Out of Hours...Her Ruthless Boss: Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife / Unworldly Secretary, Untamed Greek / Her Ruthless Italian Boss. Кейт Хьюит

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      He inclined his head in silent acknowledgement. ‘Shall we eat?’

      She nodded, and he stood up, reaching a hand out to help her up. This time she took it.

      Her mind spun as they headed back to the room. He helped her over the window ledge, smiled briefly with a selfdeprecating humour that seemed entirely at odds with his careless arrogance.

      Who was this man?

      The real man?

      The man underneath. She’d seen glimpses of him, flickers of something real. Something warm and vibrant. She realised now how much she wanted to believe there was more to Cormac than the ambition and the affairs. More than manipulation.

      She wanted to believe in this.

      She helped herself to the meal, then sat on the edge of the bed, her legs tucked under her.

      Cormac sat in the chair opposite and dug in with gusto.

      ‘This is delicious,’ she murmured, trying to think of something to say, wanting to break the silence that had sprung between them, a silence of uncertainty, of possibility.

      Cormac nodded in agreement. ‘Tell me about yourself,’ he said.

      Lizzie looked up at him with an expression of patent surprise. ‘Do you really want to know?’ she asked, and he gave a little laugh.

      ‘Actually, yes. I’ve worked with you for two years. I should know a little about you.’

      Lizzie raised her eyebrows, still sceptical. Still afraid. Yet hoping…

      Hoping so much.

      ‘I thought it was your policy not to know,’ she said, and shrugged. ‘Besides, there isn’t much to tell. You’ve already gathered the facts from my CV. My life has consisted of working for you and taking care of my sister. End of story.’

      ‘What about your parents?’

      ‘They died in a car accident ten years ago.’

      ‘When you were eighteen,’ Cormac clarified, and she nodded.

      ‘Yes…Dani was eight. She was an unexpected addition to our family.’

      Cormac took another bite of chicken, chewed thoughtfully. ‘So what did you do when that happened?’

      He actually sounded interested, Lizzie thought with disbelief. Caring. As if he wanted to know her as a person, and not just a willing body. ‘I got my secretarial qualifications,’ she said. ‘Then I went to work for an architectural firm, Simon and Lester. Then I started working for you.’

      ‘Was there no money when your parents died?’ he asked. ‘A life-insurance policy of some sort?’

      ‘A small one,’ Lizzie replied. ‘Enough to take my course, and pay off the mortgage on the house. Then I needed to work.’

      ‘It must have been very hard,’ he said quietly. ‘Going it alone.’

      Lizzie stopped, her fork halfway to her mouth, her eyes suddenly, stupidly filled with tears. Why was he so understanding now? Why was he saying all the right things, when she wanted to keep her distance, keep herself safe…now?

      Why?

      Could she trust it?

      ‘Yes,’ she said, her voice little more than a whisper. ‘It was.’

      ‘Had you been planning to go to university?’ Cormac asked. ‘Eighteen…You must have given up your place if you were.’

      ‘Yes,’ Lizzie said, her throat raw and aching, ‘I did.’ How had he guessed? How did he know?

      Cormac gazed at her for a moment, and there was an understanding in his eyes that Lizzie had never seen before. ‘What were you going to study?’

      ‘Graphic design.’

      He nodded slowly, and they didn’t speak for a few minutes. Lizzie concentrated on her food. Cormac’s gently probing questions had brought back the old sorrow, regret for lost dreams. Yet she’d done the right thing. There had never been any question of that.

      ‘I suppose there were no relatives to help out?’ Cormac surmised. ‘Or to take Dani?’

      ‘No one was going to take Dani from me,’ Lizzie said sharply. ‘And anyway there wasn’t anyone. My parents were elderly; they had Dani and me late in life. Our only relative is a rather dotty aunt we see on occasion.’

      ‘So it was just you,’ Cormac concluded quietly, and his tone made Lizzie want to fidget. He sounded as if he understood something about herself that she could only guess at.

      ‘Me and Dani,’ she corrected, and he nodded.

      ‘Except now Dani’s at university and it really is just you.’

      She blinked, and then blinked again, horrified to find herself near tears. She opened her mouth to say something bright and brisk about new opportunities and second chances, but nothing came out.

      Nothing at all.

      ‘You’ve done very well,’ Cormac said gently, ‘haven’t you? Even if no one has ever told you so.’

      Lizzie tried to smile. She tried, but she didn’t quite make it. She stared down at her half-finished plate instead. Don’t, she thought. Don’t act as if you understand me, as if you like me, if you don’t mean it.

      Don’t.

      Don’t stop.

      She’d never had someone who understood, someone who sympathised. She’d never had someone get close. And now Cormac was here, saying all the right things, doing the right things…but was he feeling the right things?

      Did it even matter?

      ‘Why don’t you sell the house?’ Cormac suggested in a brisker tone. ‘Perhaps you held on to it when Dani was around, for stability, but now…you’re an attractive woman. A young, attractive woman. There’s a whole life in front of you.’

      ‘It doesn’t always feel that way.’ She got up from the bed and dumped her plate back on the tray. She couldn’t bear it if he felt sorry for her. She couldn’t stand pity, not when she wanted something deeper.

      ‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you.’

      ‘You just spoke the truth,’ she said when she trusted herself to speak. She turned around, looked at him. He was sitting in the chair, his plate on his knees, a look of quiet, thoughtful compassion on his face that was just about her undoing.

      ‘Cormac…’ she began, and he waited. She licked her lips, tried again. ‘Cormac…’

      ‘Yes?’ His voice was tender, filled with unspoken promise. Lizzie looked at him, the set of his shoulders, the way his mouth СКАЧАТЬ