Page 5 of His Secretary's Nine-Month Notice
He shook his head in disgust while Violet did her best to keep up, even though her brain was lagging several light years behind. ‘Or maybe he’s married. Is that it? Did you get yourself embroiled in some kind of sordid situation that’s ended up leading to this? You should have come to me for advice, Violet. I would have been there for you.’
Violet stared at him with undisguised incredulity. She was so astounded that she could barely think straight.
‘A married man? A sordid affair? And, Matt Falconer, not that it has ever been necessary, but why on earth would I ever contemplate coming to you for advice?’
Matt frowned. ‘Because I’m a man of the world,’ he said in a voice that implied that he was doing nothing more than stating the obvious.
‘You’re also a man who has never had a relationship that’s lasted longer than three months!’ she was riled into retorting, betraying her code of never losing her cool with her boss. Naturally, instead of being annoyed with her outburst, he stared at her with the expression of a man suddenly intrigued.
She had half risen from her chair through sheer frustration, and now he slowly strolled towards her.
Mesmerised against her will, Violet could only stare right back at him as he drew closer until he was standing right in front of her, at which point she sank back into the chair, trembling all over and angry with herself for letting the situation get so completely out of hand.
‘This is ridiculous!’ she exclaimed, watching warily as he dragged a chair across so that he was sitting far too close to her for comfort’s sake.
‘I know. It is. So why don’t you just take back your resignation and we’ll pretend none of this ever happened?’ He looked at her narrowly and suddenly, inexplicably, found his imagination start to wander because there was something oddly fetching about her flushed face, parted lips and angry eyes. He frowned and blinked away that sudden drag on his senses.
‘I haven’t resigned because I want a pay rise.’ She tabulated each point carefully and slowly. ‘Nor is it because I want more responsibility. If you had read what I said in my email, you’d have noted that I was extremely complimentary about my experience of working for your company—’
‘You sound like a cheap brochure when you say that,’ Matt interrupted.
Violet bristled. Not only had he interrupted, but he was so damned close that his knees were touching hers and it was hellishly impossible to focus properly.
‘Nor,’ she continued through gritted teeth, ‘has anyone been pestering me on the work front, and if John Draper happened to ask me out on a date, then that is none of your business!’
‘I knew that guy was lurking round your desk for no good reason.’ Matt scowled and Violet wanted to hit him.
‘And more to the point, Matt Falconer, I havenotbeen having an affair with anyone! I amnotpregnant and I certainly could never be attracted to anyone who thought that it might be okay to lay down ground rules about a woman’s place. That is not why I have had to tender my resignation!’
‘That’s good.’ He was visibly relieved by that assertion and Violet glared at him. He was just so selfish, she thought waspishly. All he cared about was whether he could get a saint who would be able to cope with his unpredictable, demanding personality! She couldn’t believe that she had actually been idiotic enough to have fallen for the guy! Thank God she was savvy enough to know how to contain her inappropriate reaction. Thank God lusting from afar was a curable sickness, and cured she would be as soon as she left his employ.
‘So, tell me what this nonsense is all about.’ He relaxed back and gazed at her, and she just couldn’t help drinking in his insane good looks, at least for a second, until she blinked herself back to reality.
She sighed and surrendered.
CHAPTER TWO
‘IT’SMYFATHER,’ she said quietly, and he stared at her as though she had suddenly started speaking in tongues.
‘You have a father?’
‘Yes, Matt. I have a father. People do. These things happen.’
He grinned and shifted, angling his chair so that he could stretch his legs out in front of him. ‘I would say that I would miss your sarcasm, but I won’t, because if this is a simple case of parental problems then I’m sure we’ll be able to work around it.’
‘I’m not sarcastic,’ Violet told him politely, and his eyebrows shot up.
‘You’ve made more sarcastic remarks about the women I date than I’ve had hot dinners.’
Had she? She’d always thought that she was scrupulously non-committal when it came to the blondes who entered and left his life through an ever-revolving door.
‘Remember asking me if I’d ever thought of dating women who didn’t get worked up about going on spa breaks? Or the time you said that it wasn’t true that blondes had more fun? And let’s not forget some of your unnecessary asides about my tokens of affection when a relationship has, sadly, run its course...’
‘Tokens of affection?’ Violet retorted. ‘I honestly don’t think that expensive bouquets of flowers from the same expensive flower shop in Knightsbridge could be called “tokens of affection.”’
‘I’ve given far more than flowers in the past.’
‘When it comes to a break-up, there’s no such thing as a token of affection.’
