The Gift Read Online Free PDF

heels?”
    “Why?”
    “Are they one hundred and twenty millimeters?”
    “I’ve no idea. Who measures heels in millimeters?”
    “I don’t know. Some people. Gabe .” He smiled, following her as they walked into his office and trying to get a glimpse of her soles.
    “Who the hell is Gabe?” she muttered.
    “Gabe is a homeless man.” He laughed.
    As she turned around to question him, she caught him with his head tilted, studying her.
    “Do you have red soles?” he asked her, making his way to the gigantic leather chair behind his desk, in which a family of four could live.
    “Why, did I step in something?” She stood on one foot and hopped around lightly, trying to keep her balance while checking her soles, appearing to Lou like a dog trying to chase its tail.
    “It doesn’t matter.” He sat down at his desk wearily.
    She viewed him with suspicion before returning her attention to the schedule. “At eight thirty you have a phone call with Aonghus O’Sullibháin about needing to become a fluent Irish speaker in order to buy that plot in Connemara. However, I have arranged, for your benefit, for the conversation to be in English…” She smirked and threw back her head like a horse, pushing her mane of highlighted hair off her face. “At eight forty-five you have a meeting with Barry Brennan about the slugs they found on the Cork site—”
    “Cross your fingers they’re not rare,” he groaned.
    “Well, you never know, sir; they could be relatives of yours. You have some family in Cork, don’t you?” She still wouldn’t look at him. “At ten—”
    “Hold on a minute.” Despite knowing he was alone with her in the room, Lou looked around, hoping for backup. “Why are you calling me sir ? What’s gotten into you today?”
    She looked away, mumbling what sounded like “Not you, that’s for sure.”
    “What did you say?” But he didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ve a busy day. I could do without the sarcasm, thank you. What happened to my eight o’clock meeting? And why isn’t there anything at nine thirty?”
    “I thought that it would be a good idea to make fewer appointments in the future.” She blushed slightly. “Instead of these manic days spent darting around, you could spend more time with fewer clients. Happier clients.”
    “Yes, then Jerry Maguire and I will live happily ever after. Alison, you’re new to the company, so I’ll let this go, but this is how I like to do business, okay? I like to be busy. I don’t need two-hour lunch breaks and schoolwork at the kitchen table with the kids.” He narrowed his eyes. “You mentioned happier clients; have you had any complaints?”
    “Your mother. Your wife ,” she said through gritted teeth. “Your brother. Your sister. Your daughter.”
    “My daughter is five years old.”
    “Well, she called when you forgot to pick her up from Irish dancing lessons last Thursday.”
    “That doesn’t count,” he said, rolling his eyes, “because my five-year-old daughter isn’t going to lose the companyhundreds of millions of euro, is she?” Once again he didn’t wait for a response. “Have you received any complaints from people who do not share my surname?”
    Alison thought hard. “Did your sister change her name back after the separation?”
    He glared at her.
    “Well then, no, sir.”
    “Again, what’s with the sir thing?”
    “I just thought,” she said, her faced flushed, “that if you’re going to treat me like a stranger, then that’s how I’ll treat you, too.”
    “How am I treating you like a stranger?”
    She looked away.
    He lowered his voice. “Alison, we’re at the office; what do you want me to do? Tell you how much I enjoyed screwing your brains out in the middle of discussing our appointments?”
    “You didn’t screw my brains out; we didn’t quite get that far.”
    “Whatever.” He waved his hand dismissively.
    Alison’s jaw tightened. “Oh yes, and Mr. Patterson’s secretary called to ask