by Fiona Harper
It wasn’t as if he’d done all the running, either. One or two had practically launched themselves across the desk at him. It was just that they hadn’t wanted to hear he wasn’t interested in turning the job—or the relationship—into a long-term fixture that had got them all weepy. But he’d never broken a promise or led them to believe otherwise. It was hardly his fault if women decided to get all kinds of strange notions in their heads.
Julie was tapping her foot. ‘Well?’ she said, raising one eyebrow, the only part of her that wasn’t starched and stiff. Julie had surprisingly mobile eyebrows. All the more noticeable for their slight bushiness...
Jason smiled at her, turning it on full beam. He knew Julie was the one woman in the universe who seemed to be immune to it, but it couldn’t hurt to try and buy himself a couple more seconds of thinking time. ‘Will “I’m sorry” do?’ he asked hopefully.
Julie just snorted.
That caused Jason to get a little more serious. She’d been with Aspire for more than two decades, and when he’d arrived off the plane from New York as a clueless twenty-something, annoyed his only option had been to cave in and do what his father had told him for once, Julie had taken one look at him and told him to stop acting the poor little rich kid and get over himself. His father had sent him half a world away and he didn’t like it much—so what? There was a whole company nervous about the takeover, and they’d needed him to step up to the plate and turn it around. Their jobs, their families, depended on him, she’d said. It was Julie who’d given him a much-needed kick up the pants and made him realise that proving his father wrong about being a waste of space might be much more satisfying than proving him right.
So, while his HR manager might have battery acid for saliva, Jason couldn’t afford to lose her. She’d been both his harshest critic and his biggest cheerleader, and what she didn’t know about the UK sports equipment industry wasn’t worth knowing. Without Julie, Aspire wouldn’t be the up-and-coming company it was today, which meant he owed her. Big time.
For a second, just a second, he let down the permanent sheen of ‘nothing sticks’ he always wore and softened his gaze. He looked Julie in the eye. ‘You can’t leave,’ he told her. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
She rolled her eyes, but dropped into the chair on the other side of his desk and looked away.
He nudged the envelope towards her. ‘Please?’ he said. ‘Take this back and shred it.’
She reached for it and pulled it towards her, but drew her hand away again when the envelope was half off the edge of the desk. ‘Not so fast.’ She folded her arms across her considerable cleavage. ‘There are some conditions to the destruction of this letter.’
Jason slumped back in his chair and sighed. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like these ‘conditions’ much. ‘Fire away,’ he said wearily.
The hint of a victorious smirk played on Julie’s lips. ‘One...no more flirting with the temps—that’s how the whole mess begins.’
Jason tried not to smile. Okay, so he’d calm down a little. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be receptive if an attractive woman flirted with him, now, did it? However, Julie spotted the microscopic twitch of his lips and her eyes narrowed.
‘Two...’ she said slowly ‘...no encouraging anyone employed by Aspire to flirt with you.’
You’re a statue, he told himself. Don’t react.
‘Or letting them flirt with you unprovoked.’
Dammit.
‘And definitely no physical contact with your employees.’
He raised his eyebrows and tried to look wounded. ‘What? Not even a friendly clap on the shoulder between buddies, a handshake at the beginning or end of a meeting...?’
Julie’s scowl intensified. ‘Don’t push it, Jason! You know exactly what I mean. I’m talking about female employees—unless you’ve worked your way through the whole office and are thinking of going a different direction?’
He grinned and shook his head. Nope. Definitely not tired of women yet. ‘So are handshakes allowed?’ he asked innocently.
Julie peered at him a little more closely, as if she was trying to work out what was going on in his head. ‘Handshakes are allowed,’ she finally said.
Jason nodded. A concession. No, a victory. It was always important to win something in negotiations; he just didn’t know how he was going to use this to his advantage. Yet.
Julie uncrossed her arms and let out a breath. ‘Good.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t know why you can’t just find one woman you like enough to stick with for more than a weekend.’
Jason stood, then went and retrieved the minibasketball from where it was still resting against the window. ‘It’s not liking them enough that’s the problem,’ he said as he rolled it into his palm and turned to face her. ‘It’s liking them too much. There are so many amazing women out there—’
She made a face. ‘Spare me.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with having a little fun while I’m still young.’ Then, just to make her feel better, he added, ‘But maybe I will settle down...one day.’
‘My Jonathan is three years younger than you and he’s already got a toddler and another one on the way. Now, if that’s all,’ she said, swiping her letter off his desk and heading for the door, ‘I’ve got one soggy temp to deal with and another who’s asked for an appointment. She sounded spitting mad...’
She stopped at the doorway and peered over the top of her glasses at him. ‘That hasn’t got anything to do with you, has it? Two in one day is a record, even for you.’
Jason just chuckled as she turned and marched out of the office. Oh, Julie. If only you knew...
* * *
‘She did what?’ the HR manager stuttered as her underling repeated the story Kelly had just told her. She swung round to face Kelly. Julie was wearing the look of a woman who was not having a good day. ‘You did what?’
Kelly folded her hands in her lap and looked the woman straight in the eye. ‘I stapled his tie to the desk.’
