Business Arrangement Bride

Tyler was unimpressed. ‘Sounds expensive,’ he commented.

‘It’s more expensive than accepting anyone who happens to have the skills to do the job,’ Mary agreed. ‘But less expensive than realising you’ve appointed someone who doesn’t fit into the team or who doesn’t work effectively with their colleagues.’

She was beginning to perk up a bit now. Tyler’s expression might be unresponsive, but at least he was listening. ‘Before I look for the right person for you, I need to understand the company culture, and that means working very closely with your human resources department. It’s important to know exactly what the job entails and what sort of personality would fit most comfortably into the existing team.

‘I see my job less as matching skills and requirements, and more about forging successful human relationships,’ she finished grandly. She always liked that bit.

Relationships, the dreaded R word! Tyler was sick of hearing about them. He had recently spent a weekend with his best friend and his wife, and Julia had spent her whole time banging on about ‘relationships’ and making free with her advice.

‘For someone so clever at business, you’re extraordinarily stupid when it comes to women,’ she had told him bluntly. ‘You’ve got no idea how to have a relationship.’

Tyler had been outraged. ‘Of course I do! I’ve had loads of girlfriends.’

‘Yes, and how many of them have lasted more than a few weeks? Those are encounters, Ty, not relationships!’

Tyler was fond of Julia in his own way, but her comments had caught him on the raw, especially after that reunion he had gone to with Mike where all his peers seemed to be measuring their success suddenly in terms of wives and children rather than share value or racehorses or fast cars.

‘That’s what being really successful is nowadays,’ Mike had said, amused by Tyler’s bafflement. ‘You’re going to have to get yourself a wife and family, Tyler, if you want to be the man who really does have it all!’

‘And you won’t be that until you learn how to have a relationship,’ Julia added. ‘If you want to be the best, Ty, you’re going to have to get yourself a relationship coach.’

It was all rubbish, of course, but her words had rankled with Tyler. He liked being the best—needed to be the best, even—and he wasn’t prepared to accept that there was anything he didn’t do well, even something as unimportant as relationships. He didn’t do failure, in any shape or form.

Now here was Mary Thomas going on about relationships too.

‘What is it with all this relationship stuff nowadays?’ he demanded truculently. ‘Why is it no one can just do the job they’re paid to do any more? Why do they all have to spend their time forging relationships?’

‘Because unless they do form relationships, they won’t work effectively,’ said Mary, who was wishing Tyler Watts would stop talking and let her get out of these shoes. ‘You know, it’s not a big deal,’ she told him when he made no effort either to move on or to hide his scepticism. ‘It’s not about hugging each other or sitting around chanting. It’s just about understanding that different people have different approaches, different needs, different expectations. It’s about being aware of other people, of what they do and how they do it.’

She attempted a smile, although they tended to be rather wasted on Tyler from what she could remember. ‘Like any other relationship, in fact.’

To her surprise, an arrested expression sprang into the cold blue eyes that were boring in to her. ‘Do you think you can teach that?’

‘Teach what?’

‘All that stuff you were just talking about…you know, understanding, being aware of people…’ Tyler waved a dismissive hand, clearly unable to remember any other alien concepts.

‘Of course,’ said Mary, surprised.

This was one area she really did know about, thanks to Alan. He had been running a coaching course when she’d met him, and she had been bowled over by his psychological insights and grasp of the complexities of human relationships.

Of course, it hadn’t helped when their own relationship had fallen apart, but that was experts for you.

‘I’ve run a number of courses on workplace relationships in the past,’ she went on, thinking there would be no harm in bigging herself up a little. ‘It’s an interesting area, and it’s amazing what a difference tackling problems like this can make to a company’s productivity.’

‘Do you do other kinds of coaching?’ Tyler asked.

‘Yes.’ Mary was really getting into her stride now. ‘I can help people identify their goals at a personal level and work out a strategy to achieve them.’

Now she was talking his language. Tyler looked at her with approval. He might not have a clue about relationships, but he understood goals and strategies all right.

‘In that case, I might have a job for you,’ he said.

Mary was taken by surprise. ‘I thought you weren’t involved with staff recruitment?’

‘This isn’t about staffing,’ he said. ‘It’s about me.’

‘Oh?’ said Mary, puzzled but polite.

‘Yes.’ Characteristically, Tyler went straight to the point. ‘I want to get married.’

CHAPTER TWO

MARY laughed. ‘Well, this is very sudden!’ she said, entering into the spirit of the joke and pretending confusion. She pressed a hand to her throat as if to contain her palpitations. ‘I don’t know what to say. I had no idea you felt that way about me.’

‘What?’ Tyler stared at her.

‘Still, it’s a good offer,’ she said, putting her head on one side as if giving it serious consideration. ‘I’m thirty-five, and a girl my age can’t be picking and choosing. I’m up for it if you are!’

Looking down into her face, Tyler realised with a mixture of incredulity and outrage that she was laughing at him. The grey eyes were alight and a smile was tugging at the corner of her wide mouth.

‘I’m serious,’ he said, glowering.

The smile was wiped off Mary’s face and it was her turn to stare. ‘I thought you were joking!’

‘Do I look like the joking type?’

‘Well, no, now you come to mention it, but…No, come on.’ She laughed uncertainly. ‘You are joking!’

‘I can assure you,’ said Tyler grimly, ‘that I am not in a humorous mood.’

‘But…you don’t want to marry me, surely?’

His expression changed ludicrously. ‘Good God, no!’ he said, appalled at the misunderstanding. ‘I don’t want to marry you.’

Charming, thought Mary acidly. She knew that she wasn’t beautiful and, OK, she was a bit overweight at the moment, but she wasn’t that bad, and Tyler was no George Clooney, when it came down to it. He had no call to look as if he would rather pick up slugs than touch her.

‘Well, you know,’ she said, leaning forward confidentially, her smile a-glitter with defiance, ‘that’s what the princess in the fairy tale always says to the frog, and you know what happens to them!’

Tyler’s fierce brows were drawn together in a ferocious scowl, and if Mary hadn’t been so cross with him by this stage she would have been quailing in her heels. As it was, when he demanded, ‘Do you want a job or not?’ she only looked straight back at him.

‘I’m not at all clear what this job of yours involves,’ she said. ‘Or, to put it another way, I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about!’

A passing waiter, seeing that they were without glasses, approached with a tray, only to falter as Tyler waved him away irritably, but as the man made to retreat Mary gave him her best smile.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’d love one.’

Ignoring Tyler’s glare, she helped herself to a glass of champagne. She didn’t care what he thought anymore. It was late, she was tired, her feet hurt and she was fed up with Tyler Watts looming over her. She didn’t know what he wanted, but it didn’t sound like it was anything to do with recruitment, and that meant he was wasting her time.