got out, closed his door, moved to her side and pulled hers open. ‘Ready?’
‘Yes. It was kind of you to wait, though unnecessary.’ She stood at about five foot five inches in height with a compact body that curved in all the right places. Brown eyes sparkled one moment and seemed to guard secrets the next and that wealth of hair caressed her face and nape in all its curly wildness. Her nose was strong and straight, her mouth soft and inviting in a girl-next-door kind of way.
He shouldn’t want to know about the guardedness or cheerfulness. Definitely needed to steer clear of the girl-next-door part. ‘Let’s go, then.’
‘Right.’ She would have got down without touching him. The intention to do so flared in her eyes.
Given the way he reacted the few times they’d touched, he should have allowed exactly that but some bizarre sense of perversity made him clasp her hand and help her. Then, because he didn’t want to release his hold on her, wanted to stroke that hand with his fingertips, he dropped it altogether, closed the door and locked the vehicle.
He wanted to kiss her until they were both breathless from it, and when she joined him in the lift the urge to do that came very close to overwhelming him.
While he fought urges he usually had no difficulty controlling, Marissa reached out a small, capable-looking hand towards the panel. No doubt to press for the first floor and the help she thought he wanted.
Instead, he pushed the button that would take them directly to his floor, and thought how he would like to taste those softly pouting lips.
This wasn’t happening. It didn’t happen to him. He was no green youngster who reacted this way to a woman. He’d found her easy enough not to notice until now and he planned to go on not noticing her.
‘Gordon’s on holiday.’ The abrupt announcement wasn’t exactly his usual smooth delivery, but at least it got them back onto a business footing. ‘You probably only had maintenance and catch-up work planned, you have some experience behind you and can keep up with my pace of dictation. I’ve decided it will be best if you assist me during Tom’s sick leave.’
‘You want me?’ An expression rather close to horror flashed across her face before she quickly concealed it.
‘I don’t imagine I’ll find anyone any better qualified and as easily available as you are.’ He’d meant to state the words in a calm, if decided way. Instead they almost sounded bewildered. And perhaps a little insulted. He had to admit that her reaction had been refreshingly honest and appeared to come straight from her heart. Emotional honesty hadn’t exactly been abundant from some of the people in his life.
And just where had that unhelpful thought come from? A very old place!
After a moment she murmured, ‘Well, I’m sure it won’t be for long.’
The grudging acceptance wasn’t exactly effusive and it left him wanting to … impress her with how amenable he could be as a boss.
‘Gordon has four weeks off, doesn’t he?’ Rick pushed away his odd reaction and forced his attention to matters close to hand. ‘I seem to recall that from a brief talk I had with him before he left. I’m sure that will allow more than enough time for Tom to recuperate and return. If not, we’ll simply deal with it. You can make whatever arrangements are needed to replace yourself in Gordon’s office. Put a temp in there and have the first floor supervisor monitor the temp’s progress.’
‘Yes, of course. I didn’t meant to sound … Well, I was just surprised, that’s all.’
Oh, she’d meant it, but he pushed that aside too.
‘Then, if you have no other questions …?’ He paused and she shook her head. ‘Good. We’ll just get on with it, then.’
With his unwelcome awareness of her firmly set aside and filed, he whisked her out of the lift and into the hub of his work.
He would simply rein in his odd response to her and they would get along just fine.
Expediency. It was all about what was best for the company.
CHAPTER THREE
To: Sanfrandani, Englishcrumpet
From: Kangagirl
I had to cancel the after-hours second drink with the bank clerk guy. Work issues. I’ve been roped in to work for the big boss for the next while. Totally out of my control and since I don’t know how long things will be busy and the bank clerk might want to see other women in the meantime, I didn’t ask him to reschedule. Still, it looks like there will be one or two perks with this temporary job. I peeked ahead in the BlackBerry and we have a special meeting scheduled for tomorrow, a group of Asian businessmen. We’re taking them to an animal petting zoo.
From: Sanfrandani
Ooh. What sort of animals?
From: Englishcrumpet
Kangaroos? I’ve always wanted to see one of those. I hope the different work goes well for you, Marissa.
‘What did his last servant die of? I wonder.’ Marissa muttered as her fingers flew at lightning speed to produce yet another memo that needed to be rushed urgently to one of their departments.
She absolutely did not enjoy the pace and challenge of working in Rick’s sumptuous office suite with its thick beige carpet and burnished gold walls and stunning view over Sydney Harbour. And its frenetic pace. Maybe this workload was why Tom had gone down with a virus.
Except Ross River virus wasn’t something one contracted due to stress. And the company boss did not fascinate Marissa more and more with each breath she took. He wasn’t tremendously adept at his work, and appealingly sexy as he went about it. He was … obsessed by it. Yes, that was it.
He’d probably prove to be a terrible boss, never giving the poor overworked secretary a second thought after that initial consideration. And she’d refused to look his way for at least the last five minutes, anyway, so there.
Rick dropped another pile of papers and three tapes into her tray. ‘You’re coping all right? Not feeling too pressured? I know there’s a lot of work, but we can take things steadily.’ His gaze caught and held hers with quiet sincerity.
Which rather shot holes in her thoughts about him. She was far better off viewing him as a workaholic quite prepared to take her down with him! ‘I’m managing. Thank you.’
He lingered in front of her desk for a moment and his gaze moved from her hands to her face and hair before coming back to her eyes. For one still moment she couldn’t seem to look away and he … didn’t seem to be able to either. Then he cleared his throat. ‘That report hit the right places before eleven a.m.?’
‘Report …’ Oh, yes. Right. Well, he’d proofed the thing just minutes ago and she’d sent it. Except … Marissa forced her gaze from him to the square-framed clock on the far wall of the office space and realised it was now twelve twenty-five.
‘I faxed the report on time to each committee member. You must be due for your lunch appointment.’ She must be due to remember he had that appointment, and what that meant. The man was not available.
