Bought: His Temporary Fiancée

This promotion to Mr. Tanner’s executive assistant, even in its temporary capacity, since he’d been seconded to Vista del Mar short-term only to complete financial viability studies, was not only unexpected, but the increase in income would prove very welcome. Paying off her brother’s college tuition was an ongoing cost for both Jason and her, and one they looked forward to seeing the end of. Even with Jason working here for the past two years and contributing to their monthly expenses, including the payments on the small house that had been their home from childhood, the college loans had remained a yoke around their necks. Maybe now, with her promotion, they could plan for a few luxuries for themselves—within reason, of course.

“Have you never wanted to branch out? Go further afield with your work?” he asked, leaning back against the edge of his desk.

Go further afield? She was afraid if she told him the truth he’d laugh at her. Ever since she was a child she’d had a map of the world pinned to her bedroom wall—a round red pin pressed into every city or country she wanted to visit. For now, she contented herself with travel books and DVDs. But one day she’d fulfill those dreams.

William Tanner awaited an answer. Wow, way to go on impressing the new boss, she thought. So far she’d let her mind wander, what, how many times?

“Travel isn’t my priority right now,” she said firmly, and sat a little straighter in her chair.

He gave her another one of those smiles and she felt it all the way to the pit of her belly. She’d travel to the ends of the world with him, she thought and allowed her lips to curve into an answering smile.

“There may be some travel involved in your position with me. Will that be a problem?”

“No, not at all. I have no dependants.”

While that was technically true, and she and Jason shared their family home, the habits of ten years were pretty darn hard to break. Besides, she still felt a deep sense of responsibility toward her younger brother. He’d gone through a very rocky time after their parents died. Guiding his decisions had become second nature, although she knew he sometimes resented her continued interest in his whereabouts and friends.

“I’m glad to hear it.” He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and pushed up off the desk edge, pacing over to one of the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the Cameron Enterprises corporate campus. “You mentioned you were surprised to be given this position. Why is that?”

Maggie blinked several times behind her glasses. Surprised? Of course she was surprised. For eight years she’d been virtually invisible to her peers and certainly invisible when it had come to her previous applications for promotion.

“Well …” She chewed her lip for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “As you said, I’ve been here quite a while. I guess I thought that no one ever saw me as capable of rising to a position such as this. That’s not to say that I don’t think I am capable—nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve worked in several departments here and I believe my experience makes me a valuable asset to any of the executives.”

He laughed. “You don’t need to convince me, Margaret. You already have the job.”

She felt a heated blush rise from her chest to her throat before flooding her cheeks with color. Now she’d be all blotchy. She forced herself to remain calm and focused instead on the fact he’d called her Margaret. No one called her that. Since she was a little girl everyone around her had called her Maggie, and she hadn’t really minded much. But hearing her full name from his lips made it sound special, particularly with the way he spoke with that slightly clipped intonation. Yes, as the executive assistant to the CFO of Cameron Enterprises, she would be called Margaret. She replayed the syllables in her mind and let a small smile play across her face in response.

“Thank you, I do know that. I just want you to know you won’t be sorry you chose me.”

“Oh, no, I know I won’t be sorry,” he replied.

Will looked across his temporary office at the woman he’d specifically requested be brought to him. It was almost impossible to believe that behind those owlish, dark-framed old-fashioned glasses and the poorly fitted suit lay the siren who’d infiltrated his dreams every night since the masquerade ball. But it was definitely her. Even with her long black hair scraped off her face and dragged into a knot that was tight enough to give him a headache, there was no denying the delicate line of jaw and the fine straight nose were those of his Spanish lady.

His gut tightened in anticipation. He’d waited quite long enough to revisit that kiss. Tracking her down hadn’t been the easiest thing he’d ever done, but he wasn’t known for his tenaciousness for nothing. The trait had stood him well over the years and gave him an edge that saw him succeed where others failed. And he would succeed with the delectable Ms. Cole—he had no doubt about it.

She’d done a runner on him the night of the ball, but not before enticing him in a way no other woman had—ever. He wasn’t a man to be denied, not under any circumstances— especially not when his reaction to her had been very obviously mirrored by the object of his attention.

