Page 97 of Never Gonna Happen

‘He’s coming here, actually,’ said Mr Hunter. ‘Tomorrow morning. He absolutely insisted. Apparently he has other business in this part of the world, so it’s no problem.’

The cogs in Emily’s brain started to whirr. Mark had never had a single client in Norfolk, so unless he’d picked one up recently, this was complete bullshit. It was much more likely that Emily’s announcement that she was dating a work colleague had touched a nerve, and he wanted more information about who it was and whether he was worthy competition.

Mr Hunter took off his glasses and looked at Emily pointedly. ‘I’m not ready to tell James about all this just yet, Emily. So if you could find a way to deal with this situation that doesn’t leave my son asking questions, I’d appreciate it.’

Emily nodded, already feeling a headache starting to set in.

Chapter Forty-Six

Emily cornered Anna and Leon over breakfast, having lain awake for several hours trying to work out the best way to manage the whole Mark situation. In an ideal world she’d tell Jamie he was coming to Bowford, but there was no way she could do that without making up a massive lie about why. The truth was also a no-go, which meant the best-case scenario was that Mark arrived and left without Jamie ever knowing. Emily was banking on Anna seizing an opportunity to make amends for past crimes and agreeing to help her out.

The other problem was Mark himself – clearly he was coming to sniff out the competition, presumably to perform some weird male mating ritual that would establish his alpha supremacy. Perhaps he planned to challenge the interloper to a duel, using their dicks as weapons. Under different circumstances it might be pathetic enough to be funny, but somehow it felt important that Mark didn’t know that she was dating Charles Hunter’s extremely handsome son. Mark’s pride bruised easily and this information would eat away at him; who knew what he would do next? But now she had a plan for Leon to save her.

She put down her toast and cleared her throat. ‘I wonder if I could ask both of you for some help.’

Both Anna and Leon stopped eating and looked up at her expectantly.

‘There’s a man coming to visit Mr Hunter today.’

Leon nodded and swallowed his toast and Marmite. ‘Mr Thompson, he’s coming on the train. I’m picking him up from Norwich station at half past eleven.’

Emily turned to Anna. ‘I wonder if you could keep Jamie busy, make sure he doesn’t come to the house while Mr Thompson is here.’

Anna raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

‘And Leon, I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.’

Anna quietly put down her coffee mug, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. ‘These are very strange requests, Emily. Is there any chance you could explain?’

‘Not really. It’s a bit complicated.’

Anna smiled thinly. ‘Is it reasonable to assume you know Mr Thompson?’

‘Yes,’ said Emily with a sigh. She had to tell them something, so maybe they’d settle for the bare bones of this sordid mess. ‘Mark Thompson is my ex-boyfriend, but he’s also assisting Mr Hunter with a business matter. They could have met in London, but Mark insisted on coming here. I think he wants to see where I’m living and working.’

‘You mean he’s trying to get a look at Jamie,’ said Anna. Emily had never been more grateful that Anna didn’t miss a trick.

‘Yes. He knows I’m seeing someone, but not who. I’ve got nothing to hide, but it’s the principle. My life is none of his business any more.’

‘So you’d rather not give him the satisfaction of getting what he wants,’ said Anna.

‘Exactly.’

‘Fine,’ Anna said, taking her mug and plate to the dishwasher. ‘I’ll go and see Jamie while Mr Thompson is here, take some lunch for us both. It’s long overdue – we can catch up on all his news.’

Emily could have hugged her, but maybe it was too soon for that level of friendliness.

‘Explain my job again,’ said Leon. ‘You want me to tell him I’m your boyfriend?’

‘Not exactly, no,’ said Emily. ‘But I’m pretty sure he’ll ask you questions in the car, try to fish for information. So if you could just drop a few hints, let him fill in the gaps for himself.’

Leon nodded and gave a sly smile. ‘So we make sure he doesn’t get what he wants, but also make him think he has.’

Emily nodded and smiled nervously. ‘That’s the plan.’

As plans went, it was riddled with holes. But right now it was the best she could come up with.

Emily spent the rest of the morning holed up in her office, keeping busy and trying to relax the nervous tension in her shoulders. She made Mark a coffee when he arrived, unable to resist asking him how he took it, even though she knew exactly. A flicker of annoyance passed across his face, and she could see he was intimidated by the splendour of his surroundings. Mark had ventured out of his normal territory, and he looked entirely out of place in his expensive London suit and his shiny City-boy shoes.