by Kim Lawrence
‘Eight hours to what?’
‘To make you the woman of my brother’s dreams.’
Beth, who had thought she might buy a new dress on the way home, stared. ‘What are you talking about?’
He waved her silent and spoke into the receiver. ‘Nicola…no, leave that today. I have a job for you.’ He glanced towards Beth and added, ‘It won’t be easy, but I think you’re up to it.’
Beth watched, her blood quietly simmering, while he got to his feet, walked across to the other side of the room and began to pace up and down as he spoke, issuing a number of terse instructions, reminding her as he did so of some lithe, sleek jungle predator. He was a total pain but, aesthetically speaking, there was no denying he was also pretty riveting to watch.
Theo returned a moment later. ‘Right, that’s organised.’
‘What’s organised?’ Beth’s enthusiasm for the project was cooling in direct proportion to his zeal. You’ll never know if you don’t try, reminded the voice in her head.
‘An appointment at the spa for a bit of pampering.’ He left the details to Nicola, who, he was sure, knew all there was to know about female grooming. ‘Hair, make-up, a suitable outfit.’
As she listened, Beth’s wariness grew. It was one thing to fantasise about blowing Andreas away with her stunning beauty but this wasn’t fantasy, it was real, and she could see several flaws in his plan.
He walked purposefully towards the door, clearly expecting her to follow. When she made no attempt to move, he turned, his broad brow pleated in a frown. ‘Is there a problem?’
Other than you being the rudest, most manipulative man on the planet? ‘I have a stack of work to do. I can’t walk out in the middle of the morning.’
‘Your dedication does you credit but, as the person paying your salary, I give you permission to leave early. In fact, I insist upon it.’
The smooth rejoinder made Beth frown darkly. ‘Until I leave, Andreas pays my salary,’ she said, not budging. ‘And, anyway, how long can it take to get ready?’ Usually, she allowed herself ten minutes.
‘I pay Andreas’s salary,’ he said, walking across to her desk and, with an end-of-the-story gesture, he depressed the switch on her laptop. ‘And if you do what I say, you won’t need to leave.’
Beth’s angry eyes flew to his. ‘This is not going to work and we both know it.’
‘Do you want to spend the rest of your life wondering what if?’ he goaded softly. ‘Or are you the sort of girl who finds her own white charger and goes to rescue her prince?’
Beth shook her head. ‘You are one manipulative…’ She bit her tongue and eyed him with narrow-eyed dislike. ‘If I wasn’t a nice girl…’
He laughed down into her angry, flushed face. ‘Nice has a limited appeal for men, Elizabeth.’
‘Not all men are as disgusting as you.’
‘I think you will find they actually are, Elizabeth. Now, let’s leave nice. I think it is your other…qualities that need some work.’
Beth planted her hands on her hips and, tapping a foot on the wooden floor, stuck out her chin. ‘Don’t start minding my feelings now; if you’re trying to say I’m not sexy, go ahead,’ she invited. ‘It’s not exactly news to me.’
There was a gleam in his eyes that Beth found most disturbing as his glance slid down the length of her body before returning to her face.
‘Now that,’ he approved, ‘is a good look for you. Just carry on thinking what you are now and we’re halfway there.’
‘I’m thinking you are a hateful creep!’
The mocking glint in his dark eyes deepened. ‘Why, Elizabeth, you’re fighting it but I think you’re starting to like me.’
‘Sure, you’re my hero.’
Chapter Five
BETH, her attention on the tall svelte blonde who Theo had introduced simply as Nicola, didn’t register the long low limo until the gleaming monster had pulled up literally beside her.
The uniformed driver got out and opened the door for her.
Was she meant to get in? Beth paused uncertainly and glanced towards Theo—no help there; his attention was on his companion.
They certainly made a striking couple.
It occurred to Beth that Theo’s plan might have stood a better chance of working if he had chosen a woman like Nicola to seduce Andreas…Actually, now that she thought about it, why not choose Nicola?
