‘OK, I’ll tell you, but it’s not pretty.’ Ellie took a deep breath. ‘Niall’s the married man Roo was having an affair with. She found out where his wife worked and made me go along with her to see if Yasmin was the nightmare Niall said she was. At the time it seemed like a good idea if I had a baby, so we’d have something to talk about. Which was great until it got to discussing childbirth.’
Zack said gravely, ‘I hear it hurts a bit.’
‘It does, but I was very brave. Anyway, you’ve just met her. Yasmin was lovely. But Roo couldn’t bring herself to admit it. Except last week she found out she wasn’t the only mistress. So she’s dumped Niall and now she’s busy turning herself into a nun.’
‘And he’s one of those men who isn’t happy unless he’s cheating on his partner. Nice.’ Zack’s expression made his feelings on the subject clear. ‘I hope your chap’s not like that.’
‘No, he isn’t.’ Since she still hadn’t come clean about Todd, she could hardly tell him about the Todd-and-Roo fiasco.
‘He doesn’t mind you coming here this evening with me?’
‘He really doesn’t mind.’ This much was true at least.
‘Good. Well, we’d better head on up there.’ As Zack ushered her towards the lift, his hand brushed against her arm and Ellie’s skin tingled. Weird; she’d never noticed that happen before. The next moment, the lift doors glided open and he tilted his head, indicating with a brief smile she should go in ahead of him. For a split second she felt a squiggly response in the pit of her stomach. Oh God, stop it, she was hopelessly out of practice on the man front and her first attempt at a comeback had been a disaster. Don’t say she was about to launch into a desperate rebound crush on—of all people—her own boss. How embarrassing. How pathetic. How completely, humiliatingly inappropriate.
Right, this wasn’t going to happen. Mind over matter. She was going to put a stop to it before it could take hold.
Just… don’t let it start.
Chapter 31
This evening’s dinner was more pleasure than business. Bob Nix was a big, brash, Texan billionaire financier with whom Zack had done deals in the past. Looking to extend his circle of contacts, he had invited a dozen business people plus their partners along for drinks and dinner in the Clarence Room, one of the sixth floor’s private suites.
The atmosphere was noisy and relaxed. If you took J. R. Ewing and pumped him full of air with a bicycle pump, you’d end up with Bob. Red-faced and looking about to burst at the seams, he was as loud and jolly as you’d expect of a Texan billionaire. In his late fifties, six foot five without his Stetson, and with glow-in-the-dark veneers, he towered over his wife Bibi, who was young and super-glamorous in a Dolly Partonish way. But she was as welcoming as Bob. Within minutes of complimenting Ellie on her hair combs, she’d discovered they were exactly the same age; in no time they were chatting away about fashion, music, shoes, and makeup.
‘So are y’all a couple?’
‘No, no, I just work for Zack.’ Luckily Zack was deep in conversation with someone else by the fireplace.
‘Hey, you can work together and still be a couple.’ Bibi’s eyes sparkled. ‘That’s how I met Bob! I was his personal trainer.’
Ellie wiped the mental picture of Bob in tight shorts doing grunty sit-ups from her mind. ‘Well, that’s not going to happen. Zack only hired me because he knew it wouldn’t. Plus I have a boyfriend.’
‘Oh right. Sorry. Zack’s pretty cute though.’
I know he is. Aloud Ellie said, ‘So’s my boyfriend.’
Bibi laughed. ‘Hey, don’t mind me, I’m just a hopeless romantic! Bob and I are so happy together I spend all my time trying to fix other couples up.’ She caught the glimmer of surprise in Ellie’s eyes. ‘Ah, see? Y’all thought I was a gold-digger, didn’t you! But I’m not. He’s the love of my life. And I’ve signed a prenup. If we break up,I walk away with nothing but my pride.’
‘Good for you.’ Inexplicably, Ellie’s eyes began to prickle. Oh God, she was a hopeless case.
‘And the keys to the safe, obviously. Joke!’
Over dinner, another businessman’s wife asked Ellie if she could recommend a good Botox doctor in Harley Street.