The Ex Who Hired Her. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ she’d known had filled out; he was far from being fat, but his shoulders were broader and his build more muscular. His mouth still had that sensual curve, promising pleasure—not that she wanted to remember how much pleasure his mouth was capable of giving.

      The scruffy jeans and T-shirt he’d usually worn back then had been replaced by a designer suit and what looked like a handmade shirt and a silk tie. There was the faintest touch of silver at his temples—well, of course hair that dark would show the grey quickly. And he definitely had an air of authority. He’d grown into his looks; more than that, he’d grown into the kind of man who just had to breathe to have women falling at his feet.

      As the CEO of Field’s, Jordan Smith would have the final say over who got the job.

      Which left her … where? On the reject pile, because she’d be a permanent reminder of his guilt—of the fact that he’d abandoned her when she was eighteen and pregnant with his baby? Or would he give her the job, even if she wasn’t the best candidate, because he felt he owed it to her for wrecking her life all those years ago? And, if he did offer her the job, would she take it, knowing that she’d have to work with him?

      The questions whizzed round her head. Then she realised that one of the panel had said something to her and was waiting for a reply. Oh, great. Now they’d think she had the attention span of a gnat and would be a complete liability rather than an asset to the firm. Bye, bye, new job. Well, she had nothing to lose now. She might as well treat this as a practice interview. Afterwards, instead of licking her wounds, she could analyse her performance and see where she needed to sharpen up, ready for the next interview.

      ‘I’m so sorry. I’m afraid I didn’t catch that,’ she said, giving the older man an apologetic smile.

      ‘I’m Harry Blake, the personnel manager,’ he said, smiling back. ‘This is Gina Davidson, the deputy store manager.’ He paused for long enough to let Alexandra exchange a greeting and shake the deputy manager’s hand. ‘And this is Jordan Smith, the CEO.’

      Jordan had to be a good twenty years younger than his colleagues. He was only thirty now. How had he made CEO of such a traditional company that fast?

      Stupid question. Of course Jordan would be on the fast track, wherever he worked. He’d always been bright; his mind had attracted her teenage self just as much as his face. A man who could speak three other languages as fluently as his own; who knew all the European myths, not just the Greek and Roman ones; who knew Shakespeare even better than she did, back in the days when she still wanted to lecture on Renaissance drama. Dreams that had shattered and died, along with—

      Alexandra pushed the thought away.

      There was no way round it; she was going to have to be polite and shake his hand. She forced herself to keep her handshake brief, firm and businesslike and to ignore the tingles running along every nerve end as his skin touched hers. But then she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.

      Midnight blue. Arresting. His eyes had caught her attention, the very first time she’d met him. Sweet seventeen and never been kissed. Until that night, when he’d seen beyond her image of the geeky girl with the mousy hair and glasses who didn’t really fit in with everyone else at the party and had come over to talk to her. He’d danced with her. Kissed her.

      She swallowed hard, and looked away, willing the memories to stay back.

      She couldn’t meet his eyes, Jordan noticed. Guilt? Not that it mattered, because as far as he was concerned she wasn’t getting this job. No way was she going to be back into his life, not even in a work capacity. He’d get through this interview, and then he’d never have to set eyes on her again.

      As the personnel manager, Harry was officially the one conducting the interview, so Jordan sat back and listened to him take Alexandra through the same questions he’d asked the others. Her answers were pretty much as he expected, so he glanced through her CV again. And then something stood out at him. The date she’d given for her A levels was three years after the date he remembered her being due to take them. Why? She’d been a straight-A student, the last person he’d expect to fail her exams.

      Had the guilt of what she’d done finally hit her in the middle of her exams, so she’d messed them up? But, in that case, why had it taken her three years to retake them? And she didn’t have the English degree he’d expected, either. She’d planned to become a lecturer, so why was she working in business instead of in an academic role?

      He shook himself. It was none of his business, and he didn’t want to know the answers.

      He really didn’t.

      ‘Any questions?’ Harry asked his colleagues.

      Gina smiled. ‘Not at this stage.’

      And here was Jordan’s opportunity to show everyone that Xandra Bennett was completely unsuitable. ‘We did ask all the other candidates to prepare a presentation on how to take Field’s forward,’ he pointed out.

      ‘But the agency added Xandra to the list at the very last minute,’ Harry said, with a slight frown at Jordan. ‘So it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to give a presentation.’

      ‘Not a formal presentation, of course,’ Jordan agreed. ‘But I do expect my senior staff to be able to think on their feet. So we’d like to hear your ideas, Ms Bennett. How would you see us taking Field’s forward?’

      Her eyes widened for a moment; she clearly knew that he was challenging her. And it was obvious that she also knew he was expecting her to fail.

      Then she lifted her chin and gave him an absolutely glittering smile. The professional equivalent of making an extremely rude hand gesture. ‘Of course, Mr Smith. Obviously, if this were a real situation, the first thing I’d ask is what the budget and the timescales are.’

      She was the first person that day to mention budgets and timescales; the other candidates had just assumed. And some of them had assumed much more money than was available, talking about putting on TV spots in prime-time viewing. Completely unrealistic.

      ‘And secondly I’d ask what you meant by taking Field’s forward. Are you looking to attract a different customer base without losing the loyalty of your existing customers? Or do you want to offer your existing customers more services so they buy everything from Field’s, rather than buy certain products and services from another supplier?’

      Both Harry and Gina were sitting up a little straighter, clearly interested. She’d gone straight to the heart of their dilemma.

      ‘What do you think?’ Jordan asked.

      ‘I’d start by doing an audit of your customers. Who they are, what they want, and what Field’s isn’t offering them now. And I’d talk to your staff. Do you have a staff suggestion scheme?’

      ‘We used to,’ Gina said.

      ‘I’d reinstate it,’ Alexandra said. ‘Your staff know their products and their customers. They know what sells, what the seasonal trends are, and what their customers are looking for. They’re the ones who are going to come up with the best suggestions for taking Field’s forward—and I’d say that your marketing manager’s job is to evaluate those suggestions, cost them, and work out which ones are going to have the most impact on sales.’

      ‘Do you buy from us, Ms P—’ Jordan had to correct himself swiftly ‘—Bennett?’

      ‘No, СКАЧАТЬ