The Boss’s Unconventional Assistant Read online

  The pain was instant, though quickly ended as he reared back.

  ‘Have you hurt it?’ Soph came forward on to her knees on the sofa even as he sat back. Concern for him and desire both mingled in her gaze.

  ‘I don’t think so. I just forgot.’ They probably both knew why he’d forgotten. As the fog of hunger and need cleared away, he confronted the reality of what had almost happened here. There were reasons it shouldn’t have.

  He’d fallen into madness and almost taken her with him—straight to his bed for a night of lovemaking. Actually, he wasn’t sure he’d have made it even that far before he claimed her.

  And then what? He didn’t have anything to offer beyond a temporary physical joining or a number of them, and that kind of offer could hardly be fair to her.

  He gritted his teeth. ‘This is my fault. I let desire cloud my thinking. Go to bed, Sophia. Go to bed and be glad something stopped me. I can’t care for you the way you would need. It’s not…I don’t have those feelings inside me and I don’t want to hurt you with anything else.’

  Soph stared at Grey and struggled to pull herself together. He had taken her apart with his kisses, with the strength of his desire for her, and she had let him.

  She tried to absorb what had happened, what hadn’t. Her feelings about both of those things. Her feelings towards Grey were changing. She knew that much. They had changed and beyond those changes lay the temptation, pure and simple, to have what she could have of him and with him, for however long it might last. Would it be so bad if she reached out for only that?

  Couldn’t she guard herself from hurt? Take precautions with her feelings?

  She didn’t know any more and now wasn’t the time to try to sort it out. So, instead, she got to her feet and walked silently to her room. She didn’t agree with Grey or disagree, because she no longer knew what she believed.

  It was only when she reached her door and hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder, that she saw the rabbit had followed her, had hopped along behind her.

  Soph bent to scoop Alfie into her arms, but for the first time she found little comfort in holding him as the realisation came.

  Grey had rejected her. He might have couched it as care for her, but in the end he had stopped, had turned from her. He clearly hadn’t wanted her enough to go on.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘IF THE cars in the driveway are any indication, your family gathering seems to have expanded to include more than your two sisters.’ After nodding to Luc and Bella’s housekeeper/nanny as she invited them in, Grey murmured the words against Soph’s ear. They stepped inside the house.

  Grey had been…odd this morning. Solicitous, as they’d found a grocery store and stocked up on necessities for their return to his country house. Determined to be relaxed, even as he’d dived on the papers at the grocery store checkout stand and purchased every one of them with an air of suppressed relief. He had then proceeded to snort and grumble his way through the business sections as Soph had driven them towards Bella’s home.

  If she offered Grey an affair, would he take it? Would she really want him to? Soph hadn’t magically found the answers between last night and this morning. ‘It does look as though my brothers-in-law are here.’ She shifted Alfie slightly in her arms and hoped Bella wouldn’t mind the addition of a rabbit at their morning tea.

  ‘Go on in now. I’ll get the tea for everyone.’ The housekeeper smiled and bustled away.

  Soph led the way to the living room. She wasn’t particularly surprised to see not only Bella and Chrissy, but their husbands, Luc and Nate, Nate’s grandfather Henry, and Nate and Chrissy’s baby daughter Anastasia in the room. Her family loved and supported her. She’d made a change in her work life; this was their chance to meet her current employer in person.

  Enough said. Except for the fact that she wanted Grey to take a good look at these people, see what family was really about. Why would she want that? So he would be impressed and want the same thing with her?

  No. And not going to happen, anyway.

  Her family all gazed at her expectantly from various parts of the room. Grey stood still and tense at her side.

  ‘It’s great to see you all. As you can see, Alfie the rescued rabbit is doing well.’ Soph drew a steadying breath and hoped her family hadn’t noticed her distraction. ‘And this is my current employer through the agency, Grey Barlow.’ Did her voice soften as she said Grey’s name? Soph’s fingers curled more securely about Alfie’s soft fur.

