Big Ben

by Nana Malone

  “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing in my office?”

  I lifted a brow.  “Oh, this is how you’re playing it. I have to say I’m surprised. You’re going to pretend you don’t recognize me. And I thought I’d made a memorable impression.” I leaned forward to make my point. Rookie mistake, because once I was that close, I needed to be closer. Still though, I doubled down. “I was the one with my hand on your arse. My lips and your skin are very well acquainted.”

  Her little sharp intake of breath gave her away at the moment of recognition. Then she squinted and slid her glasses on. Once they were settled on the bridge of her nose, her eyes flared wide. “Oh, I remember. I’ve been trying to forget.”

  Then she swallowed hard and blinked several times before directly meeting my gaze.

  Holy shit. That penetrative stare stirred something deep inside me. Something I’d buried long ago. I quickly pushed down the unknown yet somehow familiar emotion.

  “You sure? Because the way your pupils have dilated, I’m fairly certain you’ve been remembering… a lot.” I gave her a sly grin. “Does remembering make your knickers wet?”

  Her lips parted like maybe she might tell me they were indeed wet right now. Oh, fuck me, even better if she didn’t have any on. But instead, she pursed her lips and lifted her chin. “I’m sure you would love to know, but I, it seems, unlike you, have work to do. So can you get the hell out?”

  I lifted a brow. So she was going to make me work for it. Fine by me. I liked a good challenge.  “I suppose you thought you’d never see me again.”

  “Well, I had thought that you would be in jail. And I didn’t know why I would need to see you again. At least not at first.”

  So she has it. “At least you’re aware of why I’m here then?”

  She frowned, a light crease forming between her brows, and her lips pursed.  “I had originally wanted to see if you were okay. Security didn’t look too gentle. But then I realized you’d used me to smuggle something out of the estate, so my feelings turned less charitable and I’d hoped not to see you again.”

  The spark of fire in her eyes had me grinning. “There you are. The mouthy little imp from Saturday night. I will admit to liking you being concerned about me.”

  “Don’t get too excited. What do you want?”

  Charm, be charming. “I’d like back what you have of mine.”

  She laughed then. “So you tracked me down. And how did you do that anyway? Was there a tracking chip in that drive?”

  No, but that was a hell of an idea. “I need the flash drive, and I’m prepared to give you something in exchange.”

  “Let me get this straight, you used me, and yet I’m supposed to be thrilled you found me? What’s on the drive?”

  “Nothing you need to worry about. You hand it over and we’re done.”

  “Or what?”

  I frowned. “What do you mean ‘or what’?”

  “I hand it over, or what?”

  “Why wouldn’t you hand it over?”

  “Because I don’t know what’s on it. And I don’t know why you were stealing it. I mean, what kind of thief are you that you would hand off something valuable, unless you thought I could be manipulated after the fact?”

  What? No. “I’m not a thief, and it’s complicated. And I’m certainly not telling you what’s on it. But thanks for telling me you haven’t already tried to look at it.”

  Her brow furrowed, and I wanted to smooth the worry from her expression. What the fuck is wrong with you mate? Head in the game.

  “I don’t think I can help you. The kind of help you probably want is not something that I can provide. I’m not the kind of woman that sneaks into off-limits, top-secret locations and hides in the closet with a stranger.  Saturday night was an anomaly.  I don’t know how you found me, but you can be on your merry way. I’m handing that drive off to the police.”

  I gritted my teeth but forced my lips into a semblance of a smile. “Well, you’re pretty easy to find. Your face was all over CCTV of the event.”

  She swallowed hard.  “Am I in trouble? How much was that statue worth? Oh God, tell me. I need to know so I can figure out how I’m going to pay it back.”

  “The statue? What are you talking about?”

  She blinked at me. “This isn’t about the statue?”

  I folded my arms. “No, but now I feel like I need the whole story.”

  “Oh, you’re not going to get it. You can go.” She tried to sidestep me, but I blocked her. “I’m sorry, you need something from me and yet you still haven’t told me exactly who you are.”

  I lifted a brow.  “Sorry, I’m Ben. You’re Olivia. Now, about that flash drive, love…”

  “You slipped it to me on purpose. You didn’t want anyone to find it. So, until you tell me who you are, what you want with it, or what’s on it, I’m not giving it back.”

  “Right.” It was probably time to pull out the big guns.  “Okay, I said my name is Ben. Maybe I should finish that for you. Ben Covington.”

  She frowned.  “Why do I know that name?”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Well, you should know it because I own the building we’re standing in.”

  If there was a picture of a cartoon character with eyes going wide in total shock and disbelief, mouth going agape, that would be Olivia. “You’re that Ben? Ben Covington.”

  I nodded slowly.  “Yup, that’s me.”

  “But what were you doing at the fundraiser? And why were you hiding?  What is on that flash drive?”

