Blackmailed By The Boss

‘Yes, it was,’ Jordan agreed, a wry gleam in his eyes. ‘Very pleasant.’

‘But we’ve got to work together and I don’t think we should complicate things.’

‘Who said anything about complicating things?’ Jordan shrugged. ‘I’m all for keeping things simple.’

She nodded. ‘Of course.’ She had never for one moment thought that he would read anything serious into last night. ‘Look, I’ll be honest with you, I’m feeling a bit awkward.’ She tried desperately to hold his gaze but failed miserably and had to look away. ‘I’m hoping we can put this…incident behind us and forget about it, go back to the way things used to be.’

Jordan reached out a hand and tipped her chin upwards so that she was forced to meet his eyes. ‘Do you feel guilty about last night because you are still in love with David?’ He asked the question quietly.

The question and the touch of his hand against her skin brought a very heated response coursing through her veins. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business, Jordan,’ she snapped, pulling away from him.

He shrugged. ‘Well, if you are still holding a torch for David, you’re making a big mistake. The guy is a loser.’

‘And I really don’t need your analysis of David, thank you. You’re hardly a model of perfection where women are concerned yourself.’

Jordan smiled at that. ‘You weren’t complaining last night,’ he said teasingly and watched the even brighter flare of colour in her cheeks.

‘You see! This is exactly why last night was such a mistake,’ she spluttered indignantly. ‘I can’t have you reminding me about it every two minutes we have to work together.’

‘I’m not reminding you about it every two minutes; we were discussing the implications of last night before moving on to the day’s work, like a couple of grown-ups—remember?’

‘Don’t get smart with me, Jordan. There are no implications from last night; it was just two people enjoying a bit of light-hearted fun. So let’s just forget about it and move on. OK?’

‘Fine with me.’ Jordan shrugged.

‘Good.’ She picked up some papers that were sitting beside her. ‘Those are for you; they are the estimates for the soft furnishings.’

‘Great, thanks.’ His voice was dry. ‘I’ll look through them and get back to you.’

‘Good idea.’

‘And I’ve got something for you.’ He opened his briefcase. She thought he was going to pass her some papers that he wanted her to look at. Instead he took out a folded black lacy bra and put it on her desk. ‘It was on the floor in the lounge.’

Mortified beyond belief, Charlotte grabbed it and stuck it in the top drawer of her desk. ‘What are you thinking of?’ she said shakily, glancing around through the glass walls to see if any of her co-workers had noticed. Her office made her feel a bit like she worked in a goldfish bowl—everyone could see what she was doing.

‘Well, I was thinking that you might just be missing your bra,’ he said with a smile.

‘I’ve got to work here, Jordan! I don’t want everyone knowing that I’ve had a moment’s insanity with the boss.’

‘Charlotte, they’d have to have bionic vision to see what that tiny scrap of material is,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘Relax, for heaven’s sake.’ Before she realised his intention he reached out and tipped her chin up so that she was forced to meet his eyes.

‘And as moments of insanity go it was very, very pleasant,’ he murmured huskily, his eyes moving towards her lips.

Then he released her and walked out of her office. Her heart was thumping. She felt sick inside with the knowledge that she had just handled that situation appallingly. Maybe she should just have laughed the whole thing off instead of acting so uptight?

Breathing deeply to release the tension inside, Charlotte tried very hard to think straight. But her mind was a jumbled mess of words and feelings she couldn’t get a handle on. In desperation she reached for the phone and dialled her sister’s number.

The answering machine came on and she was just about to hang up in complete frustration when Jennifer answered, sounding a bit breathless.

‘Oh, hi, sis. Sorry, I was just attending to Matilda here. She won’t stop crying.’

In the background Charlotte could hear her four-week-old niece giving full vent to her lungs. ‘Sorry, I’ve obviously caught you at a bad time. I’ll ring back later.’

‘No, no, it’s OK,’ Jennifer assured her hastily. ‘What’s the matter?’

Charlotte smiled to herself. Jennifer was her younger sister by five years but they were very close. ‘You know me so well,’ she murmured.

‘I know that tone in your voice, if that’s what you mean.’ Jennifer was shushing her baby and Charlotte could hear her picking her up, could imagine the scene as she wedged a phone on one shoulder whilst holding a wriggling infant on the other.

‘I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I’m not coping with anything at the moment, and my emotions are all over the place.’

‘Well, I think that’s pretty normal given the circumstances with you and David. You have been dating him for a long time; you’re bound to be upset. You should have taken time off work—’

‘Jen, I did something terrible last night.’ She cut across her sister, swiftly needing to unburden herself. ‘I slept with Jordan.’

There was a deathly silence at the other end of the phone. Even Matilda had gone quiet.

‘Crikey, Charlie!’

‘I know!’ Charlotte flicked a glance through the glass partition and saw Jordan’s secretary laughing with him. He looked incredibly relaxed and for some reason that made Charlotte feel even more on edge. ‘I don’t know what happened! One moment I was going to have coffee with him and the next we were in bed.’

Jennifer laughed.

‘It’s not funny.’

‘No, but it’s not that terrible either! To be honest, I’ve always secretly thought that Jordan would be perfect for you. Dad thinks so too. In fact he was saying not so long ago how well you two work together now and what a blessing he has you both at the business. And Jordan is so nice and so good-looking—’

‘Oh, come on!’ Charlotte cut in drily. ‘Don’t start taking artistic licence. The only thing Dad would say is that Jordan makes lots of money for the company. Dad is a businessman first and foremost.’

‘No, he’s not. He’s a big softie really, and he’ll be pleased you’re having a relationship with Jordan.’

‘We’re not having a relationship—it was sex!’

‘Well, a relationship has to start somewhere. Why not in bed? At least you’ve sampled the goods and found them in working order.’ Jennifer giggled. ‘I’m so pleased. If nothing else, you needed someone to take your mind off David.’

Jordan had certainly done that, Charlotte thought wryly.

‘Listen, why don’t the two of you come for Sunday dinner?’ Jennifer said excitedly.

‘I don’t think you’ve been listening to me, Jen. We’re not dating. In fact, we’re barely being civil to each other this morning. And besides, you know what he’s like where women are concerned—I’ll be just another notch on his bedpost.’

‘Not necessarily; you could be special.’

‘And the world could be flat,’ Charlotte drawled. ‘Anyway, it’s too close for comfort. I’ve got to work with the guy and I don’t want the complications; I’ve enough problems. I don’t know what the hell possessed me.’

‘I do—he’s gorgeous!’ Jennifer giggled again. ‘All right, well, you just come for dinner then. I’d better go. Madam here has just been sick down my blouse. See you Sunday.’

‘See you Sunday.’ Charlotte was speaking to a dead phone line now. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that Jennifer would be pro-Jordan. She’d been singing his praises since he had joined the company, and her husband, Steve, had got very friendly with him. Even though they lived just outside London in quite a rural area, Jordan was often over at their house. In fact it was through her sister that Charlotte got to hear snippets of information about Jordan’s girlfriends.