heavily. ‘Although I may not have this job, either, after today,’ she added, with sudden depressing realisation. ‘I doubt Graham—Graham Taylor—my floor manager,’ she explained, just in case this man’s executive loftiness meant he wasn’t familiar with the floor management, ‘will be at all impressed with my reason for being late.’ Especially as she had already been late when she’d slid into the lift!
But actually Graham Taylor hadn’t seemed impressed by anything she’d done in the last few weeks. The way he had of pouncing on any little mistake she made gave her the distinct impression that he wished Personnel hadn’t employed her in the first place. This morning’s tardiness might just be the excuse he needed to get rid of her.
‘I’ll have a word with him—’
‘No! No, no—please don’t do that,’ Juliette pleaded awkwardly. Graham Taylor ran the fourth floor with the precision of a sergeant-major inspecting his troops. He certainly wouldn’t welcome the intervention of a member of upper management over how he treated his staff. The man was already sarcastic enough without that!
‘Please,’ she added cajolingly. ‘It’s very kind of you to offer—but please don’t.’
‘But—’ Rob broke off as the main light flickered on overhead, followed seconds later by the lift slowly beginning its ascent. ‘At last!’ he murmured with satisfaction.
Juliette was too bemused at the thought of being able to escape this metal prison after being stuck with a man who was anything but reassuring to care too much when the lift came to a rather lurching stop at the fourth floor.
The doors opened slowly, to reveal half a dozen or so concerned people, Graham Taylor amongst them, waiting anxiously outside.
Juliette didn’t hesitate, stepping straight out onto terra firma, her legs shaking with the relief of being rescued. Never again, she vowed. She didn’t care how late she was; she was never, ever—
‘Juliette?’ She turned at the sound of that now-familiar voice, so relieved at being out of the lift that she even smiled at Rob as he stepped out beside her. After all, it really wasn’t his fault that the lift had broken down. She would obviously have preferred it if he hadn’t kissed her, but such was her relief at that moment, she could actually have reached up and kissed him!
But before she could decide exactly what she should do or say now that they had been rescued, someone else spoke and rendered her—much as Rob might find it hard to believe!—completely speechless.
‘Mr Romeo!’ Graham Taylor’s voice was full of shocked recognition. ‘I had no idea! How awful that this should have happened to you, of all people.’
Juliette turned slowly, not even bothered that Graham hadn’t shown the slightest concern for her, and looked at the man who had been stuck in the lift with her.
Mr Romeo?
As in Roberto Romeo? Owner of the international chain of prestigious Romeo’s stores?
CHAPTER THREE
THIS couldn’t be happening to her! Not on top of all the other disasters that had befallen her recently.
‘I’m sure, Graham, that Juliette believes being stuck in a lift was an awful thing to happen to her, too,’ Rob answered the other man derisively, blue eyes dark with amusement at the look of stunned disbelief on Juliette’s face as she stared at him. ‘In fact,’ he added, stepping forward and taking a firm grasp of her arm, ‘I think it might be a good idea if we took Juliette upstairs and gave her a restorative glass of brandy.’
He was Roberto Romeo!
What had she said to him while they were in the lift? Besides calling him an opportunist and a pervert, of course …
Besides calling him those names? Weren’t they enough to merit instant dismissal?
God, yes. And he was suggesting giving her a brandy in order to soften the blow.
Her pale cheeks became flushed as she looked at him with accusing green eyes, her deep red hair loose about her shoulders. ‘I’m sure it’s very kind of you to suggest it, Mr Romeo—’ her tone implied the opposite ‘—but I—’
‘You have no objections to Juliette coming upstairs with me for a while, do you, Graham?’ Rob ignored her refusal and spoke to the fourth-floor manager.
Juliette looked at the older man from beneath lowered dark lashes, able to see, even if Roberto Romeo—Roberto Romeo, for goodness’ sake!—couldn’t, that Graham was far from pleased at the idea of one of his temporary Christmas staff being taken upstairs to that holy-of-holies the executive floor. In fact, he didn’t seem to like it at all as he shooed his curious staff back to their departments in order to give himself time to formulate an appropriate answer.
Well, he didn’t have to worry on her behalf; she wasn’t too thrilled at the suggestion herself. Roberto Romeo was giving every appearance of being a concerned employer, but she very much doubted he was the sort of man to make a scene in public, anyway. And the executive suite on the sixth floor, at only nine-thirty in the morning, would be empty of all but the two of them. An ideal time and place to tell her to seek other employment!
‘I would really rather just get straight back to work.’ She addressed her employer, just wanting to get away. The Christmas music playing over the tannoy system and the extensive Christmas decorations and lights were doing nothing to lighten her heavy mood. But if she could just manage to keep her head down for the rest of the day, perhaps—
Who was she kidding? Roberto Romeo wasn’t likely to forget their time in the lift, or their conversation, any more than she was—let alone allow her to continue working in his store.
‘That’s very commendable of you, Juliette,’ he answered dryly, amusement still darkening those incredible blue eyes. ‘But I think a visit to the shoe department may be in order first. Your boots are ruined,’ he added ruefully as Juliette looked totally bewildered by his suggestion. ‘And Romeo’s owes you a replacement pair.’
Juliette eyed him suspiciously. Was he playing with her? Lulling her into some false sense of security?
The blankness of his expression gave her no insight as to whether that was what he was doing or not. But that didn’t change the fact that Romeo’s wasn’t responsible for the damage to her boot; her own clumsiness was responsible for that.
‘Perhaps you could organise that for me with the shoe department, Graham?’ Roberto Romeo instructed, before Juliette could assure him that new boots would not be necessary.
Juliette gave a dismayed glance in the manager’s direction; Graham was used to giving orders, not receiving them, and, no matter how pleasantly the request might have been made, there had been a steely edge to Roberto Romeo’s voice that had let everyone know the suggestion had better be carried out, or Graham would answer to him for the omission.
‘Of course, Mr Romeo.’ The older man made a quick recovery and answered briskly, but the fact that he didn’t even glance in Juliette’s direction as he did so told her that she would answer to him later for putting him in such a position in the first place.
Great. She wasn’t Graham’s favourite person anyway; this could only make that situation