  The questions came out in rapid-fire, staccato sentences. “Jesus, you talk a lot. Look, all that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is that I need it back. I’m even willing to give you something for the drive. I took a look at your resume. I don’t know why you’re hiding out here as Kennedy’s executive assistant, but you need to be in operations. Your resume warrants it. You’re good at what you do, and I’ve looked at your employee evaluations. Kennedy has nothing but amazing things to say about you, so how would you like a job working for me? I need a new operations director, a right hand. Not to worry, there will be no hint of impropriety. You’ll report directly to Jessa Ainsley, so you don’t have to worry about all your fantasies about where you would have let me touch you.”

  She stared at me. I would have expected most people to jump up and down, be thrilled, be excited. Not Olivia Ashong. She stared with a gaze so intense I started to shift in my discomfort.  “I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re not that good. I’ve already forgotten the whole thing. But I am curious, why would you give me this job?”

  Oh, but I was that good. “Because until Saturday night, I didn’t even know you worked here, which means that you’re invisible. You can’t get promoted if you’re invisible. I don’t know exactly why you took this job with Kennedy, but you are capable of doing so much more, and I can offer you that opportunity.”

  “So, just like that, without a proper interview or anything, you would give me the kind of job that pays a ridiculous amount of money to get that thing back?”

  “Whatever you want, yeah. How about it?”

  “I say until you can tell me what it is, or why it’s so critical, or even better, why I shouldn’t turn it into the police, my answer is no.”

  Livy

  Ben had been right in my office that morning when he’d talked about my wet panties. They’d been soaked. He’d been so damn smug. No way I was letting him know he affected me. And besides, I was with Dex. Ben Covington was merely a little harmless fantasy.

  Right. So that’s why you’re running to Telly’s for a second opinion?

  To be fair, it wasn’t the only reason, even though I knew what I was doing was a mistake.

  Well, I’d made a series of them starting with turning down flipping Ben Covington for a job. I was out of my mind. The series of decisions I’d made since going to that stup
id fundraiser had sent me on this path, and I wasn’t sure I could course correct.

  What the hell was wrong with me?

  Of all the stupid things you’ve ever done, Liv, this takes the cake. But like my mother always said, some mistakes had to be made.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t know I was making one. I knew the moment I made a copy of the flash drive. Even when I’d brazenly told him he couldn’t have it, I’d known I was going to give it to him. But he’d used me, and I needed to know why and how much trouble I was in.

  When I saw him in my office, some primal, feminine part of me had wanted to preen. He was dangerous with a capital D. And I was going to need to stay the hell away. But boy had I wanted to lean into his sandalwood scent.

  I’d wanted to do other things to his towering frame too. I was pretty sure I needed a grappling hook to climb that mountain, and there was a part of me that was totally into that.

  Nope. Stop it.

  I had to stop thinking about him. Those ice-blue eyes. The charcoal vest over the crisp white shirt. The swatch of cerulean silk in his tie that accentuated the color of his eyes. God, I had problems. One, I had a boyfriend. Two, Ben Covington was possibly the most handsome man I’d ever seen on the planet. Three, he’d used me.

  There was a reason he’d done it, and I needed to know why. I couldn’t explain it, but I hoped knowing would buy me some assurances. He was willing to give me a triple-pay upgrade. He owned the place, but no one did that unless they were desperate.

  As I furtively glanced over my shoulder, I skipped up the stairs of the waterfront flats toward Telly’s place. She basically lived above Vauxhall tube station. After work, I’d taken the tube from Soho and headed straight to her place, knowing with every step that I was making a grave error.

  But if I was making a mistake, I knew Telly was the friend to go with me. I was about to do something that was probably going to get me into trouble, but I couldn’t let it go. He was hiding something. Something that might be important for me to know. Like a scab, I couldn’t stop picking at it. I had to know if this was going to blow up in my face. I had to have answers.

  At Telly’s, the closed entryway with keypad access didn’t stop me. I pulled out my set of keys and opened the door. There were several people on the lift with me as I headed up to the third floor. With each step toward Telly’s flat, I wondered what had gotten into me.

  I knocked at Telly’s door, and it took a minute before I heard her footsteps on the other side. When she yanked it open, she was out of breath.  “Hey, you gorgeous slag. Give me a minute.”

  “Hey, Telly.”

  She laughed. “Come right in. The look on your face clearly says, ‘This calls for wine.’ Tell me, is this a breakup surprise? Don’t tease me.”

  I groaned.  “Telly.”

  “Okay. Sorry,” she grumbled. She stepped back to let me in and then closed the door behind me before she ran into her room.  “Let me hit save on what I’m working on.”

  “I’ll get the wine.” I practically lived there, so I knew exactly where to find it.

  In her kitchen, I reached into the fridge. I knew I’d find a Moscato in there, because Telly, like me, didn’t actually like real wine. She liked the sweet stuff that tasted more like fruit juice than anything. I uncorked it and poured two hefty glasses. It was our shared joke all through Uni. We’d never be sophisticated enough for the real stuff.  She’d always said it kept her real and then proceeded to laugh at all the wine snobs who insisted they could taste every single flavor and flower. She claimed that in her bartending days she often served cheap wine and no one could tell the difference.

  I was inclined to believe her.

  When she jogged back into the living area, she gave me a smile.  “I love you. And I’m so glad you’re here. Sorry about the break-up comment. But what the hell? Is this about the mugging Saturday night?”

