Chapter 17

“Wear something pretty,” Dean had requested, and on the surface that seemed like an easy thing to do.

The trouble was ‘pretty’ like ‘beauty’ was in the eye of the beholder.

In the end she selected a knee length fit and flare wool dress, in a pale lavender colour. She paired it up with some kitten heeled ankle boots and clipped her hair out of her face with two butterfly slides and allowed the length to hang down her back in soft, golden waves.

She checked her reflection over critically and decided that she would do for work, and hopefully Dean would approve too.

The kitchen smelt of fresh coffee and freshly baked pastries, and she inhaled deeply a couple of times, just to savour her early morning efforts.

Her doorbell peeled – just the once at this early hour, but she scurried across eager to greet him.

“Good morning ... You look lovely, Shelly ... you look beautiful ... just like the first time I saw you.” he seemed to be scrambling for words as he looked her up and down helplessly.

“Oh!” she gasped as she remembered hearing Pete say exactly the same thing to her mum.

She gave him a bright luminous smile that caused him to suck in a breath and grab the door frame as his knees buckled.

This woman was just lethal!

“Come on through – the coffee is ready and there are...”

He sucked in a couple of breaths and then straightened himself up. Throwing his shoulders back he stepped over the threshold.

His one and only goal for the next half an hour was to keep his hands away from Shelly – and he knew – how he knew how hard that was going to be.

As he stepped into the kitchen the aromas of coffee and warm pastries assailed him and he gave a great sigh as he sank onto one of the chairs.

“I think I just died and went to heaven,” he said huskily.

“Thank you,” she smiled as she sat down. “I wish that I could take all the credit – but I am afraid that I can’t.”

She poured out the coffee and set a basket of mixed breads and pastries in the middle.

The plates, cutlery and jams and other condiments were already there.

“Oh?”

“The pastries were frozen dough, purchased from the shop at the weekend. All I did was chuck them in the oven to bake whilst I was having a shower and getting dressed, and the breads, I left to warm on top.”

“Oh well, it is all delicious, but I am glad that you didn’t go to too much trouble though.”

She took a small bite of one of the pastries and then sipped her coffee.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that exactly. But my biggest trouble was your last request.”

“Oh?”

“Wear something pretty you said.”

“And you do look very pretty.”

“But the trouble is I always think pretty as in summer dresses – flowers and things like that. We are nipping into winter now and summer dresses just did not seem appropriate.”

Dean chuckled apologetically. “No, I suppose not ... But the truth is I think you always look pretty – you could wear a sack and you would still look pretty.”

“Aww thank you ... but there is a big difference in ‘looking pretty’, and ‘wearing something pretty’.”

“That is true,” he nodded with another of those lazy grins that set her world askew. “Please forgive my poor phrasing.”

She batted her lashes provocatively. “I could almost forgive you anything at the moment.”

He looked down into his cup and refused to meet her gaze. “Remember what I said about keeping my hands off you when I picked you up for work – what I said you needed to do?”

“About ... oh yes – no eye contact!”

“That’s right, so behave yourself.”

She pouted. “What happens if I don’t?”

“He looked up briefly and his eyes were blazing. “Oh, baby you are just storing up trouble for yourself – for later!”

He waited while she locked up, and then helped her into the car before walking around to the driver’s side.

“So, what do you think your day will hold for you today?” Dean asked lightly as he started the car.

“Well, it’s finishing off the VAT quarter bookkeeping; and then I will probably run the payrolls this afternoon and get those emailed across for wages.”

He frowned as he kept his attention on the road. “You seem to be covering an awful lot of the basic stuff; are you on your own with that lot or do you have help?”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” she smiled. “As long as the clients get their stuff in promptly then I have plenty of time to complete them; and that is what I am paid to do.”

“But what happens when someone is late bringing it in – are you expected to go at it all night to meet a deadline?”

“Well, fortunately it has never come to that; I do sometimes have to prod some of the clients quite a bit to get them to cough up the goods; but for the most part, they are generally pretty conscientious about it all.”

“But the client base isn’t a static one is it? I mean a company has to expand to survive; and each new client is a potential difficulty.”

“You speak from experience I am guessing,” Shelly laughed lightly. “I don’t know what difficulties you have come across in your business, Dean, but remember you are the guy in charge, whereas I am just an employee; and if something is troubling me then I can go to someone higher up and dump it on them.”

Dean chuckled. “I am glad to know that you realise that; but don’t let things creep up on you ... tell me what happens when you take a holiday; what happens if you fall sick?”

“I’m not irreplaceable, Dean – I am at best convenient. My work list is, as with all the accountants, and employees there; it is a public list that everyone can access. If any of us gets ill or goes on holiday, then someone else will pick up the load.”

“It’s a good supportive workplace then?” he approved.

“Yes, oh yes; they are very serious about all that.”

“Will you miss that when you go it alone?” he asked huskily.

“Oh, you remembered our conversation?” her voice caught.

He grinned. “You are not the only one with a good memory.”

“I think that I have a way to go yet before I can even think about going it alone, I shan’t rush into anything.”

“That’s very sensible. So, you are working towards your accountancy accreditation now, yes?”

“Yes, that’s right.” she nodded. “It’s a lot more in depth and there are a lot more rules to learn and observe, but I am getting there.”

Shelly gave a wide happy smile. She had never realised how nice it was to simply talk to someone about all this. Someone who could understand and be supportive and encouraging. Oh, her mum and Kelly had always been supportive; but they had never really understood it all.

As a businessman though, Dean did seem to truly understand her work duties and commitments – and her hopes and dreams.