Gray Quinn's Baby(15)

Studying the sheet of paper he'd given her, Magenta's eyes widened.

Dinner tonight, Quinn had written. Pick you up at your place at eight-no excuses.

It was less of an invitation and more of an instruction.

Magenta tensed. Reports forgotten, she stared into space. Kisses were  one thing, but anything more …  She had just experienced a prolonged  sensory experience with Quinn and now he was calling her bluff. Was she  up to a one-on-one meeting after work?

'Did you want to talk business tonight?' She turned with the note in her hand to speak to him through the open door.

'What else?' Quinn said impatiently, waving her away.

A business meeting. Well, that was all right, and would give her a  chance to learn more about Quinn. She felt a thrill of anticipation. Of  course she could handle it. She was a big girl, wasn't she? She could  always say no. How could she turn Quinn down without offending him? That  might put the girls' future prospects in jeopardy, which she would  never do.

Turning in her chair, she flashed Quinn a faint smile and a nod. It didn't do to look too eager.



Hemlines were getting shorter, according to the fashion magazines the  girls kept around the office. Venturing into one of the tiny boutiques,  that had sprung up down a street Magenta knew would one day be turned  into office blocks, was a temptation she couldn't resist. Armed with  cash from her wage packet, she was ready to shop. The chance to wear one  of the daring outfits for Quinn being showcased in the shop windows was  slightly less appealing-she'd feel safer in a sack-but she guessed he  might baulk at that for their evening out.                       
       
           



       

Swinging London was the first headline she noticed on a news stand as  she walked along, together with a picture of the Beatles. She definitely  had to make some sort of effort to be stylish. Dragging her gaze away,  she saw a hairdressing salon and decided to make that her first stop.

A stylish young man with floppy hair and tight, flared trousers arranged  Magenta's long hair so that it hung loose down her back and was dressed  fairly high at the top. Taking it up at the sides, he gave her a fringe  so long it caught on her eyelashes.

Realising she could buy make-up at the salon, she chose some smoky  eye-shadow, passing on the pale foundation with the option of white  lips. She had to contend with the lady behind the counter giving her  some strange looks as she battled with the unfamiliar pre-decimal  currency. She finally managed to get it right and handed over what  seemed to her like a very small amount of money before leaving the shop.

Now she had to hunt for an outfit to wear that evening. She had fun  trying on all the vintage clothes and realising they were new. There was  nothing subtle about sexiness in the sixties; she already knew that.  Though she didn't want Quinn to think her a frump, a couple of inches  above the knee was as far as she was prepared to go. Rejecting a  cobwebby, crotcheted dress, she chose a high-necked, soft turquoise silk  with trumpet sleeves that flattered her figure without exposing too  much of it.

'You could go bra-less,' the shop assistant informed her. 'You've got the figure for it.'

What and show off her nipples? Give Quinn a handy barometer to go by? He  hardly needed that sort of encouragement. 'I'd prefer to wear a bra.'

'What about this no-bra bra?' the assistant suggested. 'It's almost  sheer, but it does offer some protection … ' She weighed Magenta up. 'If  that's what you want.'

'It is pretty,' Magenta agreed and she definitely wanted all the protection she could get.

'You could try these hip-huggers to go with it. Or some matching bikini-pants in the same flesh-coloured lace?'

'They're very flimsy.'

'That's the idea.'

'I'll take them.' She just wanted to get out of the shop now. The girl's  close scrutiny was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.

'Which one?' The girl was holding up a pair of knickers in each hand.

'Both.'

'You're sure they're not too flimsy for you? I do have some heavy-gauge serge in the back.'

Was it so obvious that Magenta's twenty-first-century lifestyle meant  her choice of underwear depended on what washed well on a short cycle  and lasted longest?





CHAPTER TEN




MAGENTA braved her freezing bathroom to take a bath and then dressed  carefully. When the doorbell rang, her heart went crazy. If this was a  dream she was certainly taking her time waking up, she thought as she  hurried downstairs.

