Appointment at the Altar

by Jessica Hart

  It was Guy’s PA, Sheila, who said that Guy would like to see Lucy at her earliest convenience. Would she come up to his office?

  Feeling as if she had been summoned to the headmaster’s office, Lucy took one of the spectacular glass lifts up to the penthouse floor. She had never been there before, and would normally have been interested to see what it was like, but now she was too nervous to notice much as she stepped out of the lift.

  She wondered what Guy had told Sheila, but it was obviously not the truth, judging by the smile Sheila gave her when she arrived. Grey-haired and very elegant, Sheila adored Guy and was fiercely protective of him. Lucy had helped her out on a couple of occasions, but she knew that wouldn’t count for much if Sheila found out that she had been doing anything to prejudice Guy’s reputation.

  Like pretending to be engaged to him.

  ‘Go right in.’ Sheila smiled. ‘He’s expecting you.’

  Taking a deep breath, Lucy pushed open the door of Guy’s office, only to stop dead as she stepped inside. It was a huge room with a carpet so deep and soft you could lose yourself in it, a vast desk and some plush sofas where no doubt millions of dollars changed hands regularly in the course of a conversation. One entire wall was made of glass and offered such a spectacular view of St Paul’s Cathedral that Lucy actually gasped. ‘Oh,’ she said, nerves and guilt and embarrassment momentarily forgotten as she stared.

  ‘Quite a view, isn’t it?’ Guy got up from behind the desk and came towards her and a strange thing happened. The amazing cityscape behind him blurred and he snapped into focus. Everything about him was suddenly sharply defined-the dark blond hair, the planes of his face, the angle of his jaw, those blue, blue eyes with their fan of laughter lines, and Lucy’s breath snarled in her throat.

  ‘You sent for me?’ It came out more aggressively than she had intended and he raised an eyebrow, gesturing her to one of the sofas.

  ‘I asked if you would come and see me,’ he corrected her. Hitching up immaculate trousers, he sat down opposite her. ‘I could have come to you, I know, but I didn’t think you would want to discuss our supposed engagement in the middle of reception. And I think we do need to discuss it, don’t you?’

  ‘Look, I’m sorry, OK?’ said Lucy, guilt making her belligerent. ‘I shouldn’t have said that to Frank.’

  ‘I seem to remember you promising to think before you opened your mouth,’ said Guy mildly enough, but there was something daunting about the set of his mouth, and Lucy could feel dull colour creeping up her throat.

  ‘I might have remembered if I hadn’t been provoked!’ she retorted.

  ‘Provoked?’

  ‘You know what I mean,’ she said sullenly. ‘You kissed me.’

  The thought of that kiss thickened Lucy’s throat and throbbed deep inside her, tingling over her skin and tightening the base of her spine. She was sitting there, not even touching him, and it was as if she could still feel his lips, so warm, so sure, still taste his mouth, still shiver with the pleasure of pressing into his hard, solid body.

  ‘You’re right,’ said Guy after a moment. ‘I shouldn’t have done that. I think we both behaved rather badly yesterday. The question is, what do we do about it now?’

  ‘Do we need to do anything? It was a stupid thing for me to say, but nobody knows about it except the Pollards.’ Lucy wondered briefly if she should mention Richard’s nurse. But why on earth would Mairi be interested in her supposed engagement, let alone go running off to the papers with the news? ‘They’re not the type to tattle to tabloids, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

  ‘It had crossed my mind that it would be awkward if the news got out.’

  ‘Why should it, and anyway, why would they be interested in you?’ said Lucy. ‘I realise that Frank thinks you’re some kind of superstar but, to be honest, I’d never heard of you, and I can’t see the rest of the world being that bothered either. Who cares if you’re getting married or not?’

  ‘My mother?’ suggested Guy. ‘My friends, my board…and that’s just for starters.’

  ‘I can understand your mother wanting to know, but why should your board care?’