Julie’s mouth moved but no sound came out.
‘It was the only way I could make him stay where he was supposed to,’ Kelly added helpfully. ‘I’m sorry about the desk, but Mr Payne wouldn’t take no for an answer. So I made him.’
That would teach him to not take her seriously.
The underling had to turn away and stifle her giggles behind a hand. Julie blinked a few times then seemed to recover herself. ‘Well, of course we’ll investigate your complaint, Ms Bradford, but there are ways to go about this kind of thing. Ways that don’t involve office equipment....’ She lowered her chin and looked at Kelly over the top of her glasses.
Kelly nodded, the picture of innocence. No point telling the woman she’d have liked to staple something else of Payne’s to the desk and the tie had just been a poor substitute. ‘Thank you.’
The underling sighed. ‘You know, a lot of girls think Will is a bit of a hottie.’
Well, a lot of girls needed their heads read.
Kelly didn’t say that, though. She was busy proving she could be calm and professional and that she could keep control of her runaway mouth—and her stapling arm. She settled on something much less inflammatory. ‘But I’m just not interested. In him, or anyone.’ She frowned. ‘Isn’t there a company policy against that kind of thing?’
‘Mr Knight did away with that,’ Julie said starchily, as she and the underling exchanged a cryptic look. ‘He says he doesn’t want the company stuck in the Dark Ages, and that as long as his staff do their work well he doesn’t care what they get up to in their personal lives.’
On any other day Kelly would have applauded the boss’s decision heartily. Today, however, a medieval dating policy—maybe involving male chastity belts?—might have made her life a little bit easier. ‘Well, I have a personal
policy about dating colleagues,’ she said.
Julie gave Kelly a sceptical look then sat back down at her desk and leafed through her file. When she’d finished, she looked at her over her glasses again. ‘You’ve been with us just under a month and this is the third time we’ve moved you....’
‘I can explain about—’
Julie just raised her eyebrows. ‘It seems you don’t have a problem speaking your mind, Ms Bradford, which I wouldn’t normally consider a bad thing, but you do manage to rub people the wrong way. I’m wondering if we even have anywhere we can usefully place you immediately.’ She squinted at the computer screen and reached for her mouse. ‘We might have another position for you....’ However, the tone of her voice suggested she was just going through the motions.
Kelly’s smile remained fixed, but inside her stomach dropped. She couldn’t let them send her back off to the temp agency and give someone else the position.
The other woman shook her head. ‘No...sorry. Nothing suitable, really.’ She looked up and gave Kelly a tight smile. ‘Of course, we’ll contact your agency if anything opens up.’
Kelly stood up. ‘Look, this just isn’t fair! I’d have happily worked hard for Will Payne if he’d acted appropriately. I shouldn’t be the one who’s penalised!’
Julie looked at Kelly’s recently vacated chair, and it took all Kelly had to plant her bum back down on it.
‘It’s not about punishment, Kelly,’ Julie said, a hint more sympathy in her tone. ‘You know how temp work goes... We do need some short-term cover for a couple of the senior management team, but those posts require a certain level of skills—’
‘I have skills,’ she said firmly.
‘And a certain level of...sensitivity,’ Julie added.
Ah.
‘Please,’ Kelly said quietly, hating the slightly scratchy tone that had crept into her voice. ‘I really need another chance. I’ll do anything, work for anyone... You won’t hear a peep of complaint from me, I promise.’ Her voice caught on the last few words.
Oh, hell. Here came the waterworks. Great.
Kelly wasn’t normally one for crying. In fact, it had been months since she’d had a good bawl, but every time she thought she was recovering from the events of the last couple of years, life dumped another obstacle in her path. To be honest, she was exhausted, and maybe the game of kiss chase she’d had with Payne this morning had just been the cherry on the cake. She scrabbled around in her handbag for a tissue. There had to be one somewhere! Essential piece of kit when you were mum to two boys under six.
Drat. She couldn’t find one. And then she remembered why; she’d used them all up wiping mud off Ben’s fingers before she’d dropped him off at her brother’s house. Seems Ben had decided his uncle’s front garden was a good place to dig for worms, and she hadn’t wanted him to get muddy fingerprints on her new sister-in-law’s cream sofa.
She sniffed back as much as she could and swiped at her face with her hands. Julie leaned across the desk and offered a tissue from a pink box covered in cartoon cats. Kelly took the last one, and Julie tutted and sighed before throwing the empty box in the waste paper basket. The underling rummaged in a drawer, produced an identical box and placed it on the corner of the desk. It had the feeling of a well-oiled routine.
Julie’s tone was much more sympathetic when she spoke. ‘It’ll be okay. You’ll find something else. Aside from the...ah...personnel problems, your work has been top-notch.’
Kelly shook her head. ‘It’s not just that...’
Another sniff. One that gurgled. Nice. She blew her nose.
She could handle the job thing. She was strong. A survivor. Everyone said so. And she didn’t want this woman to think she was a snivelling ninny.
