Read Online Twelve Days - The Beginning by Jade Reyner - Free Book Online

to him and nudged him on the shoulder in a friendly punch.
    Elise thought she saw him stiffen momentarily but then he turned around and, for the first time since he had entered the reception area, he smiled, in Celeste’s direction.
    “Is that so?” he said, “Am I not ‘one of you’ anymore, then?”
    Celeste grinned “No freaking way! You’re one of them, the upstairs lot. Cole is too but he keeps in with the troops at ground level, if you know what I mean! But you..... rumour is you own more than half the company. That definitely makes you one of them!” Celeste paused a moment as if suddenly realising something.
    “Shit! I guess that means you’re unavailable then? There’s probably some company protocol or other, isn’t there? Just bloody typical!”
    This time Vaughn actually laughed and it was a beautiful sound resonating around the office -deep but with a hint of sexiness - and Elise felt her womanhood begin to throb again in response. Her reaction to this man was ridiculous. Crossing her legs to try to stem the feeling, she waited somewhat anxiously for his response. What if he said he was available? After all, he had been seen leaving the party with Olivia although that was before anyone knew his true standing. She didn’t know how she would feel if he started flirting with her friend. She knew she had no business caring or even being jealous but after that seriously hot kiss, God help her, she was feeling blatantly possessive.
    “I guess you’re right,” he replied, still laughing a little, “It wouldn’t be good for the upstairs and downstairs lots to ‘mingle’, so to speak. Not company protocol at all.”
    Elise sighed inwardly with relief and then immediately chastised herself. This man was nothing to her; she was married and having a hard enough time convincing everyone else that that fact was important without having to convince herself!
    Celeste rolled her eyes in resignation. “Company protocol sucks! Bloody shame, that’s all I can say. Oh well, my man is out there somewhere and you, my dear Elise, are going to help me find him!”
    “W..w...what??” She hadn’t been following the conversation for the last few seconds, having been sidetracked by the play of light from the window across Vaughn’s beautiful face. Celeste looked across at Elise as if she was seriously mentally challenged; truth be told, she essentially was at this precise moment in time.
    “My man.” she repeated “You are going to help me find the man of my dreams. But first we need to go shopping!”
    “Shopping?! Why?”
    “I need a killer dress. You and me are hitting the clubs tomorrow night and I need something to wear. What say we go to the precinct tomorrow and have a look round? It is Saturday after all and I reckon you need something to take your mind off today’s events.”
    “I don’t know ‘Leste,” Elise looked doubtful “I have to go to check on Dale and see what is happening at the hospital. They may want to keep him in and it wouldn’t feel right going out shopping, if that’s the case.” She didn’t add that Dale wouldn’t let her anyway; that would just cause far too many questions that she was not ready to answer.
    “Oh, come on Elise - if they do keep him in, you’ll be all on your own. What better way to cope than with a bit of retail therapy?”
    Elise paused for a moment and weighed up her options, wondering if she could get away with keeping it from Dale. Perhaps if they went first thing in the morning, she would be OK. If he had stayed in the hospital then she could just pick him up at lunchtime and he would be nonethe wiser. If not then maybe the concussion would mean that he would sleep late and she could whizz round in an hour and be back before he even knew she’d even gone.
    She turned back to Celeste. “OK, you’re on. But it has to be first thing in the morning and I may only be able to leave Dale for an hour or so”. She felt rather than saw Vaughn stiffen at