Free More Than a Fling? by Joss Wood

afternoon?’
    ‘Brutal.’ She held up her hand in apology. ‘I don’t have an
offer for you yet. I’ve spent the afternoon tracking Luc down; I can’t reach
Justin. Luc is going to brief his father so I just have to wait for the
decision.’
    ‘Okay. When do you think that will be?’
    Ally looked at her watch. ‘Honestly...? Justin will want to do
some research before throwing the foundation’s money at you. Probably not until
Monday morning at the earliest. Luc suggested that I stay in Cape Town until we
get an answer.’
    ‘Huh...’ Ross picked up the Rubik’s cube that he kept on his
desk and idly turned a few layers, adding a red side to the green and yellow
sides he’d already accomplished. ‘So—food. What do you feel like?’
    Ally leaned forward in her chair—no, his chair—and held her face in her hands. ‘You don’t look worried at
all,’ she commented.
    What was there to worry about? he wondered. ‘That’s because I’m
not.’ He put the Rubik’s cube down and folded his arms. ‘Your father is either
going to go for it or not; I can’t influence his decision one way or the other.
If he doesn’t I don’t get to dress up in poncey—’
    ‘Careful...’ Ally warned him.
    He smiled before continuing. ‘Poncey clothing and goof around
in front of a camera. On the negative side, I’ll have to do some fundraising.
It’s all good, Jones.’
    ‘For you, maybe,’ Ally grumbled. ‘If he doesn’t say yes then I
am still short of a face.’
    ‘Yet the world keeps turning.’ Ross stretched as he stood up.
‘Food! I’m starving.’
    Pic’s ears pricked up and he lumbered to his feet.
    Ross dropped his hand and rubbed Pic’s head. ‘And there’s the
magic word. Come on—let’s go, Jones.’
    Ally shook her head and gave him that brief, impersonal smile
he was coming to hate. It was soulless, perfunctory, and very, very
corporate.
    ‘Thanks but I am just going to go back to the hotel and order
Room Service; I still have work to do.’
    Seriously? On a Friday night? Who worked on a Friday night...?
Ah, yes. Crazy people, workaholics and his father. And Ally Jones,
apparently.
    ‘Seriously? You’re going back to your hotel to work ?’
    He deliberately made it sound like a different kind of
four-letter word.
    ‘Yep.’ Ally closed down her computer, packed it into her laptop
bag and refused to look at him. She stood up, shoved her feet back into her
silly, sexy shoes and looked over his messy desk to see if there was anything
she’d left behind. ‘Right—ready to go...’ She scrunched up her face in
annoyance. ‘Dammit, I keep forgetting that I can’t step outside and expect a
taxi to come whizzing by. I need to call for one.’
    And that would take a while. ‘I’ll take you back to your
hotel,’ Ross offered.
    ‘It’s too far, Ross, and I’ve taken too much of your time
already. You probably have a date or something and I’ll make you late. If you
can just call a taxi for me I’ll wait outside.’
    ‘That’s not going to happen.’ Ross waited while she preceded
him out of the office, then switched off his lights and followed her down the
stairs.
    ‘I should’ve just rented a car...now I’m going to put you out,’
Ally muttered. ‘That’s the problem with impulsive decisions—they just come back
and bite you in the butt.’
    ‘Mmm... And imagine what would’ve happened if you’d slept with
me—impulsively, of course!’ Ross said, his words as dry as kindling. He caught
the look of horror that flashed across her face and rolled his eyes. ‘That’s a
joke, Ally! Jeez! Do you always make a mountain out of a molehill?’
    ‘No. Maybe. Sometimes...’ Ally admitted, and Ross was surprised
by her honesty.
    ‘So, pizza and then hotel?’ he asked, pushing his luck.
    ‘Just hotel,’ Ally said as they left the building.
    Well, it had been worth a try.

FIVE
    Ally heard the
knock on her hotel room door, pushed her chair back from the desk and wondered
who