Hot Boss, Wicked Nights

According to Kate, Bry had managed the accounting side of his business, and his uncle was no accountant. He stretched out the kinks some more while he stared at the evidence on the computer screen.

Then he settled down, tapped a few more keys and prepared to transfer some of his US funds to his account in Australia. This time the business would succeed, he’d make sure of it. He felt a stir of enthusiasm. It was yet another challenge, and he loved nothing more, be it an ailing business or an unfamiliar BASE jump.

Or one irresistibly sexy woman.

Kate. He’d almost had her last night. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d wanted a woman more than he’d wanted Kate. Her unique fragrance seemed to be permanently lodged in his nostrils, the imprint of her lips indelibly etched on his.

She’d been all but putty in his hands until he’d mentioned Shakira. It wasn’t a big deal, a bit of fun—they both admitted they’d avoided mentioning it—but she’d turned from malleable to rigid in two seconds flat.

That didn’t deter him. He wasn’t finished with Kate Fielding by a long shot. Damon slurped the remainder of black coffee that had turned cold two hours ago as he opened a new file on Bry’s computer and got to work. Before he left Australia he intended having this business on the road to recovery.

He also intended having Kate in his bed before he was done.

Since she’d tossed and turned all night with images of Damon intruding into her dreams, Kate woke feeling edgy and irritable. Only a coward would leave an issue unresolved the way she had last night. So he’d cheated about his knowledge of Shakira—she had to admit they’d both cheated.

She dumped home-made muesli into a bowl and added milk. Her parents would have a major fit if they knew what their oldest daughter had done. She’d always been the sensible one. While Rosa had always done her own thing, the ever dutiful Katerina had tried to please. And who was the golden girl now? Not Kate.

While she waited for her English Breakfast tea bag to steep, she paced the kitchen. It wasn’t her fault Nick had walked out on their relationship, although her mother hadn’t seen it that way. Like Nick Angelos, Mum had fully expected her to give up her career, make a home and fill it with molti bambini Italiani. After all, she’d been twenty-six, past time to settle down and provide her with grandchildren.

What she’d never told her mother was that while her coworker/ lover Nick and Kate had been sharing a room on an educational tour of the Maldives, he’d been sharing a little more—a lot more—of himself with another Aussie travel agent three rooms away.

Let Rosa have the honour of giving her the first grandkid—a French-Italian Aussie. Grabbing her mug of tea, she carried it to the table. She was moving on with her own life goals. Career goals. First up, her promised promotion—she intended holding Damon to it.

Next she was going to come clean with him about that crazy one-off night. She wanted to make doubly sure he knew she did not do one-night stands, that she’d never set out to seduce or be seduced by anyone. Ever.

She shook her head, then plopped onto a kitchen chair. Did it matter what he thought? Last night had demonstrated there was something more between them than just sex. Or had it? Was that just her romantic side, a slightly desperate woman’s wishful thinking? She’d always held to the idea that she could have a relationship and her career, but it hadn’t worked out that way. Which left her with the career option.

How did he feel? She’d seen so much in his eyes, but, again, was it because she saw what she wanted to see? He’d kissed her with demanding passion and skill, made damn sure she knew what he wanted. Physically.

So that would be enough, she told herself. She would keep any emotions right out of it, the way he did. He wasn’t going to be here long; physical was all she wanted from him. Short-term sex and the promise of that promotion before he sold the business to someone else.

When she stepped into the office at ten past eight she was already in a spin in anticipation of seeing Damon. She knew he was already there because she’d seen his car in the car park and felt a moment’s pique that he’d arrived before her. He’d mentioned something about coming in today to work in Bryce’s office and was obviously a morning person.

Sandy, too, was already at her desk, but jumped up with a smile as Kate entered. ‘Hi, Kate.’

‘Hi.’ Kate wondered what the somewhat breathlessness in Sandy’s greeting meant as she hooked her umbrella on the cloak stand. Or could she guess—Damon had already charmed her with his presence this morning? Another emotion slid through her as she took in Sandy’s rapt expression, making her feel positively queasy.