Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Boss? Read online

  * * *

  ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ Scott said as he followed Toni into the house. ‘You really think that TV companies will want to keep Elstrom locked in some strange hibernation so that they can use it as a film set?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ she replied. ‘There are plenty of location scouts who would love to use the building as a movie set for documentaries or dramas set in wartime or 1930s Britain.’ Then she winced and bared her teeth. ‘No offence but it is a bit of a time warp when you walk in those doors. And you don’t even have to clear the rooms because they will do all that for you. Scott? Are you listening?’

  Listening? He was far too busy trying to cope with the sensory overload that was the Baldoni house. The entire living room was more like an expressionist art gallery than a family home.

  Colour was piled on tones and shades of colour. The walls were covered in heavy red wallpaper with a faint gold pattern embossed in what looked to him like random patterns. Not that he could see too much of the wallpaper. There must have been at least twenty pictures on the walls, of all shapes and sizes. Portraits of people in various styles of dress, landscapes, fruit and flowers. It was all there on the walls of this tiny room, about the size of Freya’s kitchen.

  And then there were the fabrics. Curtains, sofa and cushions. All red, all different, all bursting with pattern and shades of crimson and gold trim.

  Scott couldn’t imagine a greater contrast between the cold grey February street outside and the shock of this space. It was like a rich tent in the desert. Exotic and luxuriant and bursting with interest and textures.

  ‘Wow—’ he coughed ‘—this is remarkable. Sorry, but my poor scientific brain is struggling to cope. I know that you come from a family of artists but I had no idea that you had to surround yourself with so many colours.’

  Toni laughed and shrugged. ‘My grandparents bought the place when Hampstead was famous for the artist colonies. The Baldoni family were very popular and they bought paintings from their friends and even a few clients. You know that store room at the back of the Elstrom mapping room? I have one of those upstairs to cope with the overflow.’

  ‘There’s more?’

  ‘Oh, this is nothing. You should have seen the place before Amy and I started to declutter over the Christmas holiday. Black coffee okay?’

  ‘Please,’ Scott replied and strolled around the room, picking up hand-painted china ornaments then peering at the stack of books that Toni had been looking at when he’d spied on her through the window.

  ‘Doing some spring-cleaning?’ he asked, glancing at her over one shoulder. Her answer was the kind of laugh that made the glass in the windows rattle.

  ‘Cleaning? Oh, if only that was all I had to do.’ Then she must have spotted the confused look on his face and she passed him a coffee with a grin.

  ‘Amy and I have decided to rent the place out while she is away at university. I plan to do more travelling for work and she won’t be here and we need the loot. One of my neighbours gave me all of the details and a couple of agencies have been around. Strange how they all say the same thing. It seems that there are a few small things I need to do before I can rent this house to anyone.’

  Toni squeezed her thumb and forefinger together. ‘Very small. Nothing really. Ha!’

  She collapsed down on the sofa, which was covered with a dust sheet, and picked up her coffee mug and waved it towards the bookcases.

  ‘Fix the plumbing. Put in a new bathroom. And the big one? Get rid of ninety per cent of the books and paintings and the rest of the clutter and paint the walls a beige, creamy buttermilk-type colour. Neutral. Bland. Plain. In fact the colour of the walls in Freya’s kitchen. It looks great in a modern house. Here? Not so sure.’

  ‘No alternative? Rent it to art lovers? No? Ah, then I can see the problem. There does seem to be a lot of—what did you call it?—clutter?’

  ‘You have no idea. Elstrom was easy compared to this. Let’s just say that your father wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to change things in a hurry.’

  She sniffed and looked from side to side. ‘When you’ve used this room every day it comes as a bit of a shock when other people see it differently. But they’re right. I need to clear the room, get rid of the paintings and wallpaper and start all over again...’ Her voice faded away. ‘So that is what I plan to do. A new start in a nice new bright home. All white and fresh. Oh, yes.’

  ‘What are you going to do with it all? Some of these paintings must be valuable.’

  ‘That’s why I have a professional lighting rig. Every piece has to be photographed for the insurance and then put into storage or sold.’ Toni exhaled sharply. ‘Then it’s going to take weeks to redecorate and work out what to do with boxes of ancient books.’ She glanced up at Scott. ‘Sorry. Too much to do. Not enough time. Sound familiar?’

  ‘Very.’ He grinned and hooked his arm over the back of the sofa and looked from side to side. ‘Are all the rooms like this?’

  ‘Oh, no. This is tidy. The only reason I’m working in here is the fire.’ She laughed. ‘No plumbing. No heating. Electric heaters are great but an open fire is bliss.’

  Scott put down his mug with a clatter. ‘I thought that you meant the hot water wasn’t working! You should have told me! Freya’s house is so hot I can hardly breathe and she hates it when I turn the thermostat down. Please. Come back and stay there until you have heating.’

  Toni smiled at him. ‘Now you’re being kind. But this is my space and, as you can see, I have a fire and lots to do.’ Then she took a breath and sat back on the sofa and brought her knees up to her chest. ‘There is one thing I find curious. You keep saying Freya’s house. Isn’t that your home too?’

