A Matter of Trust: London Calling Book One (10 page)

“See, Aidan? That’s why I like her. Jane and I are kindred spirits. Which is all the more reason for you to marry her.” She poked him in the ribs, impishly prodding him while uttering the joke she’d been repeating after meeting his girlfriend. Since befriending Aidan, she revealed more of herself than usual. No longer just the serious young woman from months ago, she easily slipped into the role of mischievous matchmaker.

He smiled. “If you must know, I
am
asking her to marry me.” Devon stopped walking for a second, unaccountably pleased. He continued, “This weekend. So stop harassing me and wish me luck instead.”

Swamping him in a spontaneous hug, Devon wished him the best and assured him he had nothing to worry about. “She’s nuts for you. And I don’t know of two people more perfect for each other.”
 

“Thank you,” he said while flushing a little. “Maybe we can convince you that some people do stick.”

***

“Next time we go out, I’ll take you to Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. Since you have a thing for cemeteries, you’ll love that place. It’s free too, and right here in the City of London, so you’re squaring up to be a perfect date.” Aidan tossed Devon a bottled water as he teased her while lounging on the corner of her desk. Both of them were still flushed from hurrying back from St. Dunstan. She laughed, uncapping the bottle to take a long drink.
 

Neither saw the brooding man in the doorway watching both of them with dark intensity.

“Next time you
go out
, I’ll thank you to be back in time for scheduled meetings.” Bennett spoke harshly, startling them both. “In fact, Aidan, I’m not sure you should be
going out
with fellow staffers at all. Aren’t you engaged? Jane, isn’t it?”

Devon interjected, trying to help. “Actually he’s not.” She fumbled, “I mean, he’s about to be, but he isn’t. Yet. Well…” She stopped, swallowing nervously.

Aidan spoke up. “I’m sorry, but what scheduled meeting?”
 

Bennett swung his glare back to the other man. “You’re both late for a meeting I called in the boardroom. I expect you to check your messages, even when you’re out.” His gaze raked them both, top to bottom. “Of course, I hardly thought you’d be out taking postage stamp tours on company time.” He turned on his heel, pulling open Devon’s door. “Now both of you, get your things together and meet me in five.
As requested
.”

By the time Bennett was in the elevator, his jaw ached from grinding his teeth together. Planting his feet wide, he stabbed the button for the correct floor and took several deep breaths.
 

He was being an overbearing, pompous ass.
 

But seeing Devon happy with another man had thrown him. He hadn’t expected the sudden constriction of his lungs, the inability to breathe when he’d seen her laughing with Aidan. Possessiveness, swift and primal, erupted within him. The asinine notions he’d harbored for resisting her faded.
 

Was his grandfather right? Was he essentially punishing Devon for something Olivia did so long ago?

Bennett exited the elevator with unusual restlessness. He had a lot to think about, but this wasn’t the time. Aidan and Devon looked up expectantly as he entered the boardroom. They quickly looked back down again, murmuring over the shared data they viewed on their laptops. They sat close, huddled so they could better see each other’s screens.

Instantly, his mood soured further. He felt excluded. Isolated.

“Devon,” he barked, impatient with her lack of attention to him.

“Yes?” She patiently answered, not rising to his provocation.

“Update me on steel hedges. Concisely.” He deliberately asked for something she hadn’t worked on. The devil rode him, wanting her to feel a fraction of his discomfort, the unrelenting uncertainty that plagued him when she was near.
 

She looked helplessly at Aidan, lost. “I apologi—”

Aidan fielded the question, only adding to Bennett’s frustration. They worked fluidly as a team now, aided by weeks of seamless integration when Bennett had tossed them together while he flew off to the sites with Natalie.
 

He clenched his fist before smoothing it back out on the table before him. “That’s very good, Aidan.” He trained his gaze on Devon. “Devon, you’re relying on Aidan to answer your questions. That’s not nearly good enough, especially for me.” Her gasp of outrage caused one side of his mouth to lift in triumph. “A little less time sightseeing and a little more time working, hmm?”

