o’clock the offices were deserted, save for Beth. She
was just waiting for Dan and his crew to arrive so that she could hand over the
keys as instructed and then she too could go and make the most of the
unexpected break.
“Good morning, Beth!” Dan breezed into the office, his usual
tsunami-like charm offensive sweeping all before him. “Good weekend?”
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Chesterfield. I certainly wasn’t
expecting Mr. Granger’s message when I arrived this morning.”
Dan perched a hip on the corner of her desk, looking very
masculine and it had to be said, attractive in his formal business suit. He
gave a sarcastic snort. “You know what the old man’s like. Once he gets an idea
in his head, he has to do something about it and we all have to jump.”
She had to agree—her employer did like getting his own way.
That was one of the traits that made him an ideal model for her fantasy Dom.
Ten minutes later Beth had completed a final check of the
offices and returned to Reception, where Dan Chesterfield was waiting for her.
“Do we have the all-clear, sweetheart?”
“I believe so, Mr. Chesterfield,” Beth replied, almost on a
sigh. She held up her hand. In the palm rested the keys to the offices, the
safes and the climate-controlled vault. Her eyes, fixed on the keys, became
very serious. “I’ve been responsible for these keys for three years. It’s not a
responsibility I give up lightly.”
“Worry not, my angel,” he said blithely, plucking the bunch
of keys from her hand. “You can leave everything in my hands. Go and treat
yourself to some retail therapy,” he suggested with a playful wink.
Beth shot him a look, one eyebrow raised. Men! They never
did grow up. Even Adam had been known to throw his toys out of the pram
occasionally, in the adult male version of a tantrum that would have done a
four-year-old proud.
“Thank you, Mr. Chesterfield.” She fixed her gaze on his
way-too-handsome face, trying to make that gaze as steely as possible. “Just
you make sure you look after this place, or I’ll—“
“You’ll what, dear Beth?” he prompted, not bothering to hide
his amusement at the prospect of a threat from a woman at least four inches
shorter—and that was with heels on—and conservatively, a hundred pounds lighter
than him.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll do my best to make it dire!” she
promised. “Good day, Mr. Chesterfield.”
Dan watched her leave, admiring the feminine grace she
displayed so naturally and considering what he’d just learned about Beth
Harrison. A woman who didn’t give up responsibility very easily—perhaps that
was the challenge that would convince his friend to take action.
With a thoughtful look on his face, Dan checked the time—his
crew would be arriving in a few minutes but there was time for a quick phone
call to a man who was in Oxfordshire rather than Amsterdam, as he’d claimed.
“Adam? Beth’s just gone. You know, she really is too lovely
to take her responsibilities so seriously all the time—you need to do something
about it. What? You are? About fucking time! I’d ask you if you were planning
to share her, but I’m kind of attached to my family jewels.”
At the end of the call Dan pocketed his phone, his mouth
curving into a very satisfied grin. He’d helped Adam set up the playroom at his
house in Oxfordshire. If only Beth knew what was awaiting her…
Adam ended the call, inwardly digesting what his friend had
told him.
He’d spent the weekend obsessing about Beth, trying to
figure out the best way to take their relationship from a purely business
footing to a more personal one. By midnight on Sunday he had decided that he
needed a few days’ distance from his assistant to ensure that he came to a
sensible and workable decision. The fictitious trip to Amsterdam presented the
ideal camouflage.
He also needed to make sure that the playroom was ready for her.
It would be very easy to create a playroom just