The Ex Who Hired Her

Oh, dear God. If Alexandra hadn’t been sitting down, she would have fallen. Jordan had always been able to make her knees weak with that beautiful, clever mouth. Pictures bloomed in her head: she could see herself sweeping everything off his desk. Pushing him across it…

She was practically hyperventilating now.

‘Jordan. This is a bad idea.’ She did her best to drag her common sense from where it was hiding. ‘I… This wasn’t meant to be a seduction.’

‘No. But it could be.’ He moistened her lower lip with the tip of his tongue, making her wish it was her skin he was moistening.

‘Alex…’ His voice was low and sexy.

Oh, God. She was seconds away from losing her self-control. From losing her mind. But his fingers were caressing her wrist, feeling the pulse thudding here.

She tried again. ‘I was just being nice. Doing what I’d do for any colleague.’

Liar. He didn’t actually say it, but then again he didn’t need to. They both knew.

KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two young children, one bouncy spaniel, and too many books to count! When she’s not busy writing romance or researching local history, she helps out at her children’s schools. She also loves cooking—spot the recipes sneaked into her books! (They’re also on her website, along with extracts and stories behind the books.) Writing for Mills & Boon® has been a dream come true for Kate—something she wanted to do ever since she was twelve. She says it’s the best of both worlds, because she gets to learn lots of new things when she’s researching the background to a book: add a touch of passion, drama and danger, a new gorgeous hero every time, and it’s the perfect job!

Kate’s always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com

A recent title by the same author:

A MOMENT ON THE LIPS

Kate also writes for Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romances. Her titles include:

ITALIAN DOCTOR, NO STRINGS ATTACHED

ST PIRAN’S: THE FIREMAN AND NURSE LOVEDAY

(St Piran’s Hospital)

Did you know these are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

The Ex

Who Hired Her

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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For Lizzie Lamb and Jasper, with love.

CHAPTER ONE

XANDRA BENNETT.

Jordan would just bet she’d changed the spelling of her name, on the grounds that it made her sound more like a marketing hotshot than plain ‘Sandra’. He just hoped there was enough substance to back up the style. Maybe there would be; the recruitment agency had obviously thought enough of her to ask Field’s for a last-minute interview. Though, after an entire day listening to the bright and not-so-bright ideas of the people who were desperate to become the next marketing manager of Field’s department store, Jordan wasn’t really in the mood for someone who was all style and glitz.

Last one, he told himself. Last one, and then I can get on with my work.

His PA opened the door. ‘Ms Bennett.’

And, as Xandra Bennett walked into his office, Jordan forgot how to breathe.

It was her.

Of all the department stores in all the towns in all the world, she walked into his.

Different name, different hair, and she’d clearly swapped her glasses for contact lenses, but it was definitely her. Alexandra Porter. His whole body tingled. Last time he’d seen her, she’d been eighteen, with mousy-brown hair that fell almost to her waist when he’d loosened it from its customary plait. And she’d worn clothing typical of a shy eighteen-year-old girl: scruffy trainers, nondescript jeans and baggy T-shirts that hid her curves.

Now, she looked every inch the marketing professional. A sharp, well-cut business suit that flattered her curves without making them look ostentatious; a sleek jaw-length bob with highlights so skilfully done that the copper and gold strands looked as though they’d been brought out naturally by the sun; and high-end designer heels that made her legs look as if they went on for ever.

And she still had a mouth that sent shivers through him.

He pushed the thought away. He didn’t want to think about Alexandra Porter and her lush, generous mouth. The mouth he’d once taught how to kiss.

She masked it quickly, but he’d been watching her closely enough to see the shock on her face. She recognised him, too, and hadn’t expected to see him here, either … or had she? He didn’t trust her as far as he could drop his pen onto the desk. Back then she’d turned out to be a manipulative liar, and that wasn’t the kind of personality trait that changed with age. Was Bennett the man she’d dumped him for? Or had she then dumped him as soon as she’d found someone else who could offer her more?

