In Bed With The Boss

“Yes,” she said dully. “It was mine.”

“Well, surprise, surprise,” he murmured.

And then, with threatened tears making her mouth taste salty, she turned to stare up at the impassive man who stood before her. “Oh, Blake,” she whispered, because he might be forbidding, but at that moment he looked so damned strong. “What the hell am I going to do?”

Chapter 4 (#u62f14908-f765-5d17-803e-d0bbcf357666)

“YOU could always go back on the catwalk,” Blake murmured.

But Josephine shook her head. Her days of hanging around the cattle market, of being judged by the length of her legs and the swell of her breast were long gone. “I’m through with modeling.”

Blake’s eyes glittered. “You could always come and work for me.”

“You?” Disbelievingly, Josephine stared at the to-die-for face. “You’d give me a job? Just like that?”

“Well, no, not just like that. Didn’t I hear that you’d gone back to school? That you were planning to make your mark in the world of high finance?”

She wasn’t sure if it was sarcasm she could hear in his voice, but now was hardly the time for nitpicking about his attitude. “But I know virtually nothing about venture capitalism.”

Now the blue eyes gleamed. “Oh, so you remember what I do for a living, do you, Josephine?” he questioned softly.

She remembered a whole lot more besides, but that was a trip down memory lane that she did not intend taking. “Like I said, it’s not something I’m familiar with.”

“Well, it isn’t exactly brain surgery,” he drawled. “And you’re a fast learner, aren’t you?”

Her cheeks flushed as she wondered whether he was referring to the things he had taught her in bed, but she pushed the thought away. “Why?” she whispered. “Why would you go out of your way to help me?”

His mouth curved. Did she think that if she turned those big, green eyes on him, she could twist him around her little finger like she’d done once before, and make him act in a way that was alien to him? Because before Josephine, he’d never had a one-night stand in his life. Never.

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself that it’s because your plight is making my heart bleed for you,” he murmured. “You got yourself into this situation and part of me feels like telling you to get yourself out of it, but—”

“But?”

“Luke may be a worthless airhead,” he mused. “But the fact remains that he happens to be related to me—and his behavior leaves a rather nasty taste in my mouth.”

“And the scandal wouldn’t do your reputation any good, I suppose?”

He gave a cool smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry your head about that. My reputation speaks for itself—and some two-bit marital breakdown wouldn’t affect it. No, I’m in a position to offer you a job, that’s all. I will give you a job, until you decide what you want to do.”

She eyed him warily. “A job doing what?”

He elevated the elegant curve of his eyebrows. “Why, doing what you do best, of course—being decorative.”

Some women might have taken that as a compliment, but not Josephine. Men always took her at face value, and never saw beneath the pretty face, until sometimes even she wondered if she were all superficial glamour, with no real substance beneath. “Decorative in what way?”

His eyes narrowed. Did she think he was going to demand that she use the potent weapon of her sensuality to please him? Lie draped around his office, half-naked, perhaps? He felt the jerk of desire.