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She actually laughed. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
She flashed him a fiery glance.
He closed the space between them in three paces. “No need to try to impress me. I have my own place.”
“Does it look like this?” She nodded across at the floor to ceiling windows and the view of the River Thames beyond.
“Not quite. Then again, I’m supposed to be your buddy Steven Smith, a first year student. Do students in their first year on a business degree really live in this kind of apartment?” He really was baffled. “If you’re a student, how can you afford a place like this?”
“I’m teasing you. I don’t usually live in a place like this.”
Teasing? Fine. As far as he was concerned it meant she was free game to be teased back. He took off his jacket.
“You might as well know. It’ll come out at some point.” She looked at him for a long silent moment as if deciding what to say.
Draco waited for her to spill. He needed to know everything there was to know before he waded any deeper into this situation.
“My mother rented this place for me for the summer placement, so I didn’t have to live with my dad and my brothers.” She paused. “I usually live with my mum. My parents are divorced.”
She didn’t really want to share the information, but Draco figured it was relevant. Anything that set her apart from her brothers in this ludicrous competition was important. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
She shook her head. “It would’ve come out eventually, so you might as well know now.”
“How well do you feel you know your dad, and your brothers?” It could be important.
“Well enough to second guess them, I think. I was nine when my parents split, but I spent part of every summer and other holidays with my dad and my brothers. We’re not close but we get on okay, I guess.”
Draco sensed she was on the outside trying to get in. This was really important and she had a lot invested in it. “I get on better with my stepbrothers than my sisters,” he offered, mainly to put her at her ease. He’d discovered the best way to get people to open up was to offer something about himself. “I guess sometimes being related makes it more difficult, the expectation that you’ll all get on, whether you spend time together or not.”
She looked at him with wide-open eyes and nodded thoughtfully. Neither said it aloud, but they exchanged it in glances—despite the differences in their lives there was something in common there, although he supposed you could find common ground with anybody if you tried hard enough. This felt significant, though.
“I’m afraid my mum has a grudge against my dad,” she continued. “He had an affair while they were still married. She wasn’t happy about me taking the student placement with him, so she paid out for this place so I didn’t have to live in the house with them.” She considered him thoughtfully for a moment. “Don’t think I’m a spoiled brat, because I’m not. I have a private allowance from both parents but I only use my allowances for tuition fees. I hold down a part-time job in a bookstore during term time, to cover my living expenses. I only agreed to the rental of this place to pacify my mother.”
“I see.” He wasn’t expecting such an in-depth explanation, but it was eye opening. He’d come from a very basic background where the biggest luxury was fish and chips on a Friday night. Why was she so worried he would think she was spoilt? His opinion of her mattered. Was she the same with everyone, or was it just him? Time would tell. One thing he knew for certain, spoiled brat or not, he wanted her. “Not your usual run-of-the mill student though, are you?”
“You’d be surprised.” She rolled her eyes, threw the keys down on the long marble breakfast bar carving up the massive space in open plan apartment. “A lot of the guys on my course have a similar background, parents in the finance district. I try to focus on my studies and do the best I can, because I don’t automatically have a cushy job in the family business at the end of it the way many of them do.”
Interesting. Was that why she was embarking on this crazy endeavour?
“I’d love a place of my own,” she continued, “but my dad insists I stay at home with either him or my mum until I finish my degree.”
She bent down and took off her high heels, kicking them to one side. Draco watched in surprise as she went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It certainly didn’t look as if she wasn’t going to hand him the keys and leave immediately. This gig was looking better and better all the time.
After the simmering hot looks she’d been giving him in the suit shop, Draco sensed there might be perks other than the fee he’d been offered. Had she picked him because she fancied a bit of rough, a known criminal at large to seduce the panties off of her?
He followed her to the refrigerator, leaned in close and looked over her shoulder. “What are we having for dinner, honey?”
She laughed and jostled her elbows, pushing him away. “Dinner? You’ll be lucky. I have some sandwiches for while we’re working this afternoon.”
Before she closed the refrigerator she pulled out a catering tray covered in plastic. It contained fancy looking sandwiches and things on sticks with dips. In her other hand she had a bottle of champagne.
“To toast our arrangement, later.” She gestured with the bottle and then put it back in the fridge. “First we’ve got work to do.” She nodded into the area beyond the long low leather sofas, where a glass dining table with fancy chairs stood.
Draco saw two laptop computers there on the table.
“There are some juices in the fridge, would you grab them?”
Draco collected the orange juices as requested, kicked off his shoes near hers, and then padded across the plush cream-colored carpet after her. He stared down at it. Never before had he seen a less practical floor covering.
