Page 91 of Original Sin

‘Sorry, it wasn’t you,’ she said, trying to back–pedal. ‘Someone was just waving at me at my office door.’

‘Well, I hope you didn’t ask them to get you coffee,’ said Sean, more good–humouredly. ‘Because it sounds as if you expect them to poison you.’

Save your charm for someone who gives a damn, she thought.

‘What can I do for you, Sean?’

Sean laughed. ‘I seem to remember that the last time we met, you told me you wouldn’t do a damn thing for me.’

‘Well, things change,’ said Tess, reminding herself that – whatever she might think of him – looking after Sean Asgill was actually part of her job description. ‘How can I help?’

There was a pause before Sean spoke.

‘I need an escort,’ he said, ‘Thursday night.’

This time it was Tess’s turn to laugh. ‘And that escort is supposed to be me? Or are you asking me to flip through the Classifieds to find you a professional?’

‘Come on, Tess, it can’t be that bad spending time with me, can it? And you did say you wanted to vet my dates.’

For a moment, Tess began to consider the idea, but then remembered that Sean was based on the other side of the Atlantic.

‘Hang on, you’re asking me to fly to London for this?’

‘You like London,’ said Sean. ‘They have red buses and fish and chips.’

Tess was smiling, despite herself.

‘Well, I would have loved to go with you, Sean, but I can’t,’ she said, trying to suppress the grin. ‘I’m already flying out to London on Friday.’

‘Excellent,’ said Sean smoothly. ‘I’ll change your flight.’

‘You can’t,’ insisted Tess. ‘It was one of those cheap fares.’

‘Well, I’ll buy you a new one, first class. It will be a treat for you.’

‘Actually I’ve travelled first class before,’ she lied, annoyed at the suggestion that she was a coach class girl.

‘And I’ll throw in a couple of nights at Claridge’s.’

Despite herself, she felt a rush of excitement. It felt as if she were being whisked off her feet by a rich suitor who could brush all her objections aside with a wave of his chequebook. She tried to remind herself that it was Sean Asgill – effectively her boss – and that he’d probably used this routine on hundreds of girls in the past. Not that she was interested in that way, of course, but it still felt nice to be pampered.

‘Sean, I don’t mean to be rude, but are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you’re a popular guy. You can get a million girls to go to some dinner with you.’

There was another pause down the line and, for a moment, Tess thought they’d been cut off.

‘My mother suggested you,’ said Sean.

‘Your mum?’ said Tess incredulously.

‘Actually, she said I needed someone who will just sit there and look pretty.’

‘Well I’m flattered … ’ began Tess, ‘but … ’

‘No, that’s not why I asked you, actually.’

‘Oh.’

‘I need someone with brains. This is actually a very important dinner. It’s with Sir Raymond Greig, who’s opening a new retail paradise; we need to sweet–talk them to get Lupin into prime display space.’