In an effort to push past what was for her an awkward moment, Spence stopped in midstride and waved her hand in Pamela’s direction. “Guys, this is Pam. I met her while working the Milan case.”
Ever the gentleman, Andy immediately rose, stepped out from behind his desk, and greeted Pamela by offering her his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Andy Webb. Spence told me about the adventures the two of you shared in Milan and how you assisted her in bringing that case to a successful conclusion. Might I add my thanks for your help, Miss…?”
Pamela graced Andy an unaffected cover-girl smile as she lightly placed her hand in his. “Dutton, Pamela Dutton. Rest assured, the pleasure was all mine. It was a real joy to see a professional like Karen at work up close.”
Upon hearing the name Dutton, Andy hesitated as his mind ran through a long list of past acquaintances in an effort to recall where he’d heard that name before.
Before he was able to do so, Tommy had managed to remember his manners and close his mouth as he shot up from his seat, sending it flying backward. “Hi, Pam, I’m Tom,” he declared as his hand shot out to the alluring vision before him.
Having been warned of Tommy’s viselike handshakes and his habit of pumping the hand he was holding with all the grace of a trip-hammer, Pamela took care as she accepted his. “A pleasure, Tom,” she cooed mischievously in an effort to see if everything Spence had told her about the stubby little taffy was true.
As Tommy stood before her gobsmacked, Pamela glanced over his shoulder at the pile of components nestled haphazardly on the bed of candy wrappers and Post-it notes. In an instant her cool, well-measured demeanor was replaced by a burst of girlish delight. “Wow! Is that a Geforce GTX 690?” she exclaimed as she pulled her hand free from Tommy’s and stepped around him to get a better look at what he’d been tinkering with. “I’ve so been wanting to upgrade my graphics card. I’ve had one of them on my wish list forever. Is it as good as they say?” she asked as her eyes darted about the circuit boards in a manner that reminded Andy of a little girl who was beholding a hoard of gifts scattered under the tree on Christmas morning.
For a moment Tommy was taken aback by the sudden change of tack in the conversation. Then, as he was recovering his footing, he suddenly realized he had all but died and gone to heaven. “It’s pretty good,” he informed Pamela offhandedly as he did his best to rein in his enthusiasm while ever so carefully sidling up next to her. “I’ll give you that, but to get the best out of it you need to overclock it.” After waiting for her to respond, he tore his eyes off his latest acquisition and up at Pamela. “I take it you know your way around computers.”
“It’s something of a hobby of mine at the moment,” she muttered without ever taking her eyes off the wondrous bits and pieces of computer hardware before her. “I’ve always enjoyed taking them apart and upgrading them myself.”
Tommy laughed. “God, a girl after my own heart! All Spence wants to do is mess around with code. I’ll wager your folks are pleased to have a girl who is interested in something other than the silly stuff that fills most women’s heads these days.”
A small, sad moue appeared on Pamela’s lips as she decided to play along with Tommy’s appalling attempt at flirtation. “There have been times when I expect Daddy would take issue with that.”
“Why?”
“I once tried to upgrade his issue MoD laptop when I was twelve. The thing was a piece of junk. I knew I could improve its performance. Unfortunately, that little prank earned me a right proper what-for I didn’t soon forget.”
Her comment drew a startled look from Andy, who until that moment had been watching Tommy’s antics with amusement. “Your father’s in the military?”
“Yes, the army. He’s a member of the Black Mafia and, like all members of The Rifles, both current and former, is mightily proud of it.”
“Greg Dutton? Your father is Greg Dutton?”
Andy’s smile became slightly wooden as Pamela happily nodded her head, her bouncing ponytail catching Tommy’s attention and keeping him firmly distracted.
“And he knew what you and Spence were doing in Milan?”
“Yes, of course he did,” Pamela exclaimed mischievously. “When I told him how Spence and I played it, he couldn’t keep from laughing. He thought it was hilarious.”
“Does he know Spence works here, for me?” Andy asked hesitantly, half hoping, half fearing, the answer.
Pamela’s laughter was all he needed. “God yes! That’s mainly why he thought it hilarious.”
By now Spence had finished shutting down her laptop, tidying her desk, rinsing out her coffee mug, and collecting the outbound mail from Andy’s desk. “Right! Ready to go?” she asked when she was finally able to turn her attention back to Pamela.
Pamela offered a smile to Andy and Tommy as she hoisted her own bag back up onto the shoulder it had slid off. “It’s been a real pleasure meeting you, Tommy,” she cooed while giving him a mischievous little grin before turning toward Andy and offering him her hand. “Daddy did ask me to pass on his regards.” With that, she pivoted about on her heels and, with Spence at her side, made for the exit.
For the longest time Tommy and Andy stood rooted to their respective spots, both staring at the door. Tommy was the first to break the silence. “Think I’ve got a chance?” he asked without taking his eyes from the door.
“No,” Andy snapped abruptly as if waking from a trance.
“And why not?” Tommy shot back, aggrieved by Andy’s blunt, uncompromised response.
“Three reasons,” Andy intoned as he turned his full attention to Tommy before ticking off his justification for wishing to keep him in check. “First off, she’s young enough to be your daughter. Second, she’s the daughter of Major General Dutton, a man who was a hardnosed and uncompromising SOB when he was my CO in Bosnia. I seriously doubt he’s changed much since. Finally, and no less important, I have no desire to tell someone from my own regiment that their pride and joy is carrying on with someone who’s not only a Welshman, but was cavalry to boot.”
Taking Andy’s comment in stride, and determined to have the last word, Tommy grinned. “Well, nobody’s perfect, mate.”
Having no wish to continue with this exchange, but equally needing to have the last word, Andy grunted as he took to critically regarding Tommy from head to toe. “True, true. All anyone has to do is spend five minutes with you to know that for a fact.”
“God! I am so going to get the third degree in the office tomorrow,” Spence mumbled, shaking her head mournfully as her pizza arrived.
“Yeah, but the look on your boss’s face was priceless. Anyway, how were you to know that Daddy was a general? I never told you.” Pamela snickered, as she still found it impossible to keep from being amused by the way she’d played Spence’s coworkers whilst she toyed with her Caesar salad.
Spence, on the other hand, was anything but amused, going out of her way to point this out to Pamela. “You don’t know Andy. He’s the kind who expects us to know everything about everyone we deal with well in advance. No doubt he’ll hit me with one of his maxims tomorrow, reminding me how time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted, or”—she paused, her fork halfway to her lips—“if he’s really annoyed he’ll do it in Latin and snicker while he watches me go online to a Latin-English translation program to see what he just said.”
The ever cheerful model dismissed Spence’s grim thoughts as she chirped brightly. “Stop worrying. We just finished a lingerie shoot. I’ll give you a signed photo from it you can give Tommy tomorrow morning.”