(2012) Evie Undercover (5 page)

‘At least
that’s something
we agree on
,’ h
e
said with
a wry smile. ‘I suggest that we buy that spray today and then put the whole s
ad
episode to bed. Ooops, I’m sorry!’ His hand flew dramatically to his forehead. ‘An unfortunate choice of expression. But you get my drift, I’m sure.’

‘
Indeed I do get your drift
,’ she said stiffly. She sat back against her chair and picked up her cup
. S
he was the one who was
meant to be playing high drama
,
not him.
‘Why don’t we drift on to a different subject?’

‘What an admirable play on words, Evie. With such a talent, you really ought to consider becoming a lawyer or taking up journalism.’ Her cup clattered to the saucer as she choked on her coffee.
‘Hey, you’ve gone bright red. A
re you al
l
right? Do you want me to thump you on your back or perform the Heimlich
m
anoeuvre? If I have a choice, I think I’ll go for the
first
option.’

‘I’m fine, thank you,’ she croaked. ‘It’s just that I used to dream about being a lawyer when I was a child
,
so what you said hit a nerve.’

‘Well, all I can say is, with the nerve you’ve already exhibited and your ability to achieve your desired outcome in the face of adverse odds, it’s a great loss to the legal profession that you didn’t pursue your childhood dream.’

‘I thought we weren’t go
ing to mention last night again:
not directly, not indirectly.’ She cleared her throat a couple of times
in an effort
to bring her squeaking voice down by several octaves.

‘You’re right. I’m sorry
about making the
comment. It was meant as a joke, but I can see
that it was a pretty poor one. B
eing in your bed is no joking matter.’

She
bit her lip. Was that good or bad? She glanced anxiously across the table and their eyes met. His face broke into a warm smile.

‘OK, enough is enough
,
I’ll let it drop.’ He leaned back and gazed around him in satisfaction. ‘I must say, one
way or another
this has been a most
unusual start to a visit to Italy
,
but that’s by no means a bad thing
–
it’s all been very entertaining. But you’re right
,
sufficient has been said on a certain subject and it’s
now
time to move on. So
,
what shall we talk about?’

‘How about what we’re doing today – apart from visiting the supermarket, that is.’ She gave him a wide smile – yup, it had been one step forward, and no steps back.

‘First of
all, we’re going to the house. W
e’re meeting the
geometra
there at about eleven. It’ll take us roughly forty-five minutes to get there.’ He looked at his watch. ‘In fact, we can set off at any time now. How long do you need to get ready?’

‘No time at all
–
I
am
ready.’ She swivelled round in her chair and started to pull her jacket towards her.

He leaned forward. ‘Yesterday morning, I would have agreed with you, Evie. Yesterday morning, I wouldn’t have expected you to be wearing anything other than a suit or a skirt and blouse. But that was yesterday morning. Last night I saw a slightly different Evie, and I think that the Evie of last night would choose to wear something more comfortable on what’s going to be a very hot day. I’m right, aren’t I?’

‘I suppose you are.’ She gave a short laugh that suggested embarrassment. ‘About the geeky clothes I was wearing last week, it was just that I wanted to look older and more secretaryish so that you’d
feel
confident I could do the job. I knew that I was on probation. But I suppose that sounds very silly to someone like you.’ Cringing inwardly, she attempted a Pathetic Little Woman expression.

‘Not at all,’ he purred. ‘I’m sure it’s quite understandable. At least, I think it is. Shall we say fifteen minutes, then?’

‘That’ll be fine. I’ll put on a dress
–
it’ll be much cooler.’ She stood up and started to move away from the table.

‘You’ve forgotten your glasses,’ he called after her. ‘Unless, of course, you no longer need them. The trauma of a recent, unmentionable event may well have effected a miraculous improvement in your
vision
. I’m sure that such things
have been known to
happen.’

As she went back to the table to pick up her glasses, she saw that he was grinning broadly as he raised his cup to drain the last of his coffee.

Damn, she thought.

Chapter Four

Getting to know you …
Getting to know all about you …

‘Here.’ Tom leaned across from the driver’s seat and handed Evie a leather case. ‘You’ll find the house
plans
in one of the pockets and
also
some rough sketches of furniture.
Obviously
I need to see the house again before I decide on anything
for certain
. The
geometra
’s got some ideas as well.’ He threw the four
-
by
-
four into gear. ‘Having a woman’s touch wouldn’t be a bad thing, either, so feel free t
o chip in with any suggestions.’
He put his foot down on the accelerator.
‘The dress is an improvement, by the way.’

She
beam
ed at him.
‘
Thank you. And t
hanks for suggesting
that
I change my clothes
. T
his is much more comfortable
.’

