A Dangerous Affair

Stephanie White picked up her glass of wine from off the bar and wriggled onto a nearby stool, sipping her drink and observing the man across the room with wary eyes. Everything about him was dark, from his pristine charcoal business suit to his neatly cropped hair and cold ebony coloured eyes. Perhaps this evening was a mistake but despite the warning bells in her head, Stephanie was determined to learn more about the man’s activities, write her unfinished article and get the recognition she deserved. This was going to be a top story in itself but Stephanie wanted the full scoop on the chaos that had descended upon the suburbs of London recently; and it was her belief that this man held all the answers. She had to find a way to infiltrate the group without arousing suspicion and that meant she needed to attract the man’s attention. She had dressed purposely that evening with this in mind however now that she was sitting across the room from the man she was acutely aware of her vulnerability.

Her Editor-in-Chief, Mr Michael Bricks, a somewhat intimidating but dedicated professional, had warned her against continuing with this story once they had discovered that the man standing opposite her was involved. Mr Henry Carlton was a known felon and suspected narcotics dealer but what unnerved Stephanie more was his supposed lust for beautiful, young women. He certainly wasn’t short of them that evening for he was surrounded by a dozen or so attractive ladies. She would have to walk a thin line between getting the information she needed and attracting too much attention from the infamous Mr Carlton.

Tom Phillips entered the bar and spotted her immediately. He had known without a shadow of a doubt that she would follow up on her story and go in search of Carlton. On the way there he had tried to justify his actions in following her to the bar; after all he owed her no favours. In fact, since he had begun working for the newspaper she had barely even acknowledged his presence in the team. This had puzzled him as she seemed to have a good enough rapport with everyone else in the office. Nevertheless, she was putting herself in danger. She was trying to get information out of a class A drugs dealer and renowned womaniser for god sake. Who did she think she was, Sherlock Holmes? Besides, he had nothing else planned for that evening and he hated staying in on a Saturday night, it went against his principles. She would obviously realise that she was in way over her head and he would be there to help her out. He rather liked the idea of coming to her rescue; it would at least wipe that overly confident, prudish smile off her face and force her to acknowledge that she couldn’t do everything on her own.

Stephanie had always frustrated Tom immensely. He never failed to charm or sweet talk the women at work, but not her. There was not one person in the office that he didn’t have a good working relationship with apart from her, and now he saw it as a challenge to get her on side. After all, she had to be the most alluring woman at work, annoyingly, unattainably so but incredibly alluring all the same. Perhaps it was her aloofness that intrigued him, and apparently most of the other male workers in the office too.

Pushing his way through the crowds of people, Tom finally reached the bar and ordered himself a whiskey. He purposely sat behind Stephanie so that she was unaware of his presence. He watched and waited to see how she was going to approach Carlton. If she was going to put on the charm he’d love to see it; he’d never seen it before. He’d also never seen her dressed anything like the way she was dressed that evening. She always covered herself up with prim and proper blouses and below the knee skirts but this was a Stephanie he’d never seen. He had a fantastic view of the bare expanse of her back in that sleek, black, satin dress. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be a waste of time after all. He watched as she sipped her glass of wine and scrutinised Carlton from a distance. Boy, he was almost jealous of the guy if she was going to come on to him dressed like that! She crossed her legs and took another sip from her wine glass. The black satin fell away from her lap and revealed a sensational pair of stocking clad legs. God she was stunning! Even more than he’d realised. But she’d have to work on her seduction techniques if she was going to lure Carlton, he was moving away and he was surrounded by a harem of other women too.

Oh god, where was he going now? Damn it, she’d have to follow him and stop beating about the bush if she was going to get her story. She waited for a couple of minutes before pursuing the group through a corridor at the rear of the bar towards a back room. She only paused for a second at the door before she felt a firm hand on her arm pulling her backwards into the corridor.

“I hope you know what you’re doing because that guy means business… in more ways than one.”

