Rules of Harte (Harte Series #1) (5 page)

Julian
: ‘Evangeline?’-

She waited.

Julian:
Evangeline are you there?’-

She waited. Christ, think of something interesting to reply with, she begged herself.

Julian:
Goodbye, Evangeline.’-

Shit, no wait
. Eva rushed to type as fast as she could.

Eva135
: I’m here.’-

Now Eva was left to wait anxiously.

Julian:
So you like to play games?’-

Eva shook her head. She hated games. Games made her nervous.

Julian:
Let’s play then, shall we?’-

Eva135
: What do you want to play?’-

Julian
: Like I said, I want to see you lose your inhibitions.’-

Eva135:
I don’t have any. I told you.’-

Julian:
Prove it.’-

Eva135
: How?’-

Julian:
Strip for me.’-

Eva:
What? Now???’-

Julian
:
LOL. I wish I could see your face. Of course not now, although the rest of your colleagues might enjoy it. No. Tonight.

             
Eva ran the palm of her hands roughly up and down her face and shook her head. Was he for real? No fucking way. But she couldn’t say that. It would be a deal breaker and she needed him. She couldn’t think fast enough. She needed a change of subject.

Julian:
Tick-tock, tick-tock

Eva135:
Can we try something else?’-

Eva’s fingers could barely type fast enough.

Julian:
That depends. If you can offer a more interesting suggestion, I’ll certainly give it due consideration.’-

             
Eva closed her eyes and tried to think of something, anything, everything. Her damn mind was blank except for an image of Mia sticking out her tongue and laughing at her.

Julian:
Evangeline, this waiting thing is growing old. Do we have a deal?’-

Eva135:
A deal?’-

Shit more questions.
Eva be cool, she begged herself.

Julian:
Of course.’-

Eva thought for a moment. What was in it for him? She was the one asking for a service but
could she afford to pay his demands for service?

Eva135:
Why are you doing this? Is there something you want?’-

Julian:
I don’t want anything. You came looking for me, remember?’-

Oh shit, that sounded defensive. She hadn’t insulted him had she? It wasn’t what she meant.
Bugger, bugger
. She’d have to be more careful with her replies. She really wanted him to like her. What level of mortifying would it be if even a hired date disliked her?

Eva
135:
Is it just for fun, then?’-

Julian:
Yes. Now do we have a deal?’-

             
What deal, Eva wondered, but she couldn’t ask again. She didn’t want to look stupid. She was about to type out a smiling face icon but decided that was childish. She suddenly very much regretted the three, super-smiley, smiley faces she had attached to her group email of the minutes from last week’s marketing meeting. Maybe that’s why everyone had suddenly taken to calling her Colgate Girl.

Eva135:
Deal.’-

Julian:
Good. Do you have a webcam at home?’-

Eva135:
Yes. But it’s not connected.’-

Julian:
Connect it.
I will be your date for the ball, Evangeline. I will be at your beck and call and I will make you look fabulous.
But
tonight, you must be at mine and you must look fabulous for me. Have your camera ready at 8pm and expect my attention. Don’t be late. I won’t wait.
’-

Julian is offline.

Eva folded her arms against the edge of her desk and dropped her head against them. Her whole body shook inside. A combination of excitement and utter panic danced around her stomach, and she was certain she’d see her lunch again.

***

Julian rarely sat still. Free time wasn’t something his career allowed for. But for a brief moment, work took a backseat as he relaxed against the warm leather of his luxury office chair. He dropped his neck back and closed his eyes. The only sound in the huge room was his deep, even breaths. He jumped suddenly and slammed the lid of his PC closed. He grabbed the tumbler on his desk and poured a large Whisky. He gulped a huge amount into his mouth and swished it around, enjoying the familiar heat from the twenty-five year old malt.

‘Fuck,
’ he said out loud, shaken by the momentary lapse from all things familiar to him. ‘Evangeline…get the fuck out of my head.’

***

The light tap on her shoulder was enough to make Eva jump. Her chair smacked off the new guy who was standing behind her and he groaned like a wounded bear.

‘Oh
my God, sorry,’ she stuttered. ‘I…I…I’

‘It’s okay,’ he said
, rubbing his leg and trying to brush it off with a laugh.

‘I’m Nathan by the way.’

‘I’m Evangeline but everyone just calls me Eva.’

Nathan reached his hand out and Eva shook it. His mop of curly sandy-brown hair shook in sync. And his emerald eyes were warm and smiling.

‘Oh you’re shaking. Did you hurt yourself?’

Eva shook her head. She didn’t want to chance words. Judging from how badly
her legs were shaking, she wasn’t sure what way her speech would come out. An awkward silence fell over them.

‘Have you been here long?’ Nathan asked.

‘I got in at eight this morning.’

Nathan giggled. ‘Good one.’

Eva didn’t know what was so funny, but she decided to be polite, and laugh too.

‘I meant
, have you been working here long? I just started a couple of days ago.’

‘Of course, sorry. I remember. You introduced yourself at last Monday’s meeting.’

Eva felt bad for forgetting him. She was normally very good with names and faces. Julian was throwing all her senses off.

‘I take it
you’re the office joker then?’

The office joke, more like,
Eva’s thought to herself, trying not to let tears swell in her eyes.

