NATASHA OAKLEY – At The Boss's Command: Taking on the Boss / The Millionaire Boss's Mistress / Accepting the Boss's Proposal (страница 13)

Tahlia chewed hard and swallowed. ‘His job—something where he gets down and dirty.’ She rushed on, trying to rid pastel shirts and silk ties from haunting her mind. ‘None of this intellectual shirty-suited sort of person. I want someone rugged, calloused and… rugged.’

Tahlia took a breath and shoved the rest of the M&Ms in her mouth, glancing to the bottle on the table, crunching them up. She needed something stronger than sweets…

Emma popped the cork on the wine, grabbing a slice of the cheesy pizza. ‘And this man’s hobbies would be—?’

‘Collecting bottle tops maybe, tattoos or beer bottles or sandals lost on the beach,’ Tahlia said in a rush. There. As totally opposite to that man as she could possibly get. ‘Well? What do you think?’

‘I think you’ll find him at the local pub, swilling down beer and chewing glass.’ Keely laughed. ‘Are you setting yourself up for disappointment or just afraid of dating?’

Tahlia jerked to her feet. She didn’t like where this was going. She wasn’t afraid of dating or men, not in general anyway. ‘No. I’m being practical.’

Emma poured a glass and slid it in front of Tahlia and picked up a pen. ‘Right. I think you ought to start fresh. What have you got—?’ She lurched forward and snatched the piece of paper from her chair. ‘This is more like it. What’s wrong with this tall, dark and handsome white-collar intellectual—? Oh.’

‘What oh?’ Keely leaned forward, holding her stomach. ‘What have I missed?’

Finishing off her slice of pizza, Emma opened a bag of popcorn, balancing it on her lap and waved the paper at her. ‘I think our Tahlia has already fallen for someone but is in denial.’

Tahlia slumped back into her seat and crossed her arms. ‘I’m denying nothing.’ And she wasn’t admitting anything either. ‘I have not fallen for anyone. I do not fall. I make lists and plans and stay aware of all contingencies at all times.’

Emma tossed a piece of popcorn at her. ‘Right. Sure. Liar.’

‘I’m not lying. There is no way I’m interested in Case Darrington as anything other than my arch nemesis that I need to crush like a bug.’

‘That doesn’t sound healthy.’ Keely poured cola into her glass.

‘You should have heard him. He expected me to be his assistant until he hired someone. Me!’ She touched her chest, feeling the rage anew. It felt far safer than those other feelings she didn’t want to have. ‘After he had the nerve to steal my promotion, he wants to make me his assistant.’

Emma tipped the popcorn into a bowl and pulled out some more packages. ‘Sweetie, take the job, play the secretary-cum-assistant role—it would be great for you to get to know him, wouldn’t it?’

‘You guys are crazy.’

‘Go on, email him now and tell him you’ll help him out with the job. It doesn’t have to be for long.’ Emma took another slice of pizza. ‘It will resolve, once and for all, whether it’s displaced animosity that you feel for your new boss, lust or something else entirely…’

Keely waved a chocolate-covered jam doughnut. ‘And thank him for the flowers.’

‘And you could tell him you’re thinking of him too,’ Emma lilted, casting her gaze to the incredible bunch of red roses on the hallstand.

She was, but she wasn’t thinking straight. She was considering her friends’ advice, but sense would suggest it was extremely flawed and terribly biased in favour of her associating with a cute-suit instead of focusing on her career.

Could these strong feelings be caused by her anger? She nodded. Definitely…it made far more sense than considering she’d let anyone touch her heart, let alone someone who’d taken something so precious from her, or someone who could make her feel so vulnerable.

That had to be wrong.

Tahlia took her glass. Maybe she could spend some more time with the boss, get beneath that tailored exterior of his, past the sweet soppy dog-at-home thing and reveal the true jerk underneath.

Tahlia knocked back her wine and settled back into her chair with a slice of pizza in one hand and an iced doughnut in the other. She’d give the matter some serious thought and maybe check out her horoscope in the morning to see if the stars could shed anything on the matter.

She bit into the sweet powdery softness of the doughnut. One thing she did know was that she was not going to rush into anything, least of all him.

Chapter Nine

They say all things good to know are difficult to learn.

