He narrowed his eyes.
‘You gave Gizmo a job despite his criminal record, you can give me a job on face value too.’
‘Gizmo is my brother. I don’t know you.’
‘Six weeks.’
‘Three. Then if I’m not happy you leave without a word.’
‘Fine, but you’ll still pay me for those three weeks. Six hundred pounds a week.’
‘Three hundred.’
‘Four hundred and fifty or I walk out of here now and go straight to the police.’
He glared at her, breathing heavily through his nose. ‘I want you here at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.’
She nodded, barely able to believe her luck.
‘And you’ll dress a lot smarter than you’re dressed now.’
She nodded again.
‘Now get out of my sight.’
She hurried out the door into the warm welcome sunshine and Gizmo straightened from leaning on the van, ready to catch her again if need be.
‘Gizmo,’ Ethan called over her shoulder. ‘Take her home.’
Gizmo opened the van door for her chivalrously and she ran towards it before Ethan could change his mind.
‘Wait.’ Ethan appeared in the doorway. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Isabelle Franklin.’
Ethan nodded and walked back inside, slamming the door between them.
*
The Frog and Sausage was warm and cosy, with little booths under turret type roofs and winding stairs that led to further seating areas. It was one of Izzy’s favourite places in the world. The food was amazing, the customers friendly and laidback and right now she was sitting next to a roaring fire listening to the rain howling outside.
It didn’t sit right with her, blackmailing Ethan into giving her a job. She just wasn’t that sort of person. Being underhand and conniving was not part of her make-up. She would just have to prove to Ethan that she was a hard worker and that he hadn’t made a mistake in hiring her.
The door slammed open and amongst the leaves and rain that blew in, so did a bedraggled yeti, hair like a bush, struggling with her umbrella. The yeti forced the door closed, dumped the now broken umbrella in a stand near the door and planted a wet kiss on Izzy’s cheek before sitting down at the table and taking a big glug of cider.
Izzy smiled at her. Bex always made a dramatic entrance. Bex swept the tangle of blonde hair out of her face, ran her fingers through it and seconds later the effortless beauty that Bex so easily pulled off had returned. Izzy always thought that Bex could be a supermodel, being so tall. She had big pouty lips that many women would pay good money to have, flawless skin, big blue eyes and a great pair of breasts. She was stunning. Unfortunately the fashion industry didn’t see beauty in size twenty women, which was their loss, Izzy thought.
‘Good day at the office?’
Bex shrugged. ‘My teeth fell out when I was with a visitor. It was hardly the professional image I was going for.’
Bex’s job was as far removed from the glamour of the catwalk as it could be. Working for The London Dungeon as one of the historical characters meant she spent most of the day wearing filthy clothes and looking as ugly and hideous as she possibly could be.
‘I’m sure teeth falling out works quite well with what you do, adds to the gore.’
‘When your fake black teeth fall out leaving behind a perfect set of white gnashers, it kind of lacks the authenticity my job requires. I couldn’t find my teeth this morning so I had to borrow someone else’s and of course they didn’t fit and kept falling out. For the most part I managed to hide it, but during one big speech they fell out, straight onto the floor. The visitors all just burst out laughing, I was gutted. I had to quickly pick them up and put them back in, but they were already covered in ten tons of fur and dirt. It felt like I was chewing on fluff for the rest of the day. But I did scare the crap out of a few grown men and made a few children cry so yes, it was a pretty good day.’
‘You’ll miss it when you leave.’
‘Yes I will. How was your day?’
Izzy felt the smile stretch on her face. ‘I’ve got a job.’
‘That’s fantastic, well done Iz, doing what?’
‘Have you heard of a company called, “Kidnap My Wife?”’
Bex’s face fell. ‘Isabelle Franklin, what have you got yourself involved in?’
‘It’s nothing dodgy. It’s a fantasy role play thing. We kidnap men’s wives and take them to some big house and the husbands tie them up and have sex with them.’
‘How is that not dodgy?’
‘It’s not, the wives know about it. Think Fifty Shades of Grey on a lesser scale.’
‘So people pay to be kidnapped and tied up?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what’s your job in all of this sordidness, you better not be the one being tied up.’
‘No – office work, answering calls and all that.’
Bex was clearly still not happy about it. ‘Who do you work for?’
‘Ethan Chase.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Ethan Chase? Oh god honey, you don’t half pick them. Couldn’t you get a nice sensible job in a library or somewhere safe like that, working for some eighty year old man that loves poetry and bird watching?’
‘What’s wrong with Ethan?’
‘What’s right with him? His family have a terrible reputation, if you’d grown up round here you would have heard of him. He’s a total womaniser too, different woman every week. He lays on all the charm, wines and dines them and they’re putty in his hands. Then he shags them and never speaks to them again.’
‘Well that’s ok then, I don’t plan to sleep with him – just work for him.’
‘Or under him.’
‘Bex…’
‘Is he fit?’
Izzy shrugged. ‘If you like that sort of thing.’
‘And what sort of thing is that?’
‘Big, muscular, blue eyes that look inside you.’
‘So yes then. Just don’t be another notch on his bedpost. My friend’s sister went out with him. He took her to dinner, shagged her and she never heard from him again. She did say he was like a god between the sheets though and if she had the chance to do it all over again she would in a heartbeat.’
Izzy stared at her glass, not quite sure what to do with this information.
‘Good with his tongue too, if you know what I’m saying.’
‘I think everyone in this pub knows what you’re saying. He’s my boss. I’m not going to sleep with him. How awkward would that be once it turned sour – which it sounds like it would do. And he would have to be a complete idiot to sleep with one of his employees. Rule number one, don’t mix business with pleasure.’
‘So you’re not attracted to him at all?’
‘No.’ That was a lie. She knew it and Bex knew it.
‘Does he have a nice arse?’
‘I hadn’t noticed.’ Though Izzy knew Bex had seen her blush. Thankfully she was momentarily saved by the arrival of a cowboy, wearing