‘There’s no debate around this, Ellie. Unless you have a water-tight reason for not coming, then I’ll expect you to do what you’re paid to do.’
And there it was, she thought, the unyielding steel that had got him where he was now. When it came to the crunch, he was hard line, and woe betide if she decided to fight him on this. Aside from which, who in her right mind would fight to avoid an all-expenses luxury trip to sunny climes, when there would be no down side at all, because she would be doing the job she enjoyed doing?
She would have to see her mum, though, and she gritted her teeth and did her utmost to not flinch at standing her ground.
‘Of course. But I will need to...have a couple of days off before I go. I’m assuming the timelines will be the same as they were? I mean, leaving on the same day?’
‘Why do you need a couple of days off?’ He tilted his head to one side and looked at her with a frown. She could see the cogs in his brain whirring, piecing her together, filling out the bits he had started filling out when she’d opened up to him yesterday.
It was annoying, but she was resigned to the fact that it was inevitable, and he would soon get bored with the game. He had a lively mind, so it wasn’t surprising that he was happy to push at a door that had opened a bit.
And did it matter? She’d assumed that their working relationship would suffer if those lines between them weren’t drawn in cement, but really, would it?
They would rub along—and, yes, he might know a bit more about her—but there was nothing to fear in that.
She shoved aside those uneasy responses she felt when he was around...when he got too close to her...when those sharp blue eyes rested on her for a second longer than they should...
They were where they were. She would just have to deal with it. She hadn’t committed a crime in being a little less of a closed book.
‘Shopping, I take it?’
Lost in her thoughts, Ellie looked at him in puzzlement for a few seconds.
‘Clothes,’ he elaborated. ‘You’ll need one or two reasonably dressy things to wear in hot weather. I’ll be wining and dining my soon-to-be clients in style, so you’ll have to dress the part. Shop to your heart’s content and put it on expenses.’
‘I wasn’t going to take a couple of days offto goshopping,’ Ellie retorted vigorously, without giving it much thought, and he burst out laughing.
‘No need to sound so affronted. It was a simple assumption.’
‘I...’
‘I’m sure Romeo won’t mind letting you go for a few days. In this day and age, please don’t tell me that you have to take time off so that you can stock up the freezer for him.’
Ellie stared at him with such an appalled expression that he burst out laughing again.
‘I wouldneverbe one of those women who felt they had tostock up the freezerfor some guy because he was too helpless to look after himself for a few days!’
‘Didn’t think so. All men should know how to look after themselves.’
‘And doyoudo much cooking when it comes to looking after yourself?’ she heard herself ask, sweetly sarcastic.
‘Don’t have to,’ he responded without batting an eye. ‘I have a top chef on speed dial. Whatever he rustles up will always be so much better than any of my attempts. Why do you need time off, in that case? We really won’t be away for very long. If you’re worried about your place, I can always get someone to swing by every day and make sure no pipes have burst and the milk bottles aren’t collecting outside...’
Ellie sighed. ‘It’s not that.’ Was he going to let it go? Not a chance. Letting things go wasn’t in his nature. ‘It’s just that I was planning on going to see my mother at the weekend.’
She saw the confusion on his face and understood where it was coming from. She was a woman in her twenties, surely the business of a family visit wouldn’t be sufficient for her to dig in her heels at taking a few days to work abroad? A visit to a mother wasn’t in the same league as a visit to hospital to see someone on their last legs, was it?
‘She lives in Dorset. I... She’s on her own, you see, ever since my father... Ever since Dad died.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that, Ellie. You should have said something.’ He frowned. ‘I don’t recall you taking time off for a funeral.’
‘My dad died before I joined the company. It’s a long story but what it comes down to is that my mother didn’t deal with the death very well. In fact, she went to pieces. I’ve had to...well... I’ve had to look after her to some extent because she’s...had a few problems.’
‘What sort of problems?’
‘This is very boring for you.’ She shot him a self-deprecating smile and he shook his head.
‘I don’t want to ever hear you say anything like that again. Talk to me. What sort of problems?’
