Claiming His Cinderella Secretary Read online

  Amongst this hand-picked crowd, Ellie was the only one who kept herself to herself. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d had their free-spirited exuberance. As an only child, she had been loved but cossetted. Her parents had had her late in their lives, after many years of trying for a baby, and she had become the recipient of their reluctance to allow her to do anything that might possibly put her in harm’s way.

  They had been a unit of three until her father had died when she’d been sixteen, and after that the placid, comfortingly predictable life she had led had come to a crashing halt. Gone were the family days and the quiet holidays to Wales. Gone were the board games in winter and her parents both anxiously waiting up for her to return on the occasional evening out with friends.

  Instead, her mother had gone to pieces, and Ellie had had to grow up fast to deal with that. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty, her life had been put on hold. University dreams had been shelved. She had made it through the rest of school, but all her spare time had been taken up saving her mother from herself.

  As a couple, her parents had been unbreakable, but when one half of that couple had been removed—in her father’s case a mere four months after having been diagnosed with cancer—the structure had catastrophically collapsed. Without Robbie Thompson, her mother had been cast adrift, first retreating into herself and then becoming dependent on alcohol to help herself cope.

  Looking back, Ellie marvelled that she had managed to get through school at all, but she had. She had said goodbye to her dream of being an architect, and instead had thrown her energy and talent into absorbing everything there was to know about computer systems. Through it all, she had continued to look after her mother, coaxing her out of her alcohol dependency. They were now at a point where her mother was relatively stable, although after two minor heart attacks she was a shadow of the woman she had once been.

  The house had been sold and enough money scraped together to find her somewhere small by the coast, but depression dogged her, and when Ellie thought about it she wanted to burst into tears.

  The experience had left her guarded, protective of her privacy and always careful to take nothing for granted. Safety and stability were the two things she craved most because confusion and unpredictability had been terrifying.

  Now, James was breaking their unspoken code and was looking at her, eyes bright and challenging, daring her to open up with what she was thinking. She was tempted, because on this one subject she had strong feelings.

  ‘Like I said,’ she repeated quietly, ‘I don’t have any opinions on what you do outside work.’

  ‘Yes, you do.’

  Their eyes met and he grinned and visibly relaxed.

  ‘Was there a reason why she came here?’ Ellie eventually asked, and he shrugged and nodded to his private sitting area where he entertained clients or had informal meetings—deep leather chairs, a metal table, and to one side a sofa-bed, because it wasn’t unheard of for him to spend the night in the office if things were particularly busy.

  ‘Let’s go and relax. Been one hell of a day, and we’re not even halfway through it. My head’s not in a suitable work space.’

  ‘You’re the boss,’ Ellie said, and he frowned.

  ‘Yes. I am. You work for me, but once in a while it’s okay to take off the professional hat and actually stop hiding away behind that glass wall of yours.’

  Ellie blushed. She lowered her eyes, but she could feel a tell-tale pulse jumping in her neck. She was keenly aware of him vaulting to his feet, pushing back the leather chair and heading towards the seating area which was brick-walled and warmly inviting.

  ‘And dump the tablet,’ he ordered without glancing round at her, making for the sofa-bed, where he proceeded to lie down with his eyes closed. ‘Tell me what you’re thinking,’ he coaxed. ‘Get it off your chest. Trust me, you’ll feel better for it.’

  Ellie was shrewd enough to realise what was happening here. For once, he had found himself in a situation over which he had had no control. Naomi had shown up out of the blue, blown a hole in his day by creating a scene and had left him edgy and in need of venting. The more she tried to pull back, the more he would goad her into a response. For once, she was in the direct line of fire, and the speediest way to return things to normal would be to give up and go with the flow.

  ‘Maybe Naomi thought you wouldn’t hit the roof because she made the mistake of showing up here.’ Ellie had taken one of the chairs, and she looked at him sprawled out on the sofa-bed, feet loosely crossed at the ankles, eyes now opened to slits as he looked at her, hands folded behind his head. ‘You have been going out for quite a long time, after all...’

