Tycoon for Hire

‘I must have been crazy to let you talk me into going to this do without David. And hiring an escort—even from a reputable agency. Think of it! Paying a man to accompany me!’

‘I’ve told you: it’s not like that,’ he said impatiently. ‘Jack’s a good customer, and his grandson is an actor. A failed one, apparently, so he fills in with escort work. You did tell the agency it had to be Mike Harker, didn’t you?’

‘I asked for Mike Harker and nobody else. And before you ask, yes, I was careful not to let on that I’ve met his grandfather. As far as he knows it’s an ordinary booking, so his pride won’t be offended.’

‘Good. Apparently he’s touchy about favours, and it would have been awkward if he’d refused. What reason did you give for asking for him?’

‘I said someone had told me he was very good-looking, and that was what I needed.’

‘Fine. And you’re quite safe. Jack assures me that Harker knows how to keep his hands to himself. Good grief! What’s that?’

Jennifer followed his pointing finger. ‘It’s a cat,’ she said, a tad defensively.

‘Another of your waifs and strays, I presume?’

‘I found Paws outside my back door, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Paws? You actually call it Paws?’

‘She’s a she, not an it, and her paws were the first thing I noticed. They’re white and the rest of her’s black.’

‘Funny how every four-legged tramp seems to find its way here,’ Trevor observed grimly. ‘I should think the word’s gone around the stray community. Drop in on Jennifer Norton. She’s a soft touch.’

‘Better that than a hard one,’ she said quickly.

‘As long as you don’t bring that thing to the office, like you tried to with your last acquisition. We were just about to sign Bill Mercer up to a really profitable deal, and a damned snake slid out of your desk and nearly gave him heart failure.’

‘It was a small grass snake, very sweet and perfectly harmless.’

‘And then there was the gerbil—no, don’t get me started on the gerbil. Anyway, it’s not businesslike.’

‘Well, I never was very businesslike, was I? Not the way you are, the way Barney wanted me to be. I shouldn’t really be part of Nortons at all, you know. I’m not cut out for the cut and thrust. Sometimes I think I should get out while I’m still in my twenties, and try something else.’

‘You can’t do that to Barney,’ Trevor said, aghast. ‘After all he’s done for us! I agree, you’re a fish out of water, but you’ve always been his pet, and if you defect it will break his heart.’

‘I know,’ she said with a helpless sigh, for this was the argument she’d used to herself a hundred times. She couldn’t hurt Barney, and the knowledge was like fetters.

‘If you’d just use your head a little more,’ Trevor said now. ‘Stop making decisions that you haven’t thought through. You’re far too impulsive.’

It was true. Jennifer was warm-hearted and spontaneous, and these qualities often conflicted with the demands of her work. She had brains, and she’d learned the business thoroughly, but people and animals would always matter to her more.

She didn’t try to explain this to Trevor. She’d failed too often in the past. She merely contented herself with saying, ‘Tonight you’re the one who hasn’t thought it through. The whole idea is mad.’

‘Nonsense! Look, I’ve got to go. Chin up!’

He gave her cheek a peck and departed.

Left alone, Jennifer sighed. When they were younger she and Trevor had been close, but now that seemed a long time ago. When she tried to argue with him she was out of her depth. In fact, she increasingly felt that her life had been taken over by forces outside her control, and never more so than tonight.

Trevor had spoken of what Barney had done for them, and it was true that he’d taken them in when their mother had died, when she’d been twelve and Trevor sixteen. Nobody had known where their father was, since he’d abandoned his family some two years earlier. There’d been a divorce and he’d moved abroad with his new lover. There had only been their grandfather.

Barney was affectionate, but his idea of childcare had been to scoop them up into his hectic life, taking them with him from place to place. It had been interesting and fun, but there had been nothing to make Jennifer feel less of an orphan.

Barney couldn’t replace the father who’d deserted her, but she’d loved him, and striven to please him. She’d worked hard at school, enjoying his praise when she got top marks, and gradually coming to accept that she would go into the business.

‘I’m really looking forward to having you two as my partners,’ he’d say happily.

Trevor had joined Nortons as soon as he’d left school, and Barney had started preparing for the day his beloved Jennifer would follow. She hadn’t had the heart to tell him that she would rather work with animals. To disappoint him would have been to risk losing his love, and she’d long ago learned how painful that could be.

So she’d entered the firm and performed every task well, making him proud of her. When his health had failed, five years ago, Trevor and Jennifer had been ready to take over the reins, leaving him to a happy retirement. To all outward appearances she was a glamorous, successful businesswoman, but inside she felt trapped, and a failure.

Now here she was, ready to attend a function that didn’t interest her in the company of a man she didn’t know, more imprisoned than ever by the expectations of others. And wishing with all her heart there was some way of escape.

Steven Leary stopped outside the apartment door and looked at his shabby surroundings in dismay. Once his friend Mike Harker had been a wit, with matinée idol looks, destined for stage and film stardom. But that had been twelve years ago. Steven had kept in touch, but they hadn’t met for five years. Mike’s career had flopped, and he now lived in this dump.

The door opened a crack, revealing one bloodshot eye. ‘Who are you?’ came a muffled voice.

‘Mike? It’s me—Steven.’

‘Hell. Steven?’ Mike drew him inside and quickly shut the door. ‘I was afraid you were the landlord.’

They exclaimed over each other, and studied the difference that the years had made. Mike was still handsome, although bleary eyes and a red nose spoiled the effect.

‘Stay clear,’ he said, waving Steven back. ‘I’m a walking flu germ.’

‘Did I pick a bad time?’ Steven asked, indicating Mike’s white tie and tails on a coat hanger. ‘You look as if you’re going to a première.’

Mike gave him a wry look. ‘If I was into premières, would I be living here?’

Over coffee they exchanged awkward conversation. Steven felt embarrassed to ask Are you still an actor?, and even more embarrassed to talk about his own success.

‘I remember when you joined Charteris Enterprises,’ Mike said. ‘I said you’d end up running the place, and you did.’

‘It’s no big deal,’ Steven said, speaking less than the truth. Charteris was a huge, powerful conglomerate, and its achievements were his pride and joy.

‘You ought to be in bed,’ he told Mike.

‘I have to go out. I survive by working for an escort agency, and I’ve got a job tonight.’

‘You’re a gigolo?’ Steven exclaimed, aghast.

‘No, dammit, I’m not a gigolo! It’s perfectly respectable. If a woman has to go to some function and she hasn’t got an escort, she calls my agency and hires me. I just have to be attentive and make the right impression. She goes home to her bed and I go home to mine.’

‘Which is where you should be right now. You can’t escort a woman in this state. You’ll give her flu.’

‘And she’ll give me money, so that I can stop avoiding the landlord.’

‘Tell your agency to send someone else.’