‘I’d like to freshen up a bit before going upstairs.’ Despite Henry’s apartment being number one, it was located on the first floor of the building, the ground floor taken up with the owners’ car park.
‘Just down that corridor, miss,’ he indicated. ‘Right next to the lift.’
‘Oh, yes, I can see it. Thank you.’
Her hand was actually on the powder-room door when Joy’s voice popped into her head.
You’re not going to be a wishy-washy, lily-livered little nincompoop, are you?
Shame and anger revived her determination to have done with her silly shy self once and for all. With her bag clutched tightly in one hand, she moved on to firmly press the lift button instead. The doors opened immediately and she stepped inside.
This is New Year’s Eve, Violet lectured herself as she rode the lift up to the first floor. A night for facing things head-on; a night where the past was finally put aside in favour of the future. It’s up to you, Violet, to make that future a better place. A bolder place. A place where you finally look in the mirror and see the truth. Your Snow White might not be the fairest in the land but you are an attractive, intelligent woman. There’s no need for you to go through life alone. No need to shrink away from social situations just because they’re out of your comfort zone.
Lady Gwendaline never shrank away from anything, she reminded herself. And, boy, she’d been really out of her comfort zone when she’d been kidnapped by that ruffian. Whenever you feel your courage or your confidence waning, think of her and what she would do. Don’t be shy. And, above all, don’t be a wishy-washy, lily-livered little nincompoop!
CHAPTER FOUR
‘THERE’S THE DOORBELL,’ Henry said to Leo. Both men were standing at the built-in bar opening a few bottles of nicely chilled champagne. ‘Answer it for me, will you, Leo? I’ll pop out to the kitchen and let the caterer know people are arriving.’
‘Fine,’ Leo agreed, depositing the champagne bottle he was holding into one of the ice buckets before heading for the front door.
His eyebrows rose when he opened it to find the most delicious looking Snow White standing there. All alone, he noted happily; no Prince Charming by her side. He also noted that her lovely big brown eyes were staring at him like he was a little green man from Mars. It occurred to Leo that perhaps she was thinking he hadn’t bothered to dress up. He supposed his black dinner suit, white dress shirt and black bow-tie didn’t look like a fancy dress costume.
‘Good evening, Snow White,’ he said with what he hoped was a suitably suave smile. ‘Do come in. By the way, my name is Bond. James Bond,’ he added, looking deep into her eyes.
‘Oh,’ she said, her prettily pale cheeks colouring with the most enchanting blush. It was then that Leo twigged who she was.
‘You’re Violet, aren’t you? Dad’s assistant.’
‘Yes. Yes, I am. But how did you …?’
‘Call it intuition,’ he interrupted smoothly. ‘I presume you know who I am. When I’m not being James Bond, that is.’
He was rewarded with a small, sweet smile. ‘Yes. You’re Henry’s son, Leo, the famous movie producer.’
‘Maybe not so famous after my last effort,’ he replied drily. ‘But let’s not talk shop tonight. Or stand in the doorway.’
Her full skirt swished as she stepped inside the foyer. Leo closed the door before taking her elbow and steering her into the middle of the huge but empty living room.
‘I came too early,’ she said, sounding embarrassed.
‘Not at all,’ Leo assured her. ‘Everyone else is late.’
Another small smile, but it didn’t hide her tension. Henry hadn’t exaggerated when he’d said she had no confidence in herself. She didn’t, though Leo could not understand why. She was very attractive, and obviously highly intelligent. Henry would not have employed her as his assistant if she wasn’t. Violet was a puzzle, all right.
‘Henry’s out in the kitchen,’ he explained. ‘With the caterers. Look, let’s pop that bag of yours in Henry’s bedroom. Unless you want to carry it with you all night.’
‘No, not really,’ she said, and followed him meekly into the master bedroom where he told her to put the bag on the nearest bedside table.
‘Henry won’t mind. You can use his bathroom too, when needs be. Save you sharing the main bathroom with the other guests,’ he informed her as he led her back out into the still-empty living room. ‘Henry!’ he called out. ‘Violet’s here.’
Henry waddled out of the kitchen, his gait somewhat impaired by the pillow tied around his waist underneath his brown woollen habit. Leo watched his father do a doubletake when his eyes landed on Violet.
‘Good Lord!’ he exclaimed as he came up to her. ‘I didn’t recognise you there for a moment.’
Clearly, Violet didn’t usually look as good as she looked tonight. Yet Leo could see that she wasn’t just all clothes, hair and make-up. She had lovely dark eyes, porcelain skin, nice cheekbones, a lush mouth and a good body. At least, the parts Leo could see were good. Very good. He conceded that she might not be so perfect underneath that full skirt. She might very well be pear-shaped with huge thighs and thick ankles. Impossible to tell in that get-up.
‘I didn’t recognise you either,’ Violet replied.
Leo knew exactly what she meant. Henry had totally transformed himself from his usual trim, elegant self into a portly and rather drearily dressed Friar Tuck, even going to the length of covering his thick head of well-groomed silver hair with a brown wig which had the appropriate bald spot.
‘Yes, but not for the better, I fear,’ Henry said wryly. ‘Lord knows what possessed me. Whereas you, my dear girl, look absolutely gorgeous.’
There it was again, that blush, at which point Leo totally abandoned his earlier theory that Violet might be having a secret affair with a married man. Mistresses didn’t blush like that.
At the same time, he wasn’t willing to believe she was pure as the driven snow. She was too attractive for that to be the case. Real Snow Whites did not exist in this day and age. Despite looking little more than twenty tonight, she had to be … what? Twenty-five, twenty-six, maybe? University degrees took three or four years at least, after which she’d been working for his father for about four years.
No, his first theory had to be right. She’d had a bad sexual experience at uni which had knocked her for a six and made her retreat into herself. That would certainly explain her lack of social confidence.
Poor darling, he thought, and resolved to do his best to make sure she enjoyed herself at this party. He suspected it had been a big deal for Violet to come here tonight. Maybe the lure of the fireworks had finally overridden her shyness. Though, ‘shy’ was not quite the word he would use when describing her. A truly shy girl would not have shown that much cleavage …
The doorbell ringing again stopped Leo from ogling Violet’s exceptional breasts, bringing his eyes back up to Henry’s face.
