Play Thing

Abby frowned and tut-tutted. ‘Why do you put yourself down like that?’

‘Habit,’ Charlotte wanted to say, but she wisely kept silent. Abby had always chastised her for being self-pitying and Charlotte agreed it wasn’t an attractive trait. Didn’t mean it stopped her from lamenting her lack of a love life in her quieter moments.

‘Anyway, I lost my head, had the best sex of my life, then walk into my new boss’s office this morning and realise he’s the hot-sex guy.’

‘I can’t believe this.’ Abby’s eyes widened, her expression awestruck. ‘It’s like something out of those romance novels you devour.’

‘I know, right?’ Charlotte couldn’t help but smirk. ‘Who knew I had an inner vixen?’

Abby squared her shoulders, her nod emphatic. ‘Well, I think it’s great. About time you had some fun.’

‘It’s not going to happen again.’

Despite that tiny, insistent voice deep inside that whispered how great it would be to feel that good again.

‘How did he react when he saw you this morning?’

‘Not surprised.’

Abby startled. ‘You mean he knew? About you working for him?’

Charlotte nodded, anger quashing her momentarily lapse into wistful. ‘Yeah. He’s good at his job. Has a mega reputation in the accountancy world for taking ailing firms and turning them around. So he researched me. In his defence, he said he didn’t recognise me—’

‘I bet he didn’t,’ Abby chortled.

‘I’d taken my hair down and my glasses off before trying on the lingerie, trying to get into some vampy character to see if I’d feel any different, so I guess I didn’t look anything like my work picture.’ She dabbed at pastry crumbs with her fingertip, pushing them around the plate, embarrassed to admit how she’d been role playing for a brief moment in time at that warehouse. ‘He said he only recognised me later, when I used a phrase I’ve been using a lot in our business dealings.’

‘Well, I’m assuming it wasn’t take me now?’

Charlotte shot Abby a death glare and she laughed.

‘He sounds like a bad, bad boy, not telling you the truth immediately when he recognised you.’ Abby snapped her fingers. ‘Hey, isn’t that what you said you wanted before Mak left, a bad boy?’

‘Yeah, be careful what you wish for.’ Charlotte rolled her eyes. ‘Now I have to work with that bad boy for a month and pretend he didn’t rock my world. Several times.’

Abby beamed. ‘You go, girl.’

Charlotte managed a wry smile. ‘The only place I’m going right now is back to work with some of your amazing pastries, so the ratfink can try and buy us off with treats.’

Abby’s smile faded. ‘You’ll be okay, yeah? Working with him?’

‘I’ll be fine,’ Charlotte said, hoping her conviction lasted when faced with the prospect of working one-on-one with her dishy boss for the foreseeable future.

CHAPTER EIGHT (#u6982bd65-25ed-5fe4-a87d-3cbee9cbe4a2)

ALEX FOUND HIS gaze drifting to the elevator all too often as he mingled with staff in their cubicles. Charlotte should have been back by now and the longer she stayed away, the more he wondered whether she had done a runner.

Not that she struck him as the flighty type. Not if her work record was any indication. But if she’d been half as rattled as him after their earlier meeting...

Damn, he hadn’t expected to be so affected by her. He’d been prepared to make his confession, ensure she understood and move on to work. He hadn’t expected to be so confused.

His visceral reaction to seeing her again startled him. His gut had griped like he’d drunk too much fine cab sav when he’d seen her in that professional get-up. There’d been nothing remotely sexy about her skirt, blouse and jacket, but when she’d looked at him—albeit in stunned horror—he’d felt it like a kick in the head.

It had something to do with her eyes. Those cool, grey orbs held a world of secrets and he’d love to discover each and every one.

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

Alex had a job to do. Turn this company around. And Charlotte was a big part of making that happen.

As if thoughts of her had conjured her up, the elevator doors slid open and she stepped out, laden bags in each hand. The staff clearly looked forward to Le Miel’s delights because they flocked to her, quickly taking the bags and heading for the mini conference room where they’d set up cutlery and crockery.

Her gaze homed in on him like a radar and he felt that kick again. It unsettled him and he reacted with a goofy grin. It didn’t go over well if her raised eyebrow and supercilious expression were any indication.

He crossed the office, determined to set her at ease. They had a lot of work to do. ‘Thanks for picking up the morning tea.’ He gestured towards the conference room. ‘Shall we?’

She didn’t respond, other than a curt nod. He much preferred the warm, willing woman he’d held in his arms yesterday but knew her frosty counterpart would be much more conducive to work.

He followed her into the conference room, not surprised when she kept her distance. He chatted with staff, made small talk, discovering that Edgar had worked here the longest, an impressive twenty-four years, that Suzie had five kids, that Viola would happily take a redundancy to go farm alpacas and that Charlotte was the glue that held everyone together.

Staff raved about her, vindicating his choice to make her the new manager. She had smarts, kindness and respect, three traits that would ensure she excelled in the job.

But appointing her in that role meant they’d be working a lot closer together for his time here. The old manager had been responsible for running the place into the ground almost single-handedly and a lot of work had to be done to ensure it prospered again. He was up for the challenge. Would Charlotte be?

If she could barely stand to be in the same room as him, he doubted it.

As some of the workers drifted back to their cubicles, she finally approached him. ‘You did a good thing with this morning tea, thanks.’

‘Good working relations are important to me.’

Her eyes widened imperceptibly, pinning him with what he’d quickly come to recognise as her signature scepticism.

He hadn’t meant it as anything other than what it was: a declaration to foster a solid work ethic. But she glared at him as if he’d made some gross sexual innuendo.

‘We need to talk,’ he said, making a grand show of glancing at his watch. ‘You’re a team leader here and I need to pick your brains about some of the ideas I’ve been kicking around.’

‘Sure.’ Her brisk nod was as terse as her response. ‘I’ve got clients all afternoon so does first thing in the morning suit?’

Usually, he’d insist they work through dinner but in this case he’d be better off keeping his distance for now.

‘Fine, see you at nine.’

She stared at him a second too long, as if she couldn’t quite figure him out. That made two of them. Because as Charlotte stalked out of the conference room, he couldn’t tear his gaze off her ass, the memory of how it had felt in his hands making his palms tingle.

After all his self-talk, he still wanted her.

Not good.

The smart thing to do would be to lock himself away in his office for the rest of the day, but that plan was shot to shit when he reviewed the latest performance reviews.