He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Cate Harmon. That’s a very British sounding name. Not a fellow expat?”
I paused, noting the soft, lilting accent and my hand hovered midway between us. “No. No,” I stuttered, “I’m Australian.” It sounded like an apology. I thrust my hand awkwardly in his direction.
James gave me a lopsided smile and his blue eyes shone brightly at me in the dimly lit space. “That sounded far too hopeful, didn’t it? Forgive me. I’ve been here less than a month.”
We shook hands. The skin of his palm felt soft, smooth. Refined.
“You’re from England?”
“London boy. Born and bred. Don’t hold it against me. I know you Aussies are probably sick of us imperialists coming over here.”
“James and I worked together when I was in the UK,” Max explained.
“You’ve come over for the wedding?” I asked stupidly.
“Max was so intent on having me in the bridal party he offered me a job.” His eyes were still focused on mine.
“Oh, well, that worked out well,” I said lamely.
In my awkwardness I cast a desperate glance around me and met Christa’s eyes. She was grinning at me.
“How about I get you another drink?” James’ soft bass recaptured my attention. “You look like you’ve finished yours. What are you having?”
“Oh, that would be great. A white wine, thanks.” I offered him a smile and hoped it didn’t come across too fake.
“Done.” He asked the others if they’d like anything and then strolled off toward the bar.
“So?” Christa sidled up beside me. The remaining men were talking about something else.
I cleared my throat. “So?”
“Oh, come on. You know what I’m talking about,” she whispered into my ear so that the men couldn’t hear her. “Is he refined enough for you?”
I blushed. I really needed to get a handle on that embarrassing habit.
“Oh, good. He is then,” Christa said. “I thought that might be the case, but didn’t want to say anything in case I got your hopes up. Or you considered it meddling.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Since when have we ever worried about meddling in each other’s lives?”
“True,” Christa admitted. “He’s single, in case you’re wondering.”
“Uh huh.”
“Like he said, he’s new to the country, so he might need someone to show him around.”
“That’s very generous of you,” I told her. “How about we just have dinner and a few drinks and take it from there?”
“And that’s very un-Cate-like of you. You’re not still thinking of the plumber of your dreams, are you?”
I didn’t miss her playful tone. “No, nothing like that,” I said quickly. “I just don’t think you need to get ahead of yourself, seeing as you were the ones encouraging me to loosen up on the list.”
“You do need to ditch the list, but I couldn’t help noticing James does meet some of the criteria …”
“We’ll see,” I said tightly.
Christa gave me a strange look, then turned to Max when he asked her something.
I saw James walking back through the crowd, carefully holding a tray of drinks. He met my eyes and smiled.
For a split second, an image of Dave’s happy face filled my mind. I frowned and quickly pushed the memory of it away. Where had that come from?
“Here you go.”
James arrived by my side and waited while I carefully extracted my glass of white wine from the tray. Only twenty minutes earlier the last thing I’d wanted to drink was wine. Now that the caffeine and sugar from the Coca Cola was kicking in, my headache was easing. And I had the feeling I’d need the alcohol to help take the edge off.
After all, it wasn’t every day you met a man who was considered list-worthy.
Chapter 12
“Cate? I have a man on line one. He says it’s regarding David Worthington’s financial plan? He wouldn’t tell me any more than that.”
I frowned thoughtfully into the phone at Lucy’s question. It was Friday and I’d been working on the plan all week. Dave had given me all the information I required so far – or at least I thought he had.
“Sure, Lucy. You can put him through.”
I waited while Lucy hung up and then pressed the button for line one. “Cate Harmon. How can I help you?”
“It’s Michael Worthington. I’m David’s father.” His voice was clipped and business-like.
I resisted saying ‘oh’ out loud. That he’d referred to Dave as ‘David’ struck me as interesting.
“Good morning, Mr. Worthington. Please forgive me, but I wasn’t expecting your call.” It was a polite way of asking what the call was regarding.
“It’s Michael. No, I’m sure you weren’t. In fact, I doubt David has even mentioned me.”
I paused, then decided honesty was probably the best policy. He’d only spoken a few words but I could tell he was an upfront man. “No, I’m sorry, he hasn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve been talking to Lauren.”
“Your daughter? We haven’t met but Dave’s mentioned her.”
“I’m sure he has. They’re very close. Anyway, I’m ringing to speak to you about David’s financial plan.”
I paused again. I hated awkward silences but this was getting tricky. “Unfortunately I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you,” I said after a beat.
“You don’t need to. All you need to know is that I intend to fund his business purchase.”
“You’d like to fund it?” I repeated in shock.
“You heard me. I’ll fund it.”
“Well, that’s very generous of you,” I hedged. A perverse part of me wanted to point out that the funding would involve a couple of million dollars, but that information was confidential. “You’ll need to speak directly to Dave about it.”
“No.”
