Chapter One
‘YOU’RE STILL ON for tonight?’ Matt asked down the phone line.
Greer hesitated. The phone was jammed between her shoulder and ear as she jotted a quick note before calling up the document Conall needed for his meeting.
Was she ready for tonight?
Once she wouldn’t have hesitated. A Friday night out was a chance to unwind after a busy week. But she wasn’t that woman anymore, not fully. The accident had knocked her confidence. She felt different in ways she couldn’t explain.
Losing your memory will do that to you.
Five months blanked from your memory would rattle the most confident person and if she let it, that gap would terrify her.
All she knew of that period was what Conall had told her.
They’d set up the new Sydney office as planned, in between running his hugely successful investment company while most of his staff were still in West Australia.
The last thing she recalled was their move from Perth to Sydney. The car from the airport and Conall dropping her at her new flat before heading to his just-bought penthouse.
Today was the end of her second week back at work after the accident.
Before that she’d spent weeks recuperating, first in hospital, then at home.
At Conall’s insistence she’d only started back in the office part-time but was now well enough to do full days.
Her boss hadn’t exactly hovered, but she’d seen his assessing stare, his concern about her doing too much.
The staff they’d recruited had started downstairs and she’d carefully learned names and roles but still felt she was catching up on her own life.
She was tired of feeling like an invalid. She was fine, the doctors said so.
Fine except for missing a chunk of your life that you might or might not eventually remember.
She repressed a shiver.
No good worrying about what you can’t change. You just have to get on with things.
‘Sorry, Matt. I’m distracted. I’m in the middle of something. But I’ll be there. I’m looking forward to it.’
Fortunately she could still multitask, though she really had to concentrate. She juggled Conall’s diary, the challenging projects he’d given her, and everything else that kept his widespread business interests manageable.
But whereas once she’d done so confidently, now she had a niggling sense of something out of kilter. As if she’d missed a vital problem and would discover it too late. It infuriated her, making her triple-check everything.
After they said their farewells, Greer put down the phone and focused on the report filling the screen.
‘Going somewhere?’
She didn’t have to turn to recognise Conall’s voice, deep and easy like the smoothest of single malt whiskies. She felt a tickle of response inside and was torn between gratitude that the feeling was so familiar, and despair that even amnesia hadn’t cured her of that weakness.
‘Not at the moment.’
She highlighted the section she needed to update before she could send it to him. Only then did she swivel her chair to see him standing in the doorway between their adjoining offices.
Even braced, she felt the impact as her gaze met eyes so dark they looked black. Searching eyes under a frowning brow.
Not that the frown detracted from his charisma.
Conall Abercrombie had everything it took to attract.
Confidence. An aura of power. Intelligence in that speculative gaze and humour in the laughter lines bracketing his mouth.
Strongly carved features that were arresting rather than handsome.
Add to that a long, leanly muscled body that looked fantastic in jeans, business wear or more formal clothes.
He’d discarded his jacket, yanked his tie loose and rolled up his sleeves. His dark hair was just long enough to look rumpled from where he’d ploughed his fingers through it.
It was twenty months since he’d taken her on as his assistant yet she still felt a thrill, seeing him. A thrill she worked hard to conceal. If he knew how he made her feel…
Something was wrong. She knew instantly. ‘What’s up? The new contract or—?’
‘Nothing’s wrong. Who’s Matt?’
Greer stared. She and Conall worked closely together, with an easy camaraderie and mutual respect that allowed them to navigate long hours and intense pressure.
He’d been there for her at the hospital when she was bandaged and feeling sorry for herself.
The staff had demanded to know her next of kin and she’d felt shockingly vulnerable, admitting she had none.
She’d finally given Conall’s number. Her relief when he’d arrived, bringing a sense of normality, had been overwhelming.
She’d never told him much about her background, just as she never commented on the beautiful women he escorted to high-profile events.
He didn’t talk about his family either, though she’d had the dubious honour of meeting his father, Fraser Abercrombie.
The man was lauded as a titan of Australian industry but she hadn’t warmed to him.