  The reply stuck in Scott’s throat. It was until I got married and moved into my own place. Alexa got the apartment in the divorce. I certainly didn’t want it. Not after she admitted taking Travis there.

  Toni must have seen the expression on his face and immediately held up one hand. ‘Forget it. I am far too nosey and you are here for the lighting rig. It’s all ready for us in the studio and...’

  Scott rested one hand lightly on Toni’s knee and looked into her face.

  ‘When our mother moved to Paris I shared the house with Freya until I bought my own place with my fiancée. Two years ago I moved to Alaska and my former wife got the apartment as the divorce settlement. Since then Freya has kept my old bedroom in case I needed it. But home? No. It’s not my home. Not any longer.’

  ‘I am so sorry. About the divorce and about the apartment. That’s hard to imagine. Amy and I have already organized a tiny studio flat we’re going to call home in a few months. We need that.’

  ‘Everyone’s different. I’m on the move so much I don’t need a permanent base. The only place that I have ever really called home was the massive Victorian mansion in north London that I grew up in.’ He smiled across at Toni. ‘It wasn’t that much different from this house. Bigger rooms meant more space to clutter up. And my dad was certainly up to the challenge. Believe me, this place would fit him like a glove.’

  Scott froze and took a few seconds to take in everything, from the Victorian glass lamp shades to the leather-bound books and heavy gold-framed landscapes.

  ‘He would love it here,’ Scott whispered and his two middle fingers tapped out a beat on the hard cover of a book about Victorian watercolours.

  Then they stopped and he lifted his chin and stared at Toni, who had started lifting smaller books down from the bookcase on the other side of the fireplace.

  ‘It’s a shame that we don’t have an elevator at the office. My dad can’t move back to his top floor studio until he has more control of his legs.’

  Toni glanced at him over one shoulder. ‘Oh, that is a shame. Will he move in with Freya?’

  ‘No. He hates modern hous
es. That’s one of the reasons why he stays in Italy. I do have an idea for somewhere he could rent...but it would all depend on you.’

  Toni put down her book and turned around and sat on the edge of the sofa. ‘Me? Why? Do you need a second opinion?’

  Scott slid forward and rested both hands on his knees so that his whole body pointed towards her.

  ‘Not exactly. You see, I think this little house would be perfect for my dad, and for me. I can’t stay at Freya’s, I know that now. Which means that I need somewhere to rent for the next six months...and he needs somewhere quiet but close to his friends in London. And old school. Yes, I think this could be the perfect place for us.’

  Scott grinned up at Toni, who was staring at him with her mouth half open. ‘What do you say, Toni? Will you rent your house to the Elstrom boys?’

  * * *

  Toni stared into his face for a second in total silence, with an expression that was part shock and horror and part bewilderment.

  ‘You want to rent my house?’

  He nodded once and gestured towards her with one hand. ‘I can offer you top rates and a good deposit if that’s what you’re worried about and I promise that we won’t trash the place.’

  Toni’s jaw had dropped slightly, which probably meant that she was at least not dismissing the idea out of hand, so Scott dived in quickly to seal the deal. ‘Think of me as your ideal tenant. Hardly here. Does the washing-up when he has to and is fairly orderly. And my dad has this thing for old books and paintings. He may not be the best businessman in the world but I know that he could feel at home here.’

  ‘Scott, you are not making any sense whatsoever. You have only been here five minutes! How do you know what the rest of the house is like? The studio is stacked to the ceiling with canvases and painting stuff and the bathroom is going to be all modern and white and flash when it’s done. Your dad might hate it.’

  ‘Good. I like the sound of that already. As for the rest of the house? I would love a tour.’

  And for the first time that morning Scott lifted his chin towards the window so that she could see his face in the sunlight instead of shadow.

  Although his mouth was turned into a gentle half smile there was a deep crease between his eyebrows and, as she looked closer, the deep shadows under his eyes told her that he had probably had less sleep than she had. Those stunning, hypnotic blue eyes scanned her face over and over again, as though he was looking for a sign of how she was feeling about him.

  And they looked at each other in silence for what seemed like minutes.

  Then both of them started talking at the same time.

  ‘Ladies first,’ Scott chuckled, breaking the crackling electric current that was in the air between them.

  ‘Okay,’ Toni replied. ‘Talk to me. What’s this really all about, Scott?’

  Scott looked at her then leant closer. ‘My father needs something positive in his life. He’s come out of this second divorce with health problems and the business has collapsed around him. We are totally different people in every way. But right now? I wouldn’t mind spending some time with him when he comes back to London.’

  He looked around and flashed her a grin. ‘Sharing a house like this would be a blast. It reminds me of the early family house we used to have when we felt more like a family than strangers that passed in the hallway from time to time. I mean it. He would love it here. And think of it this way.’ He flicked one hand into the air. ‘Less clutter to sort out. He likes the clutter.’ Then his overly confident smile faded a little. ‘We haven’t been very good friends since I left the business. Things were totally crazy back then and things were said which cannot be unsaid. Maybe it’s time to move on.’