Stephanie swung her head around and came face to face with a disturbing pair of chestnut coloured eyes. She knew those eyes; she’d seen them before assessing her from across the office. Tom Phillips. Of all the people to appear out of nowhere why him?

“I fail to see what business it is of yours,” she came back. “What are you doing here Tom?”

He gave her a charming smile. “The same thing as you I assume, I’m after a good story.”

“Oh no you don’t,” she replied, pushing him away and fixing him with a fierce glare. “This is my story. You have no right to be here.”

He’d always wondered if those eyes of hers were as piercingly blue up close as they were from a distance. He’d never been this close to her before but now he realised that they were. If he could find just one thing about this woman that was unattractive it would put his mind at rest. But there she was with those stunning eyes that seemed to look right into him. He’d never seen eyes like hers before. They were the palest blue, like the kind of water you would find in a tropical lagoon, almost translucent. And her hair shone in a similar way, framing her face with silvery gold. Her lips…he didn’t want to dwell on them. They were far too much of a temptation, exquisitely shaped and begging to be kissed. How on earth was any guy who knew her supposed to get any peace?

“No right,” he said incredulously, “you don’t own the newspaper sweetheart and you sure as hell don’t own me. I’ll do what I damn well like.” With that he stepped around her and walked into the room.

The bloody arrogance of the man! Stephanie had heard rumours about Tom before, about his attitude towards women. Oh women were good for charming and bedding but when it came to producing front-page stories he was top dog. Or so he thought. Well she wasn’t going to let him steal this one away from her. With rising anger she stormed into the room after him.

Her anger very quickly dissipated however when her sudden appearance in the room drew the attention of most of Carlton’s group. They seemed to fill the small room completely, having taken over all of the leather-seated booths. She halted like a rabbit caught in headlights. Okay so now she had Carlton’s attention at last, his eyes made a slow assessment of her body in the black satin dress which clung and outlined her every curve, but now that she had it did she want it? He gave her a predatory look as he lifted one arm and rested it casually over the back of the booth in which he was sitting. She had to find somewhere to sit; she couldn’t bear this man’s scrutiny any longer.

In desperation she scanned the room for Tom. He had seated himself in another booth with a group of young women and he was happily chatting away to them. Bloody typical! Now she could either continue to stand there in front of Carlton looking as if she didn’t have a friend in the world or she could join Tom at his table and face the patronising comments that were bound to follow. She’d bide her time with Carlton. Moving decisively into the room, she headed for Tom.

“Mind if I join you?” Stephanie asked, hovering next to his table.

Although Tom was well aware of Stephanie’s every move he glanced up at her then with a look of surprise.

“We’d be delighted,” he replied, smiling and moving across the seat a little to make some more room. Her eyes moved to the tiny space he’d created for her between himself and the side of the booth. She hesitated. Tom was amused at her discomfort and his hand shot out to grab her wrist, pulling her towards him and forcing her to occupy the small gap next to him. She sat stiffly in her seat and turned to speak to him under her breath.

“I know what you’re up to Tom.” She fixed her eyes on him.

He smiled politely. “Really? And what’s that?”

“You want in on this story and another woman into the bargain, well it won’t work with me.”

Amusement flickered across his face. “Well if it doesn’t work with you at least I’ll not be short of other female company tonight,” he replied, glancing back towards the group of women they were sharing the booth with.

“That’s right. Why not diversify Tom? Now that you’ve slept with every other female journalist at the newspaper life must be a little boring for you.”

He swung his head back to her. “My god Stephanie, you obviously have rather more faith in my powers of seduction than I do. Much to my dismay,” he said, placing a hand across his heart and looking forlorn, “I can’t admit to winning over every other female at work. You haven’t been talking to them have you? It’s just that there are one or two women who just won’t play ball.” She gritted her teeth with annoyance and he laughed loudly, slipping an arm around her waist and leaning towards her to whisper in her ear. “Don’t believe everything you hear at work Stephie. Would it surprise you to know that I’m extremely selective when it comes to the women I take to my bed?”

