A Royal Wedding(74)
Especially when all he was here for was the conference, which must look like Santa’s grotto to any teenager not used to being surrounded by the latest technology.
‘Here’s an idea. Why don’t you start by describing the communication systems you are using at the moment? Do you have a satellite phone and laptops? And what comms software are you running?’
Paul’s bright eyes widened, and a cheeky grin picked up the corners of his mouth when he answered. ‘It would help if I could take a look at your computer. Just to compare.’
‘Really?’ Kate nodded, and pretended to consider. ‘Well, in that case, please feel free to fiddle as much as you like.’
With that she gave a short laugh, and turned the notebook computer around so that Paul could see it. Kate looked on in delight as Paul wiggled his shoulders and fingers a little, as though preparing to present some amazing magic trick. He had just lifted the lid and powered it up when Simon stepped out of the elevator, tugged once on the cuff of each jacket sleeve, and lifted his chin with a smile. She was smitten. Seriously, jelly legs smitten.
He had changed into a charcoal-grey business suit with a pale blue shirt and a striped blue and pink-banded narrow tie. The crisp shirt collar contrasted with the deep tan of his face and neck, and the sun-bleached tips of his clean, swept-back hair. Shiny black shoes. Smart watch.
Despite the business suit, the preppy version of the Simon she’d used to know was gone. Now there was a shocking air of wildness about him which seemed to call out to her.
His dark curly hair was cropped short to match his sharply chiselled features, and he had lost weight but gained muscle. Under the smart clothing Simon Reynolds looked like a man who worked outdoors every day instead of running a computer server.
And there was something else. The way he held his head, his stance, his body language and even the low pitch of his voice screamed out confidence and power. He had done well here. Two of the other men even gave him a gentle bow of respect as they came up to him and bent their heads over the agenda for the day.
Suddenly she was a student again, on her first day at university. Terrified. Exhilarated. Excited and totally, totally intimidated by the clever rich people who surrounded her.
Looking back, she felt sorry for that girl who had been so crippled by her own feelings of insecurity and her lack of self-worth, and the deep-held belief that she did not even deserve to be there, at that prestigious university where really clever and important people went to learn.
Only there’d been this boy at the back of the class, talking about computers and technology, and his voice had been so confident and rich and embracing that she hadn’t been able to stop herself being drawn across the threshold and into the new and incredible world she had longed to be part of.
Simon had been holding court as though he was the lecturer, and as he’d lifted his head he had winked at her. Her world had shifted and she’d known that she was doomed. One simple gesture was all it took. She’d been eighteen going on nineteen on the surface, but about fourteen on the inside, just melting with the heat and boiling turmoil that one look created.
He’d made her feel as though she was starting out fresh all over again.
Simon Reynolds had been the golden boy of the class. His father had been a famous IT guru who was about to launch another company after selling his dotcom start-up for millions. There had even been a profile of him in the Sunday newspapers.
Simon had been so far out of her league he’d been playing in a different game where she’d had no idea of the rules. When he’d asked her out the first time she had actually thought it was some sort of cruel joke, and laughed it off as just that. When he’d asked her the second time she’d started to get interested.
He must have asked her out several times each month before she’d finally relented over coffee and a seminar they were both taking, when one of the lecturers had thought it would be interesting to pair them up on a project.
Dynamite. Explosive, competitive and intellectual dynamite.
She’d had no idea how much fun it could be to spar with someone who was just as clever as she was and just as quick—but Simon had been funny with it. She’d been geek girl, only interested in being top of her class and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in the form of a top-paying job. He’d been the golden boy who could do no wrong, who didn’t need the money but who loved the challenge.
How could she not have fallen for him? How could she not have been totally in awe of the great Simon Reynolds? And when she’d got to know him better. Ah, that was when she’d slipped into love without even realising it.