Кэтти Уильямс – Taken by the Boss: His Very Personal Assistant / In the Banker's Bed / The Takeover Bid (страница 12)

‘I have?’ She gasped her indignation, feeling her anger starting to rise. ‘I’m not the one who spent fifteen minutes out of the room with one woman and then came back and started acting all proprietorial about another one!’ She glared at him accusingly, well past the mood of caution. And if Marcus sacked her for her outspokenness—fine! She really wasn’t sure how they were going to continue to work together after this weekend, anyway.

‘I’m flattered that you actually took note of the time,’ he drawled.

‘I didn’t,’ she told him swiftly. ‘Mike was the one who noticed Andrea following you out of the room, and Desmond remarked on her return.’ She threw her evening bag down on the bed. ‘I couldn’t give a damn what you do!’ Her eyes sparkled deeply grey in her anger. ‘Or, in fact, who you do it with!’

Marcus was very still, only a nerve pulsing in his jaw to tell of his own fury. ‘Couldn’t you?’ he prompted softly.

‘No!’ she assured him decisively. ‘As for going outside with Mike Reynolds—! Did the two of you actually have a fight?’ She still found that whole scene unbelievable.

‘Nothing so crude, Kit,’ Marcus responded tersely. ‘There are far subtler ways of dealing with a man like Mike Reynolds than resorting to physical violence. But how the hell do you even know a man like him? He said something about the two of you being involved seven months ago?’ His eyes had narrowed to blue slits.

Kit gave a frustrated shake of her head. ‘I thought you said you had read my résumé?’

‘So I have,’ Marcus confirmed with a perplexed frown. ‘But what does that have to do with—?’ He broke off abruptly, grimacing self-derisively as he momentarily closed his eyes.

‘Exactly,’ she bit out disgustedly, knowing the truth had finally dawned. ‘Mike Reynolds is a prime example of what is meant by sexual harassment in the workplace. I utterly detest the man,’ she finished with a shudder of distaste.

‘Perhaps I should have hit him, after all,’ Marcus muttered.

‘Not on my account, no,’ Kit assured him hastily.

He gave a ragged sigh. ‘It seems I owe you an apology.’

‘Accepted,’ Kit said gruffly. ‘Now would you please leave my bedroom?’ She really had had quite enough for one day!

He drew in a harsh breath. ‘One way or another, this has been—quite an enlightening evening, hasn’t it?’

For whom? It certainly wasn’t anything that Kit would want to live through again.

‘Perhaps,’ she returned noncommittally. ‘But in the circumstances, I think it might be best if I were to leave here tomorrow.’

Before anything else disastrous happened!

‘Because of Mike Reynolds?’ Marcus queried. ‘I believe he’s leaving himself in the morning.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Your doing?’

‘My doing,’ Marcus confirmed levelly.

Okay, so the Mike Reynolds problem might have been dealt with. But that still left Catherine Grainger…

‘I would still rather leave,’ Kit told him determinedly, knowing it was for the best.

Marcus paused for a moment. ‘Because of my behaviour this evening?’ He grimaced. ‘First I accuse you of disloyalty, then I question your friendship with Mike Reynolds!’

‘Partly because of that,’ she answered cautiously.

He looked at her directly. ‘But also because…?’ he prompted.

Because a part of her had felt pleased at the way he had defended her against Mike Reynolds, and the fact that he hadn’t seemed to like Desmond Hayes talking to her, either. But, ultimately, she had known it wasn’t real, that it was only male pride on Marcus’s part. To remain here for the rest of the weekend, posing as the woman in his life, would only give her false hopes.

She forced a smile. ‘I just think it’s for the best. Besides,’ she went on, ‘I’m sure Miss Revel will be only too pleased to keep you company.’

‘And if it isn’t Andrea that I want to keep me company?’

He was suddenly standing much too close for comfort, and Kit was easily able to feel the heat of his body, the warmth of his breath stirring the loose tendrils of hair at her temples.

She swallowed hard, at the same time forcing herself not to take a step backwards, determined not to let him see the effect his closeness was having on her. ‘But we both know that it is,’ she persisted.

‘Do we?’

‘Yes,’ she said firmly, her eyes meeting his steadily. ‘You said as much when we arrived here and you mentioned not making a scene.’

‘What makes you think I was referring to Andrea…?’

Well, he certainly couldn’t have been referring to her because of the friendly way Mike Reynolds had talked to her—could he…?

Marcus continued to look at her for several long seconds, finally taking a step backwards. ‘How about we discuss this again in the morning?’

‘How about we don’t?’ she came back heavily.

To her surprise, Marcus grinned, a completely humorous grin that warmed his eyes and curved his lips over even white teeth.

‘It certainly is different being away on business with you rather than Lewis!’

Kit’s own mouth quirked, relieved that the tension between them seemed to have broken. Although that didn’t change her resolve to put as much distance tomorrow between herself and Desmond Hayes’s house as was possible. As much distance between herself and Catherine Grainger as was possible…

‘I would think it would be,’ she conceded dryly.

Marcus chuckled now, his bad humour obviously dissipated. ‘No borrowing his aftershave when I forget my own, for one thing,’ he teased.

‘Or socks and underwear,’ Kit came back playfully.

‘I draw the line at the underwear!’ Marcus assured her dryly. ‘The socks at a pinch, maybe, but—’

‘Please go back downstairs and join the party!’ Kit cut the conversation short.

Marcus sobered, looking at her intently now. ‘You’ll be okay up here on your own?’

‘Of course,’ she assured him easily.

A few more hours and she might be able to get away from here completely.

Away from the possibility of finding herself alone with Catherine Grainger again…!

CHAPTER EIGHT

THERE was someone in her bedroom!

Kit wasn’t sure what had woken her: an unexpected noise, a sixth sense? But something had certainly disturbed her sleep and now she was aware of another person in the room with her—even though she couldn’t see them in the dark shadows of the room, she could hear the soft sound of their breathing.

‘Marcus?’ she called tentatively.

She had no idea what he would be doing creeping about her bedroom during the early hours of the morning. But there again, he certainly hadn’t seemed to have too much hesitation about walking into her bedroom unannounced yesterday evening!

The fact that she received no answer to her query convinced her that she was right in thinking it wasn’t him…

‘Who is it?’ she said sharply, sitting up as she desperately tried to see into the shadows. ‘Who’s there?’ she demanded as anger started to replace her apprehension.

If someone was trying to frighten her, then they were succeeding, and if they were trying to frighten her, then they deserved her anger!

‘I said—’ She broke off abruptly, her wrist grasped between tight fingers as she reached out to turn on the bedside light.

‘I heard you, Kit,’ came the unmistakable voice of Mike Reynolds.

‘What are you doing in my bedroom?’ Kit gasped disbelievingly, moving frantically across to one side of the bed as she felt him sit on the other side of it. ‘How dare you—?’

‘Be quiet, Kit,’ he rasped, maintaining that steely grasp of her wrist. ‘And don’t be naïve; you know exactly why I’m here.’

‘No, I—’

‘Yes,’ he cut in forcefully. ‘To be honest, I couldn’t quite believe my luck, when, instead of coming in here to join you when he came up to bed half an hour ago, I saw Maitland go into the room next door.’

Kit’s eyes widened as she once again tried to see Mike’s face in the darkness. ‘You’ve been outside watching my bedroom?’ Somehow just the thought of that made her skin crawl.

Mike gave a disgusted snort. ‘What else did I have to do with my time after Maitland’s threatening behaviour earlier?’

‘Marcus didn’t threaten you,’ she defended, wishing now that Marcus had actually hit Mike—the verbal warning alone obviously hadn’t worked!