He made sure he was out the door before she could think of a reply. Or worse.

***

Devon fumed, rapidly laying the final touches on reports she and Aidan had worked on for weeks. Taking a final look before approving it, she printed out a copy and marched down the hallway to Bennett’s door. With a token raise of her brows to Natalie, she walked right in, crossing the room’s wide expanse to arrive at his desk. He was swiveled away, apparently deep in thought as he stared out the window to his impressive view.
 

She smacked the report down on his desk and took a seat, waiting.

Bennett pushed a foot to swing his chair around to face her.
 

She flicked a casual hand toward the report. “It’s the hedge fund project. Global top twenty with Euro, Asian, and North American region subsets. Top ten funds outlined with projected earnings along with potential vulnerabilities.” She rose to full height, staring him down. “This is what I was assigned, not just commodities or steel. And it’s a full week early. I worked hard on this.”

She was heading for the door before he spoke. “Devon.”
 

She stopped, freezing in place.

“Get back here.”

She went back to the chair she’d vacated and took a seat. He never looked at her, just continued to read the report she’d given him. After a few minutes, he looked up, running his hand over the faint stubble on his jaw.
 

“It’s good. I have to take a longer look, but you did a good job.” He continued to eye her levelly. “And way before schedule.”

She moved to rise, feeling validated but still angry with him. “May I go?”

She thought she heard him sigh.

“Yes.” He hesitated before adding, “I’m sorry. You probably haven’t had a chance to see much of London or the UK.” He ran two fingers inside the collar of his shirt, as if loosening it. “Perhaps I could serve as tour guide sometime. I did grow up here, after all.”

She stopped in the act of getting up to gape at him. Pressing a hand to the fluttery feeling in her stomach, she involuntarily glanced over her shoulder to the exit. Bennett cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to him.

“Forget it. Obviously, it’s such a big decision for you,” he said gruffly. “Christ, it’s not like I proposed.”

Once again, the man could fling her from one mood to the next with lightning speed. As spots of color reddened her cheeks, she pursed her lips, trying to hold herself back.

It was no use. He was
maddening
.

“We both know that’s never happening, as you’ve made it so clear in the past,” she said loudly. His eyes widened on hers. “It’s best I stay away from you, though, for my own good.
I don’t want to get any ideas above my station
.”

She thought she heard him curse as she slammed out his door.

***

The art exhibition was in full swing when Devon entered the Courtauld Gallery later that evening. She was no stranger to attending events alone, and most times she’d have said she preferred to view art without the distraction of someone else’s nattering. But she was feeling lonely tonight, sick of her own company. Idly, she wished Dominic were here. He’d pushed his visit back a couple of times already. Now he was vague about his arrival. She wondered if he’d come at all now, considering his schedule and how busy he was.

She sighed. It really wasn’t Dominic she wanted beside her anyway. She missed Bennett. Even when he enraged her, she was more stimulated and enervated than she’d ever been with anyone else in her life. He drew her in, entrancing her with his many facets.

She toured the displayed artwork, oblivious to the admiring glances being cast her way. She wore unrelenting black, to suit her mood and the setting. A cowled sweater dress was cinched by a leather hip belt and finished with plain-heeled boots. Silver hoops shone at her ears where her dark hair had been pulled back into a messy chignon.
 

She stopped to view a magnificent wall mural when a deep voice spoke behind her. “Hello Devon. Fancy meeting you here.”

Her heart beat once, then again before she looked behind her to see Bennett and Natalie, standing close. He had changed from earlier, but still managed to look expensive and virile in vintage denims with a black roll neck sweater. Where he was dark, Natalie was light. She wore cream slacks paired with a white silk blouse that complemented her pale blonde beauty and created a striking contrast to Bennett’s dangerous attraction.
 

Devon hugged herself, false bravado masking the thickness clogging her throat. “Well. Who knew London could be so small?” She avoided Bennett’s eyes by smiling widely at Natalie. “I’ll leave you to tour the exhibit. Have a nice evening.”

