Natalie Anderson - Maverick Millionaires 1 Rebel with a Cause  

T IME stood still for no man. And Sophy Braithwaite didnt stand still either.

She tapped her toes on the concrete floor. Slowly at first, just releasing a smidge of the energy pushing under her skin, but after a while the small rapping sound sped up.

The receptionist had directed her straight up the stairs to the officethe sign on the door ensured shed found the one the woman meant. So she was in the right place at the right time.

Waiting.

She turned and studied the pictures on the wall beside her. Picturesque scenes of Italian countrysideshe figured they were Caras choice. Her assessment and appreciation took less than a minute. Then she looked again at the monstrosity masquerading as the desk. Good thing she wasnt into corporate espionage or fraud. Shed had ample time to rifle through files for sensitive info. Mind you, given the mess it was in, she wouldnt even find anything as useful as a pen in there. The papers were piled high in dangerously unstable towers. The unopened mail had long since filled the in-tray and now cascaded across the computer keyboard. Cara hadnt been exaggerating when shed said shed left it in a mess. If anything shed been understating the case.

Ive just not had my head there and it all got away from me. I feel so terrible now with this happening, shed said.

This was the early arrival of her baby. Six weeks premature, the tiny sweetie was still in hospital and Cara was hollow-eyed and anxious. The last thing she needed was to be worrying about the part-time admin job she did for a local charity.

Sophys irritation with the situation spiked. Where was he, then? This Lorenzo Hallsupposed hotshot of the wine industry and darling of the fundraising divasthe CEO of this chaos?

Lorenzos so busy at the moment. With Alex and Dani away hes dealing with everything on his own. Cara had sounded so concerned for him when Sophys sister, Victoria, had handed the phone to her. It would be just brilliant if you could go in there and stop him worrying about the Whistle Fund at least.

Well, Sophy wasnt here to stop Lorenzo Hall from worrying, she was here to stop Cara worrying.

She realised shed been subconsciously tapping in time to a rhythmic thunking sound coming from a distance. As if someone were using a hammer or something but speeding up, then stopping, then starting again. She shook her head free of the annoyance and looked around at the chaos again. It would take a bit of time to sort through. She wished she could say no. But then, she never said no. Not when someone asked for help like this. And didnt they all know it. Shed arrived back in New Zealand less than a month ago, yet her family had managed to fill her schedule to bursting already. But shed let them, passively agreeing to it all. So much for becoming more assertive and ring fencing even just some time for her own work.

She knew they saw no change, and wasnt she acting as if there werentwith her yes, of course here and sure there? Tacitly acknowledging she had nothing better to do. Or, at least, nothing as important as what they were asking.

But she did.

While she loved to help them out, there was something else she loved to do. Her heart beat faster as she thought of it as work. She badly wanted to prove it could be just that. But to make a go of it, she needed time.

So she really didnt want to be standing here waiting for anybodycertainly not some guy who couldnt even seem to organise his own temp. The same boss who had Cara calling her from her hospital bed asking if she could help out. If her help really was needed, then okay, but she wasnt going to wait here for another twenty minutes. She glanced at her watch again. Ordinarily looking at it brought a tingle of pleasurefine little vintage piece that it was. Shed found it in a flea market in South London one day. With a new old strap shed found at another market and a trip to the watch doctor, it worked beautifully. It was definitely not running fast.

The thudding impinged into her brain again, stirring a dormant memory from school days.

No. Surely not?

She stood, walked across the office and right round behind the desk to the window. Looked straight down to the asphalt yard at the back of the warehouse. She inhaled some much-needed cool air into her lungs. But yes . Basketball.

Lorenzo Hallshe just knew it was himout there having himself some fun. If hed been playing with even one other person she might have under stood itthat hed wanted to finish the game before seeing her. But there was no opponent to beat. He was playing alonewhile she was waiting for a scheduled meeting with him. Long minutes up in his officeand it was for his benefit.

The irritation rose to a rolling boil. How come no one realised her time was precious too? She walked out of the office, her high heels clipping quickly down the stairs. She passed the receptionist, who was running in the other direction with the cord of her phone headset trailing after her.

Will Mr Hall be long, do you think? Sophy asked with extreme politeness.

The receptionist stopped, but looked harassed. Hes not up there?

Sophy gave the woman a cool stare. She didnt know? Wasnt she his receptionist? Where was the efficiency in this placeoff on a holiday to Mars? She inhaled and crisped up even more. Obviously not.

The frown on the receptionists face deepened. Im sure I saw him earlier. You could look and see if hes up on the third floor or try out the back. With that she was gone, hurrying to do whatever it was that was so urgent.

Sophy continued down the stairs and went through the doorway behind Reception. This was a meeting that had been arranged two days ago. He might be the newly crowned king of the wine exporters, but for the life of her she couldnt figure out how hed managed it. Not when he couldnt even make it to a meeting on time. She found what had to be the door leading out to the yard. She paused for a second, squared her shoulders and then turned the handle, pulling the heavy wood back.

From what shed seen at the window upstairs shed known what she was about to facebut she hadnt accounted for the effect it would have on her up close. She swallowed, momentarily speechless.