Unbuttoned by the Boss: Unbuttoned by Her Maverick Boss / The Far Side of Paradise / Rub It In

He looked at her, his eyes like burnt black holes. ‘What is there to tell, Sophy? I was my father’s punch bag. Eventually I got taken away but went from foster home to foster home. I didn’t adjust well.’

She stared, shocked at the sudden revelation, at the painful viciousness underlying the plain statement of facts. Not many people would ‘adjust’ to that.

He looked uncomfortable, twisting away from her. ‘But I’m not like him. I’ve never hit a woman, Sophy. And I’ve never hit anyone who wasn’t hitting me first.’

He didn’t need to tell her that. ‘And you don’t get angry any more?’

He relaxed a fraction. ‘I prefer to get passionate.’

Yeah, he channelled his aggression elsewhere.

‘Passionate about exercise,’ she teased softly, wanting to lighten his mood. She knew his bio in the company literature was tellingly sparse. Now she saw his work with the Whistle Fund revealed far more. Art camps, for one thing. Sports days. All the work geared to underprivileged, at risk kids. He identified with them. He’d been one. ‘Did you get into trouble?’

‘Totally.’

‘What things did you do?’

He didn’t answer.

‘How bad?’

‘A few stupid things.’ He was fudging it. ‘The school was good.’

‘What kind of stupid things?’ Sophy leaned towards him. ‘Graffiti?’

His grin flashed. ‘You figured it out?’

‘You have that place totally secure—there are security cameras, you live on site. And that massive piece appears overnight? No way would you have let that happen.’

He shrugged. ‘You got me.’

‘You’re quite good.’ He was better than good. ‘Spray cans?’

He nodded. ‘But I wipe my own slate clean now. And I only decorate my own property.’

‘What else?’

He shook his head. ‘Nope. If we’re doing the twenty questions, then it’s your turn to answer.’

She giggled, thrilled inside that he’d opened up just that touch. ‘Okay, what do you want to know?’

‘Past boyfriends.’

‘No. Really?’ That was the most pressing thing he wanted to know about her?

‘Uh-huh.’ His head bobbed, eyes glinting.

‘Not a lot to tell. Dated a couple of boys at high school. Only one serious when I was at university.’

‘How serious?’

‘We got engaged.’

His eyes widened. ‘What happened?’

‘I changed my mind.’

‘You don’t strike me as the kind of person to break a promise easily.’

‘It wasn’t easy. I left the country.’

‘Where did you go?’

‘France for most of the time.’

‘Why did you come back?

‘I missed my family.’ She shrugged. ‘Stupid huh?’

‘No. Not stupid.’ He went to his pack and pulled out his training gear. ‘What did you do at university?’

She’d started law, of course. Had done okay, but didn’t have the family brilliance. ‘I didn’t graduate.’

‘Snap. I left to build the business. Why did you quit?’

She swallowed. ‘That boyfriend. Bad news.’

‘What did he do?’

Cheated, of course. He’d been a law student a few years ahead of her. But he’d only wanted to be with her because of her family’s prestige. She didn’t want to go there. ‘It’s more than past your turn for a question. Past girlfriends?’

He bent and tied his trainer laces. ‘No relationships Sophy, remember?’

‘What about Jayne McIntosh?’

His fingers stilled. ‘What did Charlotte tell you?’

Barely anything—it was a guess. So was her next question. ‘It wasn’t that she didn’t turn you on any more, was it?’

He stood. ‘I never liked this game.’

‘What happened?’

‘Nothing that matters,’ he said shortly. ‘I’m more interested in what’s happening now. Not the past, not the future, but now.’

‘And what is happening now?’ She drew in her lip, wondering if he’d go there—dissect their affair at all.

He paused too. Finally turned—away from her. ‘We’re going for that run.’