Chapter One #3
‘In that case, let’s go ahead and establish a few boundaries right now.
No more favours.’ He held up both hands in a light-hearted gesture but his blue eyes were steely.
‘I won’t be asking you to buy any flowers or jewellery or whatever else I’ve asked in the past. I will instruct any woman I date to refrain from making personal calls to my office.
If anyone gets through, feel free to cut her off without explanation and you can simply tell me that there’s been a call.
Likewise, there’s no need for you to make small talk if one of them happens to inadvertently stray into my office.
That way, none of them will be encouraged to think that they have any kind of personal relationship with you.
You can be what you’re paid to be in situations like that… namely, my very efficient gatekeeper.’
‘Raffaele, that’s not what I’ve been saying. Because I… I mentioned that—’
‘Let me finish,’ he interrupted coolly, ‘on another note and while we’re setting down boundary lines, you should refrain from making personal observations about my life choices when it comes to women. They’re not “those poor girls”…’
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘Oh, but I think you did, Erin. Don’t think I haven’t glimpsed a certain expression on your face when you haven’t seen me looking, an expression of disdain. Why do you think that the women I date are poor girls?’
‘Perhaps I used the wrong phraseology.’
‘They’re anything but poor girls. In fact, I’m a one-woman man and when I date a woman, she has one hundred percent of my focused attention.
She has whatever she wants, money no object.
You know that well enough because of the things you’ve booked, which I now discover you booked with simmering resentment. ’
Erin could only look at him miserably, hating the horrible vibe between them, desperately wishing they could return to their familiar footing.
But things had to be said. She told herself this and swept aside her discomfort.
‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘You won’t hear another word from me about what I think about your love life.’
‘I don’t use any of the women I date, Erin. It’s not a revolving door, as you put it, of tormented, discarded exes weeping into their hankies and thinking that their lives are over.’
‘I never said that!’
‘I’m not interested in commitment and I tell that to every single woman I date from the outset.
I make it crystal clear that while I’ll enjoy them, enjoy us, for a while, it’s never going to last. Alexa was upset when we broke up but she knew from the outset that it wasn’t going to lead to a walk down the aisle, so guilty conscience?
You couldn’t be further from the truth. Block her from communicating with you and I’ll contact her and repeat what I patiently told her four months ago when we started dating. ’
‘Two and a half months ago.’
‘Come again?’
‘Nothing,’ Erin said quickly. His eyes were still flint hard. She loathed it. She took a deep breath and went for it.
‘I probably wouldn’t have mentioned anything about the texting, Raffaele, but…
’ Erin hesitated because this would be the first time she’d ever said anything really personal to him and it felt as though she might be jumping off the edge of a precipice.
Yes, she might tell him vaguely what she did on the weekend, share one or two details about a holiday she might have had, but that was where the sharing ended.
‘But…?’
‘I’ve been a little stressed lately.’ She lowered her eyes and felt her heart begin to thump. ‘It’s…it’s my dad…’
‘What about your dad?’ Raffaele looked at Erin’s downturned head, the glossy hair dropping in a heavy curtain to her shoulders. This was the first real awkwardness to ever crop up between them, which was amazing considering the length of time they’d been working alongside one another.
He knew that he could be a tough taskmaster but not once had he ever thought that she didn’t keep pace with him.
She’d opened a can of worms by telling him what she thought about his private life.
Naturally he had had no choice but to pull up the drawbridge.
He was as transparent as a pane of glass when it came to the world knowing what woman was on his arm, but judgement on how he conducted his private affairs? Out of bounds.
He certainly wouldn’t be lectured on commitment.
It wasn’t on the table. Never. Not for him.
From nowhere, he thought of his parents, a marriage that was a sham, a pretence that made him realise a long time ago that behind what passed for love between two people was often a very different reality underneath.
And into that cold union, a child with wants and needs could get lost and forgotten.
He slammed shut the door on those uncomfortable thoughts. Erin could make her own decisions, but for him, safety lay in relationships that promised nothing.
Still, it was inexcusable that she have to contend with the fallout from a relationship gone wrong. He was also shocked at how much it cut to the core to have had this stupid spat with her.
He didn’t like to see that wounded look in the eyes of someone who was always so calm and cool and composed and efficient. He didn’t like to see the slump of her narrow shoulders.
She was about to confide in him and maybe, he mused with a spike of interest that he instinctively knew had always been there, the sound of a door slightly opening between them was a good thing…
It was bizarre that he didn’t have any insight at all into her personal life. He wasn’t asking for a ring side view of what she did and thought but a few details might not be a bad thing…
His curiosity ratcheted up a few more notches.
He could sense her hesitation. Didn’t she realise, he thought wonderingly, that the more she hid the more he wanted to probe?
Especially now that she had offered him this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
‘Is he okay? Your dad?’
There was genuine concern in Raffaele’s voice and that alone was sufficient to make Erin relax into the conclusion that she had done the right thing.
It was ridiculous to act as though she had to fight to the death to protect every square inch of her privacy.
She wasn’t a secret service spy facing a firing squad if she didn’t!
‘He’s had a fall and broken bones in his ankle. He’s going to be off his feet for a bit…’
‘Well, that’s not too bad, is it? I thought maybe there might be some serious illness involved. You’ve never mentioned your father to me…or your mother, for that matter. I’m presuming that you have both your parents?’
