Page 6 of Boss With Benefits

Thanks to the previous incumbent coming down with a virus late last night, she was now leading this team of ten for the next two weeks on an audit that was anything but low key. It had been hinted that on the back of it, if all went well, she’d be awarded the promotion she should have received twelve months ago, together with a commensurate pay rise and bonus.

And itwouldgo well. Because her year out in the cold was nearly over. Redemption was so imminent she could almost taste it. Soon she’d be able to let go of the rage and regret that consumed so much energy. And she would allow nothing to threaten any of it.

The doors of the lift opened with a soft swoosh. Ella pulled her shoulders and lifted her chin, then emerged into a vast space that was more penthouse apartment than office. It was triple height and had two adjacent walls made entirely of glass. Her gaze flickered around for a moment, taking in the laden bookshelves, the abstract art and more of the cream-and-taupe décor. The squishy sofas, the abundant flower arrangementsand the conference table upon which had been placed a carafe of water, a glass and a platter of pastries.

But the contents of the room and the stunning view beyond disappeared the minute she clapped eyes on the man standing at the top of the staircase on the mezzanine, radiating power and authority as the master of all he surveyed, the man she’d known for twenty earth-shattering minutes four weeks ago and had nevereverexpected to see again.

For a moment, she stood frozen to the spot, staring up at him in utter shock. The world screeched to a halt. Her heart gave a great crash against her ribs and then accelerated until it was beating a thunderingOh-God-Oh-God-Oh-Godtattoo. She had to be hallucinating. Because this could not be happening. It simply could not.

But as he set off down the stairs and the world started up again, she realised shewasn’thallucinating and thiswashappening. By some horrible coincidence, perfect, sexy smouldering Adam, who’d rocked her foundations and stolen her wits in the restroom of a cocktail bar, was evidently her brand-new client.

And, oh dear God, she thought as a hot clammy sweat broke out all over her skin and she began to hyperventilate, the implications of this for her redemption, for her career, for her future, were not goodat all.

CHAPTER THREE

WHATFRESHHELLwas this?

Adam strode across the floor towards the woman he thought he’d consigned to the past weeks ago, his pulse thundering, his head spinning in an effort to contain the shock reeling through him. How much more chaos could he be expected to handle? First, the issues with Helberg. Then the mad bet that had had him abandoning his principles and faking a girlfriend. And now Ella from the bar—who’d forced him to take more cold showers in a week than he had in his entire life, who’d stolen his control so comprehensively he’d almost worn a hole in the carpet with all the frustrated early morning pacing he’d done—was no longer a forgettable moment of insanity but actually here, in his office, evidently none other than the lead auditor he’d been told was on her way up.

So much for having hauled everything back under his control, he thought grimly, forcing the breath from his lungs before he passed out. What, precisely, was he going to do about this latest development that had trouble written all over it?

Instinct was urging him to hustle her straight back into the lift and have her escorted off the premises because as he approached her, it was becoming appallingly apparent that her effect on him was as immediate and intense as he recalled. A month ago, she’d decimated fourteen years of steely control with one blink of her beautiful brown eyes, and he was in danger of allowing her to do it again now.

Today, in addition to a sleeveless cream silk top, she was wearing a knee-length fitted skirt the colour of raspberries. And despite the horrified disbelief rampaging through his system,all he could think was, what was she wearing beneath it, if anything? In a flash, it occurred to him then that the sofa to his right was large and accommodating. Within moments she could be sprawled across it while he found out. In his imagination, he saw her long golden hair spread out all over the butter-soft leather with his hands once again tangled in it. He heard the desperate sounds she’d make. He even felt her stiletto heels digging into his back.

But he couldn’t get rid of her, dammit. Because, while he sent so much business her accountancy firm’s way that he had ample leverage to do so, a response like that would cause a delay to the audit. Disruption. In some quarters—say, among the remaining Helberg Holdings shareholders—such ripples in the water might be seen as indicative of potential problems, which was not an outcome he could allow.

So there’d be no hustling her anywhere. No matter how much in this moment he might regret choosing that bar and that night to alleviate his colossal stress with whisky, she was staying put.

He could handle the attraction, he assured himself as he came to a stop in front of her and banked the response of his body to her intoxicating proximity. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d denied his libido. Overwhelmed with guilt, he’d pretty much given up sex altogether in the aftermath of his mother’s death and he’d survived. Once this job was underway, he would keep interaction to a minimum and maintain his distance unless strictly necessary. He had no reason to deliberately seek her out and more than enough work to be getting on with. He would focus on the endgame and keep a clear head. It was only for two weeks. It would pass in a flash.

‘Adam Courtney, CEO,’ he said, pasting a professional smile to his face and holding out his hand. ‘Welcome to the Courtney Collection.’

Ella stared down at the hand that Adam was holding out, disbelief and pique spiralling through the shock that was still wreaking havoc on her system.

He hadn’t recognised her.

While she’d spent weeks trying not to recall every single second of what they’d done together, he’d clearly forgotten all about it. He hadn’t suffered sleepless nights and feverish flushes that attacked whenever they felt like it. Or experienced any pangs of regret that she’d walked out of that bathroom instead of joining him at the bar for the martini he’d proposed. He’d put her straight from his mind and moved on, as if for him that kind of thing wasn’t a frenzied moment of madness but an everyday occurrence. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing special. And how unflatteringwasthat?

But the blow to her pride was something to be analysed at a later date, if at all. Right now, she had to focus on the hammer that was smashing her hopes and dreams to bits and the nausea churning up her stomach as the reality of what was unfolding here hit.

Whether he recognised her or not, their shared history had serious ramifications. That promotion she so badly wanted? Gone. The career she’d worked so damned hard to repair? Back to where it was a year ago. Her future? Very much not mapped out. Because a smooth and successful audit with her in charge was now unthinkable.

How could she possibly stay in the role when there was such a massive and undeniable conflict of interest? Auditing was not a grey area. There were rules and she abided by them, because without integrity, without control, what was there? She wouldn’t compromise the standards she’d clung to as she’d battled herway out of poverty and despair, no matter how much she wished right now she could. They were the framework on which she’d built her entire career. She lived, slept and breathed them.

So she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t recognised him either, even though that would be so very convenient. She couldn’t just sweep this under the carpet and carry on as if her world hadn’t imploded. She had to do what was right.

Fighting back the hot fiery ball of frustration, injustice and hopelessness that was barrelling through her, Ella swallowed hard. She lifted her gaze to his, her heart pounding, her throat impossibly tight. ‘I need to step aside,’ she ground out, having to push every word through her teeth.

Adam dropped his hand and took a step back, his eyes on hers, his smile gone. ‘Why?’

‘We have a conflict of interest.’

A muscle jumped in his cheek. ‘Because we had sex?’

Once again, the floor beneath her feet rocked and her heart practically stopped. A slew of vivid images slammed into her head and a rush of blistering heat propelled a flush to her cheeks.

‘So youdorecognise me,’ she said with a breathlessness that appalled her, but at least she was spared the mortification of having to explainwhythere was a problem.

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