Lexington Black Read Online Free PDF Page A

back to the table with a tray
containing a cappuccino for Rob and a double espresso for himself,
as black as molasses.
    'Thank you,' Rob said when he sat down.
    'You're welcome.' Lex smiled at him and for
some reason, Rob felt his stomach lurch. He hoped his alcoholic
binge from the night before was not going to come back to haunt
him.
    'Are you okay?'
    Rob snapped his attention back to the
present. 'Yes! Long night last night. I'm sorry.' He was pretty
sure this was no ordinary test-drive. The client drove the car,
said they liked it or they didn't, or they'd think about it, and
that was that.
    SNAP. Lex's fingers were in front of his
face. 'I lost you again,' he said, sounding a little
exasperated.
    'Sorry.'
    'Don't say that fucking word again,' Lex
ordered. 'In return, you can tell me the long story you alluded to
in the showroom. The one about the clock?'' He prompted at Rob's
blank look.
    'Oh! Well ... It's a bit of a sad tale,
really. Not that interesting.'
    'I'm interested.'
    Rob avoided the man's penetrating gaze. He
felt a bit like a schoolgirl doing detention with a really hot
teacher. He shook his head to clear the mental image and decided on
honesty.
    'My wife threw all my possessions out on the
driveway. I came home one night and there they were. I had to find
a flat immediately and there's no room for it where I am so ...
it's at work at the moment. The wood was damaged in the rain and
the mechanism is rusty so I'm sending it away to have it restored.
It's going next week.' He sat up straighter. 'Anyway, about the
car...'
    'You're not a natural salesman, are you?' Lex
said, this time with open amusement.
    'Like I said before, I'm an accountant. Well,
book-keeper, to be honest.' Rob kept his voice light. With a
massive effort he put his professional face on. 'I used to work for
one of the big accountancy firms in London. I was a junior
Partner.'
    'What made you change?'
    'I was made redundant.'
    'That's too bad.'
    'Last in, first out, that's the way it goes.
I've been with Radleys ever since. My ex-wife ...' He stopped
short. This was a potential client, not a counseller for his
personal problems.
    'Your ex-wife didn't like the thought of you
being a book-keeper?' Lex was looking at him intently. 'Is that why
she's your ex-wife?'
    Rob was stunned at his perception. 'Yes,
actually,' he said when he had recovered his composure.
    'Women can be a fucking pain in the ass. I
prefer men.'
    Rob blinked. He couldn't think of anything to
say to that.
    'I mean to do business with. To spend time
with.' He idly stroked one finger tip along Rob's wrist. 'To sleep
with.'
    Rob stared at the spot where Lexington Black
had caressed him. It tingled strangely, as if ice had been used
instead of warm skin. He felt his breath quicken. It was on the tip
of his tongue to ask whether Lex really was interested in the car
or was he after something else, but he didn't because misreading
the signs would have been awkward at best.
    'Yes. I get it. Wow.' And how did they get
from grandfather clocks to his customer's sexual proclivities so
quickly? Lex stared at him as though challenging him to respond
with something more profound than "wow." Rob shifted in his seat
and moved his hands out of reach. He felt as gauche as an
adolescent.
    'So ... have you lived in England long?'
    Lame, lame, lame. The flash in Lex's eyes
seemed to confirm it.
    'I live in New York. I'm here on
business.'
    This was something Rob could work with. 'Then
I don't get it. Surely you could find a car like this easily in the
States? One with a steering wheel on the correct side?'
    'You sound as if you don't want me to buy
this car.'
    'I don't,' Rob said honestly. 'I'd rather buy
it myself, to be honest.'.
    Lex's smile widened. 'Maybe you do have
salesman potential after all.'
    'Sorry, I don't...'
    'I bet you would say that about any car I
chose to drive today.'
    'No, it's the truth. I once had a Porsche 911
but it was nowhere near as peachy as the Audi. Now the only way