Page 3 of Teasing Her Grumpy Boss

‘No, you said that. I neither confirmed nor denied.’

Their eyes met. Squaring off like a couple of cowboys in a spaghetti western.

‘Give me your CV.’

‘Give me the details of the job.’

Okay, so he held all the cards, she could bluff. Better than anyone.

The silence was steady as they waited each other out. She lifted her chin a little and saw him focus on her mouth as she did so. She couldn’t stop the tiny curve to her lip as his parted.

He’d speak first. She’d known his politeness would win out—he was that type. Cool. In control. Icily well-mannered.

‘Principesa. It’s a small bar but popular. I don’t want it to start failing.’

She’d heard of the club. A newish one—it had opened on the scene during the year she’d been away. As he said, small, but definitely had potential.

‘What’s your interest? You own it?’ Her incredulity was doing her no favours but she really couldn’t see him in the centre of such a scene. Principesa was for night owls—party people. He had white-collar workaholic stamped all over him.

‘My cousin owns it. Lara Graydon.’

She knew of Lara. Six foot something, looked like a Nordic goddess. Had been a diva in the Wellington social set for several years.

‘She’s gone to the States for a couple of weeks on a personal matter.’ His grimace indicated his displeasure. ‘Leaving me to oversee the manager.’ The last two words were ground out through a rigid jaw.

‘And the manager?’

‘Was found rotten drunk slumped behind the bar this morning by council authorities who were called when the club failed to shut down at the required hour. Music was blaring and then I discovered discrepancies in the till.’

‘And this—’

‘Adds up to one sacked manager.’

Lucy had the feeling that far more minor transgressions would also bear the wrath of this man. He was not the kind of guy to settle for anything less than the best. ‘So you need someone as soon as possible?’

He nodded. ‘It’s Wednesday today. I can get away with keeping the club shut for a night or two but it must be open again on Friday. I want someone in there right away to clean up the mess it’s been left in. There isn’t enough stock to last half a night. I want someone who can walk in and take over.’

‘Why can’t you do it?’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Dressed like this?’

So he could do irony.

He elaborated. ‘I have a day job—one that keeps me busy enough. That’s why need someone responsible to take over so I can forget about it until Lara gets back.’

‘When’s that?’

‘Wouldn’t we all like to know?’ He shrugged. ‘Shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks.’

There was a silence. She eyed him calmly while her brain worked furiously. She tried to ignore the fact that he was incredibly arresting and that his cool determination was intoxicating. He was bright, blunt and to the point and, frankly, he turned her on. Under that suit lurked a sense of humour. What else was hidden under that remote veneer?

But a suit? Come on. She had never been attracted to a straight A type before and now wasn’t the time to experiment. She was flat broke and needed work—to start immediately. Manager would pay more, even if it was only a week or two. She could puff up the experience for her next job.

She quickly opened the dog-eared satchel and took out a copy of her CV, wishing the other fifteen copies weren’t quite so obvious. She masked her unexpected nervousness by pulling her shoulders back and handing the paper over with an assertive flourish.

He took the CV, not looking at it until he’d held her gaze in a challenging stare for so long that she was finally forced to break it. Looking down and away, she instructed her lungs to inflate. For some reason they didn’t seem to be working on auto anymore. It was as if he knew exactly what he was going to find on the page. And he didn’t think much of it. As if he knew she could do better.

Rebellion burned.

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