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“This is not the office,” James growled at her, his expression thunderous.
“You’re still my boss,” Lucy countered.
“Time you stopped putting your life into neat little pockets,” James told her. “Forget playing safe. Take a risk.”
He caught her totally off guard, hauling her in to him with a thump that left her breathless. Or maybe it was the impact of feeling a vital wall of muscle connected to her wobbly frame that stole her ability to breathe.
“Now melt,” he commanded gruffly.
And Lucy melted.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER ONE
‘AND how is my ever delightful and worthy Miss Worthington this morning?’
Lucy gritted her teeth against a seething wave of resentment, almost hating the man who clearly had no idea how such blithely tossed off words lacerated her heart.
The breezy greeting from her boss probably meant he’d spent a highly pleasurable night with his latest woman. His voice lilted with macho smugness, a sure sign of sexual satisfaction, and his playful play on her surname accentuated the fact that Lucy wasn’t the type he’d toss in his bed, however delightful she might be to work with. Worthy women didn’t excite him.
Though if her breasts were big enough to fill and overflow a D-cup bra, he might consider her more bed-worthy, Lucy thought caustically, ungritting her teeth and turning from the filing cabinet to direct a bland smile at the sexy wolf who employed her as his sensible secretary.
‘Good morning, sir,’ she piped sweetly.
James Hancock was the classic tall dark and handsome prototype, with the potent addition of a shrewd business brain and the kind of charm that won friends and influenced all the right people. He was thirty-four, in the prime of life, had the well-earned reputation of being a dynamic agent in the entertainment field, which helped make him an A-list bachelor in Sydney society, and he was definitely exuding an air of being on top of his world.
His rakish black eyebrows lifted. ‘Sir?’
She cocked her head on one side, returning his quizzical look. ‘Weren’t you cueing me to greet you formally with your Miss Worthington?’
He laughed, his blue eyes twinkling devilish delight. ‘The comeback queen strikes again. What would I do without you to entertain me, Lucy?’
Resentment crawled down her spine and loosened her tongue. ‘I imagine you’d quickly find someone else to score off.’
‘Score off?’ he repeated incredulously. ‘My dear Lucy, the scoring honours invariably go to you.’
‘Really? I hadn’t noticed.’
She picked up the files she’d extracted from the cabinet and carried them to her desk, ready to hand them over to him.
‘It comes naturally to you,’ he assured her, grinning from ear to ear. ‘One of the joys of office hours, hearing your salty down-to-earth comments. They invariably reduce all the hype in this business to what’s real and what isn’t. An invaluable talent.’
‘Invaluable enough to be worth a raise in salary?’
‘Ouch!’ He mockingly slapped a hand against his forehead. ‘She strikes again.’
‘Pure logic, James,’ she pointed out with limpid innocence while savagely wanting him to pay for seeing her as nothing but a bottom line sounding board when it came to dealing with his high-flying clients. ‘You’ll need to check these files while answering this morning’s e-mails. Is there anything else you need from me right now?’ she asked, pressing for him to enter his own office and leave her alone to get over the frustrations he aroused in her.
He ignored the files, shaking an admonishing finger at her. ‘You’re a money-grubber, Lucy Worthington.’
She shrugged. ‘A woman has to look out for herself these days. I just don’t believe in free meal-tickets.’ Which was a neat little jibe at the women he favoured, women who traded on lush physical assets to get where they wanted.
‘Ha!’ James crowed. ‘I gave you free tickets to tonight’s charity bash.’
‘Oh?’ Lucy viewed
