Page 34 of Blind Date with the Boss

‘How interesting,’ she said and she beamed at her grandson. ‘So you’re finally learning to dance, Logan.’

He tried to shrug this aside. ‘It’s all Carissa’s doing. She talked me into a charity auction at the Hospital Ball, even though she knows I can’t dance to save myself.’

‘But he’s learning fast,’ Sally told her.

‘I’m sure the dear boy’s a very fast learner.’ Hattie made no attempt to hide her delighted amusement.

Still flustered, Sally said, ‘And – and he’s taking me to dinner tonight, but it – it’s only a kind of thank you.’

Hattie actually laughed. ‘What an excellent idea!’

Worried that Logan’s grandmother might still have the wrong end of the stick, Sally considered further explanation, but Logan thrust a glass of sherry into her hand.

‘Why don’t we drink to my grandmother’s health?’ He spoke smoothly, but his eyes signalled a clear warning that Sally had said quite enough.

Lifting his glass, he said to Hattie, ‘Here’s to your good health, old girl.’

‘Your good health,’ echoed Sally.

‘And yours, darlings.’ Hattie beamed at them both as if they were very good children who had pleased her greatly.

Unused to such sweet, fortified wine, Sally sipped carefully.

Hattie downed a hefty swig, then waved her glass in the direction of the roses. ‘Aren’t these blooms lovely, Sally?’

‘Gorgeous.’

‘Did you know Logan brings them to me every week?’

Sally squashed her urge to explain that she’d been mightily deceived about those roses. ‘How kind,’ she said instead.

‘It’s very extravagant of him, the naughty boy. Some weeks, I pass on perfectly good roses to my friends. They’re very happy to take them, of course.’

Leaning closer, Hattie actually winked at Sally. ‘I used to grow white Bianca roses like these when Logan and his sister were children. Logan used to love playing in my garden, so the roses bring back happy memories for both of us.’

For a moment Sally was lost in a picture of Logan as a black haired little boy, playing in a garden, with grubby knees and a torn T shirt, letting out blood-curdling yells as he threw himself into the same rough and tumble games her brothers had loved.

And now, here he was, all grown up and successful, and bringing roses to his grandmother every week. She wondered what everyone at Blackcorp would think if they knew their serious and career oriented boss had such a kind streak.

How many men would bother?

Sally realised that Hattie’s gaze was fixed on her, watching her face intently and she hoped she hadn’t been looking too wistful. Smiling quickly, she struggled to think of a way to change the subject and remembered what Logan had told her at the teambuilding workshop. ‘Am I right in believing that you used to be a concert pianist, Hattie?’

‘I was indeed.’ Hattie looked down at her knuckles gnarled with age and her fingers knotted with arthritis. ‘How I loved my piano. But I can barely knock out a tune now.’

‘Sally’s a fan of Brahms,’ Logan said.

‘Are you really, dear?’

His grandmother’s instant pleasure made Sally squirm. She wasn’t at all sure that liking one piece of music by a particular composer elevated her to fandom.

‘I – I don’t know very much about classical music.’

‘That doesn’t matter. Logan will teach you,’ Hattie pronounced with blithe confidence. ‘It’s a fair exchange, isn’t it? My grandson can teach you about music and you can teach him to dance.’

?CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘THAT WAS UNFAIR,’ Sally remarked as Logan drove back into the city, late for their dinner engagement, because she and Hattie had spent such a long time chatting. ‘You should have warned me that the roses were for your sweet little grandmother.’

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