Bennett started to interrupt, but Natalie hooked her arm through his. She said, “Yes, Bennett. Why don’t we leave Devon be? She probably sees enough of us at work as it is.”

Devon continued smiling, blinded by the moisture beginning to fill her eyes. She abruptly turned, wanting and needing to get away. She blinked rapidly, absently walking back the way she’d come. As she rounded a corner into the foyer, she looked back at Bennett and Natalie.
 

They seemed to be murmuring quietly to each other, Bennett stooping to hear what the other woman said. An intense longing struck Devon, causing an ache near her heart. She pressed her palm to it, closing her eyes against the sight of the couple until it finally eased.

Quietly, she set her glass of wine down on a nearby table and left.

***

“Dirty martini, vodka, please.”

Devon placed her order and sank onto one of the high padded leather seats that lined the bar in the pub she and Bennett had visited weeks before. She refused to examine why she chose it, especially knowing Bennett was an owner.
 

So much had happened since their last visit here, they were scarcely the same people. Then, they’d shared bites after a companionable day’s work. Now, she barely saw him when he wasn’t traveling with Natalie to one of his sites or closeted in meetings. Natalie was with him in those too, usually perched near his right elbow typing minutes or providing details before he could ask for them. Devon told herself that was normal; she was his PA.

But when Devon saw Bennett, he barely spoke to her. In fact, most communications now came through Natalie.

Natalie, Natalie, Natalie.
 

Tonight, he’d been out with her on a date. Clearly, his employee dating embargo didn’t extend to
Natalie
.
 

Devon took a long sip of her martini, savoring the icy vodka before it smoothed down the tightness of her throat. Seeing Bennett and Natalie wrapped arm in arm had been unexpected. Pain and jealousy ambushed her before she could brace herself. The entire evening and, if she were honest, the weeks leading up to it, had taken their toll.
 

She hurt.

She had a feeling she might get a little drunk. She caught the eye of the bartender to move that plan forward. “I’ll have another.”

He prepared it with maximum efficiency and minimal flourish. He presented it, saying, “This one’s taken care of.” When she started to protest, he added, “Couple over there.”

Devon craned her neck to see where he pointed. In a far corner away from her, sharing a small booth, were Bennett and Natalie. They were seated side by side, sharing the same bench.
 

Unbelievable.

She caught Bennett’s eye, and raised her glass in a mocking toast. Natalie merely cracked a smile before taking a sip of her white wine.

Devon downed her martini in one very long swallow. Setting it back down on the bar, she met the bartender’s level look. Without words, he set to making another.
 

“Make it extra dirty, please.”

He added the extra juice before tossing a few additional olives in as well. “This one’s on me. You have style.
And
stamina. I like that.”

She sipped the new martini with slightly more caution, trying to ignore the pain ripping through her. “Well, we’re about to find out about the stamina. Watch this space.”

***

Bennett tried, he really did. He watched as Devon finished a third martini before polishing off a fourth. She carefully rose from her stool before heading for the restroom. She resolutely avoided looking toward the table he and Natalie shared. His eyes bored into her as she approached, determined that she acknowledge him.
 

Of course, she didn’t.

He’d passed this evening in the company of a beautiful woman, albeit his PA. They’d viewed exquisite art and drank superior wine. Yet, he couldn’t care less. In fact, he’d been forced to have one of the most painfully awkward conversations of his adult life sitting in this booth with Natalie. In doing so, he knew he’d hurt her. When she’d teared up, he’d shifted to share the bench with her, to hold her hand. He’d never meant for her to get the wrong idea about them. But she had, and now he’d had to set her straight.

He shifted, heaving a deep breath before taking a drink of his wine. He scowled into the glass before setting it back on the table. To add to his aggravations, all he wanted was a damn martini.
 

Devon was driving him out of his mind. She seemed so wounded and lost in the gallery. When he looked for her, she’d disappeared. Gone. Now she was here, the worst place she could be when he was having his all-important talk with Natalie.
 

Devon distracted him. Provoked him.