  ‘Sophia, it’s great to see you. Are you well?’ The words came from Bella before she stepped forward and enveloped Soph and the rabbit in a hug, at which point she added in a low tone, ‘You really are comfortable in your job with this man? Because if you’re not—’

  ‘I like the job.’ And I like the man. I like the man more and more. Soph squeezed her eldest sister back and, as they drew apart, smiled at her. ‘I’m having an adventure, one employment opportunity at a time.’

  That was how it had started, and yet it seemed so much beyond that now.

  Bella relaxed a little, and Soph introduced her eldest sister to Grey. She then introduced Bella’s husband Luchino, Chrissy and her husband Nate, who grinned as he watched his daughter spider-crawl around the room at lightning speed. Henry Montbank, Nate’s grandfather, reclined comfortably in a chair.

  The only one missing was Luc’s daughter, Grace, who would be at school at this hour. Grey dipped his head, offered low greetings in return. His hand splayed against the centre of Soph’s back in that familiar way, and that added to her shivery factor—whether she should let it, or not.

  Did he realise he was touching her? Was it because he felt out of place, or for other reasons?

  Bella noticed, of course. Her eyes narrowed and her gaze moved from one to the other of them and back again while Chrissy watched them silently.

  Since Soph didn’t want an epic-sized sisterly inquisition, she rushed into speech. ‘Um, if I put the rabbit down do you think Anastasia will try to chew on him? I found the poor thing tied to a pole near my apartment the evening before I started work with Grey. Abandoned. The rabbit, I mean. It appalled me, but Joe had the collapsible cage and I scrounged some pellets from a neighbour…’ She ran out of words.

  Chrissy came over and bestowed her own gentle hug. ‘Anastasia will probably want to get up close and personal with the rabbit, but we’ll deal with it if it becomes a problem.’

  ‘Come in, anyway. Sit down. We’ll have our tea.’ Bella led the way into the room with the model’s walk that would never leave her. The housekeeper had slipped in with the tea so quietly that Soph hadn’t noticed.

  Bella now offered tea or coffee, cake and cookies. ‘The tea is a Chai blend but we can get some regular if that’s better.’

  This was for Grey’s benefit, no doubt, as everyone else knew that Bella always drank Chai, and Chrissy and Soph were partial.

  So they had morning tea. Luc and Nate talked business with Grey. Luc had a forthcoming auction in progress for the purchase of some rare Australian gemstones. Nate bemoaned the need to head overseas for a brief stint to settle some shipping business that required his personal touch.

  Henry Montbank tossed in the occasional comment, his eyes alight with interest. Soph started out speaking quietly with her sisters but soon they were laughing and teasing, swapping anecdotes, the latest bits of news.

  Grey was reserved at first, but how could he remain stiff and formal while a baby chased a rabbit around the room, and the rabbit then surprised everyone by chasing the baby? As Alfie hopped after Anastasia, determined, it seemed, to keep up with her, Soph grinned.

  ‘I guess I can stop worrying that the baby might traumatise your rabbit.’ Chrissy smiled. ‘He doesn’t seem inclined to let her get her hands on him, but he appears to like playing chase with her.’

  ‘Yes, I hadn’t expected Alfie to do any of the chasing.’ Soph grinned and pulled her niece into her arms for a cuddle as she started to crawl pas
t her.

  She and Grey were side by side on the couch, something that had somehow occurred in the flurry when they had all taken their seats. His thigh pressed against hers, as it had last night.

  The man sat too close, that was the problem. She could hear every breath he took, and all of it affected her on some deep, impossible level she struggled to comprehend, let alone control.

  To hide her consternation, Soph bent her head and kissed Anastasia’s downy one.

  Only when she looked up did she find Grey’s stormy eyes locked on to her. The smile had washed from his face, replaced by something startled and uncomfortable and hungry and a little horrified. For just a moment years of loneliness—and his unwillingness to have anything to do with all of this—shone in his eyes.

  Soph felt incredibly sad for him in that moment.

  His mother had died. Three stepmothers had allowed him to slip away from them one after another when the pressure had been on and his father had no longer wanted them. Soph guessed that his father might not have been as supportive as he could have been, either. Otherwise, wouldn’t he have done something to protect Grey better as a child?