And here she was. He blinked. It really was hard to believe they were one and the same woman. She fidgeted in her chair—a reminder that it was up to him to do something about the silence that now stretched between them.

“Tell me about your time here. I see from your file that you spent some time in the factory before moving into office work?”

“Yes,” she replied, her deceptively prim lips pursed slightly as she appeared to choose her next words carefully. “I started in the factory, but the shifts made it difficult for me to be available for my brother before and after school. I requested a transfer into admin and learned what I know now from the ground up.”

“Available for your brother?”

A cloud filled her dark brown eyes and she took her time before responding.

“Yes, that’s right. Our parents died when I was eighteen and for the first couple of years afterward we got by on a small insurance policy my father had left us. Of course, that wasn’t going to take care of us forever and Jason was still in school so it made sense that I find work. Worth Industries was pretty much the only place that was hiring at the time.”

None of this was news to him but it was good to know his sources had been accurate in their dissemination of information.

“That can’t have been easy for you.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Again, a careful response. One that answered, but failed to give any details. Clearly his Ms. Cole was one to keep her cards close to her chest—and what a chest. Even the unbelievably unflattering cut of her suit failed to hide the lush curves of her body. For someone who appeared to actively want to hide her attributes, she still maintained deliciously perfect posture. It was that very upright bearing that confirmed his first impressions of her had been spot on. Margaret Cole was all woman, with the type of figure that would have seen her painted on the nose cowl of every fighter plane in aviation history.

Will forced his thoughts back to the business at hand.

“And I see you’ve been here, on the financial floor, for the past five years.”

“I like numbers,” she said with a small smile. “They tend to make better sense than other things.”

He smiled back; he felt exactly the same way. His eldest brother, Michael, worked in human resources back in New York. To this day the problems Mike faced and relished each day made Will’s head ache. He’d rather face a root canal than that. There was comfort in the cohesion of working with numbers. The defined parameters, yet with infinite possibilities were the types of challenges he excelled at. Which brought him very squarely back to the woman seated in front of him.

“Most of what you’ll be doing for me will probably fall outside the usual reports and things you’ve been doing for middle management here.”

“I enjoy a challenge,” Margaret answered back.

“I’m glad to hear it. Here, let’s get you started on something I’ve been working on.” He reached across his desk and grabbed the file that lay in solitary splendor on the highly polished surface. “Take a look at that and give me your first impressions.”

Margaret accepted the file from him and he saw her forehead wrinkle into a small frown as she concentrated on the report. He leaned his hip against his desk and simply watched her as her lips pursed while she read through the columns. Did she give everything in her life that intense concentration? he wondered. The prospect was both intriguing and enticing and occupied his thoughts as she thumbed methodically through the pages.

She must indeed have had a good head for figures, because she closed the folder after about ten minutes and looked him square in the eye.

“It would seem that the figures don’t match up. The error margin isn’t large, but it’s consistent.”

Her quick discernment gave him a punch of delight. Not only beautiful under that frumpy disguise, but sharply intelligent, too. The knowledge made him look forward all the more to what he’d planned.

“Good,” he replied as he took the file back from her. “I think we’re going to work very well together. Tell me, what would you recommend if you had discovered such an anomaly?”

“Well, I’d probably suggest a deeper audit of the books—see how long this has been going on. Then perhaps a more specific check as to who has been involved with the accounts and has access to the funds.”

Will nodded. “That’s exactly what we have done in this case.”

“So this is an ongoing investigation?”

“It’s pretty much wrapped up, with the exception of one or two things.”

“That’s good to hear,” Margaret said. “It’s too easy for people to be tempted these days. Too often a little responsibility puts a person in a position where they think they’re entitled to help themselves to something that’s not theirs.”

“Yes, well, in this case we’re certain we have the culprit lined up. He will be facing a disciplinary panel later this afternoon.”

“Disciplinary panel? You won’t be firing him?”

“Whether we choose to fire him or not has yet to be decided. Which kind of brings me to you, really.”

“Me? In what way?”