Scandalizing the CEO

She sent a personal note to Tiffany, telling her that one of their writers—Bert Michaels—would be in touch with her soon. Once the article was written they’d compile pictures from the past and present to round out the piece.

The rest of the day was busy, but Maurice wanted her to lock in all three of the Devonshire heirs for the interview. Cathy had tried, but her secretary hadn’t been able to get the men to return her calls, so Ainsley knew she’d have to do it herself. Geoff was difficult to reach, so she had to settle for leaving a voice mail.

She called Henry’s office and got his assistant, Astrid, who put her right through.

“Hello, Henry. This is Ainsley Patterson with Fashion Quarterly. I spoke to Steven a few days ago and he intimated that you’d be agreeable to participating in an interview with our magazine.”

“I can’t say no. My mum would have my head. She told me you were going to interview her.”

“We are. Once I have a confirmation from Geoff, my assistant will call you and set up the times and all that. I’d love to photograph you with your mother and maybe get one with all three of you boys and Malcolm.”

“Good luck with that. I’m not sure that Malcolm’s health will allow it.”

“If it does, will you participate?”

“I’ll think about it. Probably.”

“Thank you, Henry.”

“No problem. According to my mum, your magazine is one of the best. She had nothing but great things to say about it.”

“Thanks,” she said. She ended the call a few minutes later and then dialed Steven’s number.

He answered it on the third ring. “Devonshire.”

“It’s Ainsley.” She didn’t want to mention last night or the fact that they were both in New York.

“What can I do for you?”

“I need you to talk to your mother about the interview. Tiffany Malone has already agreed. If we can get your mum as well it would be a more well-rounded interview.”

“I was hoping you were calling to talk about our date.”

“Nope.”

“That’s a very American answer.”

“Is it? I can’t talk about that right now. I’m in a conference room with other staff members.”

“So you’re not alone?”

“Exactly.”

“If I talk dirty to you will you blush?” he asked, his voice deepening.

“Probably,” she admitted.

“I will do my best to get my mum to agree, but someone is going to have to go to Berne to interview her. Her work is entering a critical stage and I know she won’t leave.”

“Should I go there and ask her?”

“It might help.”

“Okay. I’ll work that out. I guess that’s all for now.”

“I suppose that is. I can’t wait to kiss you again,” he said.

“Me, too,” she said, preparing to disconnect before he could say anything else.

“Are you available for dinner tonight?” he asked.

“No. I think we’ll have to wait until we’re back in London,” she said.

He agreed and hung up. She thought that she’d dodged a bullet. She was cool and confident when it came to business, but the personal aspect of her relationship with Steven scared her.

Steven left a message for his mother with Roman, his mother’s lab partner and assistant, to alert her that Ainsley would be calling. Roman had been working with Lynn for the last fifteen years. Steven actually liked the man; he was funny.

“How are you, Steven? Your mum mentioned that you were running Malcolm’s business now.”

She would put it that way. Either she didn’t listen to what he’d said or she simply assumed that he’d won the competition that Malcolm had set up for all his heirs.

“It’s going well. I’m not running the show yet, but I’ve been here less than a week.”

Roman laughed. “I’ll give you one more week to get everything in order.”

“That should just about do it. Will you let my mum know I need to speak to her?”

“Of course I will. She’s spending most of her nights in the lab, so if you try after nine, you can probably reach her there.”

“Thanks,” Steven said. Thinking back he realized that he’d always learned what his mother was doing from Roman. It had been that way his entire life.

“I’ll call back later.”

Steven had a lot of information to go through and he spent the rest of the day running numbers. He was happy when Geoff called and invited him to join him for dinner.

Steven often wondered if his life would have been different had he and Geoff met when they were boys. Steven had used Malcolm’s name to gain entrance to Eton. The prestigious school the young princes had attended was extremely hard to get into. And Geoff’s mother’s family had been going there for generations. But at the last moment Geoff had been sent to a school in the States.