Cathy Williams - The Billionaire Boss's Bride

‘Amongst other things.’

‘Oh, sure, job satisfaction.’ He linked his fingers behind his head and surveyed her with open curiosity. ‘Of course, more money would be reason enough. After all, there’s only so much of those free pleasures you can have, especially in winter when it’s freezing cold outside. Walks in the park just aren’t quite the same, I find… Oh, I forgot. All your money’s going to help your little sister through college. You should tell her to take on some evening work so she can put herself through.’

‘Lucy isn’t into evening work,’ Tessa said without thinking. She could have kicked herself. She could almost hear his ears pricking up at that admission. The truth was that she had mentioned evening work to Lucy and had hit a brick wall. Her sister liked to party. The small legacy from their parents, which had been shared between them, had been put into storage, on the advice of their very shrewd solicitor who had foreseen a time when it might be needed to buy property. Tessa had had no difficulty in concurring with this as far as her half went. Lucy, after much nagging when she had hit her landmark eighteenth birthday, had agreed to have a small allowance paid into her bank account every month to fund her lifestyle. Tessa should have stood firm, but as always she had caved in. Most people did when faced with Lucy’s optimistic, winning smile.

‘Not into evening work? You mean she’s happy for you to pay for her so that she can enjoy herself?’

‘I don’t mind.’

‘Tut-tut. There’s nothing worse than a martyr.’

That did it. Tessa snapped shut her notepad and gave him her steeliest glare. ‘I can think of lots of things worse, actually, and I am not a martyr. Lucy is much younger than me and she’s always been the baby of the family. We all indulged her, including me, and I don’t mind at all paying for her fees. She deserves to have a good time while she’s young!’

‘Because you never did?’ he asked quickly, hitting the mark with such effortless ease that Tessa’s mouth dropped open and she was momentarily lost for words. ‘I mean,’ he continued to expand in a lazy, musing voice, ‘you were forced into the role of surrogate mother when you were just a teenager and since then you haven’t really stopped. Who knows? Maybe you get a personal vicarious thrill from your sister’s fun-loving lifestyle because you were denied it.’

‘I thought we were going to go through these costings.’

‘We are. In a minute. It’s just so rewarding finding out more about one of my employees, knowing what makes them tick.’

‘You’re not finding out more about me,’ Tessa said coolly, sitting back in her chair. ‘You’re second-guessing my life.’

‘You’re not denying any of what I’ve said.’

‘I don’t have to. I’m here to do a job. I don’t have to defend myself in the process.’

‘True.’ He sat forward abruptly and gave her a dazzling smile loaded with a mixture of charm and apology. ‘And it’s outrageous of me to start prying and probing into what’s none of my business! I’m glad you spoke your mind and told me to back off!’ He absent-mindedly flicked his tie between his fingers and continued to look at her contritely. ‘That’s the problem, you know. I rush in where I’m not wanted and make a nuisance of myself.’

‘It’s good you recognise the problem, in that case,’ Tessa said weakly. The warmth and sincerity in his voice had punctured all traces of indignation. Now she felt as though she should be the one apologising, for what she had no idea!

‘Oh, I do!’ He shot her a crooked smile that would have had any little old lady buckling at the knees. He was also an incurable flirt. She had seen him in action, taking time to chat with the cleaner who came in after hours, even though she was a happily married lady in her mid fifties. He did it almost without thinking. She wondered how many of his young, pretty secretaries had lost their heads over him. Whatever, she assumed that he was as charming when he dispatched them as he was when he hired them, because in the space of two weeks she had transferred no less than three separate calls from women who said that they had worked for him in the past and were just phoning to touch base.

It was to her credit, she thought now, that she could withstand his personality as successfully as she did. She did so now by sending him a dry look that warned him not to overplay his card and he laughed, reading the message in her brown eyes.

As always, though, when it came to work, he was all concentrated brilliance. She barely noticed the time flying by when, after an hour, his office was occupied by four of the computer whizkids sprawled on the sofa, one perched on his desk, all animatedly discussing ideas for some new software while she sat rapidly making notes and working out in her head their order of priority for when she came to transcribe them the following morning.

She realised the time when Robert Harding, a brilliant computer mind behind thick spectacles and the classic nerd look, stretched and stood up to leave. Then she looked at her watch and gave a little shriek of dismay.

‘I have to go!’ She stood up, feeling like a traitor because she was leaving work ahead of everyone else, even though five-thirty had come and gone a full forty-five minutes ago.

‘Oh, yes, the spaghetti Bolognese!’ Curtis grinned and stood up as well, putting an end to the impromptu meeting which, uncharacteristically, met with groans of reluctance.

‘Now, now!’ he chided them, sauntering over to unhook his bomber jacket from the sleek walnut-fronted cupboard that stored several essential items of clothing just in case he happened to sleep in the office one night. Through the dividing door, he could see Tessa scuttling around her desk, frantically tidying things away. Strands of hair were escaping from her neatly coiffured coil, as if even they were in a state of agitation about the lateness of the hour.

‘I think we ought to stay on for, let’s say, another hour or so, Curtis!’ Adam Beesley’s youthful face was bright with enthusiasm.

‘Remember what they say about all work and no play! You don’t want to end up a dullard, do you?’ He moved towards his office door, keeping Tessa within his line of vision while he continued to address the assorted crew now reluctantly rising to their feet. ‘Fine line, team, between hard-working and sad!’ He exited his office to hoots of laughter and followed Tessa to the lift, insinuating himself in front of her just as she was about to press the button.

‘I want to apologise for keeping you here so late,’ he murmured.

Tessa pressed the button and stared in front of her. ‘Normally, I wouldn’t mind. I don’t like clock-watching but tonight—’

‘Yes, the friends, the cooking. Here’s where I come in.’ At that moment the lift arrived and the doors parted. As soon as they were in the lift, he turned to her and smiled. Maybe it was her imagination, but that full wattage smile in the confines of a lift seemed to be a lot more potent. She felt her skin heat up and the hand she had thrust into her coat pocket curled into a little, nervous fist.

Curtis at work was her boss, even when the man intruded. Curtis out of work was something she didn’t think about although unconsciously she must have found the thought disturbing because she had not once taken up any offers to go anywhere for a quick drink with the gang before heading home.

‘Since it’s my fault your meal’s going to be ruined, let me take all of you out to dinner…’

‘What?’ Her head swung round sharply and for a few nightmarish seconds she actually struggled for breath while she tried to cope with the horror of his suggestion.

‘I said—’