‘I...um...’
He seemed suddenly hesitant. Maybe she was going to get her way after all. They could go home, she’d make dinner, and then on the excuse of an early night she could go and cry into her pillow. That was the thing she should have done in the first place—not come running to Edward every time something went wrong.
He tried again. ‘There seems to be something wrong. I was wondering how the meeting with my father went...’ He backtracked slightly. ‘Not in detail. I wouldn’t presume to interfere with a confidential exchange between lawyer and client...’
There was no such thing as a simple question in Edward’s vocabulary; there was always some accompanying detail. The way his mind worked made Charlotte smile, however bad things were. ‘No. I’m sure you wouldn’t.’
‘It’s just a broad brush enquiry. About whether you’re happy as a result of...whatever it was that was said.’
‘Your father was very kind.’
Straight spikes of hair had begun to fall across his forehead, and when he smiled it looked almost rakish.
‘Good. And apart from being kind...?’
‘He’s offered to represent me, and I’ve accepted. I gave him some details on the phone yesterday, and he’s already got an investigator to follow up on them. He’s thought of everything.’
Edward nodded. ‘I imagine he has. There’s no need to worry.’
Her heart was almost tearing itself apart with panic. ‘No. I’m sure there isn’t.’
He got to his feet, unhooking his jacket from the back of his chair. ‘I guess I should call your bluff and just take you home, then.’
‘Peter applied for a loan in Isaac’s name. One of those quickie ones you can get on the internet.’ Charlotte couldn’t help it. She’d blurted out what she’d come to say—what she knew that Edward couldn’t mend, but somehow wanted him to know.
He slumped back down into his chair, shock on hi
s face. ‘Did he get it?’
‘No, thank goodness. And your father’s going to do all he can to protect Isaac from that happening again.’ Charlotte could feel her shoulders beginning to droop, but the effort of keeping her spine straight was finally too much to do anything about it.
‘And what about the phone bill that you were being chased for?’
‘He’s putting pressure on the phone company to leave me alone. It seems that there’s a bit of a mix-up with names and I might be facing a few more where that one came from.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘A mix-up? How could that have involved you?’
She’d faced a pair of blue eyes and a sharp legal mind once already this afternoon. Edward’s were as kind as his father’s, but somehow much more challenging. The truth had been easier the first time around.
‘When Peter and I were living together...’
Tears again. What must Edward think of her?
‘Hey...’ He rounded his desk, dragged one of the heavy armchairs over towards hers and sat down opposite her, leaning forward until his hands almost touched hers. ‘It’s okay, Charlotte. I just want to help.’
All she wanted right now was to feel his arms around her. If Edward was on her side she could do anything, be all kinds of strong. She met those blue eyes again. They gave her courage for the thing that damned her the most.
‘The phone bill dates back to when Peter and I were living together. He must have taken the contract out in my name and...’ She shrugged. ‘I didn’t know about that phone—it was his second one. He had someone else.’
His face became cold, as if she’d just slapped him. ‘You mean he’s expecting you to pay for the calls he made to his mistress? While you were living with him?’ Edward shook his head angrily. ‘Oh, no...you’re not doing that.’
She reached for him, but he wasn’t there. He was too angry now even to see her, and he sprang to his feet and started to pace the office like a caged tiger.
‘Edward. Please, don’t... Peter probably didn’t think of it like that. He doesn’t think anything through. The phone was registered at my old address and it’s up to me to prove it isn’t mine...’
‘Don’t make excuses for him, Charlotte.’
Her own anger flared in response to his. ‘I’m not. I’m just trying to work out what happened...’