changed so that all the living accommodation including the kitchen was on the second floor, and that the first floor had been altered to accommodate an office for myself, a general room with shared desk space for anyone who needed it, and a couple of meeting rooms, plus a reception.
“I love it. It makes perfect sense with your businesses being in different areas.” She told me after she’d looked around. “So, if I need to escape from Henry, there’s a desk here I can use?” She queried, while looking at the hot-desk area.
“Anytime. Why, do you think you’ll need to escape from Henry?”
She sighed. “He seems to be avoiding me. Or maybe I’m paranoid, and he just really is that busy. He’d said he’d show me around Manhattan, but I guess that was before I became his employee. Now, I suppose that would appear a little strange to people, if they saw us out together. I’m being stupid. That will be why he’s avoiding me.” She shrugged. “So perhaps if I come and work here occasionally, it’ll give him a break. That, and it’s probably time for me to look for someplace else to live.”