  ‘A handful of months.’

  ‘That’s record-breaking for you,’ Ellie said politely, driven to honesty, because he just wouldn’t let it go. She felt a surge of annoyance that she had been prodded into going against the grain. Rebellion began to blossom inside her, a little voice telling her that, if he wanted to hear what she thought, then why not give him what he wanted?

  James grinned and visibly relaxed. ‘So it is. You’re a tonic, Eleanor Thompson—five-foot six inches, twenty-four years old and a mystery after three years of working for me. How is it that you know how long I’ve been seeing Naomi, and yet I don’t even know whether you have a boyfriend or not? Have you?’ He laughed. ‘No need to answer that one, Ellie. I already know that your answer will be that it’s none of my business, and of course you’d be absolutely right.’

  Ellie stiffened. When she looked down, she saw her neat flats, the smooth navy of her knee-length skirt and the white of her ribbed summer tee shirt.

  The amusement in his voice ratcheted up that small rebellious voice. Did he imagine that she had no feelings? That she was as dull as dishwater? When he said that she was a mystery, it certainly wasn’t in the tone of voice that implied she was intriguing.

  ‘It doesn’t matter whether you have a list of dos and don’ts when it comes to women,’ she told him evenly. ‘Most women don’t expect to be hauled in front of a firing squad if they make the mistake of paying a visit to the company where their partner works. I know you must have told her what was and wasn’t allowed in a relationship but...’

  She stopped in mid-flow. Did she really know anything about relationships? Precious little. Fate had made sure to deny her the chance to have fun with guys in the way every other girl her age did. But she did know what she would and wouldn’t want in an ideal world, and she definitely wouldn’t want any guy who had a book of instructions of what was allowed.

  Her heart sped up as their eyes met and she felt a little burst of satisfaction at having said what was in her mind—toning it down, of course, because the lines of demarcation prevented her from really saying what she thought.

  What she really thought was that James Stowe was way too clever, way too good-looking and way too charismatic for his own good. In the cut-throat world of computers and computer software, he ruled the roost and now, as he expanded into the lucrative field of tech start-ups, he was on course for claiming the crown.

  Women flocked to him because he was the ultimate catch. Except for the fact that he had no sticking power. Just because he made a big deal of laying all his cards on the table at the start of a relationship, didn’t mean that he was the epitome of the gentleman, which it seemed was how he would like to be perceived.

  ‘But...?’ he encouraged, eyes bright with interest. ‘I’m all ears.’

  ‘But women aren’t robots,’ Ellie said sharply. ‘They’re not always going to do as you tell them. You’re confusing them with people you pay to work for you. They’re not employees, and if somewhere along the line they think it might be okay to come here for a surprise visit, then I don’t think it’s very fair for you to let rip because they’ve gone against your commands.’

  She was huffing a little as he slid off the couch to saunter acros
s to the window, where he stood for a couple of seconds, back to her, peering out.

  Energised.

  ‘You make me sound like a tyrant,’ he mused, turning round and then strolling towards her. ‘Have you always felt that way?’

  ‘I...’

  ‘Yes? Now you’ve started, you can’t leave me hanging on. That would be cruel...’

  ‘You did ask me what I thought.’ She inwardly winced at the defensive note in her voice. How had this conversation become so derailed? The devil works on idle hands, she thought. For once his hands had been idle, and in she’d walked, perfectly placed for him to have a little Machiavellian fun at her expense.

  He perched on the solid, wooden square table in front of her and leant forward, his forearms on his thighs, his fingers loosely linked.

  ‘And I’m very glad that I did,’ he murmured soothingly. ‘How else would I have known just how much resentment you were stockpiling for me?’

  ‘I haven’t been stockpiling resentment, James!’ she cried, dismayed. Her cheeks were hectic with colour and she was leaning towards him, every nerve and pulse in her stretched taut with tension.

