The Bedroom Assignment. Sophie Weston

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      But he knew she would not. His heart twisted with pity for her. Yet even as he winced at the thought of her distress he could not wait to get away. It suffocated him, all this terrible, exhausting emotion. It made him want to go out on the moors and run and run and run until he couldn’t think, could barely breathe—and still keep on running.

      Well, at least there would be no emotion at Suze Manoir’s party. Jay laughed aloud at the thought. He got out of the car, stuffed the envelope under his arm and crossed the street.

      It took him time to get into the house. Once in, though, it was relatively easy to find Suze. He tracked her down to a room with rotating disco lights and loud seventies music. She was dancing energetically to Abba, but as soon as he arrived she dropped her partner’s hand and rushed across to him.

      ‘Jay! You got here.’

      ‘I even got in,’ he said dryly. ‘Who on earth have you got on the door? Murder Incorporated?’

      ‘Oh that’s Harry Brown and his friends. He’s Zoe’s brother.’

      ‘Zoe?’

      ‘She lives here. It’s half her party.’

      ‘Well, she certainly gives a great bouncer service,’ he said. ‘The guys out there have a technique that makes your average killer shark look like Miss Hospitality.’

      ‘She’s very efficient,’ said Suze demurely. ‘In fact—well, never mind. Have you got my contract?’

      ‘Have you got my research assistant?’ he countered.

      ‘Maybe.’

      She was looking naughty, he thought. Or it could be a trick of the whirling light.

      He said, ‘This isn’t a game, Susan. I’ve got a major speech to give at the Communications Conference in Venice next month. And there isn’t a single note or reference to build on.’

      ‘Come and let me find you a drink,’ Suze said soothingly. ‘And you can tell me how you let it get away from you.’

      ‘Something soft. I’m driving,’ he said absently. ‘It happened because I delegated, and the wretched girl hasn’t done a thing.’

      Suze opened the fridge. ‘Juice or water?’

      ‘Water, please.’

      He wandered round the kitchen. The lighting was better than in the drawing room disco, but it was still clearly a room decked out for a party. There were candles and trailing greenery everywhere, and someone had sprayed ‘Sixteen Again’ on the mirror in gold paint.

      ‘How old is your friend?’ Jay asked, recoiling.

      Suze poured water into a big wine glass for him.

      ‘Twenty-three. But she says everyone should be sixteen at a party.’

      ‘Original!’

      Suze laughed and gave him the glass.

      ‘She’s not as daft as she sounds. She has her reasons. Now, let me have a look at that contract.’

      He gave her the envelope.

      ‘It’s a long shot, I know. If you can’t help, then I’ll call the bigger agencies on Monday.’

      Suze was running her eyes down the job description. ‘Hmm? You know the other agencies aren’t as creative as I am.’

      ‘No, but they have more people on their books.’

      She looked up. ‘You don’t want more, Jay. You want the right one. And I may just have her for you.’

      He was intrigued. ‘May just? That doesn’t sound like you.’

      Suze grinned. ‘Well, she’s thinking about it. I need you to help me convince her.’

      Jay sighed. ‘And how do I do that?’

      ‘Do I need to tell the great PR guru?’ mocked Suze. ‘Charm her. Challenge her.’ She added kindly, ‘You can do it!’

      There was a pregnant silence. ‘The bigger agencies are so much easier,’ said Jay plaintively.

      She laughed aloud. ‘But not nearly so much fun. Now, listen, we’ll need to do a double act…’

      Zoe had been going upstairs when she heard the altercation at the front door. She had turned, intending to go and see if she needed to intervene. Harry and his friends could sometimes take their bouncer duties a bit too seriously, she knew.

      So she had been halfway down the stairs when she saw him.

      He was wearing dark trousers of some sort, and a wonderful shirt in sunset colours. Silk, she was sure. You would not have got that purity of colour in any other material. Zoe could not afford silk, but that did not stop her dreaming over it in the shops. She knew the way the material moved on the body, catching the light in a thousand different ways. As the man had stood there, arguing with Harry and his suspicious mates, she’d been almost dazzled by that sheen, that hint of gold, those little wasp stings of tangerine and apricot and purple among the principal colour.

      What sort of man came to a suburban party in flame-coloured silk?

      And then she’d looked at his face.

      And stopped dead. Her heart had seemed to contract in her breast.

      He hadn’t been looking at her. He had not even seen her. If he had, he wouldn’t have known her. But somehow—she knew him. She always had. Though she did not know his name.

      She knew the face, though. The proud carriage of the head, like a Mogul Prince. The deep, deep eyes. The sculpted ascetic mouth, with its eloquent self-discipline and its alluring hint of passion suppressed. The energy. The fire. Banked now, certainly, but fire nonetheless. Oh, yes, she knew that face all right.

      Zoe had retreated a step, backing round the corner into the shadows. She’d felt cold and very serious, as if she had just come face to face with her future.

      Oh, wow! That’s all I need.

      It was ridiculous, of course. Nobody believed in love at first sight. It was an adolescent fantasy. A myth.

      A myth like the twenty-three-year-old virgin? said a voice in her head ironically.

      Well, all right, maybe it wasn’t exactly a myth. Maybe it was pheromones. Maybe it was the party. They had a habit of lowering your inhibitions, parties! It was not important, anyway. It was not a feeling you could rely on.

      It still gave you a hell of shock, thought Zoe ruefully. She felt as if she had walked into a wall.

      Who on earth was he?

      You don’t want to know, said that voice in her head. There was a distinct warning note in it.

      And it was right. Of course it was right. If she had to come face to СКАЧАТЬ