Five Exotic Fantasies: Love in Reverse, Book 3 (10 page)

“Do you think women find you attractive?”

Felix stared at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“As a man? Do you think women find you attractive?”

Felix picked up his stylus and played with it for a moment. Coco could imagine him pondering on where this was going, and wondered if he disliked the way Peter had turned the focus of the conversation onto him. “I have no idea.”

Peter grinned. “Now you’re being modest. Of course women find you attractive. You’re young, smart, handsome, quite obviously rich.” He gestured at Felix’s watch. “All the things we’re told in the
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus
type books that women like.”

Felix said nothing, continuing to hold the stylus at the tip, slide his fingers down until they met the table, and then flip the stylus over to start the process again, all the while watching the other man.

Peter continued. “
Cosmopolitan
did a survey once of the occupations which women find most sexy. Of course police officer and firefighter were in the top three, but do you know what was number five? Lawyer.” He grinned. “We can’t fight it, gentleman. Women are climbing over each other to get to us.”

Jack guffawed. Hugh laughed. Christopher’s lips curved, but he still didn’t look up.

Rob ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Felix. Felix’s face didn’t change—in fact, she was sure his eyes grew a little harder.

Peter’s smile turned wry at the lack of reaction from the man sitting opposite him, and he cleared his throat. “Anyway. It would surprise me if there’s a single male lawyer in this firm who hasn’t received unwelcome attention at some point in their career. Maybe not you two—” he gestured at Felix and Rob, “—as you’re still young, and you’re unattached, so if a woman did come on to you, it’s unlikely you’d say no. But for those of us who’ve worked here a long time, deflecting unwanted advances is part of the job.”

Felix tipped his head. “Is that so?”

“Unfortunately yes. As you know, law offices are filled with young women for whom a secretarial career is the most likely option if they’re unable to go to university.” He managed to make it sound derogatory, only a step up from being a waitress. Resentment bubbled in Coco’s stomach and she glanced up at Felix to see a frown on his forehead for the first time.

“That’s certainly the case for the Wellington office,” Felix said.

Peter’s gaze turned steely at the implied criticism. “Strange as it may seem to you, we do not have male secretaries hammering on our doors for a job. It’s a female-dominated profession, always has been and I suspect probably always will be. Young women—it has to be said—are often looking for little more than a rich man to marry. And lawyers—especially partners, and extra especially senior partners—are a viable target.”

It was an incredibly sexist statement, and yet as Coco thought about Amy, she knew she couldn’t in all honesty call him a liar. She sometimes listened to the conversations of the young secretaries in the break room as she ate her lunch, and had to admit they often revolved around the men in the office.

She glanced up at Felix, who looked at her for the first time. He held her gaze as if trying to see what she was thinking. She looked into his eyes for a moment and then, slightly ashamed that she couldn’t refute Peter’s declaration, dropped her gaze.

Felix said nothing, but she had the strange feeling he was disappointed in her reaction. She swallowed and doodled in the margin of her pad, something she always told her secretaries not to do, and wished miserably that he hadn’t asked her to join him. She didn’t want to be part of this. Why hadn’t she just said no when he asked?

Chapter Twelve

Felix saw the guilt flicker in Coco’s eyes before she lowered her gaze. He wanted to hope that the young women of today thought of things other than finding themselves a rich husband, but the look on her face suggested otherwise. Was that a concern for her? If so, why had she reached the age of twenty-seven and yet was still single?

He looked back at Peter, who was now almost openly smirking. He disliked the man more intensely with every passing minute, and he’d had enough of him taking charge of the hearing. He’d let Peter direct the conversation for a while out of interest to see what he’d say, but it was time to bring it back on track.

“We’re not here to debate the marital aims of young women,” he said flatly. “Miss De Langen has accused you of inappropriate sexual contact, and I’d like you to explain your side of things, please.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t argue. “As I said,” he continued smoothly, “unwanted attention is something most of us have to deal with. It’s not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last that a young secretary has tried to initiate a sexual relationship. She’d been showing her interest for weeks.”

“How so? By wearing short skirts?”

Peter was too smart to go down that route. “Of course not. But the signs were there—we all know them. Leaning toward someone when you’re talking to them, making eye contact, brushing against them. It was clear that she was interested.”

“And you weren’t?”

“I’m a married man,” said Peter.

The two men studied each other.

“So you’ve never had an affair,” Felix stated.

Peter held his gaze. “That’s not the subject of this investigation.”

“It’s relevant background information to establish your behaviour at the office,” Felix countered. “But let me modify the question. Have you ever had an affair with anyone at the firm?”

“I love my wife,” Peter said, a hint of anger in his voice.

“Of course you do,” Felix replied. “And you wouldn’t want her to know about any affairs you’ve had.”

“I haven’t had any affairs.”

Felix nodded. “Okay.”
If he hasn’t had any affairs, I’ll eat my hat.
“So what happened on the night in question?” he continued.

Peter shifted in his seat again. “It happened as she said, up until the moment she came to stand beside me at my desk. My arms were on the table, not where she said. I pointed out the mistake she hadn’t corrected. She leaned forward, and brushed her breast against my arm.”

“And you jumped up and moved away immediately,” Felix said.

Peter’s lips twisted. “No, Mr. Wilkinson, I did not.”

“Why not?”

Peter hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m not a monk. She’s a pretty girl. And I was surprised.”

“So even with all this attention you get all the time, you were surprised when you were alone in the office after hours and a pretty girl came on to you?”

