“No.”
He snickers, running his tongue across his teeth. “I’ll pick you up when you’re finished here.”
I let him leave. If that man thinks that I will be going with him tonight after the way he just reacted, he is sorely mistaken. God, it’s Henry. Does he not have any female members of staff? The thought makes me rage. Of course, he fucking does. I bet the place is crawling with women.
It gives me an idea.
I hobble to my bag and pull out the outfit I brought to wear to dinner with the girls tonight. It’s casual but sexy. I pull the dark burgundy skirt up over my hips and high on my waist, my cropped white singlet moulds to my breasts.
It’s been a week, and I am more than ready to take on Mason Lowell.
Thankfully the girls are understanding. I had to send them home after the soup disaster, so I promised to work an extra day to cover their class fee to keep them happy.
I did my research, and if my Google Maps is correct, I should be at Ellis and Frey Real Estate within twenty minutes by foot.
I glance down at my feet, knowing it will take me twice as long in my heels, and instead, I call Vinny.
“Miss Anderson, I wasn’t expecting you to call. How can I help you?”
“Hey! I need a lift. If you’re free, of course. And I can’t tell you any more than that because I don’t trust you.”
“Well, I should inform you that I sided with you this afternoon. I drove Mason to the studio,” he says, and I can tell he is smiling.
“What a queen, huh?”
He chuckles down the line. “What are you planning, Nina?”
“I’m on my way to his office... I was hoping for a ride.”
“That’s not a good idea, Nin?—”
“Vinny, you can drive me, save my feet, and I will love the hell out of you for it, or you can let your boss know I’m on my way and ruin the element of surprise. Either way, because I’m going with or without you. I won’t cause a scene, I promise.”
“Just wait there. I will be five minutes.” he relents.
THIRTEEN
Nina
The Montwell building sits proudly amongst the skyscrapers in London’s financial district; its impressive structure flouting high up in the clouds. I watch in awe as people breeze through the revolving doors, going about their business almost robotically.
Why so serious?
“Here, you’ll need this,” Vinny interrupts my trance, handing me a plastic card. “Tell reception I sent you, you won’t be on any list. I can’t promise they won’t call up.”
I squeeze his shoulder, giving him a warm smile. “Thanks, Vinny. You don’t want to come up with me, some moral support?”
He shakes his head. “I did my bit. You’re on your own now, love.”
I roll my eyes. “Stay close by, I might need a lift in five.”
He turns in his seat, a smirk pulling at his lips. “You said you wouldn’t cause a scene.”
“You said you were taking us to The Pearl,” I throw back at him with a shrug.
“Touché.”
My confidence takes a nosedive the moment I step into The Montwell. I look down at myself, pulling at my crop top to hide the slither of exposed skin at my ribs. Determined to follow through with my vaguely thought-out plan, I pull back my shoulders and carry on forward, my heels clicking on the sparkling floor seemingly much louder than the other women’s in the foyer.