  ‘She got the wrong idea.’

  ‘What do you mean? What are you talking about?’ Pinned to the spot by incisive blue eyes, Ellie couldn’t move a muscle. Her jaw ached from the effort of swallowing and her breathing was shallow and uneven.

  Her thoughts were all over the place, because the conversation felt intimate. The gap between them had been breached and she didn’t like it.

  ‘Naomi wasn’t chucked out of my office. I’m not quite the monster you seem to think I am.’

  ‘I don’t think anything of the sort!’

  ‘Sure, she surprised me by coming here and, sure, I don’t encourage women to pay impromptu visits to my office. This is where I work. That said, she showed up, and I was perfectly happy to make her a cup of coffee, take time out for fifteen minutes and then escort her out but...’ He shrugged. ‘The conversation didn’t go as expected. It seems that Naomi equated an invite to Max’s wedding with a declaration of intent from me. She showed me pictures of the dress she wanted to wear to the wedding and then she hinted one too many times that she wanted more than fun...that she thought it might be time for me to meet the parents. I thought she was kidding and, when I told her that I thought she understood the score, she went ballistic. Women may not be robots, Ellie, but they should be astute enough to know where I stand on the subject of longevity when I’ve been upfront with them from the start.’

  ‘Poor Naomi...’ Ellie could think of nothing worse than actually falling for someone like James Stowe.

  ‘Poor Naomi?’

  ‘Her hopes were raised and you dashed them, and I don’t suppose you were all that tactful with it.’

  He burst out laughing and she threw him a shadow of a smile.

  ‘And just for your information, James, I’m not at all resentful. I love my job. It’s challenging and absorbing and, if I don’t happen to agree with how you approach relationships, then that’s just a personal thing and I don’t want you thinking... I wouldn’t want that to somehow...’

  ‘It won’t.’ He waved down her stumbling apology. He looked at her curiously, head tilted to one side. ‘Would you have thrown a hissy fit if the guy you were dating told you he wasn’t into love and marriage?’

  ‘I wouldn’t be dating any guy who wasn’t prepared to be serious,’ Ellis said bluntly. Once again, she was swamped by a feeling of inappropriate intimacy, although she knew that that was on her part. As far as James was concerned, for once they would simply be conversing as two people instead of as boss and employee. He was casual with all his staff and he encouraged them to talk to him about anything and everything. It was all part of his immense charm.

  Six months ago, he had spent an hour holed up with her friend Trish, providing her with a shoulder to cry on because she’d broken up with her boyfriend and was finding it hard to concentrate. He had listened, handed out tissues and then offered her one of his houses abroad for a week’s vacation with a friend, all paid for by him.

  ‘That’s a tall order for a guy.’

  ‘It’s a tall order for you.’ She flushed and then stood up, smoothing down her skirt.

  When their eyes met, she could tell that he was amused and sure enough, his eyebrows raised, barely stifling a grin, he said, ‘I see the work hat is back on.’

  ‘There’s a lot to get through today.’

  ‘I think we’ve got through quite a bit already,’ James mused softly. ‘More than could be expected.’

  Ellie flinched. He had managed to slide his foot through the door. Not by much, but enough, and she quailed at the prospect of him thinking that a foot through the door somehow gave him permission to introduce a new level to their well-oiled working relationship.

  Ellie knew that she was overreacting. When you worked closely with someone, when you were with them day after day, hour upon hour, it was impossible not to let them into your life. The fact that she had held him at bay for so long was the very reason for his curiosity about her.

  She wished, somewhere deep inside her, that she could be different...that she could be more open. But she’d always been quiet, and that reserved nature had become something more after her dad had died.