Maybe he should tell her that the position was already filled and he wasn’t going to do any more interviews. Except that would mean explaining his reasons to his co-interviewers—explanations he’d rather not have to give.

Jordan Smith.

Alexandra felt sick to her stomach. He was the last person she’d expected to see. Ten years ago, she’d vowed never to have anything to do with him again. She’d never forgiven him for not being there when she’d needed him most. For lying to her. For letting her down. It had taken her years to rebuild her life; and now, just when her dreams were in reach, he was right in her way all over again.

The tall, slightly gangly student she’d known had filled out; he was far from being fat, but his shoulders were broader and his build more muscular. His mouth still had that sensual curve, promising pleasure—not that she wanted to remember how much pleasure his mouth was capable of giving.

The scruffy jeans and T-shirt he’d usually worn back then had been replaced by a designer suit and what looked like a handmade shirt and a silk tie. There was the faintest touch of silver at his temples—well, of course hair that dark would show the grey quickly. And he definitely had an air of authority. He’d grown into his looks; more than that, he’d grown into the kind of man who just had to breathe to have women falling at his feet.

As the CEO of Field’s, Jordan Smith would have the final say over who got the job.

Which left her … where? On the reject pile, because she’d be a permanent reminder of his guilt—of the fact that he’d abandoned her when she was eighteen and pregnant with his baby? Or would he give her the job, even if she wasn’t the best candidate, because he felt he owed it to her for wrecking her life all those years ago? And, if he did offer her the job, would she take it, knowing that she’d have to work with him?

The questions whizzed round her head. Then she realised that one of the panel had said something to her and was waiting for a reply. Oh, great. Now they’d think she had the attention span of a gnat and would be a complete liability rather than an asset to the firm. Bye, bye, new job. Well, she had nothing to lose now. She might as well treat this as a practice interview. Afterwards, instead of licking her wounds, she could analyse her performance and see where she needed to sharpen up, ready for the next interview.

‘I’m so sorry. I’m afraid I didn’t catch that,’ she said, giving the older man an apologetic smile.

‘I’m Harry Blake, the personnel manager,’ he said, smiling back. ‘This is Gina Davidson, the deputy store manager.’ He paused for long enough to let Alexandra exchange a greeting and shake the deputy manager’s hand. ‘And this is Jordan Smith, the CEO.’

Jordan had to be a good twenty years younger than his colleagues. He was only thirty now. How had he made CEO of such a traditional company that fast?

Stupid question. Of course Jordan would be on the fast track, wherever he worked. He’d always been bright; his mind had attracted her teenage self just as much as his face. A man who could speak three other languages as fluently as his own; who knew all the European myths, not just the Greek and Roman ones; who knew Shakespeare even better than she did, back in the days when she still wanted to lecture on Renaissance drama. Dreams that had shattered and died, along with—

Alexandra pushed the thought away.

There was no way round it; she was going to have to be polite and shake his hand. She forced herself to keep her handshake brief, firm and businesslike and to ignore the tingles running along every nerve end as his skin touched hers. But then she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.

Midnight blue. Arresting. His eyes had caught her attention, the very first time she’d met him. Sweet seventeen and never been kissed. Until that night, when he’d seen beyond her image of the geeky girl with the mousy hair and glasses who didn’t really fit in with everyone else at the party and had come over to talk to her. He’d danced with her. Kissed her.

She swallowed hard, and looked away, willing the memories to stay back.

She couldn’t meet his eyes, Jordan noticed. Guilt? Not that it mattered, because as far as he was concerned she wasn’t getting this job. No way was she going to be back into his life, not even in a work capacity. He’d get through this interview, and then he’d never have to set eyes on her again.

As the personnel manager, Harry was officially the one conducting the interview, so Jordan sat back and listened to him take Alexandra through the same questions he’d asked the others. Her answers were pretty much as he expected, so he glanced through her CV again. And then something stood out at him. The date she’d given for her A levels was three years after the date he remembered her being due to take them. Why? She’d been a straight-A student, the last person he’d expect to fail her exams.