From what she’d seen so far, it didn’t seem likely that any request he made would receive a negative response—the woman acted as if she’d do anything for her boss.
Maybe he was more than a boss?
The possibility—no, cancel that, probability—introduced a cynical twist to Beth’s reflective smile. Not that it was anything to do with her if they were sleeping together, though it did strike her as rather unprofessional.
One advantage of looking the way she did was that no one had ever accused her of sleeping her way to the top, not that she was at the top or even halfway there. Actually, she wasn’t sure how far up the ladder she wanted to go.
She had more fallen into her career than planned it. Sometimes she asked herself what she was doing with her life, then she got her pay cheque and thought that so long as she could pay the bills it didn’t really matter.
Smiling at the driver, Beth slid inside. ‘Crikey!’ She saw the driver grin at her involuntary exclamation and wiped the expression of wide-eyed wonder from her face. ‘Very nice,’ she added in a bored drawl, trying, and she suspected failing, to give the impression that she was accustomed to this sort of opulence.
If she didn’t want to come over as terminally gauche Beth realised she really would have to watch the wide-eyed wonder stuff.
When, a moment later, willowy Nicola in her figureenhancing black jacket, miniskirt and thigh-high boots joined her, Theo had vanished. As the car drew away from the kerb, Beth was unable to keep a lid on her misgivings.
‘I’m not sure this is a good idea.’ Not a good idea? It was total and absolute insanity. She wondered what would happen if she demanded they stop the car, but something stopped her from finding out.
The thought that Theo might be right and Andreas might notice her.
‘Relax,’ her companion advised. ‘Enjoy.’ She tilted her head to study Beth’s face and observed with a note of surprise, ‘Theo’s right—your face does have potential.’ She drew out the word thoughtfully and reached out a hand to brush the hair back from Beth’s brow.
Beth jerked away from the clinical contact. ‘Would you like me to show you my teeth too?’ she asked, baring them in a white gritted smile, the thought of two people who could stop conversation simply by walking into a room discussing her looks or, rather, lack thereof was utterly mortifying.
The other woman looked startled and then laughed.
‘You were talking about me?’ Beth began angrily, then stopped, realising the stupidity of the question. Considering the context of the situation, it was obvious they’d been discussing her.
‘It’s a pity you’re not taller but…’ Without finishing the observation, Nicola settled back in her seat and, producing a compact from her bag, began to reapply the scarlet outline of her lips.
Beth watched her, realising that, despite her initial impression, the other woman was not beautiful but she was striking.
Striking, poised, polished and confident.
What was her relationship with her employer? Just how close were they?
An image flashed, unbidden, into Beth’s head. She blinked to banish the shocking impression of long limbs entwined and glistening skin and shook her head to drive away the soft moans and fragmented gasps whispering in her ears.
Lifting a hand to her burning cheeks, Beth experienced a twinge of envy, not, obviously, because the older woman might be sleeping with her boss—for that, in her opinion, the other woman would deserve her deepest sympathy—it was the other woman’s poise and confidence she envied.
The statuesque blonde smiled complacently at her
reflection and clicked her compact closed, finally satisfied with the reapplication of colour. She lifted a hand to the razor-cropped bleached hair and turned her attention back to Beth.
‘Relax—this is going to be fun.’
Easy for you to say, Beth thought, directing a cranky look at her travelling companion, though she knew her annoyance was directed at the wrong person.
‘Not my idea of fun.’
The other woman shrugged and, miming a sorry, took the ringing phone from her jacket. She listened for a moment and then said, ‘No, that won’t do at all.’ She closed her eyes and, for the space of several minutes, listened in silence before issuing a hissing sound of annoyance from between her clenched white teeth and saying sarcastically, ‘Would you like to tell him that? No, I thought not.’ She spent the next few minutes with the phone welded to her ear, speaking intermittently before finally closing it and sliding it back into her pocket. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘Was that…him?’
‘Theo?’
