The Boss's Inexperienced Secretary

And there would be no more attempts at trying to be ‘normal’, as her mother put it—anyone who wasn’t married by the time they were twenty-five or at least in a serious relationship that was going somewhere was dubbed abnormal by her mother. She wouldn’t make a mistake like Peter again.

Kim walked over to her little Mini, which was waiting for her in the street outside. There were benefits to being autonomous. She was able to please herself what she did and when she did it and with whom. No more standing in the rain on a windy Saturday afternoon watching a football match she didn’t want to see. Her Saturdays with David had been a litany of those. No more putting someone else first constantly. No more allowing someone to turn a good day bad simply because they were in a disagreeable mood. The list was endless.

Why was she thinking about David so much today? she asked herself as she climbed into her car. He rarely crossed her mind from one week to the next these days. When she did think of him it was with a feeling of thankfulness for the narrow escape she’d had. The man she had thought he was would never have treated her as cruelly as David had done; she hadn’t known him at all and she had been forced to acknowledge that in the weeks and months after he had walked out on her. That had been scary in itself and more than a little humiliating, but it had taught her a valuable lesson: no one ever really knew what another person was thinking or feeling, however transparent they appeared.

She started the engine, straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin. Time to drive to the railway station and then make the journey into the city. She would acquit herself as well as she could at the interview and then put the whole sorry episode behind her.

And at least she had been offered an interview. A small smile touched her lips. According to one of the other girls, Kate had been gutted when she had heard about it, having failed to secure one herself. That had been, oh, so sweet. The smile widened into an unrepentant grin as she drove off.

* * *

An hour and a half later she was sitting in the office of Blaise West’s present secretary, an attractive young woman who was enormously pregnant. She had arrived a little early, just as another interviewee had been about to go into the inner sanctum. This woman had been tall and slim and beautifully dressed, with a hundred-watt smile she’d kept for Mr West’s secretary. Kim she had looked up and down, her face portraying the fact she didn’t think she needed worry about the competition.

Kim agreed with her. Surprisingly, it helped her nerves. She was probably the wild card in the ensemble, and if the gossip about the dynamo who was Blaise West was true, he’d realise this immediately he set eyes on her. She expected only a very short interview.

The office building was all lush carpets and glass lifts, as befitted an entrepreneur of Blaise West’s standing. She’d done a little research after applying for the job. Apparently Blaise West had diversified into various money-making stratas after making his first million or two in property when he’d barely been out of short trousers. His other main forte—the manufacture and distribution of commercial and home soft furnishings— was known throughout the western world as second to none.

Kim had never even seen a picture of him, but she knew what to expect from company gossip. He was nearly forty years old, a powerhouse of energy who had a reputation for ruthlessness and cold-blooded tenacity that was legendary. He’d been married and divorced. One child. Umpteen girlfriends. Attractive, rumour had it, but then there would be plenty of women who found power and wealth attractive whatever the man in question looked like physically.

Her thoughts sped on as she pretended to flick through the glossy magazine which was one of many on the low coffee-table in front of her. The secretary had asked her if she’d like coffee when she’d first arrived, ordering it by telephone. Kim had been impressed. Blaise West’s secretary and personal assistant didn’t stoop to such mundane duties, then.

She’d been even more in awe when a tray had arrived almost instantly, holding a cup of coffee in an elegant, wafer-thin cup and a small plate of expensive-looking iced biscuits. It made the tea and coffee machines in the Surrey division with their paper cups and murky charcoal contents even less palatable.

She’d barely taken more than two sips of the coffee, which had proved to be scalding hot, before the hundred-watt woman emerged with a flounce from the inner office. Kim got the impression the interview hadn’t gone too well. The lady in question didn’t stop to exchange pleasantries with Mr West’s secretary, marching straight out of the office with her head held high and her cheeks burning.

A moment after the door had closed behind her, a buzzer on the secretary’s desk sounded. ‘Pat?’ It was a deep voice, throbbing with irritation. ‘I thought you said you’d picked the best of the bunch from the applications? If what I’ve seen thus far is the best, I hate to think what the others were like. I trust there’ll prove to be at least one who isn’t completely moronic.’

Kim saw the woman glance swiftly at her as she hastily pressed a button and murmured something about ‘highly qualified’ into the receiver she’d picked up. Now, she couldn’t hear what was being said at the other end, but after a moment or two the secretary spoke in such a low voice Kim had to strain her ears while keeping her eyes on the magazine. ‘One more this morning and then one this afternoon; we agreed on half a dozen, remember? And Miss Abbott is already here.’

Another pause, and then, ‘Yes, I’ll do that. And I’ve organised the conference with the McBain people for a week on Monday, which will give our sales team time to get their presentation spot-on. You’re aware your lunch engagement is one o’clock?’ Replacing the receiver, the woman said to Kim, ‘Mr West will see you now, Miss Abbott.’

‘Thank you.’ Kim stood to her feet and, as their eyes met, she said with a smile, ‘I’ll try and restore his faith in womankind, shall I?’ It was useless trying to pretend she hadn’t heard.

The secretary smiled back ruefully. ‘Two of the applicants yesterday were men and they fared no better. Mr West can be a little difficult to please.’

Mr West sounded impossible to please. Kim kept her thoughts to herself, merely inclining her head and then waiting as the other woman tapped on the interconnecting door, opening it and standing aside for her to pass through as she said, ‘Miss Abbott, Mr West.’

