This Could Change Everything(16)

‘Right. Yes.’ Lucas nodded and took a sip of cognac. His expression was utterly unreadable.

As Essie put down the tray and began offloading glasses, Jude said to Lucas, ‘You don’t mind that I hired her without asking you first, do you? She’s so much better than Hopeless Henry. I just thought, why wait?’

‘It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting to come in and find . . . someone new, that’s all.’ He pushed his fingers through his hair, raking it back from his forehead. ‘Maybe I’ll take her up to the office, get everything sorted.’

‘Are you sure?’ Jude looked surprised. ‘I can take care of that tomorrow.’

He rested his hand briefly on her arm. ‘I’ll do it now. It’s fine.’

Having ushered Essie upstairs and into the tiny office at the end of the corridor, Lucas signalled for her to sit down at the desk. Still holding the drink he’d brought through with him, he demanded without preamble, ‘Go on then, what’s this about?’

For all the world as if she were the one at fault. Essie bristled. ‘Excuse me?’

‘I’m simply asking you to tell me what you’re doing here.’

‘I think you could probably work out the answer to that, couldn’t you? I lost my job, which meant I had to find another one. That’s generally the way these things work, isn’t it?’

‘And as far as you’re concerned, I owe you a job?’

‘Are you serious? Is that what you think?’

‘I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. Either that or you’re here to cause some kind of trouble, to somehow pay me back by making things difficult . . .’

‘So you think I tracked you down and came here on purpose?’ Essie was outraged. ‘I had no idea this was your bar! Believe me, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have applied to work here . . . It’s the last place I’d have come crawling to!’ She could feel the heat in her cheeks, because he was scrutinising her so intently.

‘Right.’ Lucas was clearly sceptical.

‘You still don’t believe me? My God. OK, just pop out tomorrow and ask every bar in the city if I dropped in yesterday asking for work,’ she said furiously. ‘If anyone else had offered me a job, I wouldn’t be here now.’

He looked at her. ‘So what you’re saying is this is just an embarrassing coincidence?’

Was he being sarcastic? Essie shook her head. ‘It’s worse than embarrassing. Everything’s ruined now. I was so happy this evening . . . I loved every minute here, until you turned up. And now this has happened, which means I’m back to square one all over again. Because there’s no way I can work for you.’

He leaned back against the wall, loosened his tie and unfastened the top button of his white shirt. ‘Could you stop glaring at me like that?’

‘I think I’m allowed to glare. You’ve lost me two jobs in one week. How would you feel if it happened to you?’

‘OK, OK.’ He made calm-down gestures with his hands. ‘But you haven’t actually lost the second job. I’m not the one who’s said you can’t work here.’

‘So basically you still have no idea what you’ve done to me.’

‘I’ve apologised. How many more times can I say sorry? It was a lapse of judgement, a stupid mistake. I didn’t know what was going to happen,’ said Lucas. ‘When your brother read out what you’d written, I wasn’t even listening properly—’

‘You must be feeling guilty,’ Essie cut in, because it had only just occurred to her. ‘Jude knows all about what happened to me, but you didn’t tell her you were the one responsible.’

Lucas inclined his head. ‘No, I didn’t.’

‘So you have to be a bit ashamed of what you did.’

‘What are you saying?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re going to tell everyone here that it was my fault?’

Essie’s brain whirred, because this scenario hadn’t even occurred to her. Of course it would be tempting, in one way, to embarrass Lucas. It might make her feel better and would serve him right.

Then again, she’d never been a vindictive person. OK, his ridiculous thoughtless actions had had unforeseen consequences, but how would she feel if her tit-for-tat retaliation did too?

No, it wasn’t the kind of thing she’d ever do.

Just call me St Essie.

She said, ‘Luckily for you, I would never do something so mean.’

For a couple of seconds he gazed directly at her. Then he put down his almost empty brandy glass. ‘Well, thanks. I appreciate that.’

‘So you should.’

After another pause, Lucas said, ‘You can carry on working here if you want.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I couldn’t.’

‘Because you can’t stand the sight of me?’

‘Because I can’t stand what you did.’ Was he unable to comprehend what she’d been through, thanks to him?

‘Well, that’s a shame.’ Lucas shrugged. ‘Jude’s going to wonder why you changed your mind.’

This was true. Essie thought about it. ‘It has to be something personal.’

‘We met a year ago, I asked you out on a date, I stood you up.’ There was a glimmer of amusement in his dark eyes. ‘You never got over it and it would just be too awkward, us working together.’