  ‘By sharing this tiny house? I don’t know, Scott.’

  He flicked a tongue over his lips. ‘If this is about the other night, I owe you an apology. I should not have kissed you and I am sorry that it has put us into an awkward situation.’

  Toni took a deep breath and looked into his face. His last few words had come gushing out in one long rush and she knew how hard they must have been to say. ‘No—it’s nothing to do with that. You don’t owe me an apology,’ she replied. ‘I was right there and I may even have kissed you at one time. Let’s call it evens.’

  Scott shook his head. ‘I think I do. We had both worked hard, it was a lovely evening and I got caught up in the moment.’

  He lifted both hands from the table. ‘It certainly wasn’t planned, but I don’t want there to be any confusion. You are one hell of a beautiful woman and I cannot guarantee that I’ll be able to keep my hands off you.’

  Scott looked up at her and this time his face was pale and serious and each and every one of the frown lines were frozen into sharp relief.

  ‘I can understand it if you want to hit me over the head with one of those heavy books, but I’m hoping that you can forgive me and my overactive libido enough to work with me as a colleague over the next few days and think about renting me your home. How about it, Toni? Willing to give me a chance?’

  Toni stared at Scott long enough to see beads of perspiration on his forehead.

  It was probably only minutes but in the silence of the room all she had to listen to was the background soundtrack of birdsong and the thumping of her heart.

  Because Scott had just told her in his own way that he felt just as much for her as she was feeling for him. He was trying to create some distance between them to protect them both from the pain of some crazy love affair.

  And he clearly had no idea that she could see it in his face. And, if anything, his words only served to bind them more closely together instead of driving them apart. He was doing this for her as much as himself.

  Toni pushed up from the sofa and put her coffee mug on the table, aware that Scott was still watching her every move.

  ‘You’d better see the studio first. It would make a perfect workroom for your dad.’

  EIGHT

  ‘I know. It’s fantastic news, Freya! My friend must have taken fifty photos yesterday before she made up her mind but I had a feeling that she would, fast! What was that? How did Scott react to the news?’

  Toni grinned and scanned through some of the images on her camera one-handed. ‘Your brother gave that poor woman the benefit of his full-on charm offensive. I have never seen him so cooperative. He even shaved a little and changed into a smart shirt! I know! Amazing. She was putty in his hands. But it worked. We have a deal! I am so pleased for you both. In fact, Scott was so relieved that the building is safe for the rest of the year that he took off into the snow to bring back coffee and doughnuts. It’s a dangerous mission but he refused to be deterred.’

  Freya’s laughter echoed down the phone as she described how it was positively balmy in Rome but she would be back in a few weeks to do more to help out. With a quick promise to meet up as soon as they could, Toni closed the call and put down the handset. Her fingers lingered on the phone as she breathed out slowly.

  In a week and a half she would be back at work in some freezing photographic studio and this world of old maps and charts and wood-panelled walls would be a distant memory.

  But what about Scott?

  He was serious about renting out her house so there was no hope that she could be free of him. And that was the problem. She didn’t want to be free of the man.

  They had worked side by side over the past four days and the more time she spent with Scott the more she liked him.

  Scott Elstrom was clever, quick and actually willing to listen to her ideas, which made a nice change from her normal work where she was still the minion girl Friday who did most of the running about for the guys with the professional qualifications and experience. Scott treated her like an equal.

  The hard, brash exterior was a total front—the armour he wore to get by in h
is world. Gut instinct told her that he had been badly hurt at some time but she wasn’t going to pry. If he wanted to tell her about it he would if and when he was ready. She still wasn’t sure what his true reasons for coming back to Elstrom Mapping were but he was certainly working hard to save the business.

  In four days, and with fingers which were still strapped up and obviously hurting, Scott had helped her to clear the main office, made an inventory of everything that had been left behind in the mapping room where the few staff used to work, and had passed her the first box of items to photograph.

  Yesterday’s visit from the location scout had been the icing on the cake!

  She’d loved this old building and had immediately seen the potential for several historical documentaries and dramas already commissioned during the year.

  It was a start and meant Scott could get to work on the inventory without having to worry about the lights being turned off. He might even be able to afford to replace the central heating boiler and the flaky electrics which made the lights flicker on and off.

  Lifting her camera to her eyes, Toni captured a few images of this amazing room with all the rows of tools and the huge drawing tables.

  She heard his footsteps pound up the staircase before the front door closed and slowly turned towards the office as Scott came bounding in and dropped his bakery bag on to the table in front of his office window.

  There were snowflakes caught in his hair and on the shoulders of his coat and as Toni stepped into the office he lifted his chin and looked out of the window with a wistful smile on his face. As though he was looking out at the light snow and thinking of other people and other places.

  Her breath caught in her throat and she pressed the shutter and kept on pressing it. Over and over again.

  The tingles ran down her arms to her fingers. That was it. That was the image she had been looking for.

  There was always a moment when she knew that she had taken the perfect shot of her subject. Sometimes it took days of careful staging to make the subject feel comfortable in the setting and other times it was completely spontaneous. Sometimes it never happened and they had to make the best of what they had taken.