first instinct was to say that he couldn’t accept such an expensive gift and that he must give it back, but seeing the look of sheer pleasure and amazement on Ben’s face made her think again. It wasn’t as if Andreas Papadakis couldn’t afford it.
Maybe it was a thank-you for all the hard work she’d put in. Or—her mouth twisted wryly—maybe it was a sweetener so that she wouldn’t say no to him again when he asked her to work late! She couldn’t really believe that her boss had a big enough heart to buy her son a present when he hadn’t even met him. She wasn’t even sure he had a heart. But whatever his reasons it had pleased Ben, and he was her main concern.
When she went in to work on Saturday morning she fully intended thanking Mr Papadakis again, but gone was the man of yesterday evening. He was in his head-of-the-firm mode and it brooked no personal conversation. Nevertheless when he stood over her, one hand on the back of her chair, one on the desk, watching the screen as she typed a letter he was waiting for, she was aware now that a warm human being existed behind that harsh exterior. And because of that she began to feel his primal sexuality, the sheer physical dynamics of the man.
‘You’ve missed out a word.’
Peta silently groaned. She’d do more than that if he didn’t move. He was wearing a musky sandalwood cologne that was essentially male and would remind her of him for evermore. It took a supreme amount of will-power to carry on typing the letter and she made more mistakes in that one page than she normally did in a whole day.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked sharply. ‘Not got it together yet? Did the party tire you out?’
Hardly, when it had been finished by eight. Had he no idea that he was the one making her nervous? ‘I’m all right,’ she answered. ‘And by the way, thank you again for buying Ben that Scalextric. It was much too expensive a present, but he’s absolutely delighted with it. He had me up at six this morning helping him put it together.’
‘Good, I’m glad he liked it. Bring the letter in to me when you’ve printed it. And I’d like Griff’s report next.’
He strode away, clearly not interested in discussing Ben’s party or his gift. And she’d thought he had a heart after all. How wrong could she have been?
The morning fled. No mention had been made of how long he wanted her to work, though Peta had assumed she’d finish about one. But one o’clock came and went and there was no sign of him letting up.
His voice came through the open doorway. ‘Miss James, get some lunch sent in.’
Peta groaned inwardly; surely he wasn’t expecting her to remain here all day?
Then he strode into her office. ‘After that you’d better go home and spend some time with your boy.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, wondering at his sudden generosity. ‘And if you don’t mind me saying so, you work far too hard yourself. Mr Brown didn’t used to do the hours you do.’
‘That’s why the company was running downhill fast,’ he retorted.
‘What do you mean, downhill?’ Peta asked quickly. ‘It was extremely successful.’ She’d always counted herself lucky to be working for such a flourishing firm.
Andreas Papadakis shook his head. ‘That’s the impression he wanted you to have. He didn’t want unhappy employees, but a few more months and you’d have all been out of work.’
She looked at him with a disbelieving frown. ‘Is that true?’
‘Of course it’s damn well true. I bought a sinking ship, Miss James, it’s what I do. But I sure as hell make sure they never capsize.’
Peta supposed she ought to have known from the content of his correspondence that there were problems, except that she’d thought he was simply sweeping clean all the old methods and installing new ones of his own. He’d drummed up an awful lot of new business as well. She had privately accused him of rubbing his hands at all the extra money he was generating, not realising for one second that if he hadn’t she’d have lost her job. It looked as if she’d wrong-footed him every step of the way.
Only once in the days that followed did he ask her to work late. ‘I appreciate that you want to spend time with your son,’ he said, ‘but this really is important.’
How could she refuse when he asked her like that? But when on Friday afternoon he said that he wanted her to attend a conference with him on the following Monday and that it would mean a very late night she looked at him sharply. ‘I don’t think I can do that.’
She had never in the whole of Ben’s life let anyone else bath him and put him to bed. It was a pleasure she looked forward to. It was their special time of day; it eased the guilt of her leaving him while she went to work. Marnie would be in her element, and Ben would probably enjoy it too if the truth were know because he adored her as much as the older woman adored him, but Peta knew that she would feel truly awful.
In any case, what conference went on into the early hours? He had to be joking. ‘I can’t promise anything,’ she said.
‘Can’t or won’t?’ he demanded, mouth grim all of a sudden. ‘I can easily find someone to step into your job, Miss James.’
This was the first time in ages that she had seen a flash of his old self. She ought to have known that his understanding behaviour was too good to last. ‘I doubt it,’ she replied, adding with great daring, ‘No one else has been able to put up with your impossible demands.’
Fierce black brows jutted over narrowed eyes. ‘Is that why you think my other PAs left?’
She nodded. ‘It’s what everyone believes.’
He perched himself on the edge of her desk, too near for comfort, causing an alarming flurry of her senses. They were becoming too frequent for her own good. She was joining the others, seeing him as a sexually exciting male instead of an impossible boss.
‘Then I think I should put the matter straight,’ he announced. ‘They didn’t leave because they couldn’t work with me. I fired them because of their inadequacies.’
Peta shot him a flashing blue glance. ‘Maybe what you call inadequacies and what we girls consider to be unfair requests are two different things.’
His eyes narrowed still further until they were no more than two glittering slits. ‘I think I’ve been more than reasonable, but if you think it unfair that I occasionally ask you to work extra hours, for which I might add you are handsomely paid, then I suggest you put your coat on and walk, too.’
Peta couldn’t believe she had landed herself in this situation. She really oughtn’t to have spoken to him like that. He was her employer after all. ‘It’s all right, I’ll do it,’ she said hastily.
‘Good,’ he clipped, and returned to his office.
She was walking out through the door at the end of the day, her thoughts already running ahead to her darling son and how she could make it up to him, when Andreas Papadakis’s voice arrested her.
‘The conference starts at two on Monday. Wear your smartest suit, Miss James, and it might be advisable to pack a cocktail dress for the evening.’
Warning
