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His palms were sweating. Paul took a deep breath, trying to control his nerves. He wasn’t sure whether letting his feelings be known to Kate was the right thing to do, but to be honest he wasn’t sure if he could keep them to himself for much longer. He had to fight the urge he had to hold her when he saw her looking upset, although she did a good job of trying to hide it. At times he could see that she looked lost, and it took every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from wrapping his arms around her and telling her she would be alright. Yesterday, he had felt sure that now was the right to time to tell her, but today he wasn’t feeling confident. He was losing his bottle. What if she didn’t find him attractive, or simply didn’t look at him that way? Kate was nice and kind, she would never set out to lead someone on: she was just so sweet to everyone, what if the vibes he had picked up from her were just her being nice and nothing else? Paul was going to tell her how he felt and tell her about Sophia, his beautiful little daughter. He knew that he wanted Kate, but she would have to accept that he had a child. They were a package, but after everything that Kate had gone through losing her baby, Paul was not sure how Sophia would be received by Kate.
Pacing the room, he looked at the clock in his office, it was quarter to eight; even if he did call her to say not to bother coming in, he would probably be too late, she would probably have left by now. He quickly poured himself a shot of whiskey from the bottle he kept in the top drawer and gulped it down in one then made a note to calm it down on the drinking front at work, it was slowly becoming a habit and not one he intended on keeping. He liked to stay in control; after tonight, he was going to try and curb it at work. Drinking the whiskey, he was surprised that it did nothing to stop his nerves; he felt like a fifteen-year-old schoolboy going on his first date. Strumming his fingers on the desk, he glanced around as he waited for her. The place was immaculate, he had never seen it so organised. Normally there were piles of paper stacked up all over the place and falling on the floor, bills scattered amongst junk mail, scrap paper and e-mails. Kate had devised a great filing system, so everything from wages, stock takes and invoices all had their place and the whole club was ru
Across town, Emma was winding Kate up as she was getting ready to leave. She had done her hair and makeup and was wearing a new white blouse that wasn’t too revealing but flattered her figure and looked very stylish.
“Ooh, going in early for a bit of one-on-one?” Emma giggled.
Kate rolled her eyes but then gri
“I told you, it’s not like that; I think Paul just wants to run something by me.”
“Yeah, I bet he does,” said Emma sarcastically, winking. Secretly hoping that the two would get it on, they were clearly besotted with each other, she hoped that all her hinting and teasing would push the idea along a bit in Kate’s head. Paul Goldie would be perfect for Kate, Emma just knew it; he was a real man, a gentleman. Someone like Paul could show Kate that not all men were cheating shits; some of them were decent, with a backbone. Keeping her fingers crossed, Emma added, “Perhaps he has an indecent proposal for you?”
“Well, I’ll find out soon enough, don’t you worry, and when you get in to work later, I promise you’ll be the first person I tell.” Smiling as confidently as she could, Kate opened the front door but then glanced back at her friend.
“Don’t get too excited though, hun, it’s probably just some event he’s pla
Boy oh boy, they both had it bad.
Kate made her way to the club. It was only a ten-minute walk and the evening was gorgeous, the sun shining as it set and everyone Kate passed looking happy, it was fu
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Arriving at the club, Emma was dying to find out how the little meeting had gone. She had her money on Paul declaring his undying love and sweeping Kate into his muscly arms, with them both ru
“Hey Paul, you okay?” Emma was a little concerned, as she could see Paul was very pissed off, and it was the last thing she had expected. She had thought after seeing Kate, he would be floating around the place, smitten.