  How could Grey come back from those repeated losses? He’d built his self-sufficiency and his control and his singleness strongly. He held fast to them.

  And, without truly realising it, Soph had allowed herself to hope just a little…

  Well, that had been stupid. She didn’t want any of that, anyway.

  Anastasia yawned and burrowed her head into the crook of Soph’s neck, and Soph kissed her niece’s curls again and patted the little girl’s back. She didn’t want to think any more.

  Grey shifted beside her, a discomfited movement.

  ‘Are you in pain?’ She turned her head to look at him, whispering the words so they wouldn’t be overheard.

  ‘No.’ His gaze roved again over her and the baby. ‘No, I’m fine.’

  ‘How long do you expect to have Sophia with you, Grey?’ Bella spoke, her gaze thoughtful as it moved from one to the other of them.

  ‘We’re all behind our sister’s career change and we appreciate you taking time so Soph could visit us today.’ Chrissy added her contribution to the conversation. ‘We’re keen to know she’s happy and comfortable in her new role.’

  Soph had thought she’d headed off the inquisition permanently. She should have known better, and she recognised these seemingly innocent queries for what they were.

  If she let them keep on, they would. Why should they question Grey, anyway? He was a perfectly good employer—the best.

  ‘I certainly am happy in my new role.’ Soph got to her feet, warm, sleepy baby pressed to her neck and chest. ‘Speaking of my job, we should go, shouldn’t we, Grey? There are perishables in the car that will only last so long in their cool-box.’ To her sisters she explained, ‘We shopped for groceries before we came here.’

  Grey’s expression when he rose was so deadpan that she just knew he’d seen straight through Bella and Chrissy’s polite words to the you’d better be nice to our sister warnings veiled beneath. So long as he hadn’t seen Soph’s thoughts!

  She handed Anastasia to Chrissy and scooped Alfie from the floor and into her arms instead. ‘I promised Grey vegetable lasagne surprise for dinner. It will need to bake for most of the afternoon, so we’d better move along.’

  ‘I look forward to the meal. If it’s like all your others, it will be memorable.’ Grey’s hand rested again in the small of her back, this time as he propelled her towards the door. When he went on his voice held a little surprise. ‘It’s odd. I usually enjoy food I order in from the restaurant near my home, but even though you ordered dishes I’ve had from there before, I found it kind of bland last night.’

  Grey seemed to remember the rest of the evening at the same time that it flashed once more through Soph’s mind. Would they ever forget it? He fell silent.

  Everyone else had too, right about the time of his first mention of food.

  ‘You’ll keep in contact?’ Bella finally said.

  ‘As always. Give me a hug goodbye.’ Soph reached for her sister.

  Bella held her tightly and bent to whisper in her ear, ‘I know you’re all grown up, just…if you need anything, or if anything is worrying you or…I don’t know, if you just want…’

  ‘I know. I love you, too. He’s a good employer, Bella. I want to be with him.’ She wanted that, and she loved her sisters so much. Soph tightened her hold. ‘I would do anything for you and Chrissy, anything in the whole world.’ The words just burst out.

  ‘But we’re fine…’ Bella drew back and searched her face, but Chrissy was there, waiting to exchange goodbyes. Soph hugged her other sister and felt oddly choked up and so she said nothing more and hugged her brothers-in-law and Henry.

  Grey stood silently waiting for her until they went outside and the ache in her chest slowly eased away.

  ‘They…uh…sometimes my sisters are a little protective.’ She uttered the words as they made their way out of the city limits. This was something she could explain.

  Right now, Soph appreciated anything she even slightly understood. ‘Truly, you don’t need to think anything of it. Sometimes Bella used to even forget herself and interrogate Joe when he came to take me out somewhere.’

  A sharp green gaze turned her way. ‘Joe?’

  ‘He’s the mechanic who lives and works near my apartment.’ Lovely Joe who looked as if he might have found someone after such a long time alone and, oh, Soph hoped it worked out for him. ‘He’s been a special friend to me and my sisters for years.’

