This Trevor was here in the US, but in Florida rather than New York. I clicked on the profile picture and squinted at it. Nothing in the man’s face looked remotely familiar, but why should it? I was older now than Trevor had been when he and my mum had me. Ten years older. That was a very strange thought. Without sending him a message or a friend request, how was I going to get any more information about him to try and move this forward? I didn’t exactly want to open with: ‘Hi – I’m searching for my father and wondered if you could be him.’ Everything else on his profile was private.
My phone buzzed with an incoming call. I scrubbed my hands back through my hair. Bloody nerves were getting the better of me again. Shaking it off, I reached for my phone and my eyebrows rose at the name on the screen.
This should be interesting.
‘Noelle,’ Stephen’s British accent purred into my ear. I could just picture him, the human equivalent of a smug Cheshire cat with a bow tie.
‘I see you still have my number saved in your cell.’ I decided to let a little of my smugness out too. This was going to be fun. He probably thought I was calling to beg for a replay of our booty call at New Year’s, this time for real.
‘It didn’t occur to me to delete it in a fit of pique if that’s what you’d suspected.’
I smiled. I did enjoy the way he talked. He wasn’t scared of using his vocabulary. Maybe it was showing off, or an inbred thing from his school days, but I liked words and he used them well. ‘I figured it was a possibility.’
‘Sorry to disappoint. Is there something I can help you with?’
‘Actually, I think there’s something I can helpyouwith.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Well, whileyou’restaying out here, andI’mout here, I thought maybe we could get together and…’
‘And?’ His voice was low and dark. It tingled down my spine, but I still had to bite my lip to hold in a giggle. He was setting himself up for such a fall.
‘And I heard you’re looking for someone in New York. I can help you with your search.’
There was a pause. ‘What search?’ he asked slowly.
‘The search for the guy from your mother’s will.’
‘How do you know—’ He broke off, sighed. ‘Beth. She told you, I expect?’
‘Yup.’
‘I might’ve guessed you two would end up gossiping.’
‘It’s no great leap of the imagination. Friends talk to each other. It’s kinda the point once you’re too old to play hopscotch on the street.’
‘That’s everything she told you?’ All charm and flirtatiousness had evaporated from the conversation now.
‘Yeah. Well, you see, we’d been chatting about Nick coming out to visit you and she mentioned that he wanted to help you with it.’
‘It’s all in hand.’ His voice was frostier than a popsicle at the North Pole. ‘Thank you for your kind offer but—’
‘Wait a minute.’ I stood up, sensing that he was about to put the phone down on me. ‘Just hear me out. I’m good at this kind of thing. And I know New York. I’ll be a valuable asset.’
‘I’m not assembling a crack team for a heist,’ he said dryly.
I found my little nugget of excitement withering. He’d dismissed me very quickly. Maybe I shouldn’t have wound him up at the beginning of the conversation. I needed to backtrack and maybe nurse his ego a little. ‘Okay, just bear me in mind if you get stuck. I never had a chance to thank you last night for getting that Logan guy to leave me and Kaylee alone. Or for stopping me falling flat on my face on the way to the bar. I thought if I helped you with this, we’d be all square.’
He was quiet again. ‘Hmm. I’m not convinced. You don’t need to help me out to show your appreciation. I’m not in the Mafia; a simple thank you will suffice. What’s in it for you?’
‘How can anything be in it for me?’
‘I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. You can appreciate I’m not inclined to take your word at face value anymore.’
‘Ouch. You wound me, Steve. Can I call you Steve?’
‘No.’
