Alison Kelly - Ryan's Rules

‘OK. Then I’ll ring Mrs Phillips right away and organise for her to come in and cover for you in Accounts and—’

‘Mrs Phillips isn’t available, but it’s OK,’ Jayne assured him. ‘I’ve arranged for Kirrily to cover for me.’

‘You can’t mean that!’ Even as he said the words Ryan knew the worst. ‘Aw, Jayne! Please tell me you didn’t ask K.C..’

‘It’s all arranged; she’s arriving tonight.’

‘Then unarrange it or I’ll be courting a nervous breakdown.’

‘Oh, stop it, Ryan!’ she chided him. ‘It’s the perfect solution. Kirrily’s currently out of work—’

‘She’s a soap actress, not an accountant!’

‘I’m not an accountant either. Besides, she did two years at business college.’

‘K.C. did two years because she flunked out the first! What’s more, she’s only a kid—’

A chuckle interrupted him. ‘If you still think of her as a kid you obviously missed the episode of Hot Heaven where she was practically nude and—’

‘Spare me the run-down on that soap opera,’ he said drily; his body was reacting to the scene he unfortunately hadn’t missed.

‘Ryan, what’s the problem? It’s only for a few weeks.’

He grunted. ‘Earthquakes occur in mere seconds.’

‘I should’ve guessed you’d be difficult about this.’

‘Jayne, honey, I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m trying to be practical. As much as K.C. is like one of the family, asking her to do this isn’t a good idea.’

‘Why?’

‘Why?’ he echoed, feeling as if he’d been hit from behind by fate in a ten-ton truck. ‘Because…well, because she’s so damned flighty. Heck, a person never knows what she’s going to do from one second to the next! And she hates being told what to do. Especially by me,’ he added ruefully. ‘Hell, she’ll question every decision I make. Plus her face is so well known that she’ll have every person who walks into the place wanting her autograph or trying to hit on her. How much work do you think she’ll manage to get done?’

‘Look, Ryan, this trip is important to me, but I’ll cancel if—’

‘What? Uh-uh…no way!’ The thought that he might provide Jayne with an excuse to back out of her plans overrode the instinct to preserve his sanity. ‘Put that idea right out of your head! You’re going. You’ll be on that plane Sunday and K.C. will be sitting at your desk first thing Monday.’ Glancing down at the quote which had been giving him so many headaches, he sighed. Compared with living and working with K.C. for the next few weeks, everything else was going to seem like a picnic!

As a kid K.C. Cosgrove had always had a knack for throwing him off balance, one minute tugging at his heartstrings and making him putty in her hands and the next grinding away at his patience until his hands had wanted to tighten around her cute little neck. Then, during her rebellious teen years, she’d done her best to develop her ability to manipulate Ryan into an art form, which had caused numerous heated debates between the two of them. But what bothered him the most was that now, at the ripe old age of twenty-four, K.C. had unexpectedly acquired yet another unsettling trait—the ability to send his thirty-six-year-old hormones into a frenzy.

KIRRILY spied his tall frame waiting by the luggage carousel at first glance. Even if his black jeans and leather bomber jacket hadn’t contrasted with the business suits of late, Friday-night commuters, Ryan Talbot would have stood out in a crowd. Six feet six of solid male athleticism and rugged blond good looks weren’t easily overlooked—at least, not by any red-blooded woman with a pulse.

Unfortunately, Kirrily was forced to concede that not only was she red-blooded but her pulse was positively rabid! Anxious to gain some control over its excited thumping, she stopped dead in her tracks and took a deep breath. Aside from its causing several fellow passengers to cannon into her, nothing happened. Great!

Up until Bob and Pam Talbot’s fortieth wedding anniversary a few months back, she’d been convinced she’d outgrown the teenage crush she’d had on their son, but now, at the age of twenty-four, she’d relapsed into a severe bout of the hots for one Ryan Talbot! As if she didn’t have enough problems!

She sighed. After what she’d left behind in Melbourne, being in Sydney was a godsend, even if it meant exposure to Ryan.

An impatient shove and a frosty look from a wellgroomed matron reminded her she was impeding people’s progress. Muttering an apology, she again started moving towards the waiting Ryan, wishing she could quash the tingle of adrenaline which increased with each step she took. It wasn’t fair! A grown woman wasn’t supposed to react like this to a man who still saw her in pigtails and braces. Realising the male in question had now spotted her, she fixed a serene smile on her face, determined not to let him rile her. She was an adult; she could control both her tongue and her temper. And this time while she was around Ryan she would control them simultaneously! Even if it killed her! No matter what he said!

‘G’day, short stuff!’

The term would have been an insult even if she hadn’t been five feet six, but her vow of self-control and maturity demanded that Kirrily wait until he actually did pat her on the head before she hit him! No pat was forthcoming. Instead Ryan bowed from his superior height and brushed his usual kiss across her cheek before stepping back and studying her from head to toe. Though irritated under his detailed, blue-eyed scrutiny, she forced herself to relax—at least as much as it was possible for her to relax around Ryan; it seemed these days whenever they got within sight of each other the air around them thickened to a point where she could almost chew it.

His inscrutable expression made her wish that she could think of something witty to say. Heck, she’d settle for something inane, if only for the reassurance of knowing she was still capable of thinking of anything besides how damn good Ryan looked! Good? Ha! The guy was as sexy as sin!

‘So how was the trip?’

It took a second for Kirrily’s hormone-corrupted brain to register the question, but, grateful for the nudge back to reality, she rallied quickly.

‘Lousy. We took off from Melbourne in a storm and it stayed with us most of the way. Still, it was worth it to escape another Melbourne winter.’ Not to mention everything else, she added silently.

‘I didn’t know you were a baseball fan.’

Her confusion was caused as much by the question as the effect of his dazzling grin.

‘Your cap, kiddo,’ he said, coming dangerously close to having his orthodontically correct teeth knocked in as he patted her on the head. ‘By the way, you put it on backwards. Now, tell me which bags are yours and let’s get out of here.’

‘I didn’t “put it on backwards”. I’m wearing it backwards intentionally! And for your information it’s a basketball one.’

He raised a surprised eyebrow. ‘Your bag?’

‘No, my cap!’ she snapped, yanking it from her head and holding it so that the Sydney Kings insignia was visible.

‘Good to see living in Melbourne hasn’t swayed your home-town loyalties. Now, if you’ll rein in that temper I see flashing in your eyes,’ he said, ‘and tell me which bags are—’

Spying her two pieces of luggage, she reached to grab them but missed when another commuter pushed past her. Only Ryan’s steadying hand prevented her from ending up spread-eagled on the carousel and vanishing from sight as her luggage now was.