‘Sorry,’ she said, composing herself and sitting up straighter. She needed to get back control of this situation, and the best way she knew how was with the bald truth. ‘It’s just been a rough couple of years. My husband ran off with his twenty-two-year-old personal trainer just after I was diagnosed with cancer, so you can see why I’m not particularly keen on the male species at the moment.’ She looked up and met Julie’s gaze. ‘I’m okay now, though—scans clear for over a year—but I couldn’t work for a while and I had to sell the house....’ She waited for a moment while the stinging sensation in her nose faded. ‘This job at Aspire was going to help me save up for a new one, so I would just really, really appreciate it if you’d give me a call if something new opens up.’
She hid the crumpled tissue in her clenched hands, placed them in her lap and waited. The manager and her underling stared back at her, jaws a little slack. Her no-varnish story had taken them by surprise. Good. Kelly started to feel as if she was on level ground again.
No one said anything for a few long seconds. Then Julie cleared her throat and leaned forward. ‘Were you serious when you said you would absolutely, categorically not date someone at work?’
Kelly nodded, even though the question confused her. Hadn’t they said that was fine?
‘And do you think you can bring some of that gumption you’ve just shown me into the office each day, starting Monday? Because you’re really going to need it if I give you this chance.’
Kelly nodded even harder. Bringing it with her wasn’t a problem; it was keeping it locked away that was the struggle.
‘Then, Ms Bradford,’ Julie said, giving her what might have been a smile, ‘I think I have the perfect post for you.’
TWO
Monday morning and Jason was thinking again. Thinking hard. He balanced the minibasketball on his fingertips and narrowed his eyes as he visualised the ball dropping through the net, then he tensed his arm muscles in readiness and...
There was a sharp rap on the office door. The ball soared across the room and crashed into the bookcase, sending a photo of him with his father and younger brother plummeting to the floor. ‘What?’ he barked out.
The door nudged open and a woman he didn’t recognise poked her head through. ‘Mr Knight?’
Jason forgot all about the photograph. He forgot all about the half-size basketball rolling along his office floor. He spun his chair round to face the door, sat up straighter and smiled. Women loved his smile. ‘You found him.’
She scanned the room, found both fallen photo frame and ball then looked at him without smiling back. ‘Human Resources sent me up. I’m your new temporary PA.’
Jason’s grin widened. ‘Come on in, then.’
He bounced to his feet and waited for her to cross the room. Normally, he was an impatient sort of guy. He didn’t like to stand around doing nothing, but at this present moment he really didn’t mind that he was rooted to the spot. The woman who walked across the carpet towards him was his favourite office fantasy: tall, long legs, glossy hair caught back in a low, short ponytail. She was wearing the standard temp uniform of white blouse, dark skirt, stockings and heels. Wowzer.
He loved the sexy librarian type—all reserve and manners until you said or did the right thing and then they transformed into a wildcat right before your eyes...or under your touch. Jason swallowed the pool of saliva that had collected under his tongue.
But then he heard Julie’s voice, crisp and clear, inside his head. No flirting. Damn.
‘Jason Knight,’ he said, extending his hand over the desk. ‘How are you finding Aspire?’
See? Nothing flirty about that.
‘Kelly Bradford. And it’s been an eventful couple of weeks.’ She made it sound as if that wasn’t a good thing.
She stared at his hand for a moment. He could tell she didn’t want to shake it, but thankfully the British gene for politeness hijacked her and she lifted her arm. They both leaned forward to reach over the wide desk, and Jason realised the top button of her blouse was directly in his line of sight. It wasn’t straining; both blou
se and button were perfectly respectable. The fastening wasn’t even low enough to give a tantalising glimpse of cleavage, but he felt his blood pressure hitch all the same. He’d always liked buttons and the sense of promise that came with them, but when had they become so totally absorbing?
He should look away, shouldn’t he? He should make this a momentary, almost unconscious, glance and meet her gaze. And he would. Soon.
‘If you’ve finished staring down my blouse, I wondered if you’d tell me what you’d like me to do first,’ she said with a hint of frost in her tone. Was it wrong that he liked that even more?
Probably.
The tractor beam that had been holding his head in position suddenly released him, and he found himself staring back at her. Her chin tilted higher and there was fire in those eyes. Lesser guys would have blushed and stuttered. Jason just stared right back.
Okay...so he’d been wrong about the librarian thing. This one was a wildcat. And still as sexy as hell. Now he was intrigued to find out if there was a softer, more feminine side to her under the bristling exterior.
He marshalled his features into the picture of seriousness. She’d been blunt and honest and he figured she’d respect it if he responded in kind. And he couldn’t get into trouble with Julie for that. Flirting was full of little lies—a smile that was too bright, a touch of an arm that was manufactured rather than an instinctive response, the leaving out of tiny unflattering details—so this definitely wasn’t flirting.
‘I apologise for my wayward eyeballs,’ he said. ‘What can I say? I’m a guy, and sometimes they act on their own, without a command from the main control centre.’ He tapped a finger to his skull to make his point.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. ‘Oh, that’s the main control centre, is it?’ she said, her voice thick with sweetness. ‘I always thought men used that space for storing useless sports statistics and all the decisions were made much further south.’
Ouch. True, but ouch.
He grinned. ‘I do my best to rise above my biology.’