about what you’re going to do?’ Toni asked over the top of her coffee. ‘I mean, apart from finding a new office to work from. Because, I have to tell you, I did not see any sign of modern technology just now and I think you might need a few more things besides paper and pens.’
‘Maybe. I’m a scientist. And don’t look at me like that. It might be hard to believe. But it’s true. Before I make a decision I like to know the facts.’
Scott put down his coffee and nodded back towards the Elstrom building, just down the street. When he spoke it sounded to Toni as though he was simply speaking his thoughts out loud rather than having a conversation. ‘Top of the list is to create some operating income. If things are as bad as Freya thinks they are, it could be a shock at the bank tomorrow. Right now, I have no clue about what has happened to our archive of valuable documents—instruments, maps, sea charts going back almost two hundred years. There has to be something left.’
He shrugged and took a long drink before going on. ‘I need to make an inventory of the entire stock. Once I know what we have left, I can start work. Sell some items to specialist dealers. Loan others to museums for a fee. That should give me enough time to put together a long-term plan. But I need to work fast. Clear the office. Make space to work. Then I need to create a brilliant sales catalogue in weeks, not months, and...’
Scott’s voice faded away and his eyes narrowed and focused on Toni so intently that she glanced around the room before putting her coffee down.
‘What? What have I done now?’
‘It’s not what you have done, Miss Baldoni. It’s what you are going to do.’
He stretched both arms flat on the small table and leant forwards from the waist until he was close enough for her to touch him. ‘I need someone who can photograph my stock and create a sales catalogue. Someone with experience as a studio photographer would be absolutely perfect. What do you say?’
Toni gulped down some coffee so fast that she almost choked.
‘What do I say?’ she replied, blinking. ‘I say that Freya paid me to paint your portrait, not work as your commercial photographer.’
Scott slid backwards but his attention was still completely focused on her.
‘You wanted to stick around and make character studies. I’m giving you the chance to do that. For the next seven days you can photograph anything you like, including me. On one condition. You help me out with the business side at the same time. Do we have a deal?’
He stretched out his hand across the table and tilted his head slightly to one side.
Toni took a breath, her heart pounding and her mind racing.
Seven days? He was offering her seven days to take the photographs and make the sketches she needed to paint him. And something else. Something even more important. The chance to get to know him a little more.
It was the one thing that had been drummed into her from the very start of her training with her father. To be a real painter, she had to capture the essence of the sitter in paint on the canvas. That was the extra-special quality of a Baldoni portrait. Without that? She might as well just take his photograph and be done with it.
Scott coughed low in his throat and she looked up into eyes which she knew she could paint in a heartbeat. But the rest of him? Somehow, she got the feeling that she had only just touched the surface of the real Scott Elstrom.
So why was she hesitating?
A muscle twitched at the corner of his mouth and her heart rate sped up just enough to answer that question perfectly.
She had known Scott less than a day and she was already far more attracted to him than she had any right to be.
The last time she had worked alone with an attractive man on a project had been the few weeks she’d spent on assignment with Peter. She had fallen and fallen fast and look how well that had turned out. He had lied to her, betrayed her and broken her heart.
Could she trust herself to be more careful with Scott?
But what choice did she have? She needed this work.
Toni looked into his face, then at his hand, and then back to his face again before sighing out loud and placing her hand in his. It was like being crushed in a vice.
‘Fingers! I need the fingers!’
Shaking the blood back into her crushed fingers, she exhaled slowly. ‘Well, Mr Scott Elstrom. What have I just let myself in for?’
His reply was an evil chuckle that would have been perfect for a horror movie. ‘You saw my dad’s office, Antonia. Wait until you see the archive. The Elstrom family take hoarding very seriously.’
A shudder ran across Toni’s shoulders. More hoarding! Oh, no. She was an expert on the topic. She had a whole house of her own clutter to clear.
‘Come on, girl. Let’s make this happen. And on the way I want to hear how you plan to make those dusty old maps of mine look a million dollars. Shall we?’
And with one tiny nod he stepped back and gestured towards the exit. She peered at it for a fraction of a second before rolling her eyes and waving towards the counter. ‘Could we have the same again, please? And make that four jam doughnuts this time. I think I’m going to need them.’
It was almost eight on the Sunday evening when Scott eventually turned the key and staggered into the hallway of Freya’s house.
What a day! He would cheerfully take a hard day in the field any time compared to the chaos that was Elstrom Mapping.
The financial situation was not just bad—it was shocking.
His father really had given up. It was obvious from the few decent bank records that he had managed to find, that several valuable items had already been sold to specialist museums so that the loyal skilled staff could have the generous redundancy packages that they deserved.
Damn right. The small team at Elstrom had been the best in the business. Most of them were well beyond retirement age and simply loved working in the old place. The others had been given excellent references and were already working elsewhere.
But the really shocking thing was that all of this had happened over the autumn. A quick call to Freya confirmed what he had started to suspect. That piece of silvery tinsel paper he’d found in one of the drawers was a souvenir from the very last Christmas party that Elstrom would ever hold.
It was enough to bring tears to his eyes. They had always been such amazing parties. Everyone, from corporate clients to solo adventurers and oil exploration companies, would usually be in London for Christmas and found the time to come to Elstrom Mapping to raise a glass.
It was shocking to think that he had missed such a momentous event. And, more than sad, it was tragic to imagine his father sitting in that chair on New Year’s Day. Alone. In the wreckage of the business he seemed to have given up on.
That was some start to the New Year.
The only bright spark in his day had been Antonia Baldoni. The girl who had started off as just another nuisance had turned out to be the most astonishing office manager that he had ever met. Not that he was an expert in the subject, but she had worked wonders.
He had been totally sceptical when Antonia suggested clearing one heap of papers at a time and sorting them by date and subject. What difference could it make?
How wrong could he be? In a few hours that bustling brunette bundle of energy and purpose had cleared everything from the huge partners’ desk using a battered old tea tray she’d found in the kitchen, giving him space to work.
He had peeked into the boardroom when his back became too stiff to sit any longer and found her sorting every sheet into neat stacks on the boardroom table. And the