Free VANCE by Leila Hawkes Page A

“Thanks, Bob,” he says as he follows Estelle to the elevator. He turns to me again and his eyes send a chill down my spine.   “Catch you later, Hol.”

    “Yes,” I blurt out. “Have a good stay,” I add belatedly.

    I carry on watching the couple, unable to fight the temptation of checking him out. Like his wife, he is dressed expensively. He is wearing cream pants and matching jacket, with a black shirt underneath. I catch a glimpse of bare ankles just above his designer brogues, and his short dark hair is fashionably tousled. It is a darker shade than my own, and looks impossibly luxuriant. I imagine what it would be like to run my fingers through it, and my skin tingles with the thought.

    As the three of them board the elevator, Vance shoots another look at me over his sunglasses. I’m not expecting it, and our eyes lock together for just a split-second. My belly flutters and I hold my breath, caught like a fly in a web in his sultry gaze. Then the elevator doors slide shut, and the moment is gone.

    I let out a deep breath and almost sag against the desk. The sensual aftermath of the look warms my stomach, making me feel cosy all over. But the self-critical part of my brain kicks into overdrive and I cringe with embarrassment. Vance must have thought I was a complete airhead, a silly dumb blonde lusting after him. He and his horrid wife are probably having a good old laugh at my expense right now.

    Still, I can’t shake the feeling that we’d made some kind of connection. Though we have only been together for a few minutes at most, I feel like something deep has passed between us.  

    Don’t be stupid!   I tell myself angrily. I am always doing this, seeing things that just weren’t there. Mom always said that I had an over-active imagination. “You’re always off with the fairies!” was a favourite saying of hers. “You need to live in the real world, girl!”   Mom’s angry voice slices through my mind, deflating all my daydreams. She was right of course. She’d always been right, and if she’d been alive today she would have scolded me for acting like a silly schoolgirl. I’m too trusting, that’s my problem. Even now, after everything I’d been through, I still only see the best in people. It is my biggest weakness.

    Nevertheless, it didn’t change the nice feelings Vance has stirred in me. Self-consciously, I start examining my appearance in the large mirror behind the reception desk. At twenty-two, I am small and petite and a big improvement on the clumsy, acne covered teenager that I eventually evolved from. I thankfully now have a clean completion, and my face is a small oval with a perky nose and full, rubina lips. It is nowhere near as stunning as Mrs Drake’s aristocratic diamond face and cut glass cheekbones, but I like to think I am pretty in my own way. Aunt Shelley always says I am much better looking than I think I am, but she is away with the fairies more than me. Still, I’m not completely hideous, and there did seem to be a genuine spark of pleasure in Vance’s wonderful blue eyes when he looked at me.

    I run a hand along my smooth dark hair, and tug at the ponytail. Who am I kidding? While he is married to someone as fabulous as Estelle, why would Vance be even remotely interested in a plain girl like me?  

    I quirk my mouth and turned back to the front. By rights, I shouldn’t even be looking at someone else’s man. Though I don’t have any particular affection for Mrs Drake, I’d never want to inflict the misery and heartache of betrayal on another person. I have been there and it isn’t a pleasant place at all.

    “Whose is that fancy car outside?” Jules’ foghorn voice bellows across reception, making me wince. A few moments later, the maid bustles through the front doors.   “Have you seen it, Holly?” she asks eagerly.   “It’s ever so smart, and a gorgeous shade of blue. I think it’s a linguine!”

    I roll my eyes. “Do you mean