Page 95 of The Wedding Proposal
Oscar breathed hard, eyes wide with alarm. ‘Don’t be stupid.’ But his voice cracked. ‘I was sitting so that I could see the door and nobody could see my screen. There’s nobody here. I save the images to the cloud. It’s safe. I am an adult.’
‘You’re an idiot,’ she corrected, softly. ‘And what makes you think you’d see anybody arrive when you didn’t see me and Carmelo until I spoke to you? You were too caught up in your “private moment”.’ She gritted her teeth. ‘It is never safe to view porn where children could be.’
A long pause. Carmelo came to the doorway. ‘My hands aren’t very sticky.’
‘They might be,’ said Elle, quickly. ‘It would be best if you’d go into the boys’ toilets and wash your hands, please. I just need to talk to Oscar.’
Carmelo heaved a sigh but turned and trailed across the landing.
Elle reached for the button and turned the monitor off once more. ‘I’ll have to inform Joseph.’
‘No!’ Oscar snarled, stepping close, towering over Elle. ‘You are so prudish! I am an adult and this is nothing.’
Elle stood her ground, although the hated sensation of being crowded made her breathing flutter. ‘It’s not nothing,’ she hissed, ‘and if you don’t back off I’ll talk to him about harassment, too.’
With a snort of derision, Oscar crowded closer. ‘I think you won’t—’
Elle sucked air into her lungs and expelled it on her loudest bellow. ‘JO-SEPH! Joseph, I need help!’
Oscar leaped back as if stung. ‘Stupid English—’
‘Elle?’ called Joseph anxiously, his hurrying footsteps crossing the hall and starting up the stairs.
As Oscar lunged for the computer tower Elle got in his way, thwarting his attempts to cut the power. ‘Don’t turn that off: I need Joseph to see it,’ she yelled, determined that Oscar would face the music.
Then Joseph was in the doorway. ‘What’s going on? What do you need me to see?’
Oscar froze. Then stepped slowly back.
Elle’s heart was pounding as if she’d run a thousand miles. ‘It was Oscar, viewing the adult material.’ Her hand shook as she switched the monitor back on.
Joseph stepped forward to look at the screen and sucked in his breath. Slowly, his accusing eyes turned on the tall man. ‘What have you got to say, Oscar?’
Then Carmelo was at the door to the room, eyes wide. ‘Elle, you shout—’
Elle forced a laugh as she flicked the computer monitor off again. ‘It’s OK. I was being silly about a bee I thought was going to sting me. Did I worry you? I’m sorry.’ She slipped behind Joseph and went to Carmelo, regretful that she’d caused the apprehensive expression in his eyes but intent on getting him away from the scene as soon as possible. ‘I’ve got to have a meeting with Joseph, now, so we have to close the centre for the rest of the day. It’s way too hot to have the computers on, anyway,’ she fabricated, fanning herself. ‘We’ll all be back as usual tomorrow. Perhaps if you’re going to come in we can look at Formula1 cars together and you can explain the race rules to me.’
Carmelo looked disappointed. ‘OK.’
‘Sorry we have to shut early, Carmelo,’ Joseph added.
Elle gave the little boy a cheery wave, though she felt terrible at brushing him off. With a sigh, Carmelo disappeared slowly down the stairs and Elle turned back to Joseph and Oscar. The last few minutes seemed to have passed in a blur. After the adrenaline rush of catching Oscar red-handed, Elle felt almost light-headed with a mixture of apprehension and exultation.
Joseph’s face was set in grim lines. ‘I need to hear from you both about what happened here today.’
‘I am an adult,’ Oscar repeated with miserable defiance.
‘Barely,’ Elle snapped.
* * *
Lucas didn’t get home until six. The marina had become glassily calm in the still, hot day and Elle sat on the cockpit seat and watched him walk towards her through the gardens. Saw the exact moment his gaze locked on her.
His hair swung around his face; he looked hot, in both senses of the word. Her heart rate accelerated as he picked up his stride. Ignoring the plank, he jumped onto the bathing platform and halted in front of her.
She drank him in. The coal-dark eyes, thick fierce eyebrows, the sensitive mouth, the uncompromising jaw.
A sense of power swept through her. She’d dealt with Ricky; she’d dealt with Oscar.
