Nicola Marsh - The Boss's Bedroom Agenda

‘Hey, Dad, it’s me.’

‘What’s up?’

Aidan stiffened, Abe’s gruff, brisk tone the same abrasive way he’d spoken to him all his life, as if he were an interruption to be tolerated.

No niceties, no normal exchange of pleasantries. But then, what did he expect—for him to change just because he was doing the old man a favour?

Swallowing his annoyance, he swivelled his chair away from the view and picked up Beth Walker’s résumé.

‘I met the new tour guide this morning. She’s not what I expected.’

‘She’s something else, isn’t she? I knew she’d be perfect for the job.’

‘Something else’ was right. The minute he’d laid eyes on Beth Walker he’d known she was perfect—though, inappropriately, work had been the furthest thing from his mind.

Frowning, he tapped her résumé against the desk. ‘Her credentials aren’t super impressive. Tour guide at Flemington during the Spring Racing Carnival and at the Melbourne Grand Prix isn’t exactly the same as here, is it?’

‘Are you questioning my judgement?’

Hell, yeah.

But he wouldn’t push it. The only reason he was sitting in this chair was because his father had asked him to, had made the first overture in his life to acknowledge his skills, and he wasn’t about to sabotage the tentative professional mateship they’d developed lately.

‘Guess her demeanour threw me a little.’

‘Why? Because she’s a tad on the exuberant side?’ Abe snorted, an exasperated sound that told him exactly what he thought of this phone call. ‘Look, Lana Walker will be a huge credit to the museum. She’s the best curator on the eastern seaboard and I trusted her judgement when she recommended her cousin. Then I interviewed Beth and she’s exactly the type of employee we need. Fresh, vibrant, willing to learn. So what’s the problem?’

‘No problem.’

Not unless he counted the awful sinking feeling he was attracted to her when he shouldn’t be.

CEOs shouldn’t fraternise with staff, even ones with sparkling eyes, cheeky smiles, flamboyant suits and come-get- me shoes.

‘If that’s all, I have to go. Your mother has me on this crazy exercise regimen.’

Aidan paused, knowing Abe hated talking about his health, well aware he’d irritated the old man enough for one day with his interrogation about Beth.

‘How’s the heart?’

‘Fine. Blood pressure’s down. No angina since we came up here.’

‘Great—’

‘Must go. I’ll call you next week to check up on how the place is doing.’

The dial tone hummed in his ear before he’d had a chance to say goodbye and Aidan snapped his mobile shut, the familiar disappointment clawing at him.

The old man would never change and he’d be a fool to hope otherwise. Yet when Abe had been advised by the docs to rest up or risk a heart attack and he’d made the decision to head for the tropics of Queensland for a little R & R, he’d turned straight to his son.

Aidan hadn’t been able to refuse, buoyed by the uncharacteristic action of a man who’d barely acknowledged his achievements growing up, a small part of him still hoping for the unthinkable to happen, that dear old Dad would finally recognise his worth.

So here he was, trying to prove a point, aiming to be the best damn CEO the museum had ever seen even if it was only for a few months.

He’d made that more than clear. There was no way he’d give up his passion for the digs.

He’d made that mistake once before.

Never again.

Being the best CEO meant keeping a close eye on employees… Scanning Beth’s résumé again, he shook his head.

His gut instinct had served him well in the past, giving him a feel for the best sites to search, directing him where to dig.

Maybe in this case his instincts were wrong?

However, the more he read of Beth’s résumé and her apparent lack of skills, and compared it with the mental image he had of the feisty tour guide, the more he had the feeling she wasn’t the right person for the job.

But he believed in giving people a fair go so that was exactly what he’d do here. However, if the cutesy tour guide made one too many mistakes… He shoved her résumé back into its folder and stood up.

He wanted this place running up to speed and the only way to ensure that was to do spot checks on his staff.

Starting with one highly unusual tour guide.

CHAPTER THREE

‘SO HOW did it go?’

Beth took a long, drawn-out sip of her mocha-mint iced latte and smacked her lips, trying to hide a grin at Lana’s anxious expression and failing.

‘This isn’t funny, Beth. I’m in agony over here and I’m not just talking about my ankle!’

‘Okay, okay, hang on to your crutches.’

She drained the rest of her favourite drink, placed the takeout cup on the coffee table and stretched. ‘There isn’t much to tell. My first day was uneventful and glitch-free.’

Well, almost, if she didn’t count her run-in with the charismatic Aidan Voss first thing in the morning and the slight mishap with the train display later.

Lana frowned and gave her the same disgusted look she reserved just for her ever since they’d been playmates fighting over the same crayons or dolls.

‘Right. Now tell me the truth. All of it.’

Beth blew her cousin a raspberry.

‘Where do you want me to start? The part where I broke my heel on the way in and got into trouble with the boss? Or the part where I got lost traipsing around that monstrosity? Or the part where I befriended this lovely volunteer in desperate need of a fashion makeover and took her shopping?’

Lana guffawed. ‘So I guess you couldn’t charm or smile your way out of everything, huh?’

‘Hey, it’s only my first day. Give a girl a chance to work her magic.’

Lana rolled her eyes. ‘Now that we’ve established your indefatigable self-confidence hasn’t taken a beating, tell me exactly what happened.’

Beth waved a hand in the air and reached for a melt-in-the-mouth Brunetti’s biscotti with the other. ‘Teething problems, cuz. Everyone has them in a new job.’

‘I know, but I’m bored out of my brain here all day, wondering what’s going on over at the museum.’ She slapped her injured leg and grimaced. ‘I hate being this helpless, this dependent on other people.’

‘You mean me?’

Lana had an independent streak a mile long. Guess it came with the territory of losing her mum early. In a way, her cousin’s tragedy had bonded them as nothing else would. Considering she’d lost her own mum in the same car accident the two of them had clung to each other, a pair of devastated six-year-olds with their worlds turned upside down. And hers had never righted.

‘I know you’re doing your best.’ Lana’s grim expression implied her best wasn’t good enough. ‘It’s just that I don’t think I can last three months sitting around here doing nothing but paperwork.’

‘You don’t exactly have a choice.’

A bit like herself, actually. She owed Lana and if her cousin had asked her to walk on water she would have. Trying her best not to slip up while working at the museum was small payback for everything her cousin had done for her. Not to mention the added bonus of the fact she really needed this job!

Her muse had gone AWOL along with her latest boyfriend, taking her chance of having a display in his gallery along with him. Though she should be grateful: the rat’s actions had prompted her to finally follow her dream and lease her own space. If the powers that be at the stuffy bank ever gave her the loan to secure it, that was.

Renting her warehouse and spending most of her earnings on fashion and shoes didn’t build a great credit rating and, boy, had the bank bigwigs rubbed her nose in it.