forgotten that Harry was a woman with a woman’s more sensitive emotions, Alex launched himself across the room and gathered her into his arms.
‘There, there,’ he said soothingly as he stroked her soft brown hair.
If anything she sobbed even harder, her shoulders shaking as her hands curled into fists and pressed against his chest. Romany meowed plaintively at his feet, obviously sensing distress in the air.
‘Stop crying now,’ he advised gently. ‘You’re upsetting the cat.’
She didn’t stop crying and Romany ran off, the insensitive deserter. Alex wished he could do likewise. He didn’t feel entirely comfortable holding Harry like this. He was never comfortable with excess emotion. Neither was he a touchy-feely kind of guy. He touched a woman only when he was about to make love to her.
‘Oh! S-sorry.’
Alex’s head swivelled round at the sound of Audrey’s startled apology. Audrey was forty, divorced and a cynic and the expression on his receptionist’s face suggested she’d instantly jumped to the conclusion that something of an intimate nature was going on between her boss and his PA. Alex knew he had to nip that idea in the bud before nasty rumours started flying around the office.
‘Harriet is upset,’ he said rather brusquely. ‘She’s broken off her engagement to Dwayne.’
Audrey’s finely plucked eyebrows formed an even greater arch. ‘Really? What did he do?’
Alex rolled his eyes at the woman’s lack of compassion. All she seemed interested in were the grisly details. Though, now that he thought about it, Alex was curious about the circumstances as well. He could not imagine Dwayne being unfaithful. He wasn’t that kind of guy. Not that he knew him well. He’d met him only twice.
Alex had actually been surprised by Harriet’s choice of fiancé. She was a very attractive girl—and smart as a whip—whereas Dwayne was just, well, ordinary, both in looks and intelligence. Alex had found him quite boring to talk to. He would have expected more interesting conversation from a high school history teacher, but Dwayne had come over as being interested in only his pay cheque and his holidays.
‘More time to play golf,’ he’d said rather avidly.
Perhaps that was what had gone wrong. Maybe he’d been spending too much time on the golf course and not enough time making love to his fiancée. Alex knew that if he was engaged to Harriet, he would spend quite a lot of time making love to her. Having her in his arms reminded him what a good figure she had.
When such thinking sparked a prickling in his groin, Alex decided to bring a swift end to his hugging Harriet so closely. Stepping back from the embrace, he leaned over to snatch a handful of tissues from the box that was kept on the counter and held them out towards her still-clenched hands.
‘Dry your eyes,’ he ordered.
She did as she was told, blowing her nose quite noisily.
‘Now, I’m taking Harriet out for coffee. And we won’t be back for a while,’ he relayed to Audrey. ‘Let the others know the situation when they come in, will you?’
‘Will do,’ Audrey replied.
‘I...I’d like to fix my face before I go out anywhere,’ Harriet requested.
‘Fair enough,’ Alex said. ‘I’ll meet you at the lifts in five minutes.’
* * *
Grabbing her handbag, Harriet dashed out of the office and along the corridor to the ladies’ room, which thankfully was empty. She groaned when the vanity mirror showed flushed cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. Sighing, she splashed them with cold water, glad that she didn’t wear eye make-up during the day. Otherwise she might have ended up looking like a raccoon.
Grabbing some paper towels, she dabbed her face dry, after which she swiftly replenished her red lipstick before running a brush through her shoulder-length brown hair. When it fell into its usual sleek curtain without a strand out of place, she conceded that her monthly appointment with one of Sydney’s top stylists was worth every cent. It saved her heaps of time every morning and in moments like this. Because, when Alex said he’d meet her in five minutes, he meant five minutes. Patience was not one of her boss’s virtues. Kindness was, however. And compassion. He’d shown both with Romany and now with her.
She should have known he’d be nice to her.
Not that she’d expected him to hug her like that. That had been a surprise. So had her bursting into tears in the first place. It wasn’t like her to be so emotional. But she supposed it wasn’t every day that your dreams for the future were shattered. Maybe if she’d cried buckets during the days after the split with Dwayne, she wouldn’t have broken down just now. She hadn’t even told Emily, knowing perhaps her friend’s critical reaction. She’d just bottled up her feelings, then stupidly started worrying that telling Alex her news would jeopardise her job. As if he would be so cruel as to sack her because she was suddenly single. The very idea was ludicrous!
With a final swift glance at her reflection in the mirror, Harriet hurried from the ladies’ room and strode quickly along the grey carpeted corridor which would bring her to the lift well. Alex was already there, his expression shuttered as he looked her up and down, probably searching for signs that she had herself under control. No way would he want her weeping by his side in public. She gave him a small, reassuring smile, but he didn’t smile back, his gaze still probing.
‘Better now?’ he said.
‘Much. You don’t have to do this, you know,’ she added, despite actually wanting to go and have coffee with him. ‘We could just go back into the office and have coffee there.’
‘Absolutely not. Audrey and the others can hold the fort.’
The lift doors opened and several office workers piled out, Ark Properties not being the only business with rooms on that particular floor, though theirs were the pick, with Alex’s office having a wonderful view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. ‘Nothing like a good view of Sydney’s spectacular icons to help sell property in Australia,’ he’d told her on the day he’d hired her.
Harriet agreed wholeheartedly.
‘So when did all this happen?’ Alex asked her as he waved her into the now empty lift.
‘The weekend you flew home from London,’ she told him.
He threw a sharp glance over his shoulder as he pressed the ground-floor button.
‘Why didn’t you tell me straight away?’ he went on before she could think of a suitable answer. ‘Did you want to give yourself the opportunity to change your mind? Or for Dwayne to change it for you?’
‘No. No, once I made up my mind, I knew I wouldn’t change it. Dwayne hasn’t tried to change my mind, either. After our last argument, he knew it was over between us.’
‘That must have been some argument.’
‘It was.’ A rueful smile teased the corners of her mouth. What would Alex say, she wondered, if he knew he’d been the subject of most of that last argument?
His eyes narrowed on her. ‘Want to tell me about it?’
She