  Being responsible for her mother had made her independent. She had had no one to help deal with the loss of the person she loved. Her parents had both been only children and, as she was an only child, there had just been her. Her friends had had their own teenage lives to lead. At first they had been sympathetic, but bit by bit the whole business of living had grabbed their attention and, one by one, they had faded away, occasionally glancing back to see how she was doing.

  She had coped on her own and she had learned to deal with the problems life threw at her without recourse to anyone and without asking anyone’s help. She had learned to be contained to the point where sharing herself felt like a mountain that was too steep to climb.

  Certainly, sharing anything about her private life with her boss, her thoughts and feelings, had never, ever been an option. Now, it felt as though something had shifted underneath her feet, and she would have to claw back lost ground—get them both back to where they had been.

  ‘Shall I cancel the flights and bookings for Naomi?’ Her fingers itched for the safety of her tablet which she had been ordered to abandon. ‘Will you still be going to Barbados as planned or would you like me to rearrange that trip and reschedule it for later in the month, when you return from Hawaii?’

  ‘Slow down!’ He began heading back towards the working part of his office and, in his wake, Ellie heard the laughter in his voice. She gritted her teeth with frustration. He glanced over his shoulder and, sure enough, his lips were twitching.

  ‘Before I do anything, I’ll have to run the gauntlet and face the sea of nosey parkers waiting out here. Wouldn’t want to have to bring out the smelling salts because someone’s fainted with curiosity. You know as well as I do that some of those computer guys out there can be drama queens...’ He paused, one hand on the door. ‘And don’t despair, Ellie. Give me half an hour, and we’ll be back to our usual routine. Boss, secretary...and no lines to be crossed...’

  CHAPTER TWO

  IT WAS RAINING the following morning when Ellie left her flat for work, a fine, demoralising drizzle that seeped under her lightweight mac and clothes, and settled with clammy persistence on her skin.

  She’d had a restless night. The ‘back to the usual routine’, which James had jauntily flung at her before departing to satisfy the demands of his unashamedly curious staff, had failed to materialise.

  At least for her.

  The door he’d opened had remained stubbornly open even though she had thrown herself into work for what had remained of the day, barely lifting her eyes from her computer as she’d blitzed all the emails wai
ting to be dealt with and given ferocious attention to whatever slim backlog of reports there were to go through.

  Head bowed, she had still managed to feel the full wattage of his attention on her, however. He’d perched on her desk, rattling off instructions at his usual breakneck speed, and she’d felt his eyes boring into her, felt his curiosity about those titbits he had managed to eke out of her, opinions she had somehow found herself forced into confiding. She had slid her eyes sideways and been confronted with his black jeans pulled taut over a muscular thigh and had hurriedly had to look away.

  So now, hurrying against the blowing, fading summer drizzle, the last thing she expected was to hear a woman’s voice calling her name from behind. In fact, she ignored the summons for a few seconds, and only stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, at which point she swung round sharply, blinking as the wind blew back the hood of her mac and the rain fell lightly against her face.

  She peered up, subliminally taking in the high black shoes, the stupidly long, slender legs, the short red burst of skirt and the black top, all partially concealed beneath the distinctive cream and black check of a designer trench coat. The leggy blonde was enviably dry because she’d had the basic common sense to carry an umbrella with her. So, while Ellie pushed her wet hair from her face and grappled with the hood of her mac, which insisted on doing its own thing, the other woman managed to look only slightly and attractively tousled.

  ‘You probably don’t remember me.’

  Ellie remembered very well. Not many people could forget Naomi. They had met in passing a month ago, purely by chance, when Ellie had been hurrying to cross the road to get to her bus on the other side. Naomi had been in the passenger seat of James’s Ferrari and he had screeched to a halt at the kerb to offer Ellie a lift to wherever she was going. Perfunctory introductions had been made, and in five seconds Ellie had been able to commit to memory the bored blue eyes of his companion, the shiny, long, straight blonde hair swept over one shoulder, the pale golden tanned skin flawlessly smooth and the tiny diamond stud in her perfectly straight nose.