‘Are you going to the ball next week?’ Nathan asked casually.

‘Have to, it’s compulsory.’

‘It is? That’s unusual,
’ Nathan said scrunching up his nose. ‘Can they do that?’

Eva nodded. ‘Apparently.’ Mia’s earlier jab ran through Eva’s mind.

‘Oh but I don’t even have a tux.’

              Eva liked him. He was nervous and timid. He reminded her when she first started. He reminded her of her now.

‘Do you know where I could find one?’ Nathan blurted as if the whole sentence was one long word.

Eva shook her head. She didn’t know Dublin very well, even after almost a year. And she definitely didn’t know where to find a man’s suit hire shop.

‘Do you have a black su
it? You just need to find a bowtie.’

Nathan shrugged
, his eyes rounding. ‘I’m not really a suit kind of guy.’

Eva
sucked in her bottom lip. She wondered if Julian wore suits.
Stop it
, she scolded herself silently.

             
Eva didn’t have a chance to answer before Nathan continued.

‘Oh that was stupid. Sorry. You probably have much better things to do than listen to me talking your ear off about clothes.
’

The sides of Eva’s lips pulled into a bright smile. ‘No, no. It’s good. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one freaking out over what to wear.’

‘Maybe we could freak out together after work sometime? Grab a coffee and take a look around the shops.’

Eva’s
eyes darted to the ground. She didn’t see that coming.

‘I’m not usually this pushy, honestly. Or this fashion aware.’

Eva looked up at Nathans bright pink shirt coupled with a navy and green stripped tie. She believed him. On both counts.

‘I’m buying
,’ Nathan added with toothy grin.

             
‘I’d love to.’ Eva meant it genuinely. He made her smile more than she had in ages. His goofy giggle set her at ease and his eagerness to be polite had her suspecting that he was a really nice guy inside. Besides, helping him would take her mind off her own apprehension about the ball…and Julian. Win, win she thought.

Nathan jumped a little without his feet actually leaving the ground and added a micro air-punch. Eva covered her mouth with her hand to hide a giant grin. She wasn’t sure if he was being funny or if he really was just a super geek. It didn’t matter. She liked him either way.

              ‘Does after work today suit?’

Eva suddenly remembered her conversation with Julian. She wanted to be free later to chat to him. She could relax more when the office was
quieter.

‘Lunch tomorrow instead?’ Eva couldn’t believe how confident she was, she had actually taken initiative for the first time in as long as she could remember.

‘Okay. Perfect.’

             
Nathan spun around and faced his desk. He twisted around every few moments to smile at Eva and occasionally wink. Finally, he was distracted by an important phone call and Eva was glad to return her attention to her computer.

Eva examined herself in the full length mirror beside her bed. She always wanted to be taller but at five-six, she knew she was about average. Her hair, although badly in need of styling, was very long and harboured surprisingly few split ends. He slender legs and toned tummy, evidence that she worked out. She didn’t understand it. Why was she so invisible to men?

‘Even my
boss, who apparently sleeps with anything with a heartbeat, doesn’t want to do me. I’m pretty certain I’m un-fuck-able,’ Eva said out loud, watching her reflection as it nodded sympathetically.

             
Her attention was drawn to her watch. She’d been checking it every ten minutes all evening. It was 7.45pm. The only light in her room was coming from a small, bedside lamp and the bright white glow of her laptop screen shining in the corner. What if he was repulsive? Or even worse, what if he was drop-dead gorgeous but he thought she was hideous? There was no way she was doing what he demanded in payment. She couldn’t.

             
Eva physically jumped as a beep sounded from her laptop. He was early. She wasn’t ready. She had an email. She closed her eyes for a moment, held her breath and instinctively clicked open. A huge gush of air escaped her lips as she sighed in relief. It was from Shelly. She’d never had a personal email from work before. In the ordinary course, Eva would have been nervous. Maybe she was getting fired…or maybe Mr Doe had second thoughts and wanted to call her back for a booty call. Whatever it was, it paled in comparison to her pending nudity in front of Julian. I’m not doing it, she reminded herself, reassured herself, tried to convince herself. She felt sick but she couldn’t stop smiling. Her emotions were a whirlwind whipping around her head. Get a grip, Eva, she warned herself and checked her watch again.

___________________________

From:
[email protected]

To:
[email protected]

Subject:
Parcel

Date
: Tues 14
th
19.47

Hi Eva,

Mr Doe asked me to remind you that there is a box (a rather large one) waiting here for you. He would be very grateful if you would come to pick it up first thing in the morning. (He has never left anything for a staff member before; you must have made quite an impression on him).

It was lovely to meet you today.

I’ll see you in the morning.

Yours,

Shelly

Shelly Fox
             

Senior Personal Assistant

Ignite Technologies

Block 6

Plaza Exchange

Dublin 2

Eva typed a quick, polite response and closed the window. What if it was a revolting BDSM gimp suit or something? She laughed out loud at her own foolishness. It wouldn’t matter if was nothing more than a used stapler. Mr Doe’s office had seen more girls than an obstetrician’s
, but she was the only one he’d left something for. Wow. Her confidence was boosted by a million percent. Mr Doe liked her. Shelly technically said so, so it was definitely true. She suddenly felt bold and confident.