‘You his wife?’ he asked.
‘No… of course not,’ Hayley responded, guilt coating her tone anyway.
He handed the photo back. ‘I’m not sure. I see a lot of people, sweet cheeks.’
‘I realise that.’ She sighed. ‘It’s just… really important I get in touch with him so…’ She pushed the photo back into his line of sight. ‘If you could have another look.’
The doorman glanced back towards the photo and shook his head. ‘He’s not familiar to me, sorry. You should ask Artie, on the bar.’ He sniffed. ‘But he’s not on tonight.’
Hayley tightened her grip on the glass she was holding and forced a smile onto her lips. ‘Thank you.’
She turned away and saw Oliver heading back towards her. He had to negotiate several groups of people. If she moved now, she could be out of the door in seconds. She could disappear into the night like he had from the alleyway at the back of Asian Dawn. But that wasn’t in her nature. Besides, she was starting to think there was a bit more to Oliver Drummond. An ogre-like control freak wouldn’t have just given her brother the head role in the launch of their new lead product.
And why shouldn’t she enjoy herself for an hour or so? If a billionaire wanted to buy her drinks, who was she to stop him?
He neared, navigating the groups of people quickly. She would have one drink. And then she would move on to showing the bartenders the photo of Michel.
He was smiling as he approached and she felt its warmth settleon her. He spread out his hand, indicating the tables to their left in the quieter area of the club.
‘Shall we?’ he asked.
‘Lead the way, Clark.’
‘So, billionaire businessman, how does that happen?’
He smiled, watching her take a long sip of her drink, all bright eyes and enthusiasm.
‘Haven’t you seenFifty Shades of Grey?’ he answered.
She looked up then, a blush on her cheeks as her eyes met his. ‘I’m not sure explaining Christian Grey’sbusinessposition was the aim of that movie or the books.’
He leaned forward in his chair, holding her gaze. ‘What do you want to know?’
He watched her swallow, wet her lips.
‘Whether any of the rooms in your house are red now.’
He laughed, pure, deep and unfettered. His stomach contracted with the motion, unaccustomed to it. He adopted a more serious look before responding. ‘And if they are?’
‘Each to their own, but it’s not for me. I went to an Ann Summers party once and got a little jittery when they said some of the items were refurbished.’
He smiled. Honesty. No game-playing. This was refreshing.
He took a swig of his beer. ‘I inherited the company from my father.’
‘Old money. So, I guess that makes you a duke?’
‘Not that I’m aware of, but that would be kind of cool.’
‘And different from the whole Superman dress up. Do you really do that by the way?’
He grinned, lacing his hands around his beer bottle. ‘Only on weekends.’
‘In the red room.’
‘And I thought that was going to stay my secret.’
It was her turn to laugh then and he delighted in the way she gave into it, her cheeks rising up, her eyes narrowing in pleasure. Suddenly, his libido was on high alert. He fingered the paper label on the bottle, picking at a strip.
