Elizabeth Bevarly - An Irresistible Temptation

Geoff laughed. “She’d settle for an autograph.”

“Send me her name and I’ll get Mum to autograph a picture for her.”

“Thanks. If there’s ever anything I can do for you.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Steven showed up a few minutes later. “A girl is at the front desk asking for you, Henry.”

“A girl?”

“Astrid something. I told them I’d let you know.”

“Thanks. I guess that means I need to go.”

“Do you?” Geoff asked. “Who is she?”

“My new assistant, Astrid Taylor.”

Steven signaled the butler and ordered a drink. Geoff rubbed the back of his neck.

“Did she used to work for Daniel Martin?”

“Yes, I believe she did. Why?”

“I recall reading something in the business journal about it. She sued them because they didn’t give her adequate exit benefits. Just be careful.”

“I always am,” Henry said. “I know a lot about building a winning team.”

“I’ll say. Do you have time for another drink before you go meet her?” Steven said as his drink arrived.

Henry wasn’t sure and being indecisive didn’t sit well with him. He shook his head. “I better not. We have a couple of meetings tonight. I appreciate the information Geoff. I’ll keep my eyes open.”

Geoff laughed. “I sound like my sisters passing gossip.”

“You have sisters?” Steven asked.

Henry had to laugh at that. They’d been linked…well their names had since their birth, but they were virtual strangers.

“I have two younger brothers,” Henry said.

“I’m an only child.” Steven took a sip of his drink. “But we can talk about siblings later.”

“I’m not sure I trust Malcolm not to throw something else at one of us,” Geoff said.

“I agree. I’m surprised even being faced with his mortality has made him contact us,” Henry said.

“Too right,” Geoff added.

“I don’t give a damn about his legacy,” Steven said. “I’m in this for the money and the challenge.”

Henry laughed at the way Steven said that. This man was someone who just said what he wanted, to hell with the consequences.

“I see your point.”

“Good…on that note, I think you should know that I’ve been contacted by a magazine…Fashion Quarterly—”

“Isn’t that a woman’s magazine?” Henry asked. His mum loved the magazine and read it cover to cover each month.

“Yes, it is. The editor-in-chief needed a favor from me and I helped her out in exchange for a promise to run some articles on us in her magazine.”

“On us?” Geoff asked. “Everything I do has to go through the Royal Press Office.”

“It’s on our mums, actually since it’s a woman’s mag but they will mention our business units and do a bit of a showcase on each one as well,” Steven said.

“My mum will love that,” Henry said.

“I’m not so sure about this,” Geoff said.

“Just talk to her,” Steven said. “We need the publicity and this is a nice angle.”

“I’m in. You don’t need to convince me,” Henry said, glancing at his watch. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

“I like your idea of using the airlines to promote the album covers,” Geoff said. “So I’ll be calling you tomorrow or the next day to get a team together to move that idea forward.”

“I’ll look forward to your call,” Henry said. “Steven, I’ve got a few ideas for using the Everest Mega Store to promote my newer artists. Do you have time to meet with me this week?”

“I do. Shoot me over an e-mail with your availability and we will make it work,” Steven said. “I have to go to New York to check out our North American operation.”

“Indeed,” Henry said. “So we’re doing this again next week?”

“Yes. I think a weekly check-in is a good idea,” Steven said.

Henry left his half brothers and walked slowly through the club. He didn’t worry about Malcolm because that man was a stranger to him just like Steven and Geoff, and he was the type of man who didn’t worry about the future. He’d take care of what he needed to.

And right now that involved finding out a little more about Astrid and her past employer.

He spotted her standing at the coat check. She was talking on her mobile and turned around as he came down the stairs. She waved at him and smiled.

He smiled back, thinking that talking to his assistant was going to be very enjoyable.

* * *

Astrid hung up the phone as Henry joined her. He looked good in his trendy casual clothing. He wore gray trousers and a button-down shirt left open at the collar with a navy blue sport coat that made his eyes seem brighter. He smiled at her as he approached, and she just stood there for a minute not saying anything.

It didn’t help that he was one of the rugby players she’d had an insane crush on when she was a teenager, which made it harder for her to see him as her boss now that they weren’t in the office.

“Hello, Astrid. What did you need me for?”

“A signature. Without one your staff isn’t going to get paid,” she said. They all got paid monthly, so missing a pay period could put a lot of the staff in a bind. And since she’d only just started at Everest Records she didn’t have the relationships needed to finesse the payroll clerks into giving her an extra day.

She handed him the papers and he signed them with a flourish. His signature had style just like the man.

Oh, for God’s sake, she thought. She was developing a crush on him. On her boss! This had to stop.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Are you going back to the office now?”

“No. I have a runner waiting for this packet. I’m supposed to meet you in fifteen minutes and I’d never make it on time.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Did you eat yet?” he asked.

She shook her head. There hadn’t been time. She handed the packet to the runner she’d brought with her, and he took it and left.

“Want to grab a bite?” Henry asked. “I’m hungry.”

“Sounds good.”

He led the way out of the club. “Do you have a car?”

“No. I take the underground mostly. Congestion charges and parking are outrageous,” she said.

“That they are. There’s a congestion charge around my neighborhood. I have to pay to drive home.” Traffic was a major problem in some London areas, so a charge had been introduced to ease traffic flow during certain hours.

“Not many days,” she said. “I hear you get home in the wee hours of the morning.”

He chuckled. “That’s true. But if I kept respectable hours I’d have to pay.”

“You do now with the job,” she said.

“That’s true,” he said. “What about you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Is this job keeping you respectable?”

She had no idea what Henry was after with his questions. The valet brought his car around and after she was seated in the Ferrari Enzo, Henry put the car in gear. He drove with confidence and skill, negotiating the traffic with ease. She couldn’t help but admire the way that he drove. She was beginning to believe there was little that Henry didn’t do well.

“Of course it is.”

“Did your last job, working for Mo Rollins’s group, do the same?”

She had a sinking feeling that he’d checked her employment record. Had he found out about her affair? Bethann had suggested to her before she’d taken this job at Everest Records that she should work in another industry, but the record industry was all she knew.

“I took that job really seriously, Henry. I was a good employee and supported Daniel in every way I could.”

“But he still let you go,” Henry said.

“I had a health issue,” she said. This was a nightmare, she thought. When she’d been in the throes of her affair with Daniel it had never occurred to her that someday she’d be answering questions about why she no longer worked for him.