down, Laura! I really don’t think that—’
‘No—you’re right. That’s one thing you didn’t think about,’ she retorted, her voice rising in fury as she paced angrily about the room. ‘Any prospective employer is bound to assume that I was either cooking the books or that I was caught with my hand in the till. And why?’ she demanded fiercely, spinning around to face him. ‘Because no one could possibly imagine that handsome Jack Wilder—the “Mr Loverman” of the London theatrical world, who’s had more girls than I’ve had hot dinners—would sack a colleague simply because they spent a weekend together.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ he snapped.
‘I’m not the one who’s going to look ridiculous when the news gets out,’ she stormed, her temper by now well out of control as she hit back at the man who was treating her so cruelly. ‘I’ll bet any money you like that your colleagues and rivals will be falling about and screaming with laughter when they hear that you’ve given up the lecherous, womanising habits of a lifetime. Can’t you just hear them? “Hey, guys, did I tell you the latest gossip about randy Jack Wilder? He’s suddenly had a rush of blood to the head, and joined the Salvation Army!”’
‘I’ve had quite enough of this nonsense,’ he growled angrily. ‘I think you’d better leave both my office and this firm as quickly as possible.’
‘Don’t worry—I’ve no intention of staying one moment longer than I have to!’ Laura yelled, her shoulder-length, bright auburn hair whirling about her head as she spun on her heels and marched swiftly away across the thick carpet.
‘In any case,’ she added, jerking open the door to the outer office, now jam-packed with agency staff who’d been listening goggle-eyed to the row, ‘I wouldn’t be seen dead working for such a...a slimy ratbag!’
‘If you don’t get out of here right now I’ll throw you out on your ear!’ he bellowed, jumping to his feet, his handsome features flushed with rage and fury.
‘Oh, yeah?’ she jeered, almost drunk with exhilaration as she heard some of her colleagues giving way to nervous giggles and muffled, hysterical laughter. ‘Do me a favour! You couldn’t even go two rounds with a revolving door!’
‘Get out!’
‘Relax—I’m going. But if you think you’ve seen or heard the last of me you’re very much mistaken,’ she hissed, quickly whisking herself around the other side of the door as Jack left his desk and began moving menacingly towards her. ‘Because I’m going to get my own back on you...you philandering Casanova—if it’s the last thing I ever do!’
Perched on a kitchen stool, Laura watched glumly as her older sister spread whipped cream over the thin rectangular slabs of dark brown sponge cake.
‘OK, Amy, you may as well say what you’re thinking.’ She sighed heavily. ‘I went completely over the top, didn’t I?’
‘Well...’ the other girl murmured, concentrating on her work as she deftly rolled up the chocolate roulades and dusted them with icing sugar before placing the delicate confections inside a large fridge. ‘I must say it does sound like a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease.’
‘You’re right,’ Laura agreed with another heavy sigh.
‘We both know that you’ve been mad about Jack for ages,’ Amy pointed out calmly as she began whisking some egg whites in a copper bowl. ‘But I can’t help thinking it’s a pity you didn’t get the ground rules sorted out before you gave in to temptation.’
‘I only wish that I had,’ Laura admitted gloomily. ‘But...but can’t you see that it’s all so unfair? Why should I have to be the sacrificial lamb? Why should I be the one to lose my job—while he gets off, scot-free? Everyone knows that it takes two to tango, for heaven’s sake!’
Amy shrugged. ‘Well, you could hardly expect him to leave his own firm.’
‘There was no need for anyone to leave!’ her younger sister retorted grimly. ‘In fact, if Jack wasn’t so totally paranoiac about anyone mixing business with pleasure, there wouldn’t be a problem. As far as I can see, he was only intent on preserving his own, rotten reputation. Is it any wonder that I went completely bananas?’
‘It certainly sounds as if you burned your boats in fine style,’ Amy agreed wryly. ‘After all, I don’t imagine that any guy is going to be exactly thrilled to be called “a slimy ratbag”. And certainly not in front of everyone in the office!’
‘OK, OK... there’s no need to rub it in,’ Laura groaned, burying her face in her hands for a moment, desperately wishing that she could go to sleep and wake up to find that it had all been a hideous nightmare.
After storming out of the agency this morning, she’d walked through the streets of London in a daze, not realising where she was going or what she was doing, until she’d found herself wandering down Piccadilly towards Green Park. Sinking down onto a wooden bench and closing her eyes as she’d raised her face towards the clear blue sky, Laura had still felt as if she was in the midst of a bad dream.
It had only been as her tired mind and body had begun to relax beneath the warmth of the midday sun that she’d forced herself to accept the grim truth: not only had her successful career been suddenly reduced to a pile of rubble—but her name was now mud with the man she’d loved so hopelessly, for so long.
In fact, that was an understatement of the situation, she now told herself gloomily, staring blindly down at the stainless-steel worktop in the large kitchen from where her sister ran a successful catering company. Jack Wilder might well be as attractive as all-get-out, but he was also a hard, tough and ruthless individual, who was almost certainly going to prove to be a very bad enemy.
Not that she’d had any idea of the powerful force and aggression lying beneath his charming, handsome exterior when she’d first joined his agency over three years ago. Completely over the moon at having gained a coveted post at Wilder, Hunt and Martin—commonly known as WHAM and one of the most successful theatrical agencies in London—Laura had beamed happily at the man sitting behind his desk in the large office overlooking Shaftesbury Avenue.
‘There is just one more point I’d like to make, Miss Parker,’ he’d said as she’d risen to go and meet her new colleagues. ‘I do not, under any circumstances, allow anyone working here to mix business with pleasure. That applies first and foremost to our clients, of course—but also, if you will forgive the immodesty, to myself. Quite frankly,’ he’d added, his lips tightening momentarily in irritation and annoyance, ‘I’m sick and tired of having to get rid of foolish, silly girls who—God knows why—manage to persuade themselves that they’ve fallen in love with me. Do I make myself clear?’
‘As a bell!’ she’d laughed, before holding up her left hand to display a small diamond ring on her third finger. ‘I’m engaged to be married. So, if you will also forgive the immodesty, Mr Wilder, I think you’ll find you’re quite safe with me!’
‘I’m glad to hear it...er...Laura,’ he’d grinned, then had told her to call him by his Christian name before asking his personal assistant, Susie Carter, to show her to her new office.
‘He wasn’t joking,’ Susie had warned her a few days later as they’d grabbed a quick lunch in a nearby wine bar. ‘Jack Wilder may have quite a reputation in the business—I don’t imagine that he’s