Peter shifted again. It wasn’t warm in the room, but sweat had started to bead on his forehead. And he’d shifted back to using formal surnames.
He’s sweating, and not just physically.

“I didn’t say anything at first,” Peter stated, “but that’s not a crime. But she leaned right against me and ran a hand through my hair, and then she kissed my ear.”

Coco lifted her head to look at him, and Felix glanced at her. Did she believe him?

“What did you do then?” he asked.

“Then I moved away. I stood and told her I was flattered, but that I wasn’t interested. She turned angry, told me I’d been coming onto her. But I hadn’t given her any encouragement.”

“None?”

“No.” Peter’s hands bunched into fists on the table.

“You never touched her in the office?”

“No.”

“You never made sexual jokes to her—never used innuendo?”

“I didn’t encourage her,” Peter said.
Nice way to avoid the question.

“What happened then?”

“She told me she loved me. I told her that was ridiculous—that we hardly knew each other. She started to cry, then she told me she’d tell my wife. That made me angry because nothing had happened. I yelled at her and she ran out of the office.”

“What did you yell?”

“I yelled that if she told my wife or anyone at the firm, I’d have her sacked.” He glared at Felix. “I was angry. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I know what devastation a sexual harassment suit can cause to the accused and his family, as well as his company. I’ve defended teachers who’ve been accused by their pupils and it can ruin a man.”

Felix glanced at Coco, hoping she was getting all this down. Her notepad was covered with the tiny lines and squiggles of shorthand, and she seemed to be keeping up with the conversation.

He wished he could be alone with her to discuss what Dell had just said. Did she believe him? Had she heard of any affairs, or of any other secretaries who’d experienced similar problems? He couldn’t ask her in front of Dell—that would be unprofessional. If he wasn’t happy with what Dell had said, he had to declare his intention to carry out a further investigation.

He looked over at Christopher, who’d spent most of the hearing with his gaze fixed on the table. His boss met his gaze, but Felix couldn’t read anything into it. He didn’t smile, though, and if Felix had to guess, he would have said Christopher was trying to tell him to brush away his concerns and dismiss the “trivial matter”.

But could he do that? Did he really think Peter Dell was innocent of what Sasha had accused him?

He pushed his chair away from the table and stood, then walked over to the coffee pot in the corner and poured himself a cup. “Anyone else?” he asked the room.

Rob, Hugh and Christopher said yes, Coco shook her head. Peter and Jack began a conversation and didn’t even reply. Felix poured the cups and brought them over with the tray of milk and sugar, then took his place at the table.

He looked across at Coco as he waited for Peter and Jack to stop talking. She was still doodling on her notepad, eyes lowered. Her hair was so neat, tightly wrapped in its bun, not a hair out of place. The style might have made some women look harsh or severe, but it just emphasised her high cheekbones and fine features. She nibbled at her bottom lip as she doodled, lost in thought. What was she thinking?

Still waiting for Peter to finish his little chat, Felix tapped the notepad and she looked up, startled. He smiled. “I don’t know how you make sense out of all those marks. It just looks like a load of nonsense.”

She met his gaze, her cool green eyes shining like cat’s eyes. Something simmered in their depths. Was it resentment? She didn’t want to be in the room. She was hating every minute of this.

Why?

She looked at her notepad. “Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a symbol. Take your name, for example. The F is a long loop like this.” She drew it on the pad. “The L is a long, curved line like the type of lowercase L you’d use in handwriting. And the X is just a lowercase x. Where the meaning is clear, we omit the vowels. And in this case join up the F and L, using a small line across the L to indicate the X, like this.” She wrote his name in three short strokes.

“That’s fascinating,” he said. “I had no idea that was how it worked.”

“It’s pretty simple once you know the basics. The rest is practise.”

“Every night, I seem to remember you saying.”

“Without fail.” She didn’t smile. He wished he could say he was sorry for having asked her to join him in the room. Why was she uneasy? What did she know about Peter that he didn’t?

The two men opposite him finally broke apart, and Peter leaned back in his chair, fingers linked. He looked less nervous, as if he couldn’t imagine how Felix could possibly deny the story he’d related.

Felix looked at Hugh White, the HR manager. Hugh met his gaze and frowned. Felix looked at Rob, whose eyes were clear, almost challenging, as if to say
go on, what do you make of that?
Christopher was back to staring at the table. Jack and Peter bore similar slightly smug looks.

And then Peter glanced at Coco. Felix watched her raise her gaze to meet his. They exchanged a brief, unspoken communication before she lowered her eyes quickly. A smile touched Peter’s lips.

And that made up Felix’s mind.

“So let me just summarise what you told me.” He poured milk into his coffee, added a sugar and stirred. “You’re basically saying that Sasha is lying—that she made up the story of sexual harassment because you turned down her advances. At root, this is about revenge on her part—payback from a woman scorned.”

Peter leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair and steepled his fingers. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“You intimated this wasn’t the first time you’ve refused a woman’s advances.”

Peter blinked slowly. “That’s right.”

“Have other women ever reacted in this way?”

“They’ve been upset. But no, they’ve never threatened me in this way.”

Felix frowned. “I don’t understand what Miss De Langen felt she had to gain by threatening you. She was unlikely to force you to have a relationship with her by threatening to tell your wife or someone at the office. In my experience—albeit limited, I accept—if a woman thinks a guy likes her and reacts to that effect, only to find out he doesn’t, the likely result is embarrassment. I would have thought Miss De Langen would have been horrified if she’d genuinely thought she’d got it wrong—that she would more likely have made a speedy exit or even apologised. Not got angry. Not unless she’d been given reason to think you were interested.”