to the effect this statement had on him, Ellie said, ‘Right, I’m taking it outside. Maybe all it needs is a bit of sun to cheer it up. Oh, by the way, there’s a message on the phone from someone called… Huggy?’ She looked bemused. ‘Is that right?’
‘Huggy Hill.’ Zack held the door open for her, watched as she carefully placed the pot down in a sunny spot against the wall. ‘My first ever business partner.’
‘First ever? How did it happen? Was that when you were still at college?’
He nodded and followed her back into the office. ‘That’s right. I was taking a degree in business management. Huggy was a mate, clever in his own way but clueless when it came to business. He’d set up this tiny company selling mobile phones and he started asking me for advice. After a couple of months I saw the potential of what he was trying to do—this was before mobiles went mega—and I took a stake in the business in exchange for all the work I was doing for him. Chiefly because he was skint and it was the only way he could afford to pay me. Then things really started to take off and I realized I’d far rather be working with Huggy than carrying on with a three-year degree course.’
‘So you dropped out of university.’ Ellie knew much of the story; he knew she’d been familiarizing herself with his CV. But talking to her was no hardship; maybe she’d even be impressed.
‘I did. We built up the business and sold it two years later for crazy money. By then I’d already begun to diversify. I discovered I had good instincts, I could see why other people’s companies were failing and what it would take to bring them back up again. I did some stuff with a computer support consultancy that turned it around.’
She nodded. ‘Then there was the ice-cream business.’
He smiled. ‘I loved that one.’
‘And the holiday park in Dorset.’
‘You’ve been doing your homework.’
‘And the restaurant with the home-delivery service. Did your friend Huggy start investing in other companies too?’
‘No, he moved to the Caribbean, spent his days surfing, and became a professional beach bum. He’s still there now. Having a great life.’
‘Do you ever wish you were doing what he’s doing?’
‘Never. I’m happy here.’ Did that make him sound boring? Work-obsessed? Was he boring and work-obsessed? He said, ‘Would you do it?’
Ellie thought for a moment. Finally she said, ‘It would depend on who I was with. Living in the perfect place with the wrong person would be horrible.’
Zack couldn’t help himself. ‘How about living with the perfect person in a horrible place?’
Something flickered behind her eyes for a second. Then she half-smiled and said simply, ‘If they’re the perfect person, it would still be perfect.’
OK, what did that smile mean? Was she thinking of that actor bloke of hers, Tony Weston? Was she thinking that she could live with him in some dump somewhere and be happy about it, but luckily she didn’t need to slum it because—hooray!—he’d set her up in a half-million-pound love nest in Primrose Hill instead?
On the few occasions he’d subtly asked questions about her private life she had veered away from the subject. He’d offered her the opportunity to tell him about Tony Weston and she’d chosen not to. Therefore he wasn’t going to push it. The only way forward was to back off and leave her to carry on with her life. If she wanted privacy, he’d let her have it. Instinct told him that all he could do for the moment was stay cool and play the waiting game. It wouldn’t be easy but he’d manage it if it killed him. Because right now, thanks to that unerring instinct, he knew for a fact that Ellie wasn’t remotely interested in him. Which meant he had to hold back. No flirting allowed. Not even a hint of flirtatious behavior. She worked for him, he was her boss, and there was nothing more hideous than finding yourself the unwilling target of a workmate’s affections. He’d encountered it himself before now and knew what a complete turnoff it was. Imagine how much worse it must be for a woman to be on the receiving end of unwanted attention.
So that was that. He was going to hold back completely. Be charming and as nice as he knew how to be. But without flirting at all. It wouldn’t be easy but he was going to do