“No?”
“He won’t talk to me about it.”
I was glad he couldn’t see my look of disbelief. “I’m sure with you making such a generous offer Dave would be open to speaking to you.”
“He doesn’t want my money.”
Well, this was an interesting twist. Once again, I decided to opt for honesty. “Can I ask why you’re calling me then?”
“Because I need you to talk to him about it. Make him see sense.”
“I’m not sure that’s appropriate,” I began.
“What’s not appropriate is my son being indebted millions of dollars when I can fund it for him.”
OK, so he did have some idea about the money involved. “While that may be true, and I agree your offer is extremely generous, you’re putting me in an awkward position.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want him throwing his life away.”
His tone, his abruptness and the absurdity of the discussion cut through my pleasantness. “Dave’s investing in a proven business. I hardly see how that could be considered throwing his life away.”
“It is when he’ll run the business into the ground and end up with a black mark against his name. Bankruptcy is hard to come back from.”
“Why would you think Dave’s going to go bankrupt?” Seriously, who was this man?
“Because the only thing David knows how to do is to throw money away, and his life along with it. I know I’ll be unable to talk him out of the business venture, so the next best thing is to protect him financially.”
“I’m not sure which David you’re talking about, Mr. Worthington, but that doesn’t sound like the man I’ve been dealing with.”
Michael laughed. It wasn’t a friendly sound. “Ask yourself this, Cate.” It didn’t escape my notice that he had called me by my first name when I’d deliberately addressed him formally. “Why do you think David has chosen a female financial planner?”
My eyes widened in shock and I was grateful he couldn’t see me. “Well, I’d like to think it’s because I’m good at my
job—”
“That’s beside the point. You’re female, just like the rest of them. You won’t be able to see past it.”
“Past what?”
“His appearance. He could be the worst client you’ve ever had the pleasure of taking on, but David would make you think he’s doing you a favor.”
“Mr. Worthington. I don’t like what you’re implying.”
“There was no implication. It’s fact, whether you like it or not. Just talk to him, Cate. Make him see sense. I’ll call you back in a week.”
He hung up.
*
After the unsettling conversation with Dave’s father, I did my best to put it behind me for the rest of the day. However, by three in the afternoon I knew I wouldn’t be able to go home to my apartment and face another night of the solitary single life. Christa had already told me she was staying at Max’s tonight – something about them shopping for suits for the wedding straight after work – and I needed to talk to someone.
That someone was Scarlett. With Maddy busy juggling work and motherhood, Scarlett had become my go-to girl in recent weeks. I was relieved when she agreed to meet me after work in the city for dinner at our favorite noodle bar.
“So. Any word from List Man?” she asked.
I stopped twirling my noodles and stared at her.
“James, wasn’t it? Refined dude with the British accent. I didn’t catch whether he was left-handed.” Scarlett had met him the night of our bridal party drinks as well.
I ignored the mischievous glint in her eyes. “No. Why?”
“I thought you’d be dying for him to call. Doesn’t he meet your criteria?”
Huh. The funny thing was, with work, the news about my dad, and now Dave’s father, I hadn’t given it too much thought. The evening we’d spent together had been fun. Scarlett was right. James did meet a lot of my criteria. “Yes, you’re right. He does.”
“So?”
“So what?”
“Why don’t you give him a call? Show him around Sydney?”
“I guess I could do that.”
“You really don’t sound very excited about it.” Poor Scarlett appeared very confused.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s not that.” I put down my chopsticks and gave her my full attention. I told her about my dad, and then about the strange phone call with Dave’s father.
“Right. I can see why you’ve been distracted.” Scarlett frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know what to say about your dad.”
“That’s what Christa said.”
“But,” she continued, “if I was going to give you some advice, I’d say it’s better not to live with regrets.”
“Do you think I’ll regret not seeing my dad?”
“I don’t know. Would you?”
“Yes. I don’t know. Probably.” I sighed in exasperation. “See? It just all keeps going around and around in my head and then I just end up more confused.”
Scarlett grimaced sympathetically. “In the past, you’ve pretty much alluded to the fact that he’s a bastard.”
I looked away. “Yes.”
“So if he’s a bastard when you go to see him, it won’t be any surprise.”
“No.” But it could be horrible. Absolutely horrible.
“What’s worse? Proving to yourself he’s a bastard one last time or always wondering if you should have seen him?”
I met her eyes. “Either option isn’t great, is it?”
“No, but then life can suck sometimes, hey?”
I found myself smiling at her.
“What?” she asked.
“You.”
“What about me?”
“Just love you, that’s all.”
Scarlett grunted and shrugged. “Don’t go all touchy-feely on me. What about Dave’s father? What’s your plan of attack on that one?”
“Forget it ever happened?” I said hopefully.
“Not your style.”
“No, it’s not. I’ll need to meet with Dave and tell him about it. I’ve already decided I can’t do it over the phone.”