‘My pleasure. And indeed, it is my pleasure: you
were
a veritable eyes
ore in some of the things you wore
last week. And before you decide to sue me for that non PC comment,’ he said, throwing her a quick smile before returning his eyes to the road, ‘you should know that a legal defence to the charge of slander is that the statement tells the truth.
“
Evie Shaw looks much better in her
yellow dress and without thick glasses, M’Lud; and that’s the truth.
”
’

Ohmigod, she was going red again! A bright red face so did
not
go with auburn hair.

‘I love p
lanning rooms and furniture,’ she said in a rush.
‘It’s fun.’
She
buried her head in the case and
pulled
out
the photos and drawings. ‘And I like co-ordinating colours.’
And she did.
The purple walls of her room in the Camden Town house she shared with her best friends, Rachel and Jess, made a real statement. Everyone said so.

So he was into beautiful houses and scenery
, was he?

Sh
e stared with unseeing eyes at the
photo of the Umbrian house
on her lap
, and tried to imagine the expression on her editor’s face if the highlight
s
of her exposé w
ere
the revelation
s
that Tom Hadleigh was mad about an old stone house, appreciated stunning landscapes, was thoughtful and had a cool sense of humour. All she needed to set the seal on her instant dismissal was to discover that he loved children and dogs and wanted to bring peace to the world
.

‘I want you to get everything you can on that
lump
of pig
shit,’ her editor had said as he’d handed her a wire to wear if necessary. ‘But it’s got to be provable – times, dates, places, and so on
–
not some
old
smut that would be kicked out of court as hearsay. And there’ll be a bonus if you can show that he and Zizi Westenhall were into something kinky
–
people like that always are. Find me something I can nail him with, Evie, or don’t bother to come back.’

Well, she wasn’t going to find kinky
–
she’d spent more than enough time with Tom to know that
–
and she’d no intention of making something up
:
she was a reporter, not a
fiction
writer
. But that didn’t mean to say she wouldn’t get her story
–
she would,
but
it wouldn’t be nasty
.

Her job at
Pure Dirt
was the start of her dream coming true and she wasn’t going to throw
away
her chance
. Her dream had begun when she was ten years old and had seen her name in the local newspaper under the story about the friendship between her dog and a piglet, and it had still been her dream when she
’d
left school. She’d gone straight from school to Lake Garda for a year to get her Italian up to scratch, and had sent a weekly article about life in an Italian hotel back to the local newspaper. On her return to England, she’d gone to work full-time for the paper.

Not even the less-than-riveting subjects she’d covered
–
the school achievements, weddings, local fêtes
,
disputes between neighbours over the height of a hedge
–
had dampened her burning desire to work for a top magazine
. Two years later, it was clear to her that
the local paper had taught her
everything
it could,
and
she’d left Suffolk and gone to London with the aim of getting a job with
Glamour
,
Glamour Puss
or
Cosmopolitan
.

Her and all the rest.
A lot of other girls had the same aim, she’d soon found out, and she hadn’t even been able to get a job making tea for anyone in any of the top magazines. Finally, after
more than a year
of temping while appl
ying
to magazine after magazine, she’d been offered a post at
Pure Dirt
.

A gossip rag wasn’t the path she’d have chosen to go down if
she’d had any choice,
but she hadn’t, and she’d grabbed the opportunity with both hands,
see
ing it
as a stepping stone that could lead to one of the big magazines. She’d heard of a girl who’d gone straight from
Pure Dirt
to
Glamour Puss
,
and if it could happen to that girl, it could happen to her.

Rachel and Jess had been horrified when she’d told them where she was going to work. OK, she’d agreed in the face of their appalled shrieks, the magazine
was
a bit in
-
your
-
face and did sometimes go over the top
,
but it had to be like that if it was going to stand out from the hoards of other gossip magazines that lined the shelves. They knew how hard she’d tried to find work on a magazine, and
they knew
it was the only offer she’d had.

And just because
Pure Dirt
was a bit close to the mark, she’d added – well, miles over the mark, if she was
truly
honest with herself
–
it didn’t mean that she had to sink to the lowest level. She was going to be one of the good guys
. S
he’d uncover the truth and tell it like it was, but nothing more than that. That had to be possible, even at
Pure Dirt
.

‘Think
Pure
,’ she’d told them. ‘Not
Dirt
. A story doesn’t have to be
invasive
and malicious to be a bloody good read.’

‘Oh, yeah!’ they’d chorused.

‘It’s
still
dirt,’ Jess had said, standing up, ‘but it’s clean, honest dirt. So that’s OK
, then.’ And s
he and Rachel had gone off to their rooms, leaving waves of disapproval in their wake.

Since that conversation they’d been quite shitty towards her, and it had been a real relief to get away from their caustic comments for a week. But once the magazine had published her article and they’d seen that she’d worked on a matter of public interest, they’d know that they’d been wrong about her job and
things’d go
back to
the way they
used to be
.