  ‘I’d like to meet him one day.’ Grey seemed surprised by his words. He fell silent for a few moments. ‘Maybe your sisters should be worried about me.’

  ‘Nothing’s changed.’ All sorts of things had, but not the things that defined how their relationship had to be. ‘We both don’t want to be involved.’ She had toyed with the idea of an affair. She acknowledged now that it would be dangerous for her because some feelings had developed.

  None too scary, just a softening inside her that could end in pain if she didn’t take care, didn’t protect herself. ‘We won’t let things get out of hand again, that’s all.’

  She forced what she hoped looked like a bright smile. ‘I’m looking forward to making the lasagne. They had a good fresh vegetable selection at the supermarket, didn’t you think?’

  They hit the country road and she went on to bring a discussion of carrots and broccoli and cabbage and cauliflower to new levels of stupefaction.

  And Grey let her. Maybe he also found that easier.

  ‘I made a conference phone call to Coates and McCarty while you were busy in the kitchen.’ Grey uttered the words as he leaned back on his elbow on the picnic blanket.

  They were surrounded by meadow grass and wild flowers, bathed in late afternoon sunshine. Not a great distance from the house—they could see it clearly from here—but Soph had driven him so he didn’t have to walk over the uneven ground. The car waited in a dip not far away.

  This was relaxation 101, Sophia Gable style. So far, he wasn’t as fed up as he had expected to be. Tense, yes, but in a different way that had nothing to do with stress levels.

  Grey suppressed a frustrated snort and settled for tugging up a blade of grass. He rolled it through his fingers. ‘Everything is going well, including the Beacon’s Cove project. I shouldn’t need to be in contact again until after the doctor approves me to return to Melbourne for the duration.’

  That should happen about three days from now. It had better happen then.

  Grey glanced up at a perfect blue sky and wanted to look at Soph instead.

  ‘We’ll have a really peaceful time of it, Grey. You’ll enjoy it, truly. The change of pace will be good for you.’ She leaned forward, her legs curled under her, and he let himself look, just a little, just enough to indulge a need he shouldn’t have.

  ‘I hope you haven’t made many other calls to do with your work.’
Before he had a chance to be annoyed, she went on. ‘You might like to know I’ve made some plans for tomorrow, now that I’ve aced you with the crossword puzzles in the papers.’ Her eyes danced as she said it.

  Alerted and intrigued, Grey sat up. The movement brought their bodies very close. ‘First of all, you didn’t ace me with the crossword puzzles; I let you help me and together we completed them all.’

  She copied one of his snorts and grinned, and he wanted to kiss her.

  ‘What plans have you made for tomorrow, Sophia?’ He watched while the lovely face flushed and her breath caught. Not because she had a secret, but because their gazes had locked and something unbidden had flared between them yet again.

  Her gaze dropped away from his and she mumbled her answer towards the multicoloured blanket beneath them. ‘Wouldn’t you rather be surprised? You gave me free rein to figure out how to make the time pass for you.’

  ‘I don’t seem to remember that conversation.’ Indeed, Grey remembered no such thing because it hadn’t happened. ‘In fact, I said I’d get on the Internet and find some suitable occupations for myself.

  ‘Maybe some online courses in short business topics. And I distinctly remember saying I could help you in the kitchen and we could take an inventory of the house and plan how to redecorate it since the furnishings are a few years old now.’

  ‘The house is perfect exactly as it is.’ She glared at him as she had when he’d first made the suggestion. ‘It’s homely and reflects your personality, if you must know.’

  That punched the grin off his face and punched him in the gut at the same time. She knew how to deliver a verbal blow that would knock him off his high ropes, didn’t she?

  What exactly did he want of her?

  The answer to that was both simple and complicated. Nothing he could have, nothing he should ask for. Nothing that could last for longer than the time they had together, and that just wouldn’t be enough.

  For Soph. It wouldn’t be enough for Soph.

  Yeah? So why did you try to get her to play house with you—something you’ve never done with a woman in your life?