She ran a hand across his chest. “I will think about it.”
“That’s a cop out, Steph. I will ensure for the first year that your current salary is matched and before you object, you will have to earn it, so don’t tell me you’ll think about it and then forget it and hope I do too. Promise me that you will seriously consider it and if you need help to put a business model together I will help you, or I will put to in touch with someone else that will.” His face was entirely serious.
“Okay, but don’t hold your breath.”
“Is that you dismissing the idea?” His earlier smile had been replaced with a disapproving frown.
“No. I just meant this is not a done deal,” she explained as he flipped her onto her back gently.
“Now, I seem to recall that I said that I would have you moaning all night and begging me to let you sleep,” he said as he covered her mouth with his.
Steph wasat work before half past seven, having slept restlessly until just before five on the Wednesday morning and was nervously waiting for some kind of fallout from her nonarrival at Brookers. She was relieved that she hadn’t seen Jon the previous day or evening because she knew she would have caved in and told him of Jack’s plans to substitute her with Martin. Her phone beeped a message alert making her jump.
She stareddown at her phone as she spun around in her chair and wondered how long she could avoid replying for. She decided she was safe until half past eight because that’s the latest he would be expecting her to appear in his office. She also looked down at the black trouser suit she was wearing with a plum coloured silk blouse and matching stilettos and thought that it was anything but sexy, flattering, but not sexy. Her phone rang now and she was relieved to see that it was her brother, Eddie, and not Jon calling.
“Hello,” she answered, “Is everything okay?” She felt concerned at the possible reason for his early call.
“Yes, great, sis. Zoe wanted to know if you and Jon would like to come over tonight and I thought it would be nice to get to know him better on a smaller scale. He looked a little shell shocked by us all on Saturday.” Steph shrugged at her brother’s chuckle.
“Yes, he was a bit, but I’m not sure about tonight, can I call you later to confirm?” The day was becoming more complicated by the minute.
“Yeah, sure. Did he get that booking at dad’s new favourite place, Swingers?” Eddie laughed again.
“I forgot to ask. I’ll check later. Sorry.” She was dreading that too.
“No prob, sis. I’ll speak to you later then, bye.”
“Bye.”
Now she needed to speak to Jon on several levels, Stringers, tonight and work.
Nineteen
Time passed slowly. As her phone rang again, Steph saw it was Jon calling so hit the reject button and cringed.
“Shit!” She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever but needed him to discover her absence from his building before she could speak to him if she was going to avoid a professional breach of confidence.
“Problem?” The sudden interruption of Jack’s voice from behind her made Steph spin far quicker than she’d intended to in her chair.
She got to her feet and shook her head, “No, families, eh?” she mused.
“Quite. Think yourself lucky you’re not married with kids, Steph. That’s when all the fun starts.” He laughed with a strange inflection to his voice.
“Mmm.” Steph felt uncomfortable as Jack stepped closer.
“Although, any man lucky enough to have you as his wife is likely to ensure he keeps a smile on that pretty face.” He was becoming creepier by the second. “I was just checking that you hadn’t betrayed me with Brooker. With your location today,” he expanded, clarifying what he meant.
“Well, here I am.” She held her arms out to the side as if to back up her comment.
“You certainly are and looking mighty fine. You have an enviable figure and I am sure you’ve noticed that I struggle to stay focused when you’re around.” He stepped even closer making her feel embarrassed and awkward.
“I don’t think we should be having this conversation, Mr Baker.” Steph took a step back from him and hoped her use of his formal name would serve as a reminder of the professional basis of their relationship.
“Mr Baker? Not Jack? I would encourage you to call me Mr Baker in certain circumstances,” he said salaciously. “I like the way you say it.”
“I think we should try to maintain a professional relationship, Jack, Mr Baker.” The heat radiating from her face burnt crimson and her stammering confirmed the level of her discomfort.
