accused incredulously as she saw Kit’s raised brows. ‘Oh, Kit, you can’t—’
‘Of course I can,’ Kit said a little crossly. ‘This is a working trip, Penny, in case you’ve forgotten—’
‘I haven’t forgotten anything,’ her friend assured her seriously. ‘And, after the shenanigans with Mike Reynolds while you worked for him, I can’t exactly blame you for being more cautious where Marcus Maitland is concerned. But you’ve been his assistant for six months, Kit; surely you know what sort of man he is by now?’
Oh, yes, she knew exactly what sort of man Marcus Maitland was: clever and shrewd where business was concerned, a fair but demanding boss. But, as Angie Dwyer had warned her, he changed his women almost as often as he changed his shirt.
‘You’re going to meet Desmond Hayes this weekend,’ Penny said impatiently. ‘Desmond Hayes, Kit; one of the wealthiest men in the country!’
Kit gave a faint smile. ‘He may be, but the last I heard he was on his third marriage!’
‘No, that’s been over for some months,’ Penny dismissed.
Kit gave a firm shake of her head. ‘Then he’s in the middle of a messy divorce,’ she persisted. ‘In either case, I’m not interested. Neither,’ she continued firmly as Penny would have spoken, ‘do I intend changing a single thing about my appearance for what is, after all, a work commitment.’ If she kept repeating that phrase enough, she might even start to believe it herself!
Because a part of her was secretly excited at the thought of spending this time with Marcus away from the office—safely behind the façade of the PA from No-Nonsenseville, of course!
Penny gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re insane!’
Kit gave a smile. ‘I’ll try to bear that in mind.’
‘Insane!’ Penny repeated disgustedly before picking up the salad bowl and sweeping over to the kitchen table, leaving Kit to follow slowly behind her with the plates of baked salmon.
Maybe, feeling as she did about Marcus, she was mad to keep up this charade of efficient primness, but having started it she now had no idea how to finish it…
‘I beg your pardon?’ Kit looked at Marcus incredulously when he called for her the next afternoon, having allowed her to leave the office earlier so that she might be ready for the two of them to make the journey to Desmond Hayes’s home.
He gave a sigh. ‘I said, could you change into something a little less—formal?’ he repeated tersely, eyeing her cream linen suit and flat shoes with obvious distaste. ‘Desmond is expecting my partner for the weekend to be the current woman in my life, not my PA,’ he explained with the deliberate patience of an adult talking to a recalcitrant child.
‘But—but—’
‘Now you sound like a broken record,’ Marcus drawled derisively, moving past her into the flat’s hallway.
Penny was, thankfully, still at work; otherwise there was no knowing what she might have made of what Marcus was asking.
Kit wasn’t too sure of that herself! Exactly what did he mean, she was supposed to be the current woman in his life and not his PA? Surely he wasn’t suggesting—?
‘Calm down, Miss McGuire,’ Marcus ordered as he stood in the hallway looking down at her—a novelty in itself: at five feet ten inches tall, Kit usually found she was taller than most men. ‘I only said Desmond Hayes is expecting you to be the woman I’m involved with—not that I am expecting it too!’
She could feel the warmth of colour enter her cheeks at his taunting tone and mocking expression. But how else could she react after what he had just said?
Marcus gave another sigh. ‘It’s quite simple, Miss McGuire, I look on this weekend as purely business. Desmond may see it a little differently, hence—’
‘Hence you want me to appear to be your girlfriend,’ Kit finished dazedly.
‘There you are.’ Marcus smiled teasingly. ‘I knew you would get it in the end!’
She hadn’t got anything!
This was the very first time Marcus had mentioned anything about this particular aspect of the weekend. Deliberately so? she wondered as she looked at him suspiciously.
His smile turned to a scowl. ‘As I told you yesterday, I’m not about to make indecent advances on your person!’ he told her disgustedly.
But Kit hadn’t needed him to repeat it, knew that he didn’t find her in the least attractive; she just couldn’t make too much sense of what he was saying. It appeared that Marcus had originally intended going with Andrea to Desmond Hayes’s for the weekend—the woman’s vehemence yesterday at being told she wasn’t going after all was proof of that!—so why was he now taking Kit, but still leaving his host with the impression it was his girlfriend who was accompanying him?
‘It’s simple enough, Miss McGuire—’
‘You keep saying that,’ she cut in tensely.
‘But you don’t find it so,’ Marcus replied through gritted teeth. ‘I swear, I want your experience as my PA this weekend, not as a woman.’
‘That part you’ve made abundantly clear!’ she snapped back, slightly disconcerted as Marcus gave her an assessing look for her vehemence. ‘And quite rightly so,’ she added hastily. ‘But what is it you want me—as your PA—to do?’ she persisted, desperately trying to claw back some of the credibility she was sure she had lost just now when she had sounded almost disappointed that Marcus wanted her services professionally but not personally.
Idiot, she chided herself. As if Marcus could ever have any personal interest in her.
‘Observe and listen, mainly,’ he answered in a casual voice. ‘There are rumours that Desmond Hayes is in trouble—financially, for a change, as opposed to the mess he’s made of his personal life. Three wives!’ he added with a disgusted shake of his head.
‘I suppose you think he shouldn’t have married those women at all but just—er—what I meant—’ Kit broke off abruptly, wincing awkwardly as she realised what she had been about to say, the colour once again hot in her cheeks.
‘But just bedded them—like me,’ Marcus finished for her. ‘Was that what you were about to say?’
It was. Though it had dawned on her just how unwise she was being before she had even finished saying it. Although that didn’t stop Marcus from being completely aware of what she had been about to say, anyway!
‘You know, Miss McGuire,’ he murmured, the humour once more lighting the deep blue of his eyes, ‘perhaps this weekend will serve another purpose, after all. You’ve been working for me for six months now, and it’s time I got to know you a little better,’ he enlightened her as she looked at him warily.
Having Marcus get to know her a little or, indeed, a lot better, was not something she particularly wanted!
She deliberately avoided his gaze now. ‘What do the rumours have to say about Desmond Hayes’s