His warm breath teased her ear whilst his fingers on her waist stroked shivery sensations down her side. She didn’t like being this close to him; it unnerved her. She had always avoided him in the office as she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. Both his character and appearance reflected contradictory qualities in him which she found impossible to fathom out. He could be charming and smooth one minute yet determined and harsh the next. His eyes were soft and beguiling, his mouth sensual as he smiled and teased. But the angles of his face were hard and tough, his nose jutting out sharply, his jaw square. The thick hair on his head was as untamed as the man himself but he needed to do no more then run a quick hand through it to give him that ruffled, rugged look that all the women seemed to fall for hook line and sinker. But not her. She wriggled herself away from him as much as she could and fixed her eyes in front of her.

“It might surprise you to know that I’m not at all interested in the women you choose or don’t choose to take to your bed Tom. I’m here to get information out of Carlton and you’re cramping my style.”

He laughed. She’d not last five minutes with Carlton but he’d let her have her space…for now.

“Well I wouldn’t want to do that Stephie. I’ll leave you to approach Carlton,” he said, standing up and moving to another seat with a dozen or so female eyes following him.

She watched as he moved away. She was glad. So why did she now feel as if she’d been well and truly left to the wolves? She had to pull herself together. After all this is what she had come here for, to talk to Carlton. She had his attention now so what was stopping her? Turning her head, she sought Carlton through the crowd. He was holding a whiskey glass in his hand, peering into it thoughtfully. She willed her eyes not to move away from him and it seemed to work as he looked up and across at her with interest. She smiled at him and crossed her legs, allowing him a glimpse of her calf and knee. His eyes were now well and truly fixed on her. He motioned to a woman in the group who was standing near to him and she bent so that he could talk into her ear. Then the woman looked across at Stephanie and began to approach her table.

“Mr Carlton over there would like to know if you would care to join his table since you seem to be on your own.” The woman had a soft, sing song voice and she seemed to have had her fair share of alcohol.

“Thank you I would,” Stephanie replied, rising to follow the woman back to the table and throwing Tom a look over her shoulder as she passed him.

As she sat next to Carlton in the booth she began to feel that this whole idea was a huge mistake. If it weren’t for Tom she probably would have given up on the idea earlier and gone home. Now she was faced with the daunting task of appearing interested in Carlton in order to find out more about his business. Where would she start?

Carlton introduced himself and the other people around the table to Stephanie and luckily the women joined in with the conversation, putting her a little more at ease. He was quick to supply her with more drink as he made vague comments about the drinking establishments in the area and the vintage of the wine, although he was more interested in leering at her legs than listening to anything she had to say.

Tom watched Carlton’s eyes on Stephanie and he itched to run over there and pull her away from him. The man was vile. Not only did he make a business out of other people’s addictions but he collected women like objects. Well Stephanie wasn’t an object. Okay so she was snooty and cold at times but she didn’t deserve to be manhandled by a man like him. He felt a small tug on his arm and looked down to see that the woman he’d been talking to had linked her arm with his and was gazing up at him dreamily. Bloody hell, he knew that she’d had quite a lot to drink that evening but she looked completely spaced out. Then it occurred to him that she could well have been spaced out. What the hell were they doing there with people like that?

Stephanie glanced across at Tom to see he that was looking directly at her. The woman at his side had apparently fallen asleep and she had her head rested on his shoulder. On seeing Stephanie’s distraction, Carlton reached towards her lap and put his hand on her leg, trying to draw her attention back towards him. At that moment Tom abruptly stood up and the woman’s head fell back onto the headrest of the booth. He strolled towards Carlton’s table and bent to shake hands with him.

“Evening, Tom Phillips here. I can see that you have met my partner, Stephanie White.”