Page 12 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

‘No,’ he said shortly.

He wasn’t going to answer. He couldn’t speak to his brother at this moment without giving himself away. If his brother heard his anxiety he’d be hounding him for the reason. And Jack wasn’t ready to explain it yet. But the second his phone stopped ringing it chimed to signal another text message.

‘Busy guy.’

He put his phone on the back seat again. ‘I run a company. “Busy” comes with the territory.’

A phone chimed. Hers this time.

‘Do you mind?’ She echoed his words as she opened her small bag.

‘Not at all.’ He watched as she quickly scanned the screen, a very faint frown pulling at her eyebrows. ‘Busy blogger?’

‘Of course. As you know, my audience is global. People like to have their comments acknowledged.’

‘So you’re always on call?’

‘Not for just anyone.’ She sent him a look. ‘Only my followers.’

He smiled, finding her slight snarkiness oddly soothing. ‘Your fans?’

‘People who like what I do,’ she said proudly. ‘I like to keep them happy.’

‘You’re not out to please everyone, then?’

‘We all know that’s impossible. We all know the internet has plenty of haters lurking behind anonymity.’

He didn’t like the idea of haters hating her. Even though he’d come close to it himself.

‘I perform for my crowd,’ she said.

‘And that’s what it is? Purely a performance?’

Caution clouded her eyes. ‘I believe in what I do.’

So did a lot of people, given how popular she was. Her blog and video channel transcended borders. Her audience went way beyond Melbourne—beyond Australia, even. Apparentlymillionsof young women hung on her every word. And she had plenty of words. There were lists on what not to wear, on make-up, movies. On where to eat, what to eat... There were commentaries on celebrity outfits during the awards season. She had people clicking on her blog as she provided chat through movie awards, music awards...

It was a bright, bubbly mash-up of lifestyle, design and travel tips, geared towards the urban young woman. The segment of the markethiscompany wanted greater engagement with.

Jack had read only a couple of her blogs and watched mere seconds of one video before switching it off in annoyance at the over-the-top girlish effervescence. But he’d relied on the advice of his researchers that Steffi Leigh wasit.Apparently making enough money not to need a real job. And yet she wanted this deal.

That was why she was determined to be nice to him. Even when she didn’t really want to be. Which told him that she needed this sale to go ahead.Badly.

Whywasthat? Did she need the money to fund her lifestyle? Her purchases? He’d wanted to know why—within five minutes of meeting her he now wanted to know everything.

What hedidn’twant was an afternoon of traipsing around while she fed him bubbly tips, trying to close the sale. He wanted to cut to the chase and understand the reality.

‘What if I tookyousomewhere?’ he asked.

‘As you’ve insisted on driving, I’d assumed that was happening already. By the way, I’mlovingbeing parked illegally for so long.’

Suddenly Jack knew exactly what he was going to do. A long drive in a vintage convertible with a beautiful woman beside him was every man’s fantasy, right?

It wouldn’t be the first time for Jack, but he had the feeling it was going to be the most fun.

‘We’re going to be little longer than we scheduled,’ he said unapologetically. ‘But it’ll be worth it.’

Her polite facade tilted. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t stay longer than we initially scheduled.’

---