‘Greer?’
‘Matt’s a friend.’
‘A friend? From back in Perth?’
She was going to tell him it wasn’t his business but kept the words in.
He’d done so much for her after the accident.
He’d organised groceries and ferried her to checkups, despite her insistence that he needn’t bother.
He’d even, she’d been stunned to discover the next morning, spent her first night out of hospital sleeping on her sofa so she wasn’t alone.
It had been a relief to return to work and their usual routine. To feel the pieces of her life sliding back into place.
She released a pent-up breath. ‘No, he’s from Sydney.’
‘And he told you you’re close?’ His voice sharpened. ‘It’s only been weeks—’
‘Since that crane knocked a hoarding onto me. I know.’ The accident, where a building site edged a busy city street, was well documented.
‘You only have his word for it that you’re friends.’
Greer shook her head. ‘Don’t worry. He’s not trying to con me, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
Much as she appreciated his concern, she didn’t need a minder. She was doing fine, if she discounted the feelings of melancholy and loss. ‘He’s a neighbour. He just moved in a fortnight ago.’
Conall’s frown didn’t ease. ‘That’s not long.’
She sat straighter in her chair. ‘Was there anything else? Anything work-related?’
She watched his eyebrows rise. But it was time to remind him she wasn’t an invalid.
‘Only I know you want this report before your next meeting, and I need to make amendments. Some of the figures have changed.’
Those gleaming dark eyes narrowed and she felt the whump of her pulse thud through her body, quickening. But she wouldn’t back down.
‘Listen, Conall. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me since the accident. You’ve been marvellous. I can’t tell you how much that means.’
Her throat closed as she remembered that horrible feeling of isolation when she’d woken in hospital, brain-fogged and reeling from the enormity of what had happened.
‘But I’m well now. I’ve lost a few months’ memory but that’s all.
’ What courage it took to say that when that gap felt like a yawning abyss.
When the idea of not knowing what she’d done in that time haunted her, making her feel vulnerable and, if she let it, fearful.
‘If I can run your schedule,’ and they both knew it was far more than just his schedule, ‘I can manage my own life.’
His gaze bored into hers for the longest time. Then his mouth tipped up at the corner and he raised his hands as if to ward her off.
It was the same rueful half smile he gave when she called him on setting an impossible deadline. Or growing impatient if a new staff member hadn’t read his mind and delivered everything he expected, including the things he hadn’t specifically mentioned.
‘Okay, okay.’ His expression turned serious. ‘Sorry. It must have been the shock of seeing my invincible Greer knocked off her feet. But I get the message. You can stand up for yourself now.’
For another second their gazes held. Then he turned on his heel, saying over his shoulder, ‘Get me that revised report as soon as you can. Meanwhile…’ He pulled out his ringing phone. ‘Ah, at last. News on the Singapore options.’
Greer watched him take the call and cross his office. Phone to his ear, he stood looking out over the harbour, all thought of their conversation banished as he became completely focused on the call.
She’d never met anyone with such phenomenal drive or the ability to absorb himself totally in business, to the exclusion of all else.
She knew from his decisive nod that she didn’t have to worry about him overstepping the mark again. It was a familiar gesture, one that signalled acceptance of a situation and his readiness to move on. When he did that, Conall didn’t look back. He always looked to the future.
Exhaling slowly, she spun around to her desktop computer. But instead of pulling up the new figures, she paused, unsettled.
Not unsettled. Disappointed.
She frowned. What was wrong with her? She’d told Conall to back off and he had. She’d got what she wanted.
They’d built a friendly work relationship but they weren’t friends. He was her boss, even if he’d recently gone above and beyond. That just proved he was a decent guy. And that he valued the work she did for him.
Her mouth flattened. He’d wanted her better and back in the office.
That’s unfair. He was worried.
But he’s not worried now.
Greer should be glad things were back to usual. Instead she felt flat, as if his easy acceptance when she barred him from her private life disappointed her.
She couldn’t miss his concern, could she?
There was no pleasing her these days. She might be functioning almost as well she used to, but her emotions seesawed.