Jessica Hart - A Very Personal Assistant - Oh-So-Sensible Secretary / The Santorini Marriage Bargain / Hired - Sassy Assistant

I was so unlike Phin’s normal girlfriends, most of whom he still seemed to get on excellently with. To a woman, they were lushly glamorous and prone to extravagant kisses, with much ‘mwah-mwah’ and many ‘darlings’ scattered around. Next to them, I felt prim and boring. I tried to loosen up, but every time Phin put his arm around me or took my hand my senses would snarl into a knot and I would prickle all over with awareness. It wasn’t exactly relaxing.

The first night we appeared as a couple we went to a party, to launch some perfume, I think. Something unlikely, anyway. I can remember wondering why on earth Phin had been invited, but he seemed to be on hobnobbing terms with all sorts of celebrities. That was also the first time I realised quite how many ex-girlfriends he had, and I was glad I hadn’t done anything silly like let myself wonder if that kiss might have meant something to Phin, too.

Still, I was nervous. It was all so strange to me, and I was feeling very self-conscious in a short dress with spaghetti straps which I had borrowed from Anne. It showed rather more flesh than I was used to, and when Phin let his hand slide down my spine I shivered.

He clicked his tongue. ‘You’re too tense,’ he murmured in my ear. ‘You’re supposed to like me touching you.’

‘Anyone would be tense, meeting all your ex-girlfriends like this,’ I said out of the corner of my mouth, while keeping my smile fixed in place. ‘They’re all wondering what on earth you’re doing with me.’

‘Their boyfriends aren’t.’ His smile glimmered as he ran a knuckle along the neckline of my dress. ‘You look delectable, in a behind-closed-doors kind of way.’

I hated the way every cell in my body seemed to leap at his touch. It made it very hard to remember that I was in control.

‘What kind of way is that?’ I asked, squirming at the breathlessness in my voice.

‘You know—all cool on the surface, but making every man feel that if only he were lucky enough to get you on your own you’d be every hot-blooded male’s fantasy.’

‘Oh, please,’ I said edgily, moving away from him. ‘And stop stroking me!’

‘Nope,’ said Phin as he pulled me easily back against him. ‘You’re my girlfriend, and I can’t keep my hands off you!’

‘You’ve clearly got the same problem with your ex-girlfriends too,’ I said waspishly. ‘I notice you’re still very touchy-feely with them.’

‘Could it be that you’re jealous, cream puff?’

‘I’m hardly likely to be jealous, am I? I’m just keeping in character, like you. I’m sure if I really was your new girlfriend I wouldn’t want to see quite how chummy you still are with them.’

‘I’m just saying hello to old friends.’

I sniffed. ‘I can manage to say hello to friends without sticking my tongue down their throats!’

‘You do exaggerate, Summer—’ Phin began, amused, and then broke off. ‘Uh-oh. Do you see who I see?’

I followed his gaze to where Jewel Stevens was wrapped around a young guy who looked vaguely familiar to me. I wondered if I’d seen him on television. He was very pretty, but had a vacuous look about him.

‘That’s Ricky Roland,’ said Phin in my ear. ‘He’s a rising star, they say, and just as well if he’s going to get involved with Jewel! He’ll be able to afford a new dinner service. I wonder how many plates he’s got left?’

‘She’s coming over,’ I hissed as Jewel somehow spotted Phin and made a beeline for him, abandoning poor Ricky with barely a word. Phin promptly put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, so that I was half in front of him like a shield.

‘Phin, darling, where have you been ?’ she cried as she came up—and, completely ignoring my existence, she gave him a smacking kiss on the lips.

‘Peru,’ he said, keeping a firm hold of me.

‘What on earth for?’ said Jewel, but didn’t bother to wait for his reply. She glanced languidly around at the party. ‘This is all very tedious, isn’t it? We’re all going on to a club after this if you want to come.’

‘Not tonight, thanks, Jewel,’ said Phin, his smile steady but inflexible. ‘I’m taking Summer home. You remember Summer, don’t you?’

Jewel’s eyes flicked over me as if I was something unpleasant Phin had brought in on the bottom of his shoe. ‘No.’

Charming, I thought. ‘I’m Phin’s PA,’ I reminded her.

‘And so much more than that, too,’ said Phin.

At that, Jewel’s gaze sharpened, and she looked from Phin to me, and then back to Phin again. ‘You and … Sunshine, or whatever her name is?’ she said incredulously.

‘Yes,’ said Phin blandly. ‘Me and Summer.’

Disconcertingly, Jewel began to laugh. ‘You and your little secretary … isn’t that a bit of a cliché, darling?’

Phin’s arm tightened around me, but his voice was admirably even. ‘That’s the thing about clichés,’ he said. ‘They’re so often true.’

‘Well, if you say so.’ Jewel was evidently unconvinced. Her brown eyes rested speculatively on me once more, and I could practically hear her thinking that I was too boring to hold Phin’s attention for more than five minutes. ‘How very odd,’ she said.

And then she leant forward to Phin and did her ear licking trick again. Bleuch . ‘When you’re bored and want some excitement again, give me a call,’ she said huskily, only to shriek and leap back as I moved, managing to stand on her foot and spill my glass of champagne all down her fabulous dress at the same time.

It was quite a clever move, even if I say so myself. Subtle, but effective.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ I said insincerely as she glared at me. I could feel Phin’s body shaking with suppressed laughter. ‘How clumsy of me.’

I could see Jewel debating whether to make a scene, but in the end she just sent me a poisonous look and kissed Phin once more. On the mouth, this time, which was a fairly effective retort of her own.

‘You know where to find me when you change your mind, darling,’ she said to him.

My lips thinned as she prowled off to reclaim Ricky Roland, who was making the big mistake of talking to a pretty girl about his own age. I didn’t fancy his chances of keeping the rest of his plates intact.

‘When!’ I huffed. ‘She’s got a nerve, hasn’t she? Not even if you lose interest in me!’

‘Yes, but the round definitely went to you, with the champagne spilling trick,’ said Phin, letting me go at last. ‘That was an excellent impression of a jealous girlfriend, Summer. I didn’t think you had it in you!’

‘I don’t think it convinced Jewel,’ I said. ‘She clearly didn’t believe for a moment that you’d be interested in anyone as boring as me!’

‘No? Well, her style is much more obvious than yours.’

‘You can say that again!’

He studied me for a moment. ‘Personally, I think that restrained look is good for you. It’s classy. On the other hand, it would look more natural if you could be a little more relaxed.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We may have to do something about making you look a little less like a librarian who’s strayed into an orgy,’ said Phin. ‘It works for me—don’t get me wrong!—but other people might wonder eventually why you’re so tense with me.’

‘Maybe they’ll think I’m shy,’ I said, on the defensive. I knew I looked uptight—I felt uptight—but then so would you if you had to snuggle up to Phin while Jewel stuck her tongue down his ear, and I wasn’t used to parties where you fell over a celebrity every time you turned round.

‘You can get away with being shy tonight, but the next time we go out you’ll need to loosen up a bit.’