secretary, right down to the heavy tortoiseshell spectacle frames…
And suddenly it all became clear.
His sister was having a little joke at his expense, a little pay-back for all the trouble he had caused her. Any minute now this girl would fling off the spectacles, pull out the combs battling to hold her hair in place and reveal herself for what she undoubtedly was: a sexy-secretary kissogram.
Clearly impatient with his thoughtful scrutiny, the girl finally said, ‘Are you ready to begin, Mr Fleming?’ He was certain that whatever he said would set the whole wretched performance in motion, and there had been a time when he would have enjoyed the joke… ‘Your sister said you were desperate—’
Desperate. Desolate. Empty. All of those things.
‘It would appear that my sister has been more than usually garrulous.’ But even if she was, as always, right, he could have told her that this wasn’t going to help. He was beginning to think that nothing would ever help.
He pushed that depressing thought firmly away and concentrated on the girl. Was she an actress, down on her luck? Unlikely. An actress would have taken more trouble to excise any hint of an accent; an actress would have looked just a little more the part. This girl had to be a student of some kind making a little money to see her through her studies.
‘What’s your name?’ he asked.
‘Jilly Prescott.’
Jilly. Hardly a name for a grown woman and yet she was clearly that. Beneath the cheap tailoring there was the kind of old-fashioned hourglass figure only emphasised by the kind of waist that invited a man to span it with his hands if he felt so inclined.
Max frowned as the thought took hold. Then he shrugged, irritated by this further waste of his time even while prepared to admit that he’d asked for it. He knew he was difficult to work for and doubtless Amanda was sick to death of him and his demands for perfection; she was almost certainly outside in the hall at this minute, along with all the girls he had sent packing in the last two weeks, waiting to burst in and have a good laugh at his expense.
It was only that thought that stopped him from sending the girl on her way. No show, no pay and anyone who did this on a regular basis must be desperate for the money. He would just have to take his punishment like a man and then, maybe, Amanda would relent and produce the secretary she had promised.
And maybe in future he would remember to be more patient.
Maybe.
‘Very well, Jilly,’ he said abruptly. He might have to put up with it, but he didn’t have to like it. ‘Let’s get on with it. I haven’t got all day.’
He was holding himself rigid, gripping the cane top with his left hand, dreading the performance to come, but, instead of pulling the combs from her hair to let it cascade over her shoulders in the way he had expected, Jilly settled herself on the chair in front of his desk, arranged a row of pencils before her, selected one and, with it poised above her notebook, she looked up.
‘I’m ready, Mr Fleming,’ she said. Then she pushed her spectacles up her nose again and finally allowed her mouth to lift into a cautious smile, the kind one might offer a tiger with an uncertain temper. ‘Whenever you are.’
CHAPTER TWO
FOR a moment Max stood mesmerised by the smile. It did something to her mouth, something unexpectedly sexy so that for a moment he couldn’t quite take in what was happening, that she was sitting in front of his desk with a notebook poised ready for dictation.
She was genuine?
Still not quite believing it, Max crossed to the door and checked the hall. It was empty. ‘Harriet!’
His housekeeper appeared from the direction of the kitchen. ‘Yes, Max?’
‘Did Jilly Prescott arrive alone?’
‘Yes. Were you expecting someone else? You didn’t say—’
‘And no one else has turned up in the last few minutes—my sister, for instance?’
‘Amanda?’ she asked. ‘Why? Are you expecting her? Will she be staying for lunch?’
‘No, but—’ She was looking at him a little oddly and, realising that he wasn’t making much sense, he shook his head. ‘No, I’m not expecting anyone. Just bring in some coffee, will you?’ He turned to Jilly. ‘You would like some coffee, wouldn’t you?’
‘Yes, please.’ She knew from experience that the chance of drinking it while it was hot was so small as to be incalculable, but her day had started long before dawn and even cold coffee would be welcome. She glanced at the ornate ormolu clock on the mantelpiece. It was just after eleven. She hoped her stomach wouldn’t rumble before she could eat the one remaining chocolate bar in her bag.
Max, returning to his office, noticed her suitcase, her jacket flung over the back of a chair. Genuine. Maybe. They would see.
He returned to his desk, propped his cane against it and lowered himself into his chair before picking up a sheaf of notes.
Across his desk, up close, Jilly realised that he was younger than she had originally thought. The greying temples, the pared-down bony features, had at first glance suggested he was nearing forty, but now she could see that he was younger than that—quite how much younger it was difficult to tell. Had he been ill? Or had it been an accident that had whittled the weight from him and left him walking with a cane? She didn’t have time to give the matter any thought before he began dictating.
Max began dictating slowly, but he realised after a few minutes that she was keeping up with him without any difficulty—actually appeared to be waiting for him. ‘Will you read that back, Jilly?’ he asked. He still wasn’t convinced of her probity and if this was some silly game his sister was playing with him he would prefer to know sooner, rather than later.
She read back everything he had dictated without hesitation, then said, ‘You can go faster if you like. I take a hundred and sixty words a minute.’
He stared at her for a moment. ‘Really?’
Jilly heard the disbelief in his voice. Didn’t he trust his own sister? ‘Honest,’ she said. And just to emphasise the point she slowly drew a cross over her heart.
Max swallowed, hard. In another woman that gesture would have been blatantly sexual, but he had already been so far off right about this girl that he didn’t know what to think. ‘Amazing,’ he muttered, and he wasn’t entirely certain whether it was her shorthand speed or the girl herself who had provoked the word. But there had to be a drawback. ‘Can you type?’ he asked, suddenly suspicious.
‘There wouldn’t be much point if I couldn’t,’ she replied simply. Her face was solemn but a pair of perplexed brown eyes were regarding him through those large spectacle frames. She was puzzled at his caution and why wouldn’t she be? ‘Would there?’ she pressed.
‘I suppose not,’ he said, disconcerted to discover that he wanted to apologise for doubting her. He rejected the idea out of hand—she still had to prove herself. Instead he continued dictating a complicated report, quite steadily at first, then faster,
