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Abby scanned her mail and saw the message. It announced an urgent team meeting the next morning to discuss project control. In the investment broker business imminent change was regular, expected and greeted with enthusiasm. They worked in a fast-paced environment, one that looked for winners to back and took no passengers for the ride to the prize.
Ab: And?
Ed: Rumor is I'm going over to the Pascal account.
Ab: You'd like that.
If he was right about the change it was something Ed had been working towards. A big meaty project, international. He and Abby had been functioning as a team for the past few months, taking up new projects, start-ups, and the management of established portfolios.
Ed: You are the obvious person to take over the Ashburn portfolio.
She nodded as she contemplated the thought. If he were right, it would be a good chance for her to flex her business muscles.
Ab: Maybe...
The door sprang open and Ed walked into the room. "I'd put money on it."
She smiled, glancing over his broad shoulders as he strode toward her. Ed had rowed for his team at college. She often imagined herself the Cox, shouting orders to them while watching their strong, supple bodies heaving over the oars.
He shook his head as he looked at her. "It's a miracle Tom Robertson's making any bloody money at all with a gorgeous woman like you on site."
She looked up at his brown eyes and neatly cropped hair. Ed was smart, sophisticated, and a real stud.
"Distracting a male member of the team is considered a criminal offence in some companies," he teased.
She lifted one eyebrow. "Are you keeping a list of my bad behavior?"
"You never know, I might need to blackmail you one day."
She chuckled. He was a charmer—the proverbial city-boy stud—pure testosterone, be it in
the office on the rugby pitch or between the sheets.
Was that what she wanted though? No, something darker, something...intimate and sexy. A secret affair with someone who didn't know about her job and the world that went with it. Her thoughts went back to the courier and a flame ran the length of her, from clit to throat, melting everywhere in between.
"You know, Abby, I'd give up all the other women I'm shagging, just for you."
She chuckled at his remark. It was familiar territory. He'd told her that if she ever wanted a good lay, he was there for her. They'd been sexually involved for a while, but nothing permanent came of it and they'd slipped back to being good friends. That meant a lot to her.
"I'm serious." He did look serious, but she didn't think of him that way.
"I thought you came in here to talk business."
He winked. "I did, but I do like to remind you what you're missing out on."
"I hadn't forgotten. I just value your friendship too much to risk it."
He nodded. "I know. If you change your mind, I'm here for you."
They chatted about the possible reshuffle but when he'd gone and she returned to her current market report, a doubt niggled at her. Some women would kill to get a man like Ed suggesting a proper relationship, but she loved him as a friend, no more. Was she too demanding of life—a life that was already full? She hoped not, she tried not to be, but she often doubted herself at moments like this. She had a great career in London, her own home, good friends. It was a wonderful life, but she craved something else. Mystery, something wild and dangerous. Something that challenged her in a different way. She'd give it all up—career, money, the lot—for that: a walk on the wild side.
She reached over to where she'd perched the business card from the courier. The hologram winked, like an eye watching her, beckoning. At the back of her mind a little voice began to chant.
I dare you, Abby. I dare you.
* * * *
Zachary Bordino eased his Mercedes SLR down a gear and took the next exit off the London ring road. He'd passed into Surrey, where the commuter belt merged with the countryside. It was green and calm, the August heat mellowing out in the more tranquil setting. The city had been uncomfortably hot, the pavements sizzling.
