for guidance, for his unfaltering loyalty and love.
Making eye contact with Louise, he gave her a half smile to indicate that he knew she was watching him and hoped that he successfully conveyed ‘I’m flattered little girl, but you’re not bedding the boss’ . Eventually losing the battle between propriety and boredom, Charles left his remaining beer on the bar and stood to leave. An early night wasn’t going to be an issue now. He’d put in an appearance, and he could check his emails and enjoy a peaceful coffee without any further disturbance. Looking back over the room of reveling employees, he smiled as his eyes alighted once more on the feisty brunette, throwing her head back and laughing heartily with one of the more eligible bachelors from his South London office. It seems he didn’t have anything to worry about after all.
Chapter 2
It was around eleven fifty pm when he was interrupted by a knock at his door. What now... he thought with exasperation. Hitting ‘save’ on his current spreadsheet, he pushed his chair back and rose wearily to see who wanted him and why. Turning the handle and opening the door a few inches, he was greeted by a sheepish looking Louise, biting her lower lip and blushing in a rather endearing fashion.
“Erm, hi Sir, I’m stuck.” She looked down to the left and kicked the toe of her extremely high-heeled, blue suede courts distractedly into the hotel carpet. “I seem to have lost my room key, and, well, reception doesn’t believe who I say I am, because I don’t have any ID on me – would you be able to speak to them and tell them I’m meant to be here? Please? I have nowhere else to sleep. All the others have gone to bed!”
Charles observed Louise with a certain irritation. He’d just decided to finish work for the night and had been about to hop into bed. It can’t hurt to help , his better nature coaxed quietly, and he waved his hand to invite her in. “I suppose you’d better come in, whilst I work my magic,” he commented and stood aside to let her pass. As she walked through, he could have sworn she brushed past him just a fraction closer than she needed to. Instantly he was struck by her delicious perfume, underlain by a compelling muskiness that was unmistakable excitement on her part. It seemed that as much as he felt he was in control of this situation, he sensed that he could have his hands full with this particular girl.
As she sat down on the sofa, he picked up the phone and dialed reception. A short, angry buzz repeated itself in his ear as he awaited the night porter. Drumming his fingers on the tabletop he waited a little longer for an answer, only to be entertained by more waspish buzzing in his ear. Placing the handset back in place, he turned back to Louise, who had now kicked off her shoes and crossed her legs, leaning down to massage her raised foot. The effect of which showed her alluring and shapely legs off to full force, and leaning forward simply served to allow her firm breasts to spill a little from her neckline. Trying to focus, Charles found himself considering whether he should go down to reception to sort the problem out, but he wasn’t in the mood for an argument, and at five minutes after twelve he most certainly should be thinking about sleep. Eyeing the sofa ruefully, he cursed quietly before he suggested his next idea. An idea he knew was asking for trouble, but he was a gentleman after all.
“Louise, there’s no answer from reception, I’m afraid and I don’t really think there’s any other options for tonight. You’re more than welcome to stay here, I’ll take the sofa, you can take the bed, but we’re both staying fully clothed. Neither of us can afford to have that kind of talk circulating the office.”
Squealing with delight, Louise leapt from her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck, raining kisses down on his cheeks and thanking him perhaps a little too eagerly for his gallantry. The only