Playboy Boss, Pregnancy of Passion. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ axis, from a lower productivity point, as if you’ve already worked a couple of hours. And the more days you work late, the further along the x axis you start each morning.’ She folded her arms. ‘My point, I think.’

      ‘Hmm. And what about personal variables? Some people are best first thing in the morning, others are better later in the day.’

      ‘True.’

      ‘And some people thrive on working long hours. Point to me.’

      ‘Some people think they thrive on it,’ she countered. ‘I hate that culture where you have to be seen to be in early and work late. Presenteeism isn’t good for you. The way I see it, if you want to get more done, you need to work smarter, not harder.’ She frowned. ‘Do you ever take time to smell the roses, Luke?’

      ‘I don’t need to smell any roses.’

      She looked at him over the edge of her rimless glasses—glasses, he’d noticed, she only used for computer work. ‘Yes, you do. Everyone needs to refresh themselves, or they’d burn out. So what do you do?’

      He shrugged. ‘I go to the gym.’

      ‘You own several gyms. So that doesn’t count. It’s work.’

      ‘No, it’s not.’

      ‘Can you tell me, hand on heart, that whenever you go for a workout or what have you, you don’t start appraising the place and thinking about how to maximise the use of the gym?’

      ‘When I play squash or have a workout, I focus on what I’m doing. Otherwise,’ he said with a grin, ‘I’d be at the bottom of the squash ladder.’

      ‘Whereas you’re at the top?’

      He spread his hands. ‘Top or second. Whatever.’

      ‘And the moment your workout or your match ends, you switch over to business, don’t you?’

      ‘It’s who I am.’

      ‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s what you do. Who you are is…’ Her voice faded and for a second he caught an odd look in her eyes. Something that made his pulse skip a beat. But then it was gone, and he had to remind himself she was off-limits.

      ‘So aren’t these parties you go to any fun?’

      ‘They’re overrated,’ he admitted. ‘Or maybe I’m getting old. But, yeah, I’m starting to find them boring.’

      ‘Is that why you change your girlfriend so frequently, too?’

      ‘Probably.’

      ‘Maybe,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘you’re seeing the wrong kind of woman.’

      He nearly asked what kind of woman she thought fitted the bill. But maybe it was better not to know. Better not to wonder if a certain bossy blonde would fill the empty spaces he almost never admitted were in his life.

      Before he realised what he was doing, he asked, ‘How about you?’

      ‘I go to the theatre and the cinema with my friends. We might go out for a meal—anything from a pizza to tapas to Thai, as long as it’s good food. Or I’ll go home to be spoiled by my parents and play with my toddler niece and take the dogs for a long run in the orchard.’

      Hmm. She hadn’t mentioned her partner. Or maybe the guy was so much part of the furniture that she didn’t bother mentioning him by name.

      But there was a bigger danger area here. Even if she had been free, she was clearly very close to her family—a world away from his own life. So it was definitely better to keep things strictly business with her.

      ‘So I take it you don’t work weekends?’ he asked.

      ‘Absolutely not.’

      ‘That’s a pity,’ he said. ‘Because I could do with you this weekend.’

      ‘How do you mean?’

      ‘I’m going to see a hotel,’ he explained. ‘And, as I think you have a gut feel for what needs fixing, I’d be interested to see what you thought of it.’ He spread his hands. ‘Of course I’d pay you for your time, because it’d mean an overnight stay, but if you came with me I’d respect your right to clock-watch—and I promise you can stop answering my phone and let it go to voice mail at five o’clock on the dot. And you can take a couple of days off next week—paid—to make up for the time.’

      She gave him a speaking look at the phrase ‘clock-watch’, but when she spoke her tone was mild. ‘This weekend.’

      ‘Unless your partner will have a problem with it?’

      ‘Partner?’ She looked mystified.

      ‘Justin,’ he enunciated. Saying the man’s name helped him remember that she was spoken for. That she was off-limits.

      Her face cleared. ‘Oh, Justin. He isn’t my partner. He’s my oldest brother. I share a flat with him.’

      Luke’s heart missed a beat. He’d managed to keep his hands off Sara so far by telling himself that she was attached and therefore off-limits.

      Now it turned out that might not be the case.

      Given how blank she’d looked when he’d asked her about her partner…it made him pretty sure that she wasn’t attached at all.

      All of a sudden the room seemed to shrink. Right now, Sara was close enough to touch.

      And, oh, he wanted to touch.

      Taking her to Scarborough would be a spectacularly bad idea. Way too full of temptation—temptation he wasn’t sure he’d be able to resist.

      Then he realised that she was speaking. ‘Sorry?’

      She rolled her eyes. ‘Pay attention.’

      ‘Yes, ma’am. Would you mind repeating that?’

      ‘Please,’ she prompted.

      He’d like to hear her saying that word in other circumstances. In a different tone. All husky and sensual and on the edge of losing her control.

      All the blood in his body went south, and he had to swallow hard and close his eyes for a moment to regain control. He just hoped she didn’t look down at his lap, because the evidence of his thoughts was pretty clear. ‘Please.’

      ‘I said, did you mean telling you honestly what I think?’

      ‘Given that half my clients will be female, I need a female point of view. Which, obviously, I don’t have. And you tell it like it is—which is what I want to hear. You don’t have a hidden agenda.’

      ‘You said the weekend,’ she said. ‘Would you want to leave on Friday?’

      ‘Yes. We’ll stay Friday evening and Saturday, and come back Sunday. And I’ll СКАЧАТЬ