‘I have,’ Erin replied briskly. Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Come to think of it, you haven’t mentioned your parents to me either.’
‘Valid point.’ He flushed. ‘You can take a few days off, Erin, if you want to go see them. Where do they live?’
‘On the coast.’
‘Now if that isn’t a broad-spectrum kind of reply,’ he drawled. ‘Surely you can be a little more forthcoming? I don’t intend to drive to wherever they live and pay them a surprise visit if that’s what you’re scared of.’
Erin shot him a grudging smile. ‘Sussex. It’s very pretty. I’ve actually been going there for the past couple of weekends to help out. This is the first weekend I haven’t been.’
‘I didn’t know! You should have said something. You could have made them into long weekends without using up whatever holiday allowance you have.’
‘I… Yes, thank you, but there’s only so much I can do at the moment and I’ve put…well, certain things in place that will help him out until he’s back on his feet.’
‘Is your father at work? What sort of help did you have to put in place? Surely his company is taking care of everything necessary? Giving him time off and making sure he continues to be paid, arranging whatever physio he needs to have. If they’re not, tell me immediately and I can put that right.’
‘No, no.’ Erin felt a film of perspiration break out.
She thought of her parents and their nomadic lifestyle.
Until she was twelve, they had lived in a commune not a million miles away from where they now were.
It had been a settled and happy time for her, surrounded by families who had all supported one another.
After that, a serious dose of wanderlust had finally got the better of her parents and they had headed out to explore the big, bad world.
They had done pretty much every corner of the country, including a stint in the icy wastes of Scotland, and had, only a handful of years ago, arrived in their trusty camper van back where they’d started but in a different part of Sussex.
Thanks to her, they now owned a tiny little house and a small freeholding where they grew their own vegetables, selling the surplus to the local shop.
Planning for the future had never been one of their priorities and it had become crashingly obvious that life in a camper van wasn’t feasible as a retirement option.
She felt a little faint at the thought of describing her parents’ hippy lifestyle to her elegant, sophisticated, sexy boss. She fidgeted with the collar of her shirt, tugging at it, suddenly hot and bothered.
‘You don’t have to talk about this if it’s going to give you a panic attack,’ Raffaele said, vaulting upright and hunting down the bottle. He poured the remnants into their glasses.
‘Of course I’m not having a panic attack! I… I’m just saying that I’ve been a little stressed out about my dad and… Look, it’s no big deal, Raffaele, but he doesn’t actually have a job. As such.’
‘What does “as such” mean?’
‘He… My parents live a simple life…’
‘I’m really not following you.’
‘They own a small freeholding and they’re self-sufficient.
They grow all their own food, or try to.
My mum makes jewellery and has a side job upcycling furniture.
I… With my dad’s ankle out of action, he hasn’t been able to get to do the crops and there’s only so much Mum can do so I’ve been a little stressed out but I’ve got someone along to help out until my dad is back on his feet… ’
Raffaele digested this in silence for a few seconds, unreasonably shocked by the picture she had painted.
Self-sufficient? Selling jewellery? Upcycling furniture? He couldn’t have imagined a different background. Actually, he’d pictured accountant married to schoolteacher. Now that she had opened up about a more colourful childhood, he was downright intrigued.
However, he could see that she was already half regretting letting him have that fleeting glimpse of Erin Fisher the woman, as opposed to Erin Fisher his dependable secretary, always kitted out in neatly tailored clothes, always wearing sensible shoes and always sticking to the straight and narrow.
He thought about her flirting with Colin and realised that he didn’t like it. Maybe that was why he’d been so relieved when she’d shot his speculations down in flames.
Or had that been a case of the lady protesting too much? Was there something going on there, a furtive romance kept under wraps because they both worked for him? He was irked at the thought of the other man knowing more about his enigmatic PA than he did.
‘Sounds like a great life,’ he said non-committally as he stood up, waiting for her to follow suit.
He was definitely going to dig deeper now.
He lowered his gaze so that she couldn’t see just how curious he was in the woman who now seemed so much more fleshed out after only a few remarks, a few revelations that most women would never have considered keeping to themselves.
‘Maybe.’
‘At any rate, keep me in the loop and I’ll be at hand to help if you need anything at all.
’ He smiled lazily at her as she faffed around sticking her bag over her shoulder and adjusting it, her silky chestnut hair swinging across her delicate face.
‘And can I say something now that we’ve been a little more open with one another? ’
‘What?’
She looked at him warily and he could tell that she had already retreated back behind the facade he was accustomed to.
But they were in new terrain now and just as he felt when he made a new deal, he was filled with the excitement of a challenge.
The challenge of getting to know his PA better.
Why not? It could only make their harmonious working relationship even better because it would be a more rounded relationship.
‘You think I play the field and leave a string of broken hearts behind me,’ he murmured, stepping towards her and fleetingly wondering what it would feel like to sift his fingers through that silky hair.
‘I never said…’
‘Well, I think you should live a little. From the sounds of it, your parents have lived quite the adventure…so how is it that you haven’t? Or maybe you have and I’ve just never seen that side of you…’ He tilted his head to one side and wasn’t surprised when there was no answer forthcoming.
Was even less surprised at the realisation that seeing those other sides to her was something he really rather wanted to do…