Had the guilt of what she’d done finally hit her in the middle of her exams, so she’d messed them up? But, in that case, why had it taken her three years to retake them? And she didn’t have the English degree he’d expected, either. She’d planned to become a lecturer, so why was she working in business instead of in an academic role?

He shook himself. It was none of his business, and he didn’t want to know the answers.

He really didn’t.

‘Any questions?’ Harry asked his colleagues.

Gina smiled. ‘Not at this stage.’

And here was Jordan’s opportunity to show everyone that Xandra Bennett was completely unsuitable. ‘We did ask all the other candidates to prepare a presentation on how to take Field’s forward,’ he pointed out.

‘But the agency added Xandra to the list at the very last minute,’ Harry said, with a slight frown at Jordan. ‘So it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to give a presentation.’

‘Not a formal presentation, of course,’ Jordan agreed. ‘But I do expect my senior staff to be able to think on their feet. So we’d like to hear your ideas, Ms Bennett. How would you see us taking Field’s forward?’

Her eyes widened for a moment; she clearly knew that he was challenging her. And it was obvious that she also knew he was expecting her to fail.

Then she lifted her chin and gave him an absolutely glittering smile. The professional equivalent of making an extremely rude hand gesture. ‘Of course, Mr Smith. Obviously, if this were a real situation, the first thing I’d ask is what the budget and the timescales are.’

She was the first person that day to mention budgets and timescales; the other candidates had just assumed. And some of them had assumed much more money than was available, talking about putting on TV spots in prime-time viewing. Completely unrealistic.

‘And secondly I’d ask what you meant by taking Field’s forward. Are you looking to attract a different customer base without losing the loyalty of your existing customers? Or do you want to offer your existing customers more services so they buy everything from Field’s, rather than buy certain products and services from another supplier?’

Both Harry and Gina were sitting up a little straighter, clearly interested. She’d gone straight to the heart of their dilemma.

‘What do you think?’ Jordan asked.

‘I’d start by doing an audit of your customers. Who they are, what they want, and what Field’s isn’t offering them now. And I’d talk to your staff. Do you have a staff suggestion scheme?’

‘We used to,’ Gina said.

‘I’d reinstate it,’ Alexandra said. ‘Your staff know their products and their customers. They know what sells, what the seasonal trends are, and what their customers are looking for. They’re the ones who are going to come up with the best suggestions for taking Field’s forward—and I’d say that your marketing manager’s job is to evaluate those suggestions, cost them, and work out which ones are going to have the most impact on sales.’

‘Do you buy from us, Ms P—’ Jordan had to correct himself swiftly ‘—Bennett?’

‘No, I don’t.’

That surprised him. He’d been so sure she’d claim to shop here all the time. She wasn’t planning to curry favour that way, then. ‘Why not?’

‘Because as far as I can tell your range of clothes isn’t targeted at my age group, the pharmacy chains have much better deals than you do on the perfume and make-up I buy, and I’m not in the market for fine crystal, silverware and porcelain dinner services,’ she said.

Wow. She was the first of their candidates to criticise the store. And he could see that she’d taken Harry and Gina’s breath away, too. ‘So Field’s is too traditional for you?’ He couldn’t resist needling her.

‘Field’s has one hundred and five years of tradition to look back on,’ she said. ‘Which should be a strength; being around for a long time shows your customers that they can rely on you. But it’s also a weakness, because younger customers are going to see Field’s as old-fashioned. As far as they’re concerned, you sell nothing they’d be interested in. This is where their parents shop. Or even their grandparents. And you need to counteract that opinion.’

‘So how would you raise their interest?’ And, heaven help him, she’d already raised his own interest. Her comments were the best thing he’d heard all day. Her criticisms were completely constructive and she’d given solid reasons for her views. Reasons that he’d been thinking of, himself.

