Office Scandals. Maureen Child

she wasn’t about to admit to him how difficult it was.

      ‘It is wise, no doubt, for you to keep your hand in, considering how hard it will be for you to get your feet back on the career ladder, but I’m sure you already know that.’

      ‘It is possible to have a career and be a mother.’

      ‘Of course it is.’

      Her eyes narrowed. ‘Are you patronising me?’ she asked in a dangerous voice.

      His dark brows lifted. ‘I am admiring you. Clearly if you got a job with Urquarts you are good at what you do and ambitious …?’

      Izzy responded to his quizzical look with a blank expression, determined not to give him any ammunition to use against her.

      ‘It is good for a woman to be ambitious and stimulated by her work, but the balancing act will be much easier to achieve when you have support … when you are not living alone.’

      Izzy just stared at him for a speechless moment. Had he heard a thing she had said? Finally shaking her head, she surged to her feet. ‘That isn’t going to happen. Lily lives with me … she needs me … I need her … no … no … no!’

      She reminded him of a tigress defending her young as she positioned herself between him and the buggy. ‘Calm down. I’m not trying to take Lily off you. There are ways around this.’

      She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Amaze me.’

      ‘We both want to live with Lily, so the obvious solution would be to cohabit. Another option we should not discount out of hand, of course, is marriage … a definite possibility.’

      Izzy stared at him and thought, My God, he’s insane! My baby’s father is a lunatic. Marriage, he actually said marriage!

      ‘You’re joking, right?’

      ‘I’m deadly serious.’

      Izzy grabbed the buggy. ‘Just keep away from me and Lily.’

      ‘You’re being very emotional about this.’

      ‘Too right,’ she said, turning the buggy around.

      He rose with a curse. ‘Look, you’re not letting me explain this properly. You’re not going to deny that a child needs two parents.’

      ‘Not if one of them is insane.’

      ‘When I said marriage I was simply referring to a contractual arrangement, not a romantic one.’

      ‘Love and marriage, now who ever heard of such a crazy idea? It’ll never catch on.’

      ‘I’m thinking of Lily. Who are you thinking of?’ he yelled after her, smiling despite himself when without turning she made a rude gesture over her shoulder.

      ‘I’ll be back!’

      She did turn then, yelling, ‘I’ve heard it before and the other guy was much more impressive.’

       CHAPTER SIX

      THE only person Izzy had confided in was Michelle, whom she described the conversation to over coffee and cakes the next morning.

      She laughed about it and made it sound like a joke but in truth she was really anxious. Would he try and take Lily from her?

      Then Michelle reacted in a way Izzy had never anticipated and instead of condemning Roman she actually defended him.

      ‘Well, I’m not saying it wasn’t over the top, but at least he isn’t trying to dodge his responsibilities, which a lot of men in this situation would, you know. Did he actually propose? It’s actually rather romantic when you think about it …’

      ‘Well, not actually propose in so many words,’ Izzy admitted. ‘And believe me, it wasn’t romantic.’

      ‘So has he been in touch since yesterday?’

      ‘No, and he’s booked out of the Fox.’ Izzy hoped she had seen the last of Roman Petrelli … didn’t she?

      Later that day Izzy was interrupted from her power walking back home by her phone ringing. Chest heaving, she stopped to pull the phone from her pocket halfway up the steep country lane. The calm objectivity she was trying to exhaust herself into still eluded her.

      Roman’s I’ll be back threat still haunted her.

      It was all about what he wanted, and, yes, today he wanted to be a father, but what did he know about being a parent? Nothing, he had said as much himself, and would he be equally enthusiastic when the novelty of the situation wore off?

      ‘Yes!’ she breathed into the phone.

      ‘Izzy, is that you?’ Layla, the owner of the interior design agency she had worked for straight from college, sounded startled … and small wonder.

      Izzy took a deep breath. ‘Yes, Layla … sorry, I was just …’

      Layla as always got straight to the point. ‘I’ve got a job for you, a big job. It’s perfect, it’s … I’ve got it down somewhere, but it’s in the middle of the country—you like the country, darling.’

      ‘That sounds great, Layla, and I appreciate you thinking of me, but until Lily is older and at school it’s difficult. The commission in Keswick last month was great, but anything bigger …?’ The older woman had continued to put some part-time commissions her way and Izzy was grateful.

      ‘Oh, I didn’t think about you, darling—the client specifically requested you.’

      ‘Me?’

      ‘Seems like he saw the Dublin town-house project you worked on before Lily was born—did you know it was on the market? Anyhow, apparently he was blown away.’

      Izzy felt a stab of pride. She had been pretty pleased with the project herself. ‘So the client is Irish?’

      ‘Not a clue, darling.’

      Izzy frowned and glared at the nail she had just caught herself nibbling before thrusting her hand in her pocket. ‘So you don’t actually know who this client is?’

      ‘What does that matter? A film star, a royal, an oil-rich sheikh—he won’t be there. Apparently there’s just a skeleton staff. The point is he’s got pots of money, expense is no object and he’ll give you a free hand.’

      ‘Free hand? There must be a remit?’

      ‘Nope. He’s apparently willing to put himself entirely in your hands. The only stipulation is that it is a suitable family home to take his bride to … lucky girl. Oh, yes, it is a he.’

      ‘It sounds too good to be true …’ Izzy found herself almost hoping that there would be a catch; it would make it easier to justify refusing it.

      It wasn’t that she regretted her decision to take a career break, but the sense of guilt she felt lingered.

      Her own mother had worked up until the day before Izzy’s birth and had returned to work two weeks after. She had always encouraged ambition in her daughter and instilled the importance of having a career and being independent, and she would have been appalled that Izzy had taken even a temporary career break to look after her baby.

      Ironically it was thanks to her mother that Izzy was financially able to take time off at all to spend with Lily. Izzy was still receiving healthy royalties cheques from her mother’s successful writing career.

      ‘A gig like this could make your career, Izzy.’

      ‘True.’ And two years ago Izzy would have jumped at the golden opportunity. ‘And I appreciate the offer, but the timing’s not right,’ she said firmly.

      ‘Is this about leaving Lily?