Blind Dates and Other Disasters
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‘Thank you, I think,’ she said, her own voice huskily mirroring his own. She cleared her throat. ‘If you could pass on your sister’s number we can get started right away.’
Jacob gave her Ana’s contact details. ‘And whatever Ana wants, Ana gets. The result of my being away so long. I am trying to buy back her affection.’
Holly knew from the warmth of his voice that this statement could not be farther from the truth. And again she wondered what sort of woman could secure such staunch and palpable affection from this man.
‘So long as I don’t have to help Ana choose between bronze and pewter candleholders. I’ve been there and done that and it wasn’t pretty.’
‘Pewter,’ Holly answered without pause as she continued scribbling burgeoning ideas onto her notepad.
‘See, that’s just what she eventually chose. I think you two were made for each other.’
‘I think if you promised to stay for ever she would prefer that to a party any day.’
Where on earth had that come from? Holly clamped a hand to her mouth to stop any further recriminating rubbish from slipping out.
‘Would she now?’ His voice whispered down the phone line silky smooth. The insinuation in his question clear.
Holly rubbed her suddenly throbbing temples. ‘Ask her, Jacob,’ she said, pretending she had no idea what he had implied, ‘and see what she says.’
‘I am sure you are right,’ he said, his voice mercifully back to normal. ‘I guess I’ll wait to hear from Ana, then, to see how it’s all going.’
‘I would appreciate that. And Jacob?’
‘Yes, Holly.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me yet,’ he warned her before hanging up the phone.
Holly put the phone down more slowly. Lydia was peering through the glass door with a big expectant grin on her face. Holly waved her into the room.
‘So?’ Lydia asked, her eyes bright with excitement.
‘It may soon be safe to dummy up a press release saying we’ve landed the Lincoln Holdings account.’
‘Yippee!’ Lydia spun around in glee before slumping down on the chair she had been standing on earlier, the important swathes of fabric temporarily forgotten.
‘You had no plans day or night for the next few weeks, did you?’ Holly asked.
Lydia waved a ‘no worries’ hand. ‘The Klingon can wait.’
Holly thought it better not to ask. ‘The sooner we ready our other projects, the sooner we can reel in Jacob Lincoln.’
‘You mean Lincoln Holdings, don’t you?’
‘Of course I do.’ Holly swiftly changed the subject. ‘Now, up you get, back on the chair so we can sort out these fabrics before lunch.’
Lydia grumbled as she stood back up on the chair and stretched out her aching arms, ‘Sometimes I feel highly unappreciated.’
‘I can’t believe you just did that,’ Ben said from Jacob’s office doorway.
Jacob knew from Ben’s smug expression he had been listening for long enough. ‘Believe it, Benny boy. It’s become too big for me and I’ve been contemplating outsourcing for some time.’ For three whole days, in fact.
‘This is the first I had heard of it.’
‘This is the first you needed to hear of it. That’s why the company is my namesake and not yours.’
Ben sauntered into the room, and then lay back on a lounge chair against the far wall. He nonchalantly flipped through a magazine on Jacob’s coffee-table. ‘She didn’t go on any dates this weekend, you know. I had a couple of men lined up, including the new Accounts guy, Matt Riley, the one who tried chatting her up at the greyhound track. But she baulked.’
There is no reason why that should concern me, Jacob thought, then realised he had stopped breathing.
‘And young Matt’s quite the looker, I am told by the girls in Accounts,’ Ben continued. ‘Babeliscious I think was the most common turn of phrase. Modelled his way through college, you know? But … still she said no.’
Ben’s eyes left the magazine and zeroed in on Jacob, who hoped his face showed none of the curiosity he felt.
‘You wouldn’t happen to know why she has suddenly backed off, would you?’ Ben asked.
Jacob merely shook his head, uncertain what state his voice would be in considering his suddenly dry throat. Maybe she had given up the hunt and had decided to become a normal single woman, capable of organising her own social life. Now that would be an interesting turn of events.
Then Ben said, ‘Maybe she just needed to recharge her batteries. Ready herself for next week’s multitude of contenders.’
‘Maybe,’ Jacob conceded, thumping briskly back to earth.
‘Well, it’s been easier than I thought it would be. She really made an impression on the bunch at your welcome home thing at the track. Once word got around she was open to being set up, I’ve hardly had to do a thing.’
