the back of his neck that he was slightly embarrassed. ‘So what have you been up to?’ he asked, rapidly changing the subject between slurps of coffee and bites of pastry.
‘Box number four. The instruments have been photographed from every angle and I was just about to start work on that stunning map you prepped this morning. Want to take a look?’
He nodded and, picking up his coffee, strolled out of the office and followed her into the map room, brushing sugar from his fingers as he walked.
‘So tell me about this sea chart,’ Toni said as she adjusted her camera settings on the tripod. ‘The colours are amazing. Is it all hand-painted?’
Scott looked up from his coffee. ‘Absolutely. I’m working on the catalogue entry next.’ He pointed towards the mapping table where he had unfurled the leather scroll for Toni to photograph. ‘This is a portolan from a Spanish cartographer who had a workshop on the Canary Islands in about 1730. He made it his business to collect every scrap of information from the captains and navigators who stopped there on the way back from trading journeys to the Caribbean or Far East. Each map took months but they were traded for huge sums.’
‘I can understand why,’ Toni replied, looking down her viewfinder. ‘Such beautiful workmanship and what tiny writing. I will need to do something special for those sections.’
She stepped back and planted a hand on each hip as she tilted her head. ‘Are you going to sell it?’ she asked as she walked around the chart and studied it from every angle.
Scott got slowly to his feet and stood next to her, the sleeve of his shirt bristling against her top as he pointed to dark marks on the corners of the leather and a strange stain right in the middle of the chart. ‘If the price is right. My father intended to restore these pieces before he put them on the market. There is a specialist map dealer who begged us to sell it about ten years ago. A Russian oligarch wanted an original sea chart for his new office in London but my dad refused. It was too precious to him.’
A deep sigh made Toni look up at Scott and he smiled back at her.
‘I love my father, Toni, but he is clueless when it comes to people. His world centres on books and research studies. He has published brilliant works on the history of sea charts. They’re amazing! Elstrom men were sea captains whose mission was to create navigational charts on a sea journey and detailed land maps when they arrived on the east coast of America or Canada or around the top of the world into Russia. That was how the company got started. Men and paper and a hard life in the worst conditions where a lot of the crew didn’t make it back. So my father used the family histories and documents to create a personal history of the exploration and how map-making is part of who we are.’
‘What will your father do when he’s feeling better?’ Toni asked.
‘What he loves to do. Restore charts and maps. Research books and be the expert he was always intended to be. He was never cut out to be a businessman and certainly not a husband or father. He is clueless when it comes to family life.’
‘What do you mean, clueless? Freya seems to get on okay with him.’
‘Two marriages and two divorces. No happy ending for anyone.’
Scott rolled his shoulders back as though he was trying to stretch out the knots from sitting hunched over his laptop for several hours. ‘The only reason this collection is still in the archive at all was that my predecessor had no clue what was inside the leather scroll tubes and my father was too busy to explain. The really valuable pieces were sold about a year ago to pay the staff. They were top quality pieces in perfect condition. No catalogue needed.’
‘Your predecessor?’ Toni wrapped her hand on the tripod and turned to look at Scott. ‘Did your dad employ a business manager? You haven’t mentioned that before.’
There was a sharp cough and a low grunt from across the table. ‘Not exactly. My stepbrother joined the company two years ago straight out of business school. Travis ran the business when I was working overseas. He was a disaster as a man and as a manager.’
Toni nodded very slowly. ‘Ah. Stepbrother. That must have been difficult, for you and your dad.’ Then she sniffed and waved her hand from side to side. ‘I get it. You’re back to show this Travis who is the better man. A lot of pressure on you to get the job done, but that makes perfect sense now.’
Instantly the air temperature seemed to drop several degrees and she pressed her lips together and pretended to be extra fascinated in the sea chart.
‘Are you always so intuitive?’ Scott asked in a low, hoarse voice but there was just enough humour in it that she felt that she could breathe again.
‘Always. Only one of my many special gifts. Think of it as a free bonus with the portrait painter and photographer special package deal.’
He gestured with his head towards the camera as though signalling that he wanted to change the subject. ‘Speaking of which. How are we doing?’
Toni smiled and walked around to the laptop computer and full-sized monitor that she had brought from home. ‘Why don’t you take a look? I think this catalogue design works, but you’re the expert!’
She perched on the end of the high stool and opened up the online digital catalogue that they had agreed was the best format for displaying the inventory. The images could easily be enlarged so that all of the stunning detail popped out in full colour alongside a full description and history for each piece.
Toni felt Scott’s arm press against hers as he bent down to look at the screen so that as she turned to speak their faces were only inches apart.
His tanned forehead might be furrowed, rough and creased with life but his mouth was soft and wide.
Lush.
He already had the slightest hint of stubble at eleven a.m., so the rest of his body must be... No, she couldn’t think about what was below the glimpse of blond chest hairs curling out from the V of his shirt.
He half opened his mouth to say something, grinned and then changed his mind.
Her brain screamed out that this was a huge mistake and that she should tell him the presentation needed a lot more work and that she needed to get back to the photography. But her heart was too busy getting worked up over the boyish smile on his face and the very manly look in those eyes that were smiling at her.
He was dazzling!
As she perched on the stool, his head was only inches from her face, her bosom pressed against his shirt. In a fraction of a second, Toni was conscious that his hand had slid slowly around her waist, moving under her top so his fingertips could feel the heat of her warm skin. She felt something connect in her gut, took a deep breath and watched words form in that amazing mouth.
‘Did you know that Freya has a passion for baking?’
‘She never mentioned it,’ Toni whispered as Scott stepped a little closer into the gap between her legs.
Suddenly she wasn’t so sure that her decision to wear a skirt and leggings today instead of her usual black trousers was such a good idea.
Because, as Scott moved closer, her skirt started to hitch higher up her legs and her hands were too busy holding her up to do anything about it.
‘Cakes,
