Page 20 of His Secretary's Nine-Month Notice
She couldn’t bear the thought of twiddling her thumbs. All the caring instincts that had been her faithful companions for so many years had risen to the surface. She almost felt guilty that her father had collapsed in such a dramatic fashion. Surely, she should have been able to see the signs of something more serious than him looking a little peaky? She should never have been swayed by his hearty reassurances that the concert should go ahead, even if he was a bit under the weather.
All this was in her head when she pulled open the door to find Matt standing outside, lounging against the door frame, his blue eyes keenly observant as she gaped at him.
‘What are you doing here?’ Instinctively, she touched her mouth with her fingers, an unconscious gesture as she remembered the power of that kiss they had shared. She dropped her hand and gathered herself but her skin was prickling all over and her face was red. She had been very grateful for his presence the day before, when everything had been in turmoil and her nerves had been shattered, but in the cold light of day, alarm bells were ringing in her head.
They had kissed.
They had broken a barrier that had been firmly in place for years. Now, out here, it was all a muddle and his presence on her doorstep was the last thing she felt she could deal with.
‘I’ve brought you breakfast.’ Like a magician, he whipped a bag out from behind him and dangled it in front of her. ‘Thought you might not have eaten.’
‘Matt...’ she dithered, self-conscious in her cut-off jeans and small, faded tee shirt. She recalled the outfit of the evening before and shuddered. ‘There was no need for you to come and check up on me. I’m very grateful that you were around yesterday, but Dad’s settled, and I’ll be fine.’
Matt looked at her with brooding interest.
Point taken, if he were being honest. There was no need for him to be here, standing on her doorstep with a bag of bread in his hand. He was no one’s knight in shining armour, and he didn’t do rescuing of damsels in distress, but yesterday...
Yesterday had been a revelation.
He’d gone to that concert as a token nod to the boss-secretary relationship they had successfully shared for over two years. Admittedly, he had been curious to see how she was faring. First and foremost, he was here on business, but she had departed British shores a slightly different person from the one he had boxed, labelled and filed away. And, yes, he had been curious to see how Violet Dunn Mark Two was doing on the other side of the world. That was the story he had spun to himself and he was sticking to it.
When she’d walked out onto that podium and sat at the piano, he’d stopped breathing. The crowded room had melted away and he had only had eyes for a woman who had shed the chrysalis and emerged a butterfly.
And then, to compound the impression, he had seen her without her customary veneer of efficiency and self-control. He’d seen her vulnerable and dependent and the combination had kick-started something inside him that had...brought him right here to her door. With a bag of bread.
‘Are you going to ask me in?’ He lightly rested his hand on the door. Violet sighed and stepped aside as he brushed past her into the house, heading directly to the kitchen like a man with a purpose.
‘Tell me how your father is doing,’ he threw over his shoulder as he dumped the bag of bread on the table and spun round to look at her.
Violet watched, noting the way he automatically took charge, the way he dominated and owned the space around him, the way he took her breath away—especially now, when she could no longer depend on the natural divide of him being her employer. They were standing here in this kitchen as equals and it was disconcerting.
To lessen the tension building inside her, she picked up the bread and began busying herself with plates and some mugs for coffee, directing him to a chair so that he could sit down and not tower above her in a way that made her nerves jangle.
‘He’s resting.’ She wasn’t looking at him but she was very conscious of the waves of intense masculinity he was exuding. She marvelled that she had been able successfully to withstand his physical impact for all the time she had worked for him, but then again a starched suit and patent pumps had been excellent deterrents for the devastating effects of her volatile boss. Jeans and a tight tee shirt were proving a flimsy barrier, and the memory of that kiss was the icing on the cake.
She produced a plate with some of the crusty bread on it, dumped some preserves and a mug of coffee in front of him and stood back, her body language polite but unwelcoming. And he knew it. She could see that in his shrewd, amused eyes as he briefly looked at her before diving into the bread, lathering it with some of the wild lime marmalade she loved.
‘Understandable,’ Matt commented neutrally.
‘I’m going to visit him...’ she glanced at her watch ‘...very soon.’
‘I’m guessing he’s going to be out of it for a while.’
Violet narrowed her eyes and wondered whether he had somehow managed to prise information about her father’s condition out of the hospital.
‘I’m surprised,’ she said, hurriedly changing the subject, ‘that you’re not at work. I know you’ve always liked an early start.’
‘So much you know about me,’ Matt drawled, voice lazy, amused, intimate. ‘Your successor, capable though he is, lacks your intuitive feel for my movements.’
‘It’s something that comes with time,’ she said briskly.
‘But, of course, you make a valid point. I do enjoy an early start. My early starts, however, appear to have hit a brick wall with the guys here. Their preferred day starts at ten.’
‘Tough.’ Violet tried to hide a sudden smile because he had always been impatient with anyone who didn’t view rising with the larks as a golden opportunity to brainstorm or catch up on emails.
‘Isn’t it? Although,’ he said pensively, ‘it did mean that I could drop by here with this bread. Excellent bread, by the way, and I like the jam.’ He turned the bottle in his hands and inspected the label before dumping it back on the table. ‘Also means that I could take you to the hospital to see your father, and I’ve had some thoughts on the rest of the day.’
Violet’s mouth dropped open and she looked at him in consternation.