‘Lucky you.’
‘Yep. I’ve met all sorts of great guys this last week. I had to cancel one guy’s date but we got on so well I booked him in for a conciliatory lunchtime squash game.’
Jacob was determined not to give Ben the satisfaction of knowing that his comments were surprisingly hitting the mark. He was actually feeling pangs of something akin to jealousy.
‘Was there something else I could help you with?’
Ben looked to the ceiling for inspiration. ‘Nope.’
‘I can find work for you if you’re bored. I don’t think my blinds have been cleaned in the years I’ve been gone.’
Ben looked at his watch. ‘Sorry, Link. I’ll be late for squash with my new friend.’
He stood and ambled back to the door before looking back with an easy grin. ‘Just think, if Holly had not been run down by that oaf in the street the other week and been so turned off by him as to go on this husband hunt of hers, I would be eating lunch alone in my office right now. You’ve got to love the girl!’
‘Who’s an oaf?’ Jacob called out but Ben had already gone.
So, Holly had been turned off by the ‘oaf’ in the street, had she? Jacob fumed. He grabbed a stick of gum and chewed it furiously as he swung sharply back and forth in his office chair.
No wonder she had begged him not to tell Beth they had met before. Turned off! She had been practically undressing him with her eyes that first morning, he was certain of it. The little fraud. She deserved to be found out for twisting that incident to suit her.
Unless she really had found him repellent from their first meeting. Every time he had seen her since she had been edgy and had made it clear she would rather be anywhere than in his presence. And she had flung the ‘not her type’ line in his face with convincing vigour.
All the better for him if that was the end of it. No use wasting time struggling to bat down his growing attraction to the woman if he held no appeal for her in the first place.
And then he stopped, mid swing, his feet planted firmly on the carpeted floor, and his hands grabbed his desk as he realised what Ben had unwittingly revealed. The one detail that made all of the above possibilities irrelevant.
He was the reason behind Holly’s whole husband hunt.
‘That’s great Holly! What a coup,’ Beth said over the phone later that night. ‘And you’ll love Ana.’
‘Please tell me you can come.’
‘Of course. Unless the baby makes other plans we’ll be there with bells on.’
‘Bells will not be necessary. Evening wear will be fine.’
Holly sat on her bed in her shortie pyjamas and thick socks, assuming the lotus position. She held the cordless phone to her ear, and rocked her neck back and forth easing out the niggling Monday-itis tensions.
‘Ben tells me you cancelled on two of your hopefuls on the weekend.’
‘Hmm. I needed a break.’
‘Really? No other reason? No one take your fancy yet from the hundreds Ben has supplied?’
Holly heard the doubt in Beth’s voice loud and clear. ‘No one.’
‘Not even Jacob?’
‘Beth—’
‘Come on, Holly. If it weren’t for Ben I would grab the man with both hands and not let him go. He’s the catch to end all catches.’
‘You would not. He’s so not your type.’ ‘Then whose is he?’
Holly let that one slide. ‘And besides I feel like a movie star doing the talk show circuit. I need to come up with some new material before even I am bored with my funny stories.’ After one final stretch Holly flopped backwards, her arms and legs spread diagonally across the bed.
‘As long as this plan of yours has not fizzled out,’ Beth said.
‘I promise there has been no fizzling.’
‘Good, because I had already decided that my matron of honour dress was going to be bright red, backless and very sparkly. Besides I did up a current star chart and you are primed for a liaison in July. In fact you are so primed you are about to burst. Maybe tarots would help—’
‘No! I draw the line at tarot cards.’
Beth sighed. ‘Fine. What are you doing tonight? Watching TV?’
Alone? Holly felt the inference come through loud and clear. She glanced at the silent TV at the end of her bed. ‘If it weren’t for your Ben we would still be a pair of old spinsters who loved to do nothing more at night than watch Pride and Prejudice and eat home-made caramel popcorn.’
‘That was fun, though, wasn’t it?’
‘The most fun ever. But then Ben found you, and loved you and showed both of us how much better our nights couldbe.’
Holly sighed. She rolled over and scrunched herself into a warm little ball, with the phone cradled under her head. ‘I’ve seen Pride and Prejudice enough times for one woman. You don’t know how lucky you are, Beth. To have someone so decent and strong and dependable.’