Beth took the amused laughter as a no and asked, ‘Have you worked for…him long?’
‘Theo, you mean?’
Beth nodded and wondered why she was so reluctant to say the man’s name.
‘Three years.’
‘I’ve been working for Andreas for three years too, but of course I’m just a secretary.’
‘There is no such thing as just a secretary.’
Beth rolled her eyes and said, ‘Let me guess—a Theo quote?’ If he lost his billions he could always take up motivational speaking, she thought sourly.
The other woman grinned and shrugged. ‘Actually, I was a secretary too.’
Beth’s eyes widened. ‘I assumed that you were some sort of fast track graduate.’ The Kyriakis organisation had the pick of the crop of new talent emerging from all the top universities and the competition for graduate places in every department, from legal to finance, was intense.
‘No, I was never what you’d call academic, and now…’ she mused, casting a knowing look at Beth’s face. ‘You’re thinking I slept my way to the top, or at least halfway up?’ she speculated, looking more amused than annoyed.
‘No, really, I…’ Beth lied guiltily.
‘My previous boss used to pat me on the head and then take the credit for my ideas.’
Beth, who caught herself nodding sympathetically in response to this change of subject, stopped and said defensively, ‘Andreas isn’t like that.’
‘Glad to hear it, but I wasn’t so lucky and when I got sent to cover for Theo’s PA when she was out sick I expected more of the same from him.’
‘But you didn’t get it?’ Beth asked, curious in spite of herself. In-house gossip on Theo was confusing; people said he was impossibly demanding, but Beth had noticed that these people were not the ones who worked directly with him. Those people tended to be incredibly loyal…or maybe they were too scared to complain?
She had always assumed the latter but she had to admit that Nicola did not act like someone who was downtrodden and intimidated.
‘No.’
‘But I thought—’ Beth’s glance fell from the other woman’s bright blue gaze and she shook her head and mumbled, ‘Forget it.’
‘That he is impossibly demanding and difficult?’ The tall blonde gave a husky chuckle. ‘He is both,’ she admitted cheerfully. ‘He pushes himself hard and he expects the same level of commitment from others, but he’s generous and a great teacher.’ She gave a sly grin and added innocently, ‘But maybe you know that already?’
Beth looked at her blankly. ‘I don’t understand…’ the penny dropped and she stopped dead, the colour flying to her cheeks. ‘No, I don’t.’
Close or not, it would seem that Theo had only told this woman the details he considered she needed to know. It came as no surprise to learn that he was not big on explaining himself.
‘Calm down!’ Nicola soothed. ‘I was just asking.’ Her glance skimmed over Beth and she added, ‘Though you’re not really his type.’
‘You mean I’m not eye candy.’
Just because this woman painted Theo as some progressive saintlike boss, it didn’t mean he was. If she was sleeping with her boss, she was not going to tell people he was hell to work for.
‘You really like him?’
Beth’s incredulity appeared to amuse the other woman. ‘Theo Kyriakis is one of the few men I know who isn’t threatened by intelligent women. If you get the chance to work for him,’ she continued seriously, ‘go for it. He is seriously a great teacher.’
The idea of being taught anything by Theo Kyriakis made a shudder of distaste trace a shaky path down her spine. ‘I really don’t think that’s going to happen.’
The other woman shrugged. ‘No, you’re probably right; he doesn’t mix business and pleasure.’
The mortified colour flew to Beth’s cheeks. ‘God, no, it’s not like that.’
‘Not my business,’ said the blonde cheerfully. ‘But, if you are looking for a job, I’m ready to fly the coop. He’s offered me the New York office, but I’m not so sure,’ she revealed with surprising candour.
‘I thought you were his assistant.’
‘I am—or I was; Theo likes to work with people he thinks have potential.’
Beth, who had heard enough about perfect boss Theo, released a slow, cleansing breath and changed the subject—anything but Theo Kyriakis was fine by her. ‘Where are we going?’