  Guy got restlessly to his feet and paced behind the sofa. ‘It just happens that we’re at a delicate stage of negotiation with another bank, with a view to a possible merger,’ he explained, choosing his words carefully. ‘It’s a deal that could transform the way we do business, but it hangs on the decision of their chairman, Bill Sheldon. Personality and trust play a huge part in these kinds of negotiations and, however much he thinks he’s making a business decision, he’s still going to be influenced by what he thinks of me. I’d rather he didn’t associate me with irresponsibility or unpredictability in any way.’

  ‘Oh, pooh, why shouldn’t you get engaged if you want to?’

  He sighed. ‘The point is that I don’t want to.’

  ‘This Bill doesn’t know that, though, does he? You could be an incredibly romantic type who’s fallen madly in love with me at first sight and swept me off my feet.’

  ‘That’s precisely the impression I don’t want to give,’ said Guy dryly. ‘I want Bill to think of me as steady and responsible, not an impulsive romantic.’

  ‘He’s not going to know anything about our engagement,’ said Lucy, getting up from the sofa, too. ‘The Pollards won’t tell anyone, you won’t tell anyone, and I won’t tell anyone. It’s not going to be a problem.’

  Guy looked at her, amusement warring with exasperation in his blue eyes. ‘I hope you’re right.’

  Lucy wasn’t quite as confident as she sounded, but when two days had passed without any hint of a rumour, she began to relax and believe that no more would be heard of it. She would leave it a week or so and then tell the Pollards that her engagement to Guy was off, she decided as she swiped her card at the ticket gate and joined the press of people heading down the escalator for the Central Line the next morning. They probably wouldn’t even be surprised, given that they clearly believed him to be well out of her league.

  That was one problem sorted, anyway, she thought with relief. Now she just had to prove to Guy that she was capable of being responsible, and get Meredith back from Wirrindago. Lucy had admitted to herself that she wasn’t that desperate to go back to the outback yet. She was embarrassed whenever she thought about how obvious she had made her crush on Kevin, who was little more than a vague romantic memory now, and she was enjoying being in London in a way that she never had before.

  Previously she had always been looking for reasons to leave, but it felt different this time. She liked being one of the crowd going in to work. She liked the way the commuters surged in and out of the city like a tide. She liked going out for a sandwich at lunchtime and reading the free newspaper on the tube. She liked meeting friends for a drink in busy bars and pressing her nose up against the windows of all the famous shops where she would never dare walk in, let alone be able to afford to buy anything.

  She was even liking work. Reception work wasn’t brain surgery, it was true, but she was learning that there was satisfaction in doing a job well, however unimportant it might seem.

  The only thing that she didn’t like was the way Guy seemed to be ignoring her again. She had barely seen him over the past two days and she wondered if he were crosser with her about their supposed engagement than he had let on. She missed the glint in his blue eyes and the laughter in his voice and the way everything seemed sharper and clearer when he was around. She even missed the annoying way he called her Cinders.

  The phone was ringing as Lucy arrived at Dangerfield & Dunn and she picked it up from the other side of the reception desk before she had even taken off her coat.

  It was Sheila, Guy’s PA, calling from Wales. Her elderly father had fallen the previous evening, she told Lucy, and she was on her way to see him in hospital. She hadn’t been able to reach Guy yet, she said.

  ‘The thing is, he’s got a series of really important meetings today and he’ll need som
e information that’s still on my computer. And there’s a reception tonight…someone needs to contact the caterers…’

  Lucy shrugged off her coat and reached for a pen. ‘Tell me what needs to be done, Sheila, and I’ll sort it out.’

  There was no one else around as Lucy made her way to Sheila’s office, and she allowed herself a spin on the desk chair. It was very quiet up here. What would it be like to have an office to oneself? she wondered. To have a job that you could do well, and to really understand how everything in the organisation worked, as opposed to getting by on charm and hoping for the best?

  Not that she was ever likely to know. She couldn’t see herself ever having a proper job. With a little sigh, Lucy switched on the computer and typed in the password Sheila had given her.

  There was still no sign of Guy by the time she had worked her way through Sheila’s list of instructions and printed everything out, so she rummaged through some drawers until she found a file and went to leave the information on his desk.