“Why?”
“I want to be able to see how he reacts when I tell him,” I explained.
“Do you still have a crush on him?” Scarlett’s lip quirked over the top of her wine glass.
“No! Of course not. I’m too old for crushes. The thing is, getting funding from his father would make a huge difference to his financial situation.”
“You mean he’ll be indebted to his prick of a father instead of the banks? I don’t know, Cate, from what you’ve told me, the banks could be the lesser of the two evils.”
“I appreciate that. Which is why I need to see with my own eyes how deep this rift – and I’m assuming that’s what it is – runs between them. If it’s salvageable, as his financial planner, I’d suggest he consider accepting the funding from his father.”
Scarlett set her glass down. “Makes sense, but I also thought you of all people would be the first to understand that some family rifts run deep.”
“Oh, believe me, I do. I won’t recommend it if it’s not personally viable.”
Scarlett grinned at me. “Personally viable?”
“If I think about it in professional terms it makes it easier for me to process,” I said a little defensively.
“I’m just teasing you. Sounds like you’ve got it all sorted then. What did you need me for?”
“You know why.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re as bad as John, talking all the time.”
“I know. Thanks for listening though.”
“Any time.”
And I knew she meant it.
Chapter 13
Why was I nervous? This was a business meeting.
It didn’t help that we were meeting at a cafe instead of the office. Dave had requested a cafe in the city because he was rushing between jobs and needed to pick up lunch anyway.
I’d only been waiting a few minutes when I saw him come through the entrance. He was easy to spot. Among the black and navy business suits, Dave’s casual clothes drew attention. He was wearing jeans again. Today they were a dark, dirty sort of denim, hugging his thighs enticingly. Painfully aware I was staring I averted my eyes, but not before noticing his black t-shirt made the gold in his hair stand out.
And I did not need to be thinking about the man’s gorgeous hair. Or his thighs.
I stood up and signaled to him. He nodded in my direction and made his way over.
“Hi, Cate.”
“Hi, Dave. Thanks for coming. I know you’re busy.”
“You said you wanted to see me. I made time,” he said simply.
I realized again how much I liked this man’s straightforward nature.
I waited for him to sit down, then we ordered coffees and he requested a sandwich to go. He sat opposite me, waiting. No small talk. Just waiting.
I resisted the urge to blather on about the weather or something trivial and cleared my throat. “I had a phone call earlier in the week.”
When I didn’t say anything else, Dave’s forehead creased. “Is that a new experience for you?”
“No! Of course not.”
He looked like he was biting back a smile.
I stopped myself from reaching over and playing with the sugar bowl. Just spit it out, Cate. “The call was from your father.” I gripped my hands together in my lap while I waited for my words to take effect.
To my surprise, his face remained unreadable. “Let me guess? He wants to throw his money around.”
I relaxed my hands. “You knew already?”
“No. But I know my father.” His face was still impassive, but there was an unusual hardness in his eyes. “What did you tell him?”
I sat up straighter in my seat. “I told him that I wasn’t at liberty to discuss your financial plan and that if he wanted to help fund your business he should talk to you.”
His lips twisted into a wry smile. “He would have loved that.”
“No,
he was quite rude actually.”
“And I bet you were downright pleasant.”
I could see the faint hint of a smile. If there had been any anger or hostility behind the hard glint in his eyes, it was gone now.
“I was a little less pleasant than usual,” I admitted.
“I would have liked to have seen that.”
Our coffees arrived and he leaned back in his seat, his body language relaxed. “Is there anything else?”
All of a sudden I felt extremely foolish for having arranged a personal meeting with him. “No, nothing else. I know you’re busy, but I felt I couldn’t tell you over the phone. He said he’d call next week, so I needed to know what to say to him.”
“Cate.” He leaned in again. “Don’t take any more calls from my father, alright?”
I nodded and tried to choose my next words carefully. “If that’s your decision, I’m happy not to have to speak to him again.”
“You wouldn’t be the first person to say that.”
“Can I raise something though? While we’re talking about it?”
He shrugged and eased back in his seat once more.
“Obviously I’m not exactly sure what the situation is, and I don’t need to know,” I added quickly. “But I feel like I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t at least point out that utilizing family money for the business purchase could reduce your debt and have an impact on your longer term wealth.”
“I know that, but it’s not going to happen.”
“OK,” I replied quickly. “I understand. I just thought that as your financial planner I should mention it.”
“I appreciate you doing your job, Cate, but I’d rather be indebted to the bank for the next fifty years before I take any more money from him.”
I swallowed at the fierceness in his tone and didn’t say anything. His choice of words was interesting. He’d said ‘any more money’. That suggested he’d accepted money from his father in the past and it hadn’t gone well. It might explain his strong financial position and his boys toys, but I wasn’t about to bring that up.
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