short months after that first visit to the doctor, he had shut down, blocking out the world, so that he could grieve alone and in silence. His father was the only person who had been able to get through to him and prove that he had a home and a stable base where he was loved unconditionally, no matter what happened or what he chose to do.
The family would be there for him. His father and his half-brother Rob: Team Beresford.
Damn right. His father might have remarried when he’d gone to university, and he had a teenaged sister on the team now, but that had only made it stronger.
So why was his mind filled with images of Dee, her smile, the way her hair curled around her ears and the small brown beauty spot on her chin? The curve of her neck and the way she moved her hands when she talked?
Magic.
Sean ran his hands over his face.
Was it a mistake inviting Dee to the management dinner and introducing her to the family?
Paris was a short train ride from central London and Dee would love it there.
Maybe he could take a chance and add one more person to Team Beresford?
Only this time it would be for totally selfish reasons. His own.
* * *
Dee locked the front door, turned the lights off one by one and then slowly climbed the stairs to the studio apartment where she lived above the tea rooms.
What a day!
She never thought that she would be complaining about the tea rooms being busy but they had been going flat out. It was as if the rays of sunshine had encouraged half the tea-drinking and cake-eating population of London out of their winter hibernation in time for a huge sale at a local department store. And they all wanted sustenance, and wanted it now.
The breakfast crew had scarcely had time to munch through their paninis and almond croissants before the first round of sales-mad shoppers had arrived, looking for a carb rush before they got down to the serious shopping, and the crush had not stopped since.
Ending with the Thursday evening young mums’ club who held their weekly get-together in the tea rooms between seven and nine p.m. while their partners took care of the kids. And those girls could eat!
Lottie had gone into overdrive and a production line of cakes, muffins and scones had been emerging from the tiny kitchen all day. The girl was a baking machine in the shape of a blonde in whites.
And the tea! Lord, the tea: white; green; fruit infusions; Indian extra-strong. Pots. Beakers. And, in one case, a dog dish for a guide dog. She must have hand-washed at least sixty tea cups and saucers by hand because the dishwasher had been way too busy coping with the baking equipment.
They had never stopped.
But there were some compensations.
Whenever she had a moment it only took one quick glance at the huge display of bright tulips which Lottie had moved onto the serving counter to put the smile back on her face. Sean!
Dee padded through the small sitting room into her bedroom, unbuttoning her top as she went, and collapsed down on her single bed.
She slipped off her espadrilles and dropped her trousers and top into the laundry basket before flopping back onto the bed cover, arms outstretched.
Bliss! The bedroom might be small but Lottie had agreed to a rent which was more than affordable. And it was hers. All hers. No need to share with a nanny or friend or relative, as she’d had to for most of her life growing up. This was her private space and she treasured it.
She bent forwards and was rubbing some life back into her crushed toes when the sound of Indian sitar music echoed around the room and made her almost jump out of her skin.
Dee scrabbled frantically from side to side trying to work out where the song was coming from for a few seconds, before she realized it was bellowing out from the phone that Sean had sent over that morning.
Dee picked it up and peered at it before pressing the most obvious buttons and held it to her ear. ‘Hello. This is Dee. And I should have known that you would set my ringtone to something mad.’
‘Hello, this is Sean,’ a deep, very male voice replied with a smile in his voice. The same male voice that had kept her awake most of the previous night, reliving the way it had felt to saunter down the streets with Sean holding her hand.
Which was so pathetic it was untrue.
It was her choice not to have a boyfriend. And just because he had asked her to be his date at a company dinner did not mean that they were dating. Not real dating. His brother wanted to talk to her about tea. It was a business meeting.
She had tried that line on Lottie, who had still been laughing and muttering something about her being delusional when she’d staggered home.
‘I was wondering how you were getting on with your new phone. Do you like it?’
She snuggled back against the headboard and smiled. ‘I do like it. It was one of those unexpected gifts that take you by surprise and then make you smile. Thank you. Sorry I haven’t had time to call. We have been really busy.’
‘No problem. And you can change the ringtone to anything you like. There are several to choose from on the special options menu.’
Dee held the phone at arm’s length and made a scowl before holding it closer. Suddenly she felt as though she was being asked to sit an exam and she had not had time to study the subject.
‘Sean. It is flowery and shiny, and there are so many touch-screen buttons that working out which one to use is going to take me the rest of the day. If I can stay awake that long. I’m long past the tired stage.’
‘I know what that feels like.’ He breathed out hot and fast. Then his voice faded away until he was speaking in little more than a whisper that reached down the phone and sent tendrils of temptation into her mind, mesmerizing, tantalizing and delicious. ‘So here is an idea—have dinner with me tonight. I know a few restaurants in your part of town and we can have a great meal and a glass of wine while I squeeze in a master class on how to use your phone.’
Just the way he breathed out the word ‘squeeze’ was so suggestive that Dee almost dropped her new phone.
Dinner?
Oh, that sounded good.
But she was shattered and full of cake.
And not sure that she could sit opposite Sean Beresford without pouncing on him, which would be bad news for both of them.
‘That sounds great, Sean, but work has been mad and I ate earlier. And now you have made me feel extra guilty for not calling to thank you.’
‘No need. This is the first real break that I’ve taken all day. And if anything I should be thanking you.’
‘Why? Talk to me. After all, that’s why you sent me this phone. Wasn’t it?’
A gentle laugh echoed down the phone that warmed her in places that even her best hot tea could
