her the full benefit of his bad breath as he murmured, ‘Why don’t we go for a nice little drink after work, eh? I know just the place. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’
When hell froze over! ‘I’m afraid I’ve got other plans,’ Holly said stiffly.
‘Tomorrow, then?’ Speckled hazel eyes of a muddy hue slithered over her greedily. ‘I’ll buy you dinner too if you’re a good girl. Can’t say fairer than that.’
Where was this man coming from? What did it take to puncture this inflated ego that thought because of his standing in the firm he could behave however he liked? Holly knew from talk she’d heard in the canteen during her coffee breaks that Jeff Roberts pawed whomsoever he could, but most of the other girls worked in conditions where there was safety in numbers.
She stared him straight in the eye as she said coldly, ‘I’m sorry but I can’t go for a drink with you tomorrow or any other time, Mr. Roberts.’
His face changed. ‘I can do you some good here, Holly, if you play your cards right,’ he said very softly, ‘but the opposite also applies. Do you understand what I’m saying?’
‘I understand you very well,’ Holly returned icily.
‘And?’
‘And my answer remains the same. Now, I need to get this report finished.’
He looked at her for a moment more before straightening up, and Holly was fooled into thinking he was going to leave as her eyes returned to her word processor. And then, for a shocking second, two meaty hands appeared over her shoulders and grabbed her breasts, squeezing them painfully hard before he went to walk away.
She didn’t have to think about what to do. She was up out of her chair in the blink of an eye and all her strength was behind the ringing slap she delivered across his face.
He clearly hadn’t expected anything like such a fiery reaction. He staggered backwards for a good few steps, thudding against a filing cabinet before letting forth with a string of obscenities which turned the air blue. As he straightened Holly knew he was going to come at her again and she prepared herself, her blue eyes flashing and her slim, petite body held stiff and tense.
‘What the hell is happening here?’
The voice from the doorway brought Jeff swinging round and Holly’s startled eyes focusing on the tall, dark figure standing in the aperture. She knew instantly who he was, even if the heavy French accent hadn’t proclaimed it. She had heard so much from the other girls about the unique owner of Querruel International she could have described him down to the last eyelash, even though she’d never seen the ruggedly handsome Frenchman in person.
Jacques Querruel. Thirty-two years of age; unattached but with a string of mistresses and affairs that made him the favourite of society magazines and the tabloids, alike; the ultimate playboy except in Jacques Querruel’s case he worked hard as well as playing hard. A self-made millionaire who had risen from the depths of squalor in a Paris slum to become a wealthy and successful industrialist, his original furniture company in Paris now having a string of subsidiaries in France as well as the United States and England.
And he played life by his own rules, as his present ensemble proclaimed. According to office gossip he owned several flashy cars, as one would expect of a young French millionaire, but his favourite transport when he visited England was his Harley-Davidson.
‘Mind-blowing piece of equipment,’ one of the young lads in the accounts department had told Holly dreamily a couple of weeks ago. ‘A Road King in monochrome black ice. You could really reel in the big miles on that beauty.’
‘You ought to see Mr Querruel in his black leathers.’ This had been from one of the females at the lunch table who clearly didn’t want to waste time talking about a machine when it could be used discussing the rider. ‘Everything stops when he walks in, I tell you. There’s not a woman here who doesn’t go weak at the knees. We’re talking pure dynamite, Holly.’
And now she was seeing the pure dynamite for herself, Holly thought a trifle hysterically. And it was dangerous stuff all right. But then her attention was snapped away from the big black figure in the doorway and back to Jeff, when he said quickly, ‘Mr Querruel, I’m sorry you had to be a party to this, sir. It’s inexcusable, I know. I was reprimanding Miss Stanton on the inferior quality of some work she did for me and she reacted badly. I’m afraid I lost my temper when she hit me.’
‘You liar!’ Holly was amazed at his duplicity. ‘How dare you—?’
‘That’s enough.’ As her voice rose Jacques Querruel cut into her protest, his voice quiet but razor-sharp. ‘We will discuss this in Mr Roberts’s office, please. You will both accompany me there now.’
‘Now, just hang on a minute!’ Holly had thrown caution to the wind, she was so mad. She knew what would happen when Mr Roberts Senior got involved in this—she’d be out on her ear quicker than you could say Harley-Davidson. ‘He’s lying. There was no work—’
‘Have I not made myself clear?’ The French accent was stronger than ever. ‘We will discuss this matter in the privacy of Mr Roberts’s office, Miss Stanton. I have already been informed that Mr Roberts is not expected back from a prior appointment for another hour, so we will not be interrupted.’
Had he guessed the reason for her objection? Holly stared into narrowed amber eyes that had all the softness of that solid fossilised resin, and found she couldn’t drag herself away from the translucent gaze. They were unnerving, those eyes. Mesmerising and beautiful but cold, like the predatory surveillance of a wolf or one of the big cats.
And then she mentally shook herself, angry with the fanciful description. What on earth was the matter with her? she asked herself silently as she followed the two men through into Margaret’s office, and then beyond into Mr Roberts Senior’s large and opulent domain.
She just had time to notice Margaret standing against her desk, looking aghast, which implied the managing director’s secretary had heard something of the events which had transpired in her coffee break, but then the door was firmly shut and she was alone with Jacques Querruel and a blustering Jeff Roberts. ‘Really, Mr Querruel, there is no need for you to concern yourself with this unfortunate matter,’ he was saying with ingratiating and sickening servility. ‘You’ve obviously got more important things to do and—’
‘On the contrary, Jeff.’ It was cool, very cool, and as Jacques Querruel indicated for them both to be seated with an authoritative wave of his hand Jeff said nothing more.
Holly had expected the Frenchman to seat himself behind the massive oak desk which dominated the room, but instead he perched easily on the edge of it, the piercing eyes surveying her critically.
She forced herself not to fiddle with her hair or make any other nervous movement, but it was hard. Especially in the circumstances and with Jeff sitting a foot or so away. But there was absolutely no way she was going to give any ground over this. She raised her small chin at the thought, her eyes stormy.
‘So…’ Jacques’s compelling gaze moved from her flushed face to Jeff’s sulky one, and the amber eyes took full note of the unmistakable handprint etched on the other man’s plump cheek. ‘I think there is a problem, yes?’
‘Nothing I can’t handle, Mr Querruel—’
‘Yes, there darn well is!’ It was Holly’s
