Page 14 of His Secretary's Nine-Month Notice
‘Eye-catching.’
Violet flushed and looked away. That hurt but, damn it, she wasn’t going to show it. She breathed deeply, gathered herself and met those navy-blue eyes coolly. ‘Maybe you do and you and Candy will have a long and rewarding relationship,’ she said. ‘But maybe you’ll end up having to siphon off loads of accounts to Maria because, quite honestly, Candy isn’t going to get to grips with that stuff.’
‘Damn it, Violet!’ Matt roared, leaping up so suddenly that she started with surprise. ‘Maybe...’ He skirted round his desk to stand right in front of her, all alpha male and simmering anger. ‘Just maybeI gave in to the temptation to have someone bloody straightforward around for a change!’
‘Keep your voice down!’ But she was shaken because this was the first time he had ever raised his voice to her. He did it all the time. If someone fell short of his stratospherically high standards, he had no qualms in bellowing his disapproval. If he was frustrated, he was not averse to taking it out on inanimate objects.
But he had never directed his anger at her.
‘Or else what? You forget that I own all of this!’
Violet looked down and didn’t say anything, which seemed to infuriate him even more, because before she could start getting her thoughts together, before she could begin to make noises about clearing out her desk, he leant forward and gripped the arms of her chair, a suffocating presence that made her breath catch in her throat and sent all her thoughts flying through the window.
Her mind went completely blank. Her mouth went dry. Her pupils dilated and hot colour rose in a tide in her cheeks.
She could breathe him in and the woody scent of whatever aftershave he used filled her nostrils until she wanted to pass out.
‘Do you mind?’ she gasped and he glowered at her.
‘Yes, I bloodydomind! Straightforward Candy is going to be a breath of fresh air after you, and if she takes a while getting there with some of the more complex issues, then I can always call one of your recommendations into play. Either the granny or the happily married mother of three. Or maybe the guy who has a boyfriend safely tucked away on the home front! Maybe I’m looking forward to having someone around who doesn’t think that it’s a gross invasion of her privacy to spend five minutes telling me how her weekend has been! Or that she might have a famous father who used to tour the world!’
Violet felt faint before the full force of his accusing blue stare. She wanted to shrug off his anger, which was understandable, given his temperament, but instead she just felt as though she’d somehow let him down in ways that were unforgiveable.
After today, she wouldn’t be seeing this man again. He had dominated her life for over two years, had given her focus. He had trusted her completely and promoted her way beyond her pay grade. He had treated her with respect and admiration and suddenly she didn’t want to quit his employ under a black cloud.
She didn’t want to leave him thinking the worst of her, thinking that she had it in her to betray the trust he had placed in her by doing a bunk with his client base.
But she had turned down the best job offer he could have made, and to him that would have signified betrayal.
‘You don’t understand,’ she protested, but without vigour.
‘What don’t I understand?’
‘My life,’ she said quietly. ‘You don’t understand my life. You have no idea what it was like to grow up with a rock-and-roll dad. You couldn’t begin to comprehend how that made me the person I am today.’ She was mortified at how personal the conversation had become, but she ploughed on anyway, knowing that it was her last day, her last hour probably, before she disappeared to the other side of the world.
Her head was lowered, but she could feel the force of his stare on her and it was hard to think. When she raised her eyes, they collided with his with shattering impact. His face was so close to hers that she could see the streaks of black against navy, the thick, lush fall of his lashes, the curve of his sensual mouth.
She was appalled by a sudden urge to reach out and stroke that lean, sinfully handsome face.
She balled her hands into fists and tried not to cower.
‘I didn’t accept your job offer because I want to make something of my music,’ she continued in a barely audible whisper, nothing at all like her usual calm, composed, assured voice. ‘I love playing the piano. I do it all the time. The piano was my constant in a life that was full of upheaval. Dad always felt guilty that it was a talent I never had the chance to develop, and he suggested that I try my hand at getting back into it when I’m over there. He knows people. I could give lessons. I’d enjoy that.’ She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. ‘So there you have it, Matt.’
He drew back and stood up and, when he showed no signs of returning to his chair, she pushed hers back and stood as well, her dainty, slender frame a striking contrast to his overpowering, in-your-face masculinity.
‘I’ll go and clear my desk.’ She cleared her throat and shot him a glance from under her lashes before edging away towards the door dividing their work spaces.
‘You do that,’ he muttered, flushing and looking away.
He’d wanted to touch...and touching wasn’t allowed. Even he knew that. But, by God, that urge had been suffocating just for a second.
‘And, Matt...’ She waited until he was looking at her. ‘I’ll miss...’You. I’ll miss you.‘I’ll miss working here more than I can ever say.’
CHAPTER FOUR
WOULDHEVISITHER...?
Melbourne beckoned because, as he should have expected, there was no such thing as smooth sailing. At the eleventh hour, one of his little baby start-ups, nurtured tenderly for months, had come down with a potentially life-threatening condition and Matt had to go and pay a visit because no one else would be able to handle the situation.
