Anything but Vanilla(19)
‘You’d lose the ice-cream parlour,’ he said, not sure why he was even wasting his time discussing it with her. Except that it kept her beside him, touching close.
‘That’s the upside,’ she pointed out, with a gesture that lifted her skirt another inch. ‘I have no use for a retail outlet.’
‘And the downside?’
All he had to do was move his chair a few inches, slip his hand inside the starchy white coat, under her skirt and his hands would be cradling that peachy backside...
‘I’d have to start from scratch...’ her voice faded to fragments ‘...take time...transport problem...’
...fill his mouth with the taste of ripe strawberries and honey...
‘And it would be difficult for Nancy to get to Haughton Manor on the bus.’
Haughton Manor?
So, she was the offspring of minor gentry. No surprise there. The sexy clothes, the casual attitude, the silly ice creams were all the marks of a woman playing at business until the right man came along. One who could support her shoe habit.
And he was reacting exactly like his father. A man who’d used his wealth and position to indulge his love of bright, shiny things. Cars, boats, women...
See it, want it, discard it when the novelty wore off...
It was a thought as chilling as a cold shower on a January morning.
FIVE
Never send to know for whom the ice cream bell chimes; it chimes for thee!
—from Rosie’s ‘Little Book of Ice Cream’
‘You shouldn’t be telling me that,’
Alexander said, telling himself that he didn’t give a hoot who or what she was. Or her business. And as for Nancy, he’d paid her off...
Just like your father...
The words dropped into his head like lead weight, but what else could he do? He’d made sure she had enough money to tide her over until she found another job.
And if she didn’t...?
‘Why?’ Sorrel demanded, reclaiming his attention. She was clearly perplexed by his attitude. ‘Do you think you’re going to be trampled in the crush to buy an ice-cream parlour?’
‘No. But then I’m not interested in selling.’
‘What about Ria? What will she do if this place closes? You’re the one who suggested I offer her a job.’
‘I also told you she wouldn’t take it.’
‘Why not? I’d take care of the paperwork leaving her to concentrate on the ice cream. She’d have all the fun and none of the worry.’
If that was supposed to reassure him, to have him overcome with gratitude, she had misjudged his gullibility by a factor of ten. But then he knew Ria a lot better than she did. And he knew nothing about Sorrel Amery, except that she’d sent his hormones into meltdown. But while his body might be ready to leap blindly into bed with her, he wasn’t about to let his libido make business decisions.
‘I didn’t realise that ice cream had become such an essential ingredient in corporate entertaining,’ he said, and if he sounded as sceptical as he felt it was intentional.
‘It’s not. Yet. But I’m getting there,’ she assured him.
‘Frankly, I’m amazed it’s happening at all.’
‘Yes, your amazement is coming through loud and clear, Mr West—’
‘Alexander,’ he said, irritably. His father had been Mr West.
‘Alexander...’
His name was soft on her tongue. Like a lover’s whisper in his ear and he wished he’d let it go. ‘Mr West’ was safer. A lot safer.
‘Maybe you should come along to an event and see for yourself how we do it,’ she suggested, rather more crisply as she gave him an assessing once-over. ‘Get a haircut and if you’ve got a dinner jacket, I’ll give you a job, too. I can always use a good-looking waiter.’
He resisted the urge to rake his fingers through his hair, grab an elastic band from the pot on the desk and fasten it back. ‘I’ll pass, thanks all the same.’ She didn’t move. ‘I thought you were in a hurry to track down Nancy,’ he said, willing her to leave.
‘I am, but...’
‘What?’
‘Your, um, amazement must be catching,’ she said. ‘Cutting off the electricity would be a very simple way of getting rid of me.’
Apparently she didn’t trust him any more than he trusted her. Clearly she was smarter than she looked. But not that smart.