‘The redhead? She was sex on legs. Every bloke in the place was drooling over her to the most disgusting extent,’ Jonelle lamented. ‘If that’s the standard of the competition, what hope have us more ordinary types got with him?’
‘None at all, I should think.’ The older woman chuckled. ‘I got the impression that as couples go those two were rather well matched.’
‘Matched? In height, I suppose you mean.’ Jonelle pulled an unimpressed face.
‘Come on…he could hardly bear to take his eyes off her for longer than twenty seconds. She’s got him tagged and good luck to her. Didn’t she remind you of anyone?’
‘Like who?’
‘There was just something very familiar about her. I don’t know what it was but I thought that maybe she was a model and I’d seen pictures of her somewhere.’
‘She didn’t remind me of anyone,’ Jonelle retorted.
Pippa had grown tense, but her tension ebbed as the subject was dropped. Of course, nobody was going to recognise her, she told herself bracingly. She busied herself with work that she herself had given Cheryl the previous week. The task was well beneath her ability and, in failing to engage her brain, ensured that as she emerged from the shock of having discovered Andreo’s true identity her angry pain only became more raw at the edges.
Never in her life had she felt more humiliated. Andreo had deceived her with a cruel and heartless masquerade. He had lied to her and betrayed her trust. But what kind of an idiot had she been to trust a guy she had only just met? What she had believed to be a wonderfully special and romantic encounter now seemed much more like a sleazy one-night stand. Hurt distaste filled her. He was a notorious womaniser. How come she hadn’t at least recognised that reality?
After all, he had been as sleek and sophisticated as the legendary Casanova. Her soft, full mouth compressed. She had been too naive to recognise Andreo D’Alessio for what he was. But where had her intelligence been? He had handed out orders with the cool authority of a male used to people jumping to do his bidding. Arrogant, confident, forceful in personality. His hotel suite had been very large and opulent. The roses and the expensive array of breakfast choices had been the lavish gestures of a rich man, accustomed to using his wealth to impress a woman. And she had been impressed, hadn’t she? Without warning, a hot tide of moisture hit the back of Pippa’s eyes in a stinging flood.
Getting up from her desk, she headed straight for the cloakroom. There she stared at herself with loathing in the mirror until those weak tears had receded of their own volition. How could she be hurting so much? So the fairy tale had been an illusion. And she was surprised? As her late father had often reminded her, life was tough. What she had to do was move herself on and focus on something else. But what? Her lacklustre future w
ith a company that had refused her promotion and moreover suggested she take a lengthy career break? That was when Pippa decided that at the end of her three weeks of leave she would not be returning to work at Venstar.
Instead, she would hand in her notice and make a fresh start elsewhere. Some place where looks did not count more than ability and where hard work and results were rewarded. Some place where she had not slept with her boss. Settling her tremulous lips into a firmer line, Pippa steadied herself. That was his fault too…that she had betrayed her principles and ended up sleeping with her employer. An amount of anger that left her downright giddy shot through her in a re-energising surge. In retrospect she could not credit Andreo’s reckless behaviour and she knew then that she would know no peace until she confronted him.
She took the lift up to the executive floor. It was almost lunch time and the corridors were busy with people hurrying back and forth. She headed straight for the managing director’s office, knocked once on the door and entered before anyone could try to prevent her.
Taken aback by that sudden interruption, Andreo swung round from the computer screen and focused on Pippa instead. On a slender woman dressed all in black with eyes as bright and blue as sapphires and a mouth that even unadorned was as inviting as a ripe cherry.
He smiled because he was pleased that she had come to him and then wondered why she was wearing a suit at least a size too large for her.
It was his smile that first threatened Pippa’s tenuous self-control. That he could still smile when she felt lacerated was almost more than she could bear. But that smile was also a trip wire for it had megawatt charm and she found herself staring at him, drinking in his lean bronzed features and the stunning impact of the dark golden eyes welded to her. A host of intimate recollections drowned out her anger. Suddenly she was back where she had been the night before, blushing like mad and as overwhelmed by the power of her own frantic response as an adolescent in the presence of her idol.
‘Philly…’ In one strikingly graceful movement, Andreo rose to his full height and extended his hand.
The name he employed broke her spell. ‘It’s Pippa, actually, Pippa Stevenson,’ she told him in a high, unnatural voice. ‘Andreo…how could you have lied to me the way you did?’
Andreo let his hand fall back to his side, keen eyes narrowing, for he did not like her tone. ‘I didn’t tell you a single lie,’ he countered.
‘But you knew that I hadn’t the smallest suspicion that you were Andreo D’Alessio. If you weren’t prepared to tell me the truth, you should’ve left me alone.’
‘But you didn’t want to be left alone, cara mia,’ Andreo traded smooth as polished jet, wondering why she was making such a fuss over news that would delight any normal woman. So, instead of being a nine-to-five worker, he owned the business. So, instead of being reasonably successful, he was a mega achiever. So, instead of earning a good salary, he was filthy rich and in possession of a private jet and an array of luxury homes. What was there to complain about? And where the hell did she think she was coming from when she accused him of lying? He had been careful not to tell her a single untruth.
Tension was pounding out an enervated beat at Pippa’s temples but she lifted her head high and she breathed in deep. ‘You are my employer and I had a right to know that.’
‘Dio mio…what a fuss you are making about nothing!’ Andreo censured, a satiric dark brow elevated in a manner that would have warned the wary that his patience was running out.
‘Nothing?’ Pippa gasped, jolted into agonised reaction by his bold refusal to acknowledge the damage he had done.
‘Between us and after last night, it should mean nothing, carissima.’ Andreo rephrased as he strode forward to reach for her clenched hands.
Pippa sidestepped him and spread her arms wide in angry condemnation. ‘You’re even worse than I thought you would be—’
‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ Andreo demanded.
Pippa kept her eyes wide and fixed in focus because tears were damming up again behind them. Tears of rage and disappointment. He was not the guy she had thought he was. ‘I would never have spent the night with you if I had known I worked for you. Do you make a habit of sleeping with your employees?’
‘Per meraviglia…’ A faint but perceptible rise of blood illuminated his high cheekbones and his tall, powerful length went rigid. Blazing golden eyes seared her in punishment for her daring to ask such a question. ‘Never before have I become intimate with a member of my staff!’