  I laughed because only Telly could say that to me. Since Uni, we’d vowed to only tell each other the truth. The side effect of that promise was that now she could read me like a book.

  I reached into the pocket of my trench. I hadn’t even bothered to take it off. The chill from the misty rain outside was still running through me. That was London in the early spring for you. I pulled out the drive and laid it on the kitchen counter.  “No, this isn’t about the mugging. I canceled my credit card. The police are not hopeful it’ll ever be found. But that’s not what this is about. This flash drive, can you find out what’s on it for me?”

  Her gaze slid to the flash drive, to my face, then back to the flash drive.  “Where did you get this mysterious drive?”

  “Uhm… it’s a long story. But I couldn’t read it. I figure you can do some hackery magic or something.”

  She laughed then.  “You recognize I can’t hack everything, right?”

  “I know that.  But I need you to hack into that.” I drank two large gulps of my wine. “It’s important.”

  I stared at the flash drive, wondering what the hell I was doing. In the last two days, I had been afraid, worried, curious... and free. These were feelings I had been searching for half my life. And that energy had fueled my writing. It was like the adrenaline I still carried from that night had unlocked my creative center.

  Ever since my mother died, there had been this empty part of me, and it tasted like dissatisfaction. It was eating at me. It ate away the carefully constructed life that I’d told myself I wanted and what I understood as living.

  There had been an edge of danger, a spike of adrenaline, the fear of getting caught. God, I sounded insane even to myself. But I’d felt a little more… alive. And I’d certainly felt that when I found Ben in my office. Like suddenly something had turned on all my machinery.

  It was terrifying but also exhilarating. I wasn’t a complete idiot. I knew my therapist would tell me that I was displaying risky behavior. While I was exhilarated, I was putting myself in danger. And before I took things even further, I needed to know what the hell I was dealing with.

  Telly crossed her arms.  “Is it going to require more wine-ing?”

  I nodded.  “Yeah. I’ll grab the bottle and turn on the heat lamp.”

  She met me a minute later with some chocolates and cheese.  “Well, you know, we have to pretend that we’re not just having wine for dinner.”

  I nodded solemnly. “That’s a good point.”

  Once we were settled in with the heater blasting and our gazes trained on the flames, she spoke. “So, what the hell have you gotten yourself into, Liv? You don’t come to me with random flash drives. Something is happening.”

  I chewed my bottom lip, worried about how much to say. “Remember the thing with the Viking in the closet? And how I felt alive, and you know... generally, all the shenanigans?”

  She nodded slowly.

  “Well, the part I left out before, you know, I got mugged… he passed me something.”

  “He passed you what? Like chlamydia?”

  I snorted wine up my nose. That was my fault for taking a sip while she was talking. I knew Telly was prone to outrageousness.

  It felt good to laugh and release some of the tension coiling between my shoulders.  “No, I told you I didn’t bang him in the closet.”

  “Hey, no judgment here. Not like you don’t deserve a good bang in a closet, to be fair.”

  I opened my mouth to defend Dexter, but then, well, she was right. I did deserve it. Since Mom died, he hadn’t laid a hand on me. And when I initiated, he’d make an excuse not to do it. But that was another problem for another day. “So anyway, I told you we hid in the closet, and then he went his way and I went mine and returned to the party. Well, then he was in a scuffle with security after he was in some kind of altercation with Bram Van Linsted.”

  There was a beat of silence. “So, he was having an altercation with Van Linsted and security came. How did you get involved?”

  “Well
, I stopped the security guys as they were dragging him off Van Linsted, trying to tell them to let him go. They were trying to pin him down, he fought their hold, I went too close, and then all of us took a tumble.”

  She frowned. “You left that out on Saturday.”

  “I know. It was something out of like a hilarious blooper-reel from some movie. Like something Anne Hathaway would act in.”

  “You know what? You could easily be the brown version of Anne Hathaway.”

  I grinned.  “You think? I guess my boobs are good enough. I’ll take it.”

  She nodded.  “Okay, so you fell. What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal is that flash drive. He slid it into my purse, as if he didn’t want anyone to find it in his possession.”

  She leaned forward, her glass of wine cradled between both palms.  “Are you sure he did it?”

  “Yes. I went to work this morning, and there he was, in my office.”

  Her mouth fell open. “What?”

  “I know. He was standing there like he owned the place. Gorgeous. And he was wearing a vest and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showcasing some discreet ink. And his forearms were thick and strong, and it was just…”

  “Right. Yes. So you told me how he was in your office, and his forearms were exposed. Did he bend you over the desk, because... yes,  I’ve been looking for a romance too, you know, but I’ll use your life as a substitute for now.”

  “Stop it. You have Carmen. He didn’t bend me over the desk, but he offered me a job.”

  “Okay, back up. This is the same bloke who hid with you in a closet, whispered sexy nothings in your ear like, ‘stop moving, be quiet, stay here,’ while you were grinding against his very big dick. And then he slips you something, nothing inappropriate, of course, just, you know, a flash drive that could be virtually anything. And then on Monday, two days later, he’s in your office.”

  “Yes.”