Her Not-So-Secret Diary. Anne Oliver

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СКАЧАТЬ work yesterday, which means we’ll need to work late tonight to catch up.’

      ‘Oh.’ The barely audible word escaped her lips as the implication sank in. Just him and her alone in his office. To catch up on work. How ridiculously foolish and pathetic she was, to have assumed he’d had something more on his mind.

      ‘No one’s expecting me. I live alone.’ She hoped her face wasn’t as pink as it felt. Still, it wouldn’t have mattered since he didn’t even glance her way.

      ‘You don’t have other plans, I hope.’

      ‘No.’ And from his tone she rather gathered that she’d have had to cancel if she had. Pam had warned her the man was work-driven and focused and expected the same of his staff.

      ‘Which reminds me.’ He indicated his phone on the console between them while he adjusted his earpiece. ‘Get Melissa for me, please. She’s on speed dial.’

      ‘Melissa.’ Her stomach dipped, clenched, but she did as he requested, then turned away and watched the scenery slip by. High-rise apartments and businesses interspersed with strips of green and pandanus trees and now glimpses of blue sea. She wouldn’t allow herself to feel uncomfortable.

      ‘Lissa, hi, it’s me. I won’t be home for tea, I’m working back.’ Brisk and to the point. Pause. ‘I don’t have time to talk about that now, Liss. I have someone with me.’ He lifted his sunglasses to rub the bridge of his nose. ‘Later. And tell Cryssie I’ll call by the hospital tomorrow for sure. Yeah. Bye.’

      Sophie couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard the conversation. The way that smooth tone had roughened with something that sounded close to exasperation.

      ‘My sister,’ he muttered.

      A tiny shiver danced down her spine and she remained motionless a moment, lips pressed together to stop the smile threatening at the corners of her mouth and trying not to feel ridiculously … what? Pleased? Excited? Delighted?

      She shouldn’t be feeling any of those things.

      Leather creaked as he shifted in his seat. She saw the movement from the corner of her eye, saw him glance at her as he exhaled an impatient breath through his nostrils. ‘I fail to see the humour. Ever tried reasoning with a seventeen-year-old girl?’

      Her smile bubbled over into a laugh and she glanced his way. Clenched jaw. Hands a little tight on the steering wheel. Speedo a little high as they cruised along the esplanade and into Coolangatta. ‘Can’t say I have. But I’ve been one, so I can tell you it does get better.’

      He made some non-committal noise as he pulled to a stop outside a four-storey apartment block and switched off the ignition. ‘It can be a challenge at times.’

      He spoke as if he were Melissa’s parent rather than her brother. Or maybe it was just that brothers were never meant to get along with their sisters. Yet she knew that wasn’t true. The dysfunctional household she’d been brought up in had tainted and distorted her perception of family life and love.

      ‘Do you have siblings?’ His voice interrupted her thoughts.

      ‘A brother. In Melbourne.’

      Somewhat surprised by her instant switch from bright and chirpy to gloom and doom, Jared reached for his jacket on the back seat. ‘You’re not close?’

      She followed his lead, gathering her bag and laptop. ‘I haven’t seen him in years, so no.’ She peered through the windscreen at the nondescript grey building behind a cyclone fence. ‘This is the place?’

      ‘Yep.’

      Jared had been itching to get another good look at her since they’d left Surfers but the traffic had been snarly and required his full attention. Now he took a moment. The brandy-coloured eyes had lost that desperation he’d seen in his office and he doubted the hint of blush on her high wide cheekbones was make-up—more likely her natural colour. And her lips … they were something else. Full, luscious-looking and caramel glossed … they promised to taste as sweet.

      Damn it, not now.

      He reminded himself this wasn’t a date, ordered his unruly body to cooperate and forced his attention to the building in front of them while he rolled down his sleeves. ‘You have to think potential, Sophie.’

      He’d made his fortune by seeing possibilities and making them happen. He’d been a millionaire at twenty-seven because he dared to dream and didn’t let others tell him it wasn’t possible.

      ‘I’m afraid I’m not very imaginative.’

      His gaze swung back to her just as she turned to him with a stunned tell-me-I-didn’t-say-that expression and their gazes locked and for a beat out of time the spectre of that dream fantasy smouldered in the tiny space between them. ‘I don’t believe that for a moment.’

      ‘Believe it,’ she muttered, and, pushing out of the car, she started walking.

      He shrugged into his jacket, grabbed his briefcase from the back seat and caught up with her along the path. Without further comment she accompanied him to the main door where they met the owner, Sam Trent, and Ben Harbison, an architect who’d worked with Jared on several projects. After a briefing in Sam’s office, they spent half an hour inspecting the premises while Sophie took notes. For the remainder of the meeting, she worked unobtrusively at one end of the table, the only sound the quiet click of her keyboard.

      Unobtrusive? For the second time in as many minutes Jared looked up from the plans in front of him, his gaze unerringly finding Sophie. Focused on her task, she wasn’t giving him a second’s glance.

      How did she manage cool concentration when he couldn’t? Her fast, efficient fingers with their clear-varnished nails were the cause of the clicking and Jared couldn’t stop thinking about them being fast and efficient in other ways, as she’d described in her dream. And whenever the breeze wafted through the open window, it wasn’t the sea air but her fragrance that floated to his nostrils.

      The meeting wrapped up at nine-fifteen. He was glad his ten o’clock appointment didn’t require his PA. And his eleven-fifteen would keep him busy until lunch. Only the afternoon to get through, he thought, watching the little hollows behind her knees as she bent over to retrieve her bag from the floor.

      Swinging his gaze away, he focused on Sam’s conversation while he stuffed a couple of files into his briefcase. Reminded himself again that he didn’t get involved with employees.

      However, a couple of hours of working back this evening would clear yesterday’s clutter and when the work was finished Sophie’s two-day fill-in for Pam would be over. She would no longer be in his employ…

      CHAPTER THREE

      ‘YOUR ten o’clock cancelled,’ Sophie informed Jared as they walked to the car.

      A hunger fist clenched around her stomach. She hadn’t had time for breakfast. And she’d refused Sam’s offer for refreshment because she hadn’t been sure she’d keep it down she was so uptight, and had stuck to her bottled water. ‘He’ll ring back this afternoon and reschedule.’

      Jared aimed the remote at the car and the alarm blipped. ‘In that case, I’d like to make another СКАЧАТЬ