“Too laid back,” muttered Jon as he came to a stop behind her where he was chatting to someone.
“I’m sure you’ve got other friends who are in need of holidays too,” said the woman. “If not you could always go alone. I have met my last three partners whilst away alone, assuming you’re single.”
“Maybe I should give that a try.” Steph knew that Jon was listening in from behind her. “And yes, I am single.”
The woman smiled at her. “I’m Sonia Hansen, Head of New Business in Retail.” She extended a hand to Steph.
She accepted it as they were joined by a man in his mid-thirties who was dressed in a black suit, pink shirt and blacktie with large pink flowers. He stood next to them and Steph thought that he must have been no more than five feet eight as she currently stood taller than him with her shoes on.
“Hi, we haven’t been introduced. I’m Dave Madeley, Head of Accounts.” He offered her his hand too, but without the warmth of Sonia’s gesture and with far too much emphasis on his own job title.
“Nice to meet you,” said Steph, uncertain what else to say and as she tried to excuse herself from him, Jon joined them.
“Dave if I have all of the quarterly figures in on Wednesday I would like to start going over them for the remainder of the week. I’ll let you have them for the following Monday and then if we meet up on the Wednesday we can look at any issues or concerns.”
Dave nodded. “Of course. I’ll schedule it now.” He in-putted it into his phone.
“Maybe you’d like to join us, Miss Pryor?” asked Jon, “If you’re available?”
Steph was looking at Steve who had joined them now and willed him to say that she wasn’t available, which she may not be if Martin was here rather than her.
“That’s fine with me, Steph, and you’ll be in the building if there is a major incident that we can’t deal with,” he added, grinning at her obvious unease.
“That’s sorted then,” said Jon triumphantly.
“Great,” muttered Dave without an ounce of sincerity or any attempt to hide it.
“Right ladies and gentlemen, it is Friday afternoon and I don’t want to keep anyone any longer than absolutely necessary so if we’re all done,” said Jon to the remaining members of the group.
“Steph, I’ve promised the kids pizza and the pictures so I’ll see you next week. Thanks again for everything this week,” said Steve as he rushed out.
She smiled and simply replied, “No problem, have fun.”
Despite Jack’s warnings about him and Jon’s references to him being a player and his responsibility for Miss Roe’s emotional state, she did actually like Steve and he really seemed to know what he was doing, professionally.
Steph put her laptop back into her bag and threw her phones into her handbag before she noticed Sonia waving to her as she left the room leaving her alone with Jon.
“Just the two of us again, Miss Pryor.” He grinned, looking every ounce the charming predator.
“So it would seem.”
“Why did you tell Sonia you were single?”
“Because I am,” she replied flatly, hoping not to cause another dark mood to descend. She also wanted to avoid thinking of his wife, the woman who appeared to be in every way perfect to her because if she couldn’t keep her out of her head she might just say something about her. “Unless you want me to tell her that I am your current shag piece and that we are embroiled in an affair where I am totally faithful to you.” Clearly her ability to keep this calm wasn’t going to be easy.
They stared at each other before Jon spoke, his words shocking her, “When are you moving into your flat?” He undid the button on the navy blue jacket of his suit, fully revealing the pale blue shirt with white collar and cuffs.
Steph was still staring wildly as she tried to figure out why he was ignoring her reference to being his shag piece and her barbed comments about her fidelity.
“Tomorrow is the plan. All of my brothers are coming round in the morning.” With her mouth drying slightly, she watched him loosening his navy tie and undoing the top button of hisshirt and thought he was probably the most attractive man she had ever met and definitely the sexiest.
She was going to need some kind of meter to keep up to speed with her own mood swings if not an intervention to temper them.
“All?” he queried to a puzzled looking Steph. “You saidall of my brothers,” he explained.
“Oh, I see.” She laughed at herself. “Five, I have five brothers and two sisters and I am the baby.”
“Bloody hell.” He laughed, shaking his head. “No telly in your house then.”
