By the time she had finished, the order was not only rescued but increased and the customer was purring with content. Primo took them all to lunch and kept the manager locked in conversation while Olympia completed her demolition job on the customer.
They left town in time to get back to London quite early and laughed all the way.
‘You did a great job,’ he told her. ‘I’ve never seen a fish reeled in so cleverly. How about we celebrate tonight?’
Her answer was a blissful sigh.
In mid-afternoon he dropped her at her apartment block.
‘We’ll go to The Diamond Parrot,’ he said, naming London’s newest and plushest nightclub. ‘Do you have a black dress?’
‘I think so,’ she said cautiously, knowing that she hadn’t.
‘Well, you’d better take the rest of the afternoon off to make sure,’ he said, understanding perfectly.
He might have meant any kind of black dress, but the one she purchased was definitely slinky. It was made from silk and hugged her hips in a satisfactory way. When he saw it he gave a nod of satisfaction.
‘That’s just how I imagined you when I bought this,’ he said, producing a black velvet box.
Inside was a delicate set of diamond earrings and matching pendant.
‘A bonus for a job well done,’ he said.
‘From the firm?’
‘Certainly from the firm. We cherish our valuable employees.’
He watched as she slipped the earrings into place, then turned so that he could drape the pendant around her neck. To his dismay he discovered that he was reluctant. Her long neck was white and perfect, an invitation that he must not accept. He tried to fasten the clasp without touching her, then backed off quickly, lest he yield to the temptation to drop a kiss on her nape.
‘Fine, let’s go,’ he said in a voice that he hoped didn’t shake.
She looked around with a little frown, as though in surprise. He turned away from that surprise, afraid of the insight it might create. She must never guess, not until he was ready to tell her, and they could laugh together, sharing the moment of discovery.
That time, when it came, would be sweet. But it couldn’t be rushed without risking everything.
He hadn’t yet defined what ‘everything’ might mean, but he knew that with each word, each step he had to be more careful. If this had been a conventional relationship he would have often taken her into his arms by now, kissing her long and fervently, letting passion take them wherever it might. But that was forbidden while she didn’t know the truth. Even his thoughts were forbidden, although the struggle to rein them in grew harder every moment.
It was like conducting a clandestine relationship with a married woman, he thought in frustration. Except that he, himself, was the betrayed ‘husband’.
Suddenly the evening ahead didn’t seem like such a good idea. She would sit beside him, beautiful, glowing, and he must try to stay calm.
He groaned.
They found The Diamond Parrot in festive mode, having decided to make St Valentine’s Day last a while longer.
‘St Valentine’s Week,’ he murmured as they entered through dark red velvet curtains. ‘It’s original. I wish I could say the same about the roses and the glittering hearts.’
‘They’ve really overdone it, haven’t they?’ Olympia chuckled.
A waiter showed them to a table on the edge of the dance floor. One or two couples were already smooching around to the music of a small band and a glittery chanteuse who crooned about moon and June.
For a while they talked little, but relaxed after the hard work of the last two days. Olympia felt good, knowing she had impressed him, and knowing also that she looked her best. From time to time she touched the delicate diamonds about her neck, puzzled again by the constraint she had sensed in his manner as he’d clasped it about her neck.
She had waited for the feel of his fingers gently caressing the sensitive nape, as any other man would have done. But there had been nothing but the most impersonal touch as he’d fixed the clasp. She hadn’t even felt his breath against her skin, as though he were standing back to avoid her.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ she said. ‘You should be making your report to Head Office.’
‘After the roller coaster of the last few days I need to think about what I’m going to say. You make it difficult because you’re never the same person from one moment to the next.’
‘You don’t have to tell them about me as a person, just as a businesswoman.’
‘As a businesswoman you’re impressive. What you did with that customer today-well-’
‘That’s just part of my repertoire,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘The trick is to get his attention first with the old-fashioned fluttering eye technique. Then, when he’s got you down as a stupid bimbo, you bash him over the head with facts and figures. Leaves ’em reeling every time.’
‘You’re good at the fluttering eye bit, I take it.’
‘Yes, but if you do it slowly it’s more effective.
She gave a long sigh, lowering and raising her eyelids just once, very slowly. He drew a sharp breath. It was like seeing her eyes for the first time ever, unprepared for their impact. To make it worse, she gave a languorous smile, letting her lips fall apart very slightly.
‘Is that what you plan to do with him?’ he asked.
‘Him?’ she asked vaguely. ‘Who?’
‘Primo Rinucci.’
She was suddenly angry. Why did he have to drag Primo Rinucci into everything?
‘You think that’ll work, huh?’ she asked in a slightly edgy voice.
‘Sure to. Especially with all the practice you’re getting on me. Teasing is always a good bet, especially when you manage to keep your distance at the same time. It’ll stop him getting the wrong ideas. Either that or it’ll incite him to more ideas. One of the two. You’ll have to decide which you want. It wouldn’t do to become confused.’
‘It may not give him any ideas at all,’ she couldn’t resist saying. ‘It seems to leave you cold.’
‘It isn’t supposed to give me ideas,’ he pointed out. ‘I’m just here to help you in your mission in life. When you’ve sharpened your claws on me, you’ll bring your lion down.’
She chuckled suddenly.
‘When I’ve done that, will you take pictures of me standing with one foot on his helpless form, like the old hunters used to do?’
‘I’ll even help you mount his head on the wall,’ he promised. ‘You can put it in the centre of all the other trophies.’
‘What other trophies?’
‘The others you’ve used for practice, with my head in the centre.’
‘Uh-uh!’ she said, shaking her head. ‘You can stay cool about it. That’s what makes you so valuable.’
It was a let-out and he should have seized it, but some demon urged him on to say, ‘I should have thought it made me useless. If nothing works with me, how are you going to know what works with him?’
‘Aha!’ She seemed much struck by this point of view. After considering for a moment she asked, ‘Do you and he have the same tastes?’
‘Pretty similar,’ he said, crossing his fingers and wishing he’d never started this.
‘Is he-or you-sophisticated or corny?’
‘How do you mean, corny?’
‘You remember those old Hollywood films where the heroine wore her hair tight back, then pulled it loose to signify that she was starting a new life? That kind of corny.’
‘I don’t think I ever saw those films,’ he said, rashly tempting fate.
‘Like this.’
With a swift movement, she tugged at her hair so that it came free, flooding over her bare shoulders like a black silky fountain. Some of it fell down the sides of her face, throwing her features into mysterious shadow.
Una strega. Una bellissima strega magica.
‘That’s how they do it,’ she said, ‘and the hero takes one look at her and goes gaga, because he’s thinking, How can that grim-faced harpy have turned into this seductive creature? And she doesn’t tell him the truth, which is that it took six hours and the entire make-up department, and if he’s fool enough to marry her it’s the grim harpy he’ll find on the pillow in the morning. Oh, no, she lets him think it’s the power of ler-rrve.’