Beth laughed. ‘You make Ben sound like a St Bernard!’
Better a St Bernard than a Rottweiler, she thought as images of Jacob Lincoln with his dark hair, clear sharp eyes and his overwhelming personality bombarded her subconscious.
‘Someone like Ben would drive you around the bend,’ Beth said.
‘Hardly—’
‘For example, he keeps his socks, underpants and hankies in the same dresser drawer. You have a separate drawer for each and organise them by colour and fabric with seasonal adjustments.’
‘How will I ever be able to look at Ben again without thinking about his underwear?’
‘Seriously, though, one day you will meet the man for you. A man who puts honey in everything he cooks. A man who will be happy to let you name your first-born son Maximus as you have always wanted, God help the poor child.’
‘I don’t see what is so wrong with the name Maximus. It’s a powerful and masculine name—’
‘Will you stop kidding around and listen to me?’
Duly chastised, Holly shut up and paid attention.
‘What I am saying is the perfect man for you is out there. But believe me he will be nothing like Ben. That’s nothing against my husband. You drive him around the bend just the same.’
‘Thanks.’
And Holly knew then that, though her friends would always be there with a shoulder to lean on, it would in all likelihood fall to her to find someone to love.
CHAPTER TEN
AT LUNCHTIME on Tuesday Holly escorted Lydia to the Lunar restaurant to meet Anabella for their first chat about her upcoming engagement party. Holly had spoken to Ana on the phone that morning and had found her bright and excited and was very much looking forward to meeting her.
Holly ordered her usual lemon, lime, and bitters with a touch of honey and Lydia ordered a pink lemonade spider with double whipped cream and chocolate topping.
Soon after Jacob Lincoln slid his impressive suit-clad frame onto the leather bench opposite her.
‘Jacob! What on earth are you doing here?’
Why? Why are you here? Holly screamed inside her head. Wasn’t I perfectly clear? Did you not promise to leave the party to me? Without interference? Without walking in here unheralded, smiling at me like that, like a naughty little boy who knows his mother would never yell at him as long as he flashed those adorable dimples.
Knowing she had been staring far too long, Holly glanced furtively at Lydia, and was glad to see she was being blithely ignored. In fact, as Lydia lowered her lipstick to her attaché case and smoothed her newly glossed lips together her wide eyes never left Jacob for a moment.
‘I beg you not to throw that drink in my face, Holly,’ Jacob said. He sent her an enigmatic smile, as though he knew something she didn’t. ‘New suit. And Anabella sends her apologies but she suddenly had to go out of town … for a week.’
Holly had to pull herself together. Lydia was now watching the two of them very carefully. ‘I spoke to her only this morning and she didn’t say a thing.’
Jacob shrugged. ‘As I said, it was sudden.’
‘And her fiancé? He was unable to come in her place?’
‘Well, he actually had to suddenly go out of town as well. With Anabella. Skiing in New Zealand.’
‘I see,’ she said, desperately seeking a way to take control of the situation. ‘So why didn’t she just cancel our meeting until she comes back?’
‘She wants the party booked for Saturday week but won’t be back in Melbourne until midday on the day before. She gave me these notes and said to follow them as a guide, but she would be happy with whatever you come up with.’
He reached over the table with a few loose sheets of pink writing paper covered with loopy handwriting. Lydia’s hand slid across the table and snapped them up.
‘I have a week and a half to organise a party for … how many people?’ Holly asked.
Lydia, who was poring over the pink pages, said, ‘Three hundred.’
‘Three hundred people?’
‘Of course it’s people, though it doesn’t specifically say people in the notes—’
‘Lydia!’
‘We can do it easily, Holly,’ Lydia said. ‘Remember the Newman do? We did that in just over a week and it was fab.’
Holly glared at Lydia, who just shrugged. ‘What did I say? It’s true.’
Holly sensed Jacob watching them, his head swaying back and forth as though watching a tennis match.
‘Look, if you think you need help or if I should get someone else to do it—’ he said.
Holly placed her hands steadily on the table in front of her. ‘No, we will be fine.’
The waiter arrived and asked if they were ready to order lunch. Jacob raised his eyebrows at Holly and his look said it all. He had laid his cards on the table; he had changed the rules and made no promises he would not do so again. So much for professional boundaries.
