“Actually, the original was tomayto and tomahto. I love that film,” Benny enthused. “Fred and Ginger are just divine together, aren’t they? Have you seen them in?—”
“Benny,” Ellie chuckled. “I don’t think Mr. Wilder is interested in knowing your movie preferences.”
“Then he should be.” Benny sounded highly affronted. “Anyone with any taste at all has to love Fred and Ginger’s movies.”
She shrugged. “Then maybe Mr. Wilder doesn’t have any taste?—”
“I actually do like Fred and Ginger movies,” Knox cut in. “Therefore, according to Benny, I must also have taste.” He gave Ellie a triumphant glance. “They had something special between them and were never as entertaining in the movies they starred in with other people.”
“Exactly,” the other man agreed. “I’ve been saying the same thing for years?—”
“Benny, darling, it’s time for you to go now and start continuing to go through that long list of chores I left for you to do today,” she reminded pointedly.
“Just when the conversation was getting interesting too,” he tutted. “Nice talking to you, Mr. Wilder. And please be kind to Ellie. She has a habit of thinking of other people’s comfort rather than her own.”
“I will bear your advice in mind, thank you, Benny,” Knox returned smoothly.
“Bye, Ells,” the other man said warmly. “If he gives you any trouble at all, just give me a call, and I’ll come over there and sort him out for you.”
“Thanks, Benny.” Ellie chuckled before Knox pressed the button to end the call.
Leaving her alone with a no doubt even more curious Knox.
“Well.” Knox looked across the desk at the woman he now knew to be Eleanor Hall, co-owner of the employment agency, HERA. At least, she had been the co-owner, but according to Benny, the Day part of Halliday was no longer a part of the company.
Interestingly, there had been no mention of that on the HERA website he’d looked at a short time ago.
Nor did this Eleanor Hall look as confident and smiling as she did in the photograph on that same website. And he was right; she had definitely lost weight since that photograph had been taken.
In the photograph, she was standing in front of a desk empty of clutter on its surface, wearing a blue suit the same color as her glowing aqua-blue eyes, tailored to her luscious curves. The fitted jacket was worn over a cream silk blouse and a pencil-slim skirt.
Her blonde hair had been loose about her shoulders, revealing its length as being halfway down her spine. Her long legs, beneath the knee-length skirt, were shown to advantage in high-heeled shoes. There appeared to be mascara on her long lashes, making the unusual color of her eyes pop. There was also a deep rose gloss on the fullness of her lips that made them look sexier than they already were.
The same woman and yet…not.
This Ellie had her blouse buttoned up to her throat and her hair tightly secured at her nape, and, as far as Knox knew, there was no laughter in those beautiful eyes hidden behind the tinted lenses of her glasses. Plus, there was that obvious weight loss.
To do with the missing Day part of the partnership, or because of something else?
“Are the glasses new?” he prompted curiously. “Because you weren’t wearing them in the company photograph of you online.”
Not that the glasses detracted from her appearance in the least. In fact, they made her appear all the more intriguing.
He’d also seen a photograph of Andrew Day, the now apparently defunct CEO. The guy looked to be about thirty, and good-looking in a carefully groomed sort of way, with artfully tousled blond hair, deep blue eyes, and a confident grin on his handsome features.
There was also a photograph of the receptionist, Benedict Gray. He was a slim young man with blond highlights in his light brown hair.
There was one other photograph on the website, of a fashionably slim and vivacious red-haired young lady with the name Sally Burrows. The blurb beneath her photograph revealed that she was PA to both Andrew Day and Eleanor Hall. Or rather, she had been, because Knox now knew the Day part of the company no longer worked there.
Making it even more curious as to what Ellie was doing here acting as his temporary PA when she was obviously already down a partner to help run her own company.
CHAPTER THREE
“I have an eye infection, which means I can’t wear my contact lenses right now.” Ellie answered Knox’s question about the glasses perched on her nose.
It wasn’t strictly true. She’d had an eye infection a couple of months ago—probably from too much crying!—but had continued to wear the tinted glasses even after the infection had gone. The tinted lenses could hide other things. Such as the dark shadows beneath her eyes from lack of sleep and the unhappiness in their depths.
Unfortunately, she knew from Knox’s curious expression that he was nowhere near finished asking her questions.