Blind Date with the Boss

Oh, my gosh. When he smiled the skin around his eyes crinkled and his face was transformed. He looked just as he had playing football with his nephews—delightfully carefree and young.

‘I had a cup of coffee for breakfast,’ he said.

‘Is that all?’

‘Yes. It’s all I ever have.’

Sally was sure she shouldn’t correct her boss, but she couldn’t help herself. ‘But breakfast is terribly important. My father and brothers couldn’t face a day’s work without a mountain of toast and a full cooked breakfast.’

‘What kinds of work do your father and brothers do?’

‘Is that your next question?’

Another gorgeous smile. ‘I guess it is.’

Emboldened by this warmth, Sally told him, ‘My father and my eldest brother, Matt, run our family’s sheep and wheat property at Tarra-Binya. Steve’s on an oil rig off Western Australia. Josh operates a big drag line in the Central Queensland coalfields and Damon’s a mustering contractor, when he’s not on the rodeo circuit.’

The dark eyebrows rose higher while she told him this. ‘That’s quite a family. I can see why they need their big breakfasts.’

Sally smiled. ‘And now it’s my turn to ask another question.’

Logan Black actually chuckled. ‘I’m nervous.’

‘Don’t be.’ She stifled a terrible urge to ask him about the white roses. I can’t ask that. I mustn’t. Instead, she blurted, ‘What’s the most important thing I should know about you?’

‘I’m your boss.’

‘Come on, that’s cheating. It has to be something I don’t already know.’

‘Who said there were rules?’

‘We’re supposed to be getting to know each other.’ The sudden tightness in Logan’s face warned Sally that she might be overstepping the mark. ‘Of course, you’re right. You’re the boss and you should set the rules.’

He accepted this as his due. ‘I’m sure we’re not supposed to get deep and meaningful. Stick to everyday, non-invasive questions. Ask me whether I’ve lived in Sydney all my life, or where I went to school. Favourite subjects at school. That sort of thing.’

‘Let me guess. Your favourite subject at school was mathematics.’

A surprised little laugh escaped him. ‘Absolutely.’

‘And you went to a private boys’ school like Sydney Grammar or King’s.’

Again, he looked amused. ‘Almost right. I started at Sydney Grammar, but—’ he dropped his gaze and released a rough sigh ‘my family fell on hard times and I couldn’t stay there.’

‘That’s rotten luck.’ The grim set of his mouth told Sally that this had been a huge disappointment. ‘You’ve obviously done very well in spite of the setback,’ she suggested gently.

Shrugging her sympathy aside, as if he wanted to get away from the subject of his family’s misfortune, he said, ‘But I have lived in Sydney all my life.’ He looked up again. ‘I guess you must have spent most of your life out west.’

She told him briefly about Tarra-Binya and even more briefly about Chloe. She said, ‘I know you like football. What’s your favourite?’

At first he looked upset and Sally wondered if she’d broken an unspoken rule. Were they really supposed to pretend that the interlude in the park had never happened?

After a bit, he said simply, ‘I really like Rugby League.’ And then, ‘What about you? What sports do you play?’

‘I’ve given most of them a go,’ she told him. ‘But I guess I was best at tennis and horse riding.’ She watched him thoughtfully. ‘So you were good at school, good at sport and you’re successful in your career. Is there anything you’re not good at?’

He laughed and had the grace to look embarrassed. ‘Oh, yes. I’m absolutely hopeless at dancing.’

‘Really?’ Sally gasped—not because Logan’s answer was so surprising, but because her heart began to race and a wave of fear rose through her as she remembered that horrifying night at the country dance. She saw again Kyle Francis’s handsome face, his beguiling smile as he’d coaxed her outside.

It’s OK. I can do this. She was not going to panic simply because a man mentioned the word dancing.

Logan was looking puzzled and he sounded defensive. ‘Most guys are hopeless at dancing, aren’t they?’

OK…she could either dissolve into a nervous heap or she could rise above this moment. Knowing she’d rather not dissolve, Sally held her head high. ‘Where I come from, everyone goes to bush dances and Outback balls. My big brothers taught me how to dance. The waltz, the samba, the foxtrot. I love to dance!’