She didn't look back. She had a determined stride, and turned the corner smoothly, with head high, looking forward.
I stood for a few seconds more, looking at the space she had just left, hoping she would turn back, step around the corner again, smile.
I knew she wouldn't.
That smile. My God, that smile.
She had walked into the conference room with her chin stuck out and scowl, said "Morning." curtly to Jimmy Heatherington, the sales manager who had arranged the meeting for me, and then saw me. Jimmy introduced me, and I saw how she scoped me from shoes to hair, a swift appraisal. The scowl was hidden, my appearance passed muster, but now she was merely formal. A brief handshake. The first touch of flesh. It thrilled me.
From the instant I saw her my heart had soared.
The severe black trouser suit and hair scraped back in a controlled ponytail, minimal makeup and stiff manner could not disguise the incredible beauty of her. She was trying to look serious, masculine and professional. I saw her beneath it, soft and feminine, joyous and passionate.
I almost shook my head to try and clear it. I couldn't understand why I reacted so strongly. I don't believe in past lives and soul mates, love at first sight or destiny, but something strange had happened then, something overwhelming.
We talked business. It was almost brutal. At one point I just held up my hand and said "One moment," while I jotted figures and did a rough calculation. She waited. Jimmy was on the edge of his seat. I got a figure. I closed the notebook, and reached for my case. "Sorry for wasting your time, Mr Heatherington, Ms Laird, but clearly this isn't going to work out."
Jimmy gasped. She just looked down at the table for a moment and then up, with a sad, almost apologetic expression, and said "Let's not be hasty."
"No haste. Your offer is no where near what I need, never mind what I want, and you don't seem to desire my product enough to change. That's okay, it happens. You will find another supplier, I'll find another distributor, but it is clear that there is no point in us wasting any more energy here."
She looked at Jimmy and said "Okay, back to work, Jim. I'll see Mr Harcourt out."
The office was on the eighth floor. At the fourth floor the other people in the lift got out and we were left alone. She turned to me as soon as the doors closed. "I'm sorry. I'm tied up by accountants. I have to confess, your tender was never going to get through. We had to go through the motions, competitive tendering and all that, government grant requires it. You didn't waste my time. We wasted yours."
"Ah. I thought as much. Thank you for being so honest."
"I hate doing this. I'm sorry, I realised I was being a bit rude earlier. A bit harsh. It is just that I hate being asked to lie. It makes me stressed and snappy, which only compounds the guilt. I really do believe that honesty is the best policy. I'm not sure I'm cut out for business. I wish I could do something to make up for it."
My heart leapt again, and I said "Well, if I was being honest I would suggest that you join me for lunch. I would very much enjoy that."
She laughed. She gave me another appraising look. She said "Okay. But my treat." Then she smiled. My God that smile.
It was a good lunch. I learned a lot about her, about her boss, about her ambitions. About her smile.
Her phone made a bling bling noise. "Oh," she said and looked crestfallen, "I have a meeting in ten minutes. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I have had a lovely time. It would have been nice if it was longer. But duty calls."
"Thank you," she said and smiled. "Maybe we can do lunch again sometime."
"Maybe, but I have to go back to London tomorrow morning, and then Belfast. I don't have many clients in Edinburgh, so it won't be soon. However, I am free for dinner tonight. Perhaps you would let me insist that it is my treat, this time?"
Again the appraising look. "Okay." again the smile.
She was in a knee length blue dress when she walked into my hotel foyer at seven o'clock. Her hair was loose and soft. Her high heels were patent black, matching the handbag, but her watch strap was as red as her lips and nails.
We ate in the hotel. It was a good kitchen. A good cellar. She ate well, not heavily, but delicately and with pleasure, open enjoyment. She gave me a taste of her dessert, on her spoon. I returned the gesture. She held my eyes as she took the scoop of creme brรปlรฉe, and smiled as I pulled the spoon away.
The waiter cleared away and asked if we wanted coffee or a digestiff. She looked at me and said "Is your flight early?"
"Noon."
"Coffee then."
"Okay."
"Shall we make it room service? With a brandy?"
I raised an eyebrow, and she smiled a wicked little smile, and I said "Okay."
She lead me to the lift, and took my hand as the door opened. She didn't let go all the way up, across the hall, through the door, through the bedroom, onto the balcony. Edinburgh glittered beneath us. She was still holding my hand when she turned to me and pressed close, and lifted her face, and I kissed her lips. She held on as I wrapped my arms round her, twisting her own arm in behind her back.
It was a surprisingly arousing pose. She was suddenly vulnerable, bent backwards a little, on the edge of balance, my grip holding her to my body, her neck exposed to my lips and teeth. She sighed, a slightly husky note in her throat as I kissed it.
I brought my head up again to look at her face, and saw the fire in her gaze. In a breathless rush she said "I don't do this you know. I never do this. I don't do one night stands. I haven't had a boyfriend for three years. But that's all this is. It's all I want. Okay?"
My kiss was my reply. Hers in return was fierce and hard.
I pulled her back into the bedroom as she dug her fingers into my shoulder and kept the grip on my hand behind her back. She gasped, and I thought I had hurt her, and then the door chimed.
She looked wild eyed for a moment, and then laughed. "Room service."
The waiter was efficient, and didn't smirk. She was on the balcony again when he put the tray on the table. She stepped back to the open door and over to the coffee as I saw the waiter out. "How do you like your coffee?"
"Black and strong. Like my men." I said, and grinned.
She smiled. "Airplane?"
"Indeed. Let me guess, you like yours sweet and white?"
"Strong. Not sweet."
She poured a cup for me and one for her, but didn't hand it to me. She said "It is a bit hot. And there is something I want to do first."
She walked toward me and put a hand on my neck, the other on my waist. She reached up to kiss me, briefly, and said "Why don't you get into bed. Clothing entirely optional. I'm going to the bathroom for a moment. I'll bring your coffee over."
She gave me a lingering kiss as she slipped around me.
I did as I was told. What else would I have done?
I sat up in the bed, the covers over my lower half, my heart fluttering. It was only few seconds more before she appeared, naked, and stood in the archway between the bathroom and the wardrobe. She had taken a classic pose, the swimsuit parade stance of beauty contests, one knee bent, a hand on her hip.
I was speechless. I couldn't even whistle. Then she smiled, and I closed my mouth and smiled back.
She turned around, one hand on her head, a slow spin, three hundred and sixty degrees of perfection.
She gave me the appraising look again when she had come back to face me. "Are you okay?"
"Ah." I croaked.
She smiled again, and said "I think you need a coffee."
She walked past the end of the bed with fluid grace, lifted a coffee cup, leaving the saucer, and a brandy glass. She walked towards me, and placed the brandy on the bedside table, saying "For later." and bent forward to give me the cup.
I managed to say "Thank you" and she whirled round and went to fetch the other cup, walking round to the other side of the bed and sipping it.
Her hair was shiny and golden in the light of the bedside light. The triangle of curls at the top of her smooth white thighs was only a little darker. Her breasts were full and heavy, nipples large and slightly raised, dark against the pale flesh. Her bottom was even paler. She got to the far side of the bed, stood facing me, and drained her cup. The light behind her shone through the gap between her thighs, silhouetting her pussy lips and making her pubic hair a halo.
She put the cup down and took the top edge of the covers in her hand as she leaned forwards. My eyes were drawn by hers despite the view of her breasts as they swung forward.