But now it was her move. Order the meal or don’t order the meal. Take the deal or don’t take the deal. It was decision time and it was up to her.
So Holly ordered.
Soup of the day with a side salad. It would be served quickly and could be eaten quickly. Besides, the way her stomach was reacting she probably would not keep anything heavier down.
Jacob ordered appetisers and eye fillet steak. Well done. ‘Cook it till it’s unrecognisable,’ he said, ‘then flip it and cook it some more.’
‘You should eat it rare. It’s much better for you.’ Holly nodded frantically at the waiter, willing him to change the order. Jacob shot her that peculiar enigmatic smile again and she shut up.
Lydia took a long, luxurious sip of her drink, the liquid gurgling loudly as it reached the bottom of the glass, then ordered a slice of apple pie with ice cream. ‘The sugar stimulates me,’ she explained.
Jacob laughed aloud and the young male waiter had to stifle a cough as he left.
‘So how have you been, Lydia?’ Jacob asked.
‘Fabulous, Jacob. And you?’
‘Fabulous.’ His urbane voice gave the casual word a whole different feel. Long, drawn out, smooth. Holly took a large gulp of her drink.
‘If you two are finished,’ Holly said, ‘let’s talk about the party.’ She stopped as Jacob held up his hands, his face contorted with mock apprehension.
‘You promised me I wouldn’t have to choose between pewter and bronze.’
‘But—’
‘No buts. Follow the notes if you must, but as I said on the phone you guys have carte blanche.’
It sounded perfect in theory, but Holly knew there was no way of pleasing a client without substantial input. One person’s pewter was another person’s bronze.
Obviously sensing the same looming disaster, Lydia whipped out the contract and gave it to Jacob. ‘If you could just look this over, fill in your details and the party date, sign away and we have a deal.’
Jacob did as he was told, then Holly signed alongside his name. Lydia clapped her hands together excitedly as she took the signed contract and placed it carefully in her pink attaché case.
‘Carte blanche,’ Lydia cooed. ‘My two favourite words in the whole English language.’
Jacob laughed aloud again. And Holly felt her skin resonating in response to the infectious sound.
‘So, Jacob,’ Lydia said, ‘since we can’t talk shop, tell me why you had to stop Holly from throwing her drink over you? ‘
His eyes crinkled. ‘Well, I just knew that she was expecting my sister and didn’t want her to freak out.’
‘Holly, freak out?’ Lydia scoffed. ‘She’s the coolest cucumber you could ever hope to meet.’
‘Do tell.’
‘Sure. I mean, take yesterday lunchtime; these expatriate English people who were having a British-Australian dinner. We’d spent three full days with the client finalising the seating arrangements. We had even printed up these lovely table number cards. Weren’t they lovely, Holly?’
‘They were lovely, Lydia,’ Holly agreed, flicking a quick apologetic smile to Jacob, who winked briefly before turning his rapt attention back to Lydia. Holly’s skin tingled as though that wink had crossed the table and brushed along her cheek. She crept a stealthy hand from her lap to her face and rubbed at the wayward spot.
‘Anyway,’ Lydia continued, ‘at the last minute the client realised that Joe was at table number three and Eunice was at table number four. They were both in the front row, both within spitting distance of the speaker, but Joe was sitting at a higher table number than Eunice. And this was cataclysmic. The client was ready to cancel the whole thing. In stepped Miss Cool Bananas here and said, Let’s just rename the tables; not numbers, not letters, but names of small English towns. The client hyperventilated her agreement. There went our Holly into her “magic” briefcase and found enough fancy paper and a black magic marker to rename every table. And within minutes of everyone’s arrival the whole room was in tears as they blabbed about the small English towns they all knew and loved and missed. Even Joe and Eunice were hugging each other and bawling their eyes out.’
Lydia took a deep breath and slumped back in her chair. ‘Jacob, can you look around the corner and see if my apple pie is coming? I’m starved!’
It took a moment for Jacob to latch onto Lydia’s sudden change of topic. He peeked. ‘Not just yet.’
‘Good. Holly, could you shove over for a sec? I have to take a pee before my pie comes.’
