first.
‘Not that it seems to put them off,’ June had murmured confidentially. ‘Of course, the circle he moves in are all of the same mind, I guess, so that helps. Lucas has never been one for the dumb blonde type female; he goes for brains as well as beauty. The last one was a lawyer, the one before that a mogul with her own business—they all seem to find him irresistible.’
She hadn’t made any comment at the time although she had silently told herself that irresistible was definitely not a word that came to mind when she thought of Lucas Kane, but now, if nothing else, she could appreciate what drew and held such women.
Taken off his guard like this, and with his office mode in abeyance for once, she was seeing the raw animal magnetism she had sensed once or twice—well, a lot more than once or twice, she admitted ruefully—in all its deadly power.
‘Hell, what’s the time?’ The silver eyes were clearing even as he spoke and granite was replacing the faint smoky hue that had been so stunningly sexy.
‘Eight-thirty.’ It was succinct but all she could manage until her hormones sorted themselves out.
‘Is that coffee? You’re an angel.’ He leant back in the chair and stretched magnificent muscles before raking back his hair, none of which did Kim’s equilibrium any favours. ‘I’ve been here most of the weekend; the Clarkson deal blew up in our face and needed some quality time.’
‘Right.’ Kim nodded in what she hoped was an informed, efficient sort of way and wondered if he was aware he was half naked. If he was it clearly didn’t bother him.
She placed the coffee and biscuits on the desk in front of him and prayed her face wasn’t as flushed as she feared it was.
‘But I’ve got it nailed.’ He reached for one of the biscuits and ate it in a hungry bite before reaching for another.
‘When did you eat last?’ she asked carefully.
‘Eat?’ The crystal-bright eyes that could be so piercingly intent were vague. ‘I don’t remember. Saturday, I think.’
‘Fancy some bacon sandwiches?’
‘Bacon sandwiches?’ He stared at her interestedly. ‘Don’t tell me you can provide those at a moment’s notice, Kim?’
‘Almost.’ She was fighting sexual arousal and it made her voice stiff. ‘There’s a little man on the corner who comes every morning in his mobile and does a roaring trade, apparently. Bacon sandwiches are his speciality.’
‘Then I’d like six rounds from your little man,’ Lucas said promptly, ‘with lashings of brown sauce.’
She inclined her head, as she imagined the estimable June would have done in the same circumstances, and forced herself to turn and walk towards the door. ‘I’ll be ten minutes or so,’ she said evenly over her shoulder and she didn’t look back.
She was fifteen minutes, and when she knocked for the second time that morning on Lucas’s door and walked into his office, her boss had transformed himself—courtesy of the small bathroom and dressing room, which were part of his executive suite—into his usual cool and impeccable self. But in spite of the fresh charcoal suit and pale blue shirt with matching tie, all Kim could see was a mental picture of acres and acres of finely honed muscled flesh and it was disconcerting, to say the least.
It didn’t help that his hair was still slightly damp from the shower and his freshly shaved face more relaxed than usual, either, and the hot prickle of overt sexual awareness that had hit her so forcefully earlier didn’t seem to want to die the death she was willing on it.
‘Six rounds of doorsteps with what looks like a pound of bacon in them,’ she said as expressionlessly as she could. ‘Eat them while they’re hot.’ She handed him the plate as she spoke.
‘You sound like my mother.’
His mother? She narrowed her eyes and smiled sweetly. ‘Don’t tell me you are one of those men who have a mother fixation,’ she said coolly before she thought too much about it and didn’t dare voice the tart retort which had sprung to mind.
‘I don’t think so.’ He was eyeing her with what could only be termed a glint, but a glint of what Kim wasn’t sure. ‘My mother is a wonderful woman and ideally suited to my father, but…no, I don’t think so.’ He took a bite of one of the sandwiches and closed his eyes in ecstasy.
‘How come I haven’t had bacon sandwiches from your little man before?’ he asked almost petulantly.
‘Because you didn’t ask?’ she suggested daringly.
The silver eyes fastened on her, pinning her to the spot, and Lucas smiled slowly. ‘I only have to ask?’ he drawled lazily.
She might have known she had no chance of winning in a war of words with him! Kim was disturbingly aware that something had shifted in the last few minutes, something that had been bubbling away under the surface from the first moment she had laid eyes on Lucas Kane—something that couldn’t, mustn’t, have expression. ‘I’ll get you another cup of coffee.’ She had turned and swept out of the room before he had time to take another bite.
Lucas smiled faintly to himself. There was more, much more, to his efficient, beautiful new secretary than met the eye; he had known that from the beginning. And was that why he had been tempted to choose Kim above other more qualified, experienced candidates?
The thought didn’t sit well with him and the smile turned into a frown. He had chosen Kim Allen because she was the most suitable applicant—qualifications and experience weren’t necessarily the be-all and end-all of a working relationship, he told himself sharply. There had to be a spark, a cutting edge, a quality that was undefinable but which told you any association would be healthy and productive without becoming dull or boring. He had never wanted a mindless android who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. That was why he had chosen Kim. And her qualifications were pretty good too, as was her experience.
June had had it—they had enjoyed some very real altercations in their time, he assured himself firmly, ignoring the little voice of honesty which suggested he was comparing chalk to cheese.
He was suddenly uncomfortable with his thoughts and, reaching for another sandwich, having finished the first, he turned his mind to the Clarkson file sitting in front of him, dismissing all further thoughts of Kim with the single-minded ruthlessness that had made Kane Electrical so successful in the last decade.
It took Kim a good deal longer to get her unregenerate thoughts under lock and key, but once she had succeeded she determined they wouldn’t escape again. Lucas Kane could prance around naked if he so desired and she wouldn’t turn a hair, she told herself on the drive home that evening.
She had to admit he had a certain something, a darkly seductive something—in fact it was a relief to acknowledge it and bring it out into the open, she assured herself firmly. He was a compellingly attractive man—most powerful, wealthy men had an aura that set them apart from the crowd—but it didn’t make them easy to live with or likeable.
And she didn’t have to like him; as long as she could respect his business acumen and flair and enjoy her work, that was all she wanted. His lifestyle and the way he conducted his personal relationships was absolutely no concern of hers; the fact that he embodied everything she most disliked in a man in that