And now she didn't want to wake up. Quinn looked amazing. Standing on  her doorstep wearing a heavy overcoat over his suit, and with a long,  silk scarf slung casually around his neck, he was unreasonably  handsome-like a hero stepping out of a dream. In full sixties  hero-about-town rig, he really was something else.

'Ready to go?'

'I am,' she confirmed, trying not to notice the silver-grey Aston Martin  DB5 parked behind Quinn on the road. She'd half expected to see a  motorbike parked at the kerb.

It didn't do to mix up dreams with reality, Magenta resolved, still  gazing at Quinn's fabulous car. 'I can't believe it's in such immaculate  condition,' she murmured, hardly realising she was speaking out loud.

Quinn looked at her curiously. 'Do you mean the car? Why wouldn't it be?'

Of course, it must be brand new; she had almost betrayed herself. 'I love it. You're a very lucky man.'

'And the harder I work the luckier I get,' Quinn said dryly. 'Have you forgotten something, Magenta?' he added. 'Your earrings?'

It wasn't as if she felt naked without earrings, but as she touched her  earlobes Magenta remembered that no self-respecting sixties woman would  be seen without them-whether they were colossal hoops or feathers  trimmed with bells, not to mention the all-important chandelier for the  woman who considered herself a cut above the rest. 'I'll be right back,'  she said. 'Come in out of the cold while you wait. Close the door.' She  flung this over her shoulder as she raced upstairs.

Neat pearl-drops in place, she returned to the hallway.

'Perfect,' Quinn approved, looking her up and down.

His assessment was a bit intrusive for a business meeting, Magenta  thought, but she'd let it pass. Quinn escorted her to the car and,  opening the door for her, saw her settled inside.                       
       
           



       

'Where are we going?' she asked with interest as he took control of the high-powered machine.

'I haven't decided yet. What kind of food do you like?'

'Anything, pretty much.' She was curious to see if Antonio's was open.  The restaurant was situated in this direction and was one she knew.  Antonio's was famous for injecting the serious up-market restaurant  quarter in London with Italian sunshine and some much-needed joie de  vivre. It had been in the same family since the late fifties, being one  of the first to bring spectacular ice cream and the art of curling  spaghetti around a fork to London. So it should be a bustling concern in  the sixties, Magenta reasoned, peering expectantly out of the window.  'But this isn't the way to Antonio's,' she said with concern as Quinn  took a turning that led to a leafy and exclusive London suburb.  'Antonio's?'

'Sorry, I was just thinking about an Italian restaurant I used to go to  round here. So … ' She tried for light, and predictably ended up with an  anxious wobble in her voice. 'Have you decided where you're taking me  yet?'

'I thought I'd show you my etchings. Joke,' Quinn said dryly when he  heard Magenta's sharp intake of breath. 'I thought we'd go to my house.'

'Your house?' Her mouth dried. 'Should I be worried?'

'Do you want to be?' Quinn threw her a glance.

'Of course not,' she said, crossing her legs.

'Good-but reserve judgement. Remember, you haven't tasted my food yet.'

'You're going to cook for me?'

'Is that a problem?'

'No.' Just a surprise. Genghis Khan in a pinny was quite a thought.

What was she getting into? Magenta wondered as Quinn swung into the  drive of a grand, porticoed house. Was this where he usually brought his  business associates for a chat? She'd had him down as a very private  man who would never mix business with his private life.

She tried not to act like Quinn's country cousin as he showed her round  his house. Magenta's father lived in some style, but nothing close to  this. The music room on the first floor, with its full-sized harp and  selection of valuable period instruments, was like something out of a  palace. Quinn was a connoisseur as well as a warrior in business. The  thought of how that combination might translate in the bedroom made her  senses roar. When Quinn slipped her coat from her shoulders and his  fingers brushed her neck, she betrayed herself by shivering.

'Are you cold?'

She stared into Quinn's amused gaze. They both knew the opposite was the  case. Why was she feeling so embarrassed and unsure of herself? Sexual  attraction between a man and a woman wasn't unheard of, was it? Whatever  their respective positions in life and whatever the era.