Holly obligingly moved out of her seat so Lydia could shuffle past. ‘Thanks, gorgeous.’ She flounced past Holly and skipped towards the ladies’ room.
Holly slid back down into her seat, slowly and deliberately, already marking the seconds until Lydia’s return.
‘Isn’t she exhausting?’ Jacob said.
Talk about Lydia. Excellent. Safe ground.
‘She’s enthusiastic and imaginative and the clients love her. I’ll probably end up working for her one day.’
After a moment’s pause, during which time his mind seemed to be ticking over, Jacob asked, ‘She called you “gorgeous”. Ben and Beth both refer to you in that way as well. Do you just get that particular compliment a lot?’
‘Hardly.’
Hardly a professional topic of conversation. Explain then change the subject.
‘My dad called me that since I was little. And then one day when I first met Ben he called out “Hey, gorgeous” to Beth and I answered without even thinking. And he and Beth have called me that ever since. The guys at work heard Ben call me that at the Christmas party a couple of years ago and never let it go. I barely notice it any more.’
Jacob smiled. ‘It suits you.’
‘Please,’ she scoffed, looking over her shoulder to check if Lydia was on her way back.
After another pregnant pause, Jacob thankfully changed the subject. ‘Did you really do all those things she said? Yesterday lunchtime?’
‘In a manner of speaking. Though she makes it seem much more exhilarating than it really was. It was a fairly simple fix and we’ve had worse problems closer to the final hour.’
‘There you go, selling yourself short again.’
‘Fine.’ She laughed. ‘I was brilliant. I saved the day.’
‘That’s better.’
‘But it’s my job to fix those things, to smooth the way and make the events seem effortless whilst the client sits back and takes the honour.’
Watch and learn, buddy. This party of Ana’s will blow your mind.
Jacob sat back and crossed his arms, mirroring her stance. ‘Do you see yourself branching out with your own firm?’
‘I love what I do and if I was the owner I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’d have to concentrate on finances and payroll and other such icky things. I’m happy to play with other people’s money.’
‘And this way you could more easily take time off if you needed it.’
‘I guess.’ She wondered why he would focus on that aspect. ‘But it would be decidedly more difficult to make the house payments if I was skipping off on cruises year round.’
‘You own a house?’ His eyes softened as he asked.
‘It will be a few years yet before I can claim that distinction from the bank.’
‘I see. But, if your circumstances changed, you could stop working altogether,’ Jacob added, his hazel eyes now boring into hers.
‘I guess I could.’
If I pick the right lottery numbers, or find a suitcase of money buried in my backyard.
And then it dawned on her. He was thinking that what she wanted most in a job was the flexibility to marry and have children as soon as possible.
How wrong he was! Or was he?
If she followed her plan through to its logical conclusion, wouldn’t that mean a wedding, a honeymoon, and some day children? Holly felt a comforting blush creep over her as these ideas filtered through and meshed with her original plan just to find someone nice and compatible to spend her time with. She loved her job but the thought of a full life with a real family was intoxicating.
But hang on. This was not Beth having an innocent chat, and not a prospective husband seeing where her priorities lay. This was the man who, if she played her cards right, would be going a long way to funding her pay cheques.
But would he seriously reconsider handing over the Lincoln Holdings account to her if she was planning to start a family? If so, he was completely outside his rights.
But, closer to home, would she seriously consider starting a family if it meant losing the Lincoln Holdings account, which epitomised all she had ever wanted from her career, something she had been striving for long before the notion of a husband hunt had presented itself.
But before she could open her mouth to contradict him, or berate him, or promise to give up the hunt as long as he gave her the contract, the waiter arrived with their lunch, quickly followed by Lydia.
‘Did you miss me?’ Lydia asked as she climbed over Holly’s lap and plopped into her own seat.
‘More than life itself,’ Jacob promised, shooting one final unreadable glance at Holly before tucking into his appetizer.
Her mind reeling, Holly could do little more than pick up her spoon and eat her soup.
Jacob stood outside Lunar and watched as Holly’s chauffeured car drove away, the icy wind whipping through his lightweight suit barely registered.
‘Holly. Holly. Holly,’ he whispered aloud, ‘what is spinning though that labyrinthine mind of yours?’ Holly’s uneasy expression as she’d slipped into the back of the car was branded on his mind.