  The huge office felt empty without him. Drawn by the spectacular view of the cathedral, Lucy went over to the glass wall and stood looking down at the city, the file clutched to her chest.

  ‘Here you are.’

  Guy’s voice behind her made Lucy jump and she spun round, her heart jerking madly, although whether from the shock or the sight of him she couldn’t tell. Just by standing there in the doorway, he managed to charge the hushed, exclusive atmosphere with energy so that the very air seemed to be vibrating with his presence.

  ‘It’s you,’ she said faintly.

  ‘It is my office,’ he pointed out, the blue, blue eyes glinting with amusement.

  And he was probably wondering what a lowly receptionist was doing there gaping at the view. ‘Er…Sheila asked me to print this out for you,’ said Lucy, hastily laying the file on the desk. ‘Her father’s in hospital so she’s had to go and see him. She gave me her password and told me where I would find the files.’

  ‘Yes, she said she’d spoken to you. She managed to get hold of me on my mobile in the end, but it sounds as if she’ll have to be in Wales for a few days at least.’

  Guy picked up the file and flicked through it. He was wearing a classic charcoal-grey suit and she found herself watching his hands. They were strong and capable-looking, with deft fingers and very clean nails, and the memory of them holding that lasso made Lucy suddenly giddy.

  She shouldn’t have skipped breakfast.

  ‘Thank you for doing this.’ The blue eyes held an arrested expression as he looked up from the papers. ‘This is exactly what I needed.’

  ‘I just did what Sheila told me to do.’

  ‘She explained what she’d asked you to do, but I can’t say I expected you to have it done quite so soon.’

  ‘I’ve sent those emails she mentioned, too,’ said Lucy, ‘but it’s too early to contact the caterers about the reception this evening. I’ll do that later.’

  She glanced at her watch. ‘There should be someone in Human Resources now. Sheila suggested contacting them for some temporary cover while she’s away. Would you like me to do that for you, or will you ring them yourself?’

  ‘Why can’t you do it?’ said Guy, dropping the file back onto his desk.

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Why not? You can obviously use a computer.’

  ‘Well, yes, but-’

  ‘And you can answer a phone.’

  ‘Yes, of course, but I-’

  ‘And you’ve got common sense-although that’s not always obvious, I must admit,’ he added with one of his glinting looks. ‘Most important of all, you’re here and you know Sheila’s password, which means you can start straight away and I don’t need to wait for HR to shunt people around or get someone from an agency. That makes you the best candidate in my book.’

  Lucy swallowed. ‘I’m not qualified to be a PA at this level.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean you can’t do it,’ said Guy.

  ‘But I’ve never done a job like that before!’ Lucy couldn’t believe how casually he seemed to be taking it all. Wasn’t he worried that she would come in and make a huge mess of everything?

  ‘Well, here’s your chance to try,’ he said, and then he fixed her with keen blue eyes. ‘Or are you scared that you won’t be able to do it?’

  That brought her chin up immediately. ‘I’m not scared.’

  ‘Good, because you shouldn’t be,’ said Guy. Perching on the edge of his desk, he put his hands in his pockets and regarded Lucy thoughtfully. ‘I think you’re capable of a lot more than you think you are, Cinders,’ he said, not ungently.

  ‘I don’t know…’ Lucy chewed her lip anxiously. She might not be scared, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous. Very. ‘I suppose I do avoid situations where I might be asked to do something I don’t know how to do. Perhaps it’s something to do with being the baby of the family. There’s always someone to look after you, and so nobody has very high expectations of you.’

  ‘Or is that you don’t have very high expectations of yourself?’ said Guy. ‘I’m the youngest, too, and I know what it’s like. I spent a lot of time drifting around, not wanting to do anything but have a good time, believing that was all I was good for.

  ‘I don’t regret those years at all,’ he told her, ‘and there’s nothing wrong with having a good time, but…there was something missing. I was always looking for something else, some new thrill. I’d set myself physical challenges, and it never occurred to me that running a business could be far harder and just as stimulating. I only discovered what I could do when I came home and had to take over at Dangerfield & Dunn.’

