A Dangerous Affair

A Dangerous Affair Chapter 12

Stephanie fumbled in her bag for the car keys. What the hell was wrong with her? She should have slapped him around the face, pushed him away, or told him to get his bloody hands off her, but all she’d done was just stand there, frozen to the spot. What an idiot! Okay, so before, in the store cupboard, she’d had no choice but to stand pressed against him, but this time there was no excuse… not really. And not only that, but he’d just shown her his true colours. He’d acted exactly as she’d expected him to, which is why she’d always avoided him like the plague in the first place. God, and she’d even lapped up all the attention he’d paid her that day like an impressionable school girl! She’d always cringed at the way the other women in the office had done that, but today that was her! She’d genuinely thought that they were getting along so well, that they would make a great team. She’d been an utter fool. He’d just been playing games with her. Damn it!

Tom waited for Stephanie to unlock the car door and he cursed himself for his behaviour. Just when everything was going so well and he’d felt better than he’d felt for...well for a hell of a long time, Brick had dropped that bombshell! He had to admit, he hadn’t been fair to Stephanie in the way he’d spoken to her but then, with the kind of guy he was, he’d suddenly realized that he was crazy to ever think that he’d stand a chance with someone like her. Okay, so he could try to impress her for a while, but sooner or later she’d find out about him and drop him like a lead balloon. People like her and people like him just never worked out. He felt utterly wretched as he eventually opened the car door and slipped into the passenger seat.

Stephanie fastened her seat belt, put the key in the ignition and then took her mobile phone out of her pocket. Tom watched her in silence as she made a phone call.

“Martin, it’s Stephanie. Can you do me a favour and check out an address for me in one of the files on my desk...thanks. It should be on the top somewhere. It’s the one without articles in it...yes that’s right. Look at the top sheet. What’s the address at the top of the page?” Stephanie motioned for Tom to pass her a pen and paper from out of the glove box. She jotted down the address. “Thanks Martin. Oh, and if Brick asks, Tom and I have gone to find Carlton.” She hung up. “There should be an A to Z in there too. Would you mind getting it out for me and directing?” she asked in an overly polite voice.

“I’d be delighted to help Miss White,” he mocked.

She started up the car and pulled out of the car park onto the main road.

“What are we going to do when we get there?” Tom asked suddenly. “Knock on the door and ask him for an interview, because I really don’t think he’ll go for that.”

“Look, if you don’t want to go along with this I can drop you off here. That’s fine with me,” she replied.

“Don’t be so touchy, I’d just like to know what’s going through that overly determined head of yours.”

“I say we take a look. I don’t know, maybe we can say we are interested in the campaign. We could mention one of the names of the supporters, say they sent us there. I think we know enough information now to fool him.”

“Hmm.” Tom didn’t sound too sure. “And then what?”

Stephanie turned to glare at him. He didn’t seem very enthusiastic anymore. “Then we’re involved. It will give us a chance to nose around, get information from the inside.”

“We’ll see.” Tom remained noncommittal.

About an hour later and they were lost. Stephanie pulled onto the side of the quiet country road and turned to Tom.

“Where did you put that A to Z?”

“On the back seat.” He wasn’t being very helpful.

Stephanie sighed and twisted herself in her seat to reach into the back of the car. Tom’s eyes were drawn like a magnet to the opening of her blouse. He strained to see anything more than he had earlier, from the side view he now had of her at close proximity.