Stepping into the room, Kim was aware of several things seemingly all at once. Her surroundings were large and light and airy, the floor-to-ceiling windows, which took up most of the end wall, showing an incredible view of the city. The room was beautifully furnished, but then it would be. And it was quiet. Although the offices were located on an extremely busy main road, you’d never have thought it. Lastly, but not least, the bright light streaming in through the windows had the effect of turning the man sitting at the massive desk in front of her virtually into a silhouette, putting anyone entering the room at a distinct disadvantage. Something, Kim felt sure, Blaise West was fully aware of.

‘Good morning, Miss Abbott. Please be seated.’ He had stood to his feet as she approached, leaning forward and shaking her hand before indicating the chair placed at an angle to one side of the desk.

Kim was glad she could sit down. If the room was impressive, the man was more so. Now she could focus properly she could see he looked hard and rugged, not good-looking exactly but the thick black hair turning grey at the temples and startlingly blue eyes gave an impression of vibrant virility. He was expensively put together, his suit and shirt screaming a designer label, but it was the way the clothes sat on the big male body that was electrifying, that and his height. Probably because she was so sensitive about normally being on an eyeline or looking down an inch or two on most men, the fact that Blaise West was at least six or seven inches taller than her had come as a shock, that and the aggressive masculinity. Ridiculously it seemed wrong that he was sitting in an office. He should be scaling an unscalable mountain or fighting man-eating crocodiles in some remote undiscovered land; something extreme anyway.

Without any preliminaries whatsoever, he settled back in his huge leather chair and said coolly, ‘So you want to come and work for me, Miss Abbott. Why is that?’

Coherent thought went out of the window. For the first time in her life Kim felt she knew what a rabbit experienced when it was caught in the glare of a car’s headlights. She stared at him blankly, knowing she had to say something, especially because she was confirming his earlier words—another moron.

Pulling herself together with some difficulty, she forced herself to answer the question she had expected to be asked at some point in the interview and for which she’d prepared a reply. ‘As I explained in my letter, I’ve been at the Surrey branch for a couple of years now and feel that has given me a good grounding as to what makes West International such a hugely successful company. I like my job there but I feel it is time for more of a challenge.’

He said nothing for a few moments. Kim felt the urge to start babbling but restrained herself. Whatever she said or did she wouldn’t be offered this job, she knew that, but she would like to get through this interview without making an absolute fool of herself. So instead of giving in to the nerves that were attacking her, she waited.

‘Textbook answer.’ It was not laudatory. ‘And said in slightly different ways by the previous applicants.’

Kim decided she didn’t like Blaise West. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry, just say something original.’

She didn’t think he would like the original thought that sprang to mind. Reminding herself that she certainly needed the job in Surrey and he was the controlling force in all the branches, she said stiffly, ‘I would like the opportunity for more responsibility and to travel now and again, which I understand the post of your personal assistant involves.’

‘Would it surprise you to know that they’ve all said that too?’

She definitely didn’t like this man. ‘Actually, no, it wouldn’t.’

‘Oh, and why is that?’

‘Because if you treat people as morons they are likely to behave as morons,’ she said sharply. She regretted it immediately, not so much for herself but because she realised too late she might have got his secretary into trouble. And one didn’t answer Blaise West back; his face said so. She waited for the explosion.

‘Ah…’ He leaned forward, the vivid blue eyes never leaving her face. ‘You heard.’

It was no good denying it. She nodded, deciding she wasn’t going to apologise for her tone. If she got the sack in Surrey, she got the sack. She’d survive.

‘Then I apologise. I should imagine it wasn’t the best start to a job interview,’ he said quietly.

The apology was so unexpected she blinked in surprise. Clearing her throat, she said warily, ‘It doesn’t matter, Mr West. Like the others, I am clearly not what you’re looking for. Thank you for your time.’ As she stood up she saw his eyes narrow.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

She stared at him, her cheeks burning. ‘I presumed the interview was at an end.’

‘Then you presumed wrong. We haven’t even started.’ As she sank down in the seat again, he continued to dissect her face. She didn’t think she had ever felt quite so uncomfortable in her life. ‘Now…’ he leant back in the leather chair once more, his elbows on the padded arm rest ‘…I’m going to ask that question again and I’d like a truthful answer this time. Why do you want to come and work for me, Miss Abbott?’

She couldn’t remember the last time she had blushed like this. ‘It was a truthful answer,’ she said tightly. And then, as the black eyebrows rose quizzically, she added, ‘Just not a complete one, perhaps.’

She thought she saw his mouth twitch. It was a well-shaped mouth, firm, sensual, above a cleft chin. ‘So?’

His soft, silky tone didn’t fool Kim. He was determined to have his pound of flesh, she thought hotly. Of course, she could make up a hundred and one things which would be more acceptable than the truth, but somehow she felt he’d know if she did. Pride straightened her spine. ‘Like I said, I do feel I’ve gone as far as I can at your Surrey branch, but to be fair I probably wouldn’t have applied for this post but for something I overheard.’ She hesitated. ‘Something which prompted me to step out of my comfort zone and prove something to myself, I suppose.’

The blue eyes were like lasers. ‘What did you hear?’

‘It was personal,’ she said flatly. ‘Let’s just say it was aimed at me and it wasn’t complimentary.’

‘Anything to do with your work?’

That was a fair question in the circumstances. ‘No, my work has always been satisfactory, as I’m sure Mr Goode would confirm.’

‘He already has or you wouldn’t be here now.’ It was dry. ‘So, Miss Abbott—’ he paused for a moment ‘—are you wasting my time?’

‘What?’ The colour which had begun to subside flooded her cheeks again.