Especially when it involves alcohol, romantic movies, too much sugar and way too helpful friends.

TAHLIA strode through the foyer, every step a challenge to the fragile head on her shoulders that still didn’t feel like her own.

They’d drunk far too much on Friday night, or at least she had, but she was sure they’d all be suffering the morning-afters for days.

Keely had polished off every last doughnut, citing the extra mouth she had to feed, and Emma’s chocolate consumption would’ve put a ten-year-old to shame.

Tahlia had spent most of the weekend tucked up in bed with the weekend papers and the Business Review, nursing her hangover, her promotion failure and an addled brain full of Darrington fantasies.

Why had she drunk so much?

She waved to George, tucking the newspaper tighter under her arm. She’d deliberately avoided reading her horoscope this morning because she didn’t want to know, and especially didn’t want to be tempted to check for what Sagittarians were up to today—as if she cared. Did it matter what Case’s was? It did not.

Sure, she’d emailed him under the influence some time in the wee hours of Friday night, taking up the offer to be his assistant, but it didn’t have to be the disaster she’d first thought it was when she’d realised what she’d done.

Sure, she’d let herself get talked into it by Emma and Keely, but after two days analysing the pros and cons she had to say it was the right thing to do.

There were too many question marks around Darrington. It was time to resolve some of them, once and for all, and spending time in close proximity seemed a perfect opportunity to do just that.

He was up to something, she was sure of it.

She was a professional, after all. What could it hurt to take the opportunity to see just what he was up to and harden her heart to feeling anything for the man?

So he had probably sent her the flowers. It didn’t mean anything, except that he was looking for more distractions from doing the job.

Marketing Executives weren’t usually so obsessed with the staff right down to the copy kids temping while in uni, let alone the mail clerks.

She had to find out what Case Darrington was about, then expose his failings to Raquel and get the job that should have been hers in the first place.

Her fantasies would be squashed, thankfully—they were taking too much of her time, torturing her with memories of imagined glances, warm smiles and soft words that couldn’t possibly exist anywhere except in her addled brain. And in unexplainable flower deliveries.

She punched the lift button.

‘Good morning, Tahlia.’ A familiar nasal bark.

Tahlia turned to look Raquel Wilson in the eye. She was the same height as Tahlia but solid, wearing crimson trousers with hot red stilettos and a black cotton top that clung to her like a second skin.

‘I’m sorry you had to find out about the position of Marketing Executive the way you did.’

Sure she was. Tahlia forced herself to keep a straight face, to keep the raging heat churning up inside from bursting from her mouth. The Rottie’s cool regard for Tahlia when she was just another employee had turned to chilling after she’d become Director of Sales.

Raquel waved her Rolex-clad arm, her diamond rings glinting. ‘I know how much you wanted the job.’

‘Yes,’ she said and shrugged. Best to pretend it didn’t matter than admit weakness in the face of power personified. Raquel could rip her throat out professionally, if given half a chance and even less of an excuse.

Raquel forced a laugh as fake as her nose. ‘Just wanted to clear the air between us so there’s no hard feelings.’

Tahlia nodded. ‘Right. Sure.’ As if. The woman was paranoid about Tahlia’s slow and steady climb up the corporate ladder.

‘I’d hate for you to take being overlooked for the promotion personally.’ Raquel tossed her jet-black dyed hair back from her shoulder. ‘And I really don’t have much time spare to write you out a reference, but if you insist…’

‘No. I’m not taking it personally at all.’ She forced a smile. If only Raquel knew just how personal the whole thing was getting, the scent of the roses coming back to her, with a pair of sapphire-blue eyes that turned her world upside down.

She took a slow breath. ‘I’m sure your decision was taken with the utmost care and Mr Darrington is far more qualified for the position than me.’ At least as far as Raquel had been concerned at the time, but showing her how wrong she was would be incredibly satisfying. ‘Where on earth did you find him?’

Raquel’s grin faded. ‘Oh, around.’

Tahlia raised her eyebrows—the Rottie had to guess she’d put the wrong person in the job. ‘And around would be?’

Raquel’s eyes narrowed. ‘Well…look, sometimes the best people come through unexpected channels.’ She stepped towards the doors. ‘You understand?’