‘The spa is our first stop…You’re booked in for the usual suspects.’
Beth, who hadn’t a clue what the usual suspects entailed, nodded.
‘I could do with a massage myself,’ Nicola mused, rotating her shoulders. ‘But no time,’ she added regretfully.
‘You probably think this is odd?’
The blonde’s pencilled brows rose. ‘Theo always has a reason and if he wants me to know he tells me; if not…’ She looked at Beth and shrugged.
The spa turned out to be every bit as luxurious as Beth had anticipated, but the afternoon of pampering and relaxation she had expected never really happened.
From the moment she arrived she was organised with military precision, attacked from all sides by a stream of professionals who all had a no pain, no gain mentality.
When Nicola returned two hours later she been buffed, polished and clipped within an inch of her life.
‘So how was that?’ Nicola asked.
‘I had no idea that grooming could be so painful. If anyone comes within fifty yards of me with wax again I will prosecute. It is assault,’ Beth told her bitterly.
Nicola looked sympathetic. ‘Don’t worry, you’ve only got hair and nails left—that’s relatively painless.’
‘This is a salon?’ Beth said, shading her eyes as she stared up at the impressive façade of the Georgian terrace they had just stopped in front of.
‘It’s not a salon; it’s Theo’s London place. Have you never been here?’
Beth shook her head and thought I don’t want to be here now.
‘The stylists are here.’
‘I was expecting…’ She stopped, shook her head and heaved a sigh—why waste her breath?
It was fast becoming obvious that her expectations were not of any real importance—what Theo wanted, Theo got.
‘I don’t suppose I have any say in the matter.’ Beth caught the other woman looking at her oddly and forced a smile. ‘Come on then, let’s get it over with,’ she said gloomily as she approached the building with the enthusiasm of a condemned woman.
Chapter Six
THEO, who had been drumming his fingers on the desk, stopped as the door opened. He saw Nicola standing there and frowned.
‘I said have her ready for seven.’
Nicola glanced at her watch. ‘It’s only a quarter after.’
‘The clock is still ticking. How long does it take to cut a woman’s hair and put her in some clothes? I would have thought…’ He broke off and frowned as the intrusive sound of the army of s
tylists exiting noisily in the hallway drowned him out.
‘She’s still upstairs.’
Theo hid his frustration behind a stony expression. ‘Why?’
Nicola held up her hands. ‘Look, don’t blame the messenger. I tried, I really did, but your Beth is not what you’d call a big entrance girl.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Your date won’t come out—a first for you…?’ she observed, trying to disguise her amusement.
A sound of irritation emerged from between Theo’s clenched teeth. ‘So she’s hiding in the bedroom. Presumably the makeover was not a success.’
‘The makeover was…’
‘What colour did they put her in?’
‘Black.’
Theo clicked his tongue with exasperation. ‘I expressly said she needed some colour.’
‘You did,’ Nicola agreed calmly.
‘The woman spends her life in dull colours.’ Black would drain her already pale skin and make her look more colourless than ever. Even he knew that and no one was paying him to know about fashion.
Nicola stopped as Theo held up his hand.
‘All right, I get the picture, but she can’t look that bad.’ If the girl had unrealistic expectations it was not his fault. You raised her expectations said the voice in his head.
‘Well, actually she—’ Nicola found herself talking to thin air. She reached the hallway in time to see her boss gain the top of the curving flight of stairs.
Theo made a quick detour into his own dressing room, grabbed a fresh shirt and tie from the nest rack of similar items and, shrugging himself out of the one he’d been wearing all day, left the room.
He banged on the door before barging in, stopping dead when he found the room empty.
‘Go away!’
The small voice came from the adjoining bathroom.
‘Come out, Beth.’ He struggled to inject a coaxing note into his voice. Female dramatics did not amuse him. Less still did the feeling of guilt he could not shake.
Inside the bathroom, Beth shook her head, then stopped as her new hairstyle bounced before settling back into place.