Page 8 of Defying Her Arrogant Boss

‘Well, I have work to be getting on with.’ Too mortified to be able to see even the smallest funny side. ‘Please don’t let me stop you.’

Miraculously she gained the use of her legs and marched over to her desk and sat down, hating the fact that he was there to see that she hadn’t even turned her computer on yet.

He leaned nearer. She felt his closeness with every cell. It was almost a pain. Her body yearned for him to reach out and touch her.

‘Bye, beautiful,’ he whispered.

Flushed with anger, embarrassment and desire, she stared at her computer screen as she felt him rise and walk away. She could just picture his grin.

* * *

Rory only just managed to stop himself running his fingers through her hair by jamming his hands into his pockets and striding back to where Gina and the new consultants stood. He couldn’t help the grin on his face, though, and knew it was wholly because of wicked thoughts, not excitement about new computer systems.

First day as partner and all he’d been able to think about was getting to the information centre as soon as possible to see if she really was there; if she was real.

Well, now he knew. Definitely real. Definitely gorgeous and definitely ought to be off limits. He yanked his mind back from its determined wanderings into extremely dangerous territory and thanked God she’d been wearing trousers. He rolled a pen between his fingers, trying to stop the memory of the sensation when he’d crossed from stockings onto bare skin.

He was on the fast track, just made a partner and had worked damn hard to get there. The last thing he needed was distracting by a lust-on-legs temp.

Then again, just because he had career ambitions didn’t mean he had to live like a monk. It wasn’t as if he were thinking anything serious here. Marriage and kids were in the long-term plan, but short-term? Hey, he was a man, after all.

Office affairs did get complicated, though. He’d seen it a million times. Never got involved himself as a result—part of his unwritten code. Work was for work, play came after.

But she was a temp—and a New Zealander at that. She’d be onto another temp job or another country in no time. Perfect match for a full-throttle, fast-burning fling.

A partner and a temp, though? Dodgy waters.

He smiled his thanks at Gina—absolutely none the wiser about any of the new databases she’d just run through for him.

* * *

‘Tell. All. Now.’

One look at Gina’s face and Lissa knew she couldn’t fudge it. ‘I thought he was Karl.’

‘What?’

‘Rory. I thought he was Karl. At the party.’

‘At the party?’ Gina echoed. ‘Rory was there?’

‘On the balcony.’

‘You didn’t come in?’

‘I went home early. He gave me a lift.’

‘Oookaaay...’ Gina stood, positively agog. ‘So what happened?’

Lissa felt the heat in her cheeks again. She fussed with her mouse. ‘I, er, told him I wasn’t interested.’

‘What?’

‘I thought he was Karl and that you’d set him up to come flirt with me, so I told him I wasn’t interested.’ Gina started to laugh. ‘And a fat lot of notice he took of that! I knew it would happen like that. Man, that’s why I wanted Karl to keep you out of the way so I could have just one chance with Rory before he saw you.’

‘What?’ Now it was Lissa who couldn’t keep up. Gina sighed. ‘Look, babe, I’ve known Rory for ages and he’s never shown a flicker of interest in me or any other girl here. We all drool over him and he’s just Mr Charming to everyone. I was hoping that maybe when he got back he’d see me in a new light. I wanted Karl to eliminate you from the scene.’

‘Eliminate me?’

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