  ‘I don’t think I’m ready to tackle being chairman just yet,’ said Lucy nervously, and Guy laughed.

  ‘Once you know what you can do as a PA, who knows where you’ll end up?’

  Lucy drew a deep breath. ‘Well, all right, I’ll do it, if you’re sure. I’d better let Imogen know, though. I said I’d just be ten minutes. She’ll be wondering what on earth I’ve been doing up here.’

  Guy straightened and went round to sit at his desk. He pulled the file towards him as Lucy left to phone from Sheila’s office. ‘Tell her that you’ve been raising your expectations.’

  In spite of her nervousness, Lucy couldn’t help being excited at the prospect of taking over from Sheila for a while. Guy seemed to think that she could do it, so maybe she could. All she needed to do was keep her cool and put the memory of that kiss right out of her mind. From now on, he would be her boss. Not her pretend fiancé, not the boy who had once wanted to be a rodeo rider, not Bridget’s son doing his best to live up to his father’s expectations.

  Not the man who had kissed her until her bones dissolved.

  Just her boss.

  She could do that, Lucy told herself. No problem.

  There had been days Lucy thought were busy down in Reception, but she had never worked as hard as she did that day. The phone rang constantly, emails banked up in Sheila’s in-box, and there was a steady stream of people wanting to see Guy. He had one meeting after another, and Lucy had to make sure that he had all the right information to hand for each one. She supplied people with coffee when required and hurried back to Sheila’s desk to set up new meetings, keep a careful eye on Guy’s diary or check up on the arrangements for the reception Dangerfield & Dunn were hosting that night.

  It was an eye-opening day for Lucy. She hadn’t realised that she was capable of working that hard, or that she could cope with the avalanche of phone calls and emails and the multiple crises which all had to be dealt with immediately, without descending into panic or asking for help.

  She saw a new side to Guy, too. He might look the same, he might smile the same smile, but this was not just the lazily good-humoured Guy who had somehow become so familiar to her. This Guy knew exactly what he was doing. He might wear a beautiful cashmere suit and sit in a luxurious office but there was nothing soft about the way he did business. Lucy could hear an edg
e of steel in his voice, and beneath the smile and the charm was a toughness she had only glimpsed before.

  It made her feel funny inside whenever she thought about it.

  ‘Are you still here?’

  It was almost half past six when Guy came back from a meeting to find Lucy printing out one last document.

  Her heart gave a little lurch at the sight of him, which was annoying as she had managed to keep it pretty steady for most of the day. She had been too busy to remember how it felt to kiss him, but now the memory was back with a vengeance and she was suddenly, acutely, aware that the floor was empty except for the two of them.

  She kept her eyes on the printer, lifting out the document as soon as it was complete and putting it into its file. ‘I’m just finishing now,’ she said, glad she had something to keep her hands and eyes busy. Filing might not be glamorous, but it was a lot more dignified than flinging herself into his arms and begging him to kiss her again.

  ‘I was wondering if I should just check that everything is OK for the reception downstairs,’ she went on, rather pleased at the coolness of her voice. ‘It’s starting soon.’

  ‘I know,’ said Guy. ‘That’s why I’ve come back. I’m supposed to be making a speech of welcome.’

  Lucy nodded. ‘I’ve put the notes for your speech on your desk.’

  She went back to fretting about the reception, which had been occupying her all day and was a lot safer than noticing how well Guy’s jacket fitted his broad shoulders, or wondering what it was about the line of his jaw that tangled her en-trails into knots. ‘I could just put my head round the door and see that there are no problems behind the scenes,’ she said, talking to herself as much as to him. ‘The guest list has been changing all day.’

  ‘I’ve got a better idea,’ said Guy, strolling over to prop himself against her desk. ‘There’s no need for you to skulk around behind the scenes. Why don’t you come to the reception as a member of staff? You could probably do with a drink, couldn’t you?’