It was like driving with a drunk three-year-old – which was the exact level of intrusion he and Nella needed to break the tension between them. If Tom hadn’t been there, Jett doubted he would have made it the whole drive back. He could still taste her. His fingers still burned from where he’d brushed her skin. Not justbrushedas he may have inadvertently done when he’d carried her into the house after Sally Sue, or when he passed her a drink bottle after a drunken 2 a.m. pick-up call. He hadn’t justbrushedher skin. If it wasn’t for Tom, Jett’s attic would have caved in.
‘It’s done.’ Nella unplugged the iPad. ‘Pull over.’
They were in the middle of nowhere. Not even sheep or cows on the deserted field. The exact setting ofWolf Creek. That was why his heart was pumping so fast, not because of Nella reaching over to the USB ports so close that he could smell her perfume. Now that he’d had that scent on his skin he could almost taste it – like his senses had completely rewired. Now, it would never ever be close enough.
He’d fucked up.
Even though Bessy was parked, with her handbrake on, Jett kept both hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead at the sprinkling of stars in the indigo sky. Nella had a constellation of freckles just under her right eye that looked like the Southern Cross ...
Nella clucked her tongue. She was obviously so unaffected by the whole thing, focused on the task at hand, as he should be. ‘He welds this thing into a safe, doesn’t tell anyone the code, not even his business partner and best friend, but doesn’t have password protection on his iPad?’ Her long nails tapped against the screen.
Jett gripped the wheel, definitely not thinking about how those nails had dug into his shoulders ...
Get. A. Fucking. Grip.
‘That’s interesting ...’ Nella paused.
‘What?’ Tom stuck his head between them.
‘These emails. He’s archived a bunch.’
‘Summarise for us.’ Tom yawned.
‘Client back and forth ... Oh, look, Sophie Kingsley wants a story – what a shock.’
‘About what?’
‘The Sharks for Squids Ball.’
‘Difficult to ruin someone’s reputation with an article about a charity event for underprivileged kids, but I’m sure she can do it,’ Tom said.
Nella opened a chain with the subject headingRayne Move.
‘There’s a short thread between Clarkson and Donna Rayne – I know her. She’s like the Meryl Streep of corporate law.’
‘Was he getting advice about your case?’
‘Doesn’t look like it.’ Nella skimmed the emails.
Jett caught a brief glimpse: Clarkson’s were short and succinct, while Donna’s were novels.
‘He’s ... Shit!’
‘What?’ Tom snapped.
‘Clarkson was leaving Lieu & Lockridge.’
19
Jett
‘It’s all here.’ Nella held up the iPad.
‘Was he going to work with this Donna Rayne woman?’ Jett asked.
‘Looks like.’ Nella’s lips tightened. ‘And they don’t say it explicitly in this thread, but he was probably taking his clients with him.’
‘Did Oliver know?’ Jett hated how his cave-man body still reacted whenever that man’s name came up.