‘Taking myself as a prospective customer—if you tempted me into the store by, say, a pop-up shop showcasing a hot new make-up brand I’m interested in, and you set it up next to my favourite designer’s ready-to-wear range, then I’d realise that maybe I’d got the wrong idea about Field’s. I’d be tempted to look around the store. If you sell what I want, at the right price, and your store loyalty scheme’s good enough to tempt me away from my current supplier, then you’ll get my business.’

He really couldn’t fault that.

‘And I’d also take a look at your online presence. Your website needs to be dynamic and involved with social media. Do you have an online community?’

‘Not at the moment,’ Gina said. ‘How would you see one working?’

That was the moment that Alexandra really lit up. Suddenly she was shining, full of enthusiasm and bringing everyone along with her. ‘Forums, hosted maybe by selected members of staff. Not all the time, just five minutes now and then. You could invite customers to be an expert in their field and share their tips. And you definitely need a plan for taking advantage of new media, if you’re looking to attract a younger audience. Look at how they use social media and mobile media, and how you could make that work for Field’s.’ She rattled off a few examples—all practical ones.

Jordan glanced at her CV again. In her last job, she’d been responsible for online marketing, so she knew exactly what she was talking about. He made a mental note to look up her old company’s website to see what she’d done there.

‘Thank you, Ms Bennett. No further questions from me,’ he said.

‘Are there any questions you’d like to ask us?’ Harry asked.

‘Not at this stage,’ Alexandra said with a smile. A polite smile, Jordan noticed, rather than a triumphant one; she clearly wasn’t taking it for granted that her interview had gained her a ticket to the next round.

‘Then thank you, Ms Bennett,’ Gina said. ‘If you’d like to wait outside for a couple of minutes?’

Jordan was aware of every single step Alexandra took as she crossed to the door. And, although he tried hard not to look, he couldn’t help himself. Ten years ago, she’d been sweet and shy, her beauty hidden away; now, she was polished and confident, and any man with red blood in his veins would stand up a little straighter and try to catch her eye. He hated the fact that she could still make him react physically; so it was just as well he wouldn’t have to see her again. Working with her would drive him crazy.

‘She’s by far and away the best of the bunch,’ Harry said when Alexandra had closed the door behind her.

‘Seconded,’ Gina said. ‘She understands our business a lot more than most of the others did. And she’s got some great ideas.’

Which didn’t leave Jordan any room to manoeuvre. If he hadn’t known her in a previous life, he would’ve agreed with them. But he had known her. And that was a problem. Maybe that was the way round this. ‘Unfortunately, I need to tell you there’s a slight conflict of interest. One I wasn’t aware of before the interview.’

Gina frowned. ‘How do you mean?’

‘I knew her. At school.’ He coughed. ‘Under a different name.’

Harry’s eyebrows arched. ‘Neither of you said a thing just now.’

Jordan knew he deserved the rebuke. Either or both of them could’ve acknowledged that they knew each other. But they hadn’t. For exactly the same reason: one that he wasn’t planning to share. He sighed. ‘The middle of an interview’s hardly the place for a reunion.’ Not that he wanted a reunion with her. He’d moved on. And he didn’t have any plans to go back.

‘Her CV doesn’t say she was at your school,’ Harry pointed out.

‘She wasn’t at my school. I met her at a party—a friend of a friend of a friend. Actually, I was at university at the time.’

Harry shrugged. ‘So you didn’t know her that well.’

Well enough, Jordan thought, to make her pregnant. Except, when his mother had refused to pay her an extortionate allowance, she’d cold-bloodedly terminated their unborn child without even so much as discussing it with him. She hadn’t even told him she was pregnant, and he couldn’t forgive her for that.

And then she’d vanished to avoid any fallout. He’d spent weeks trying to find her, to no avail. When he’d finally tracked her down, he’d been gutted to discover that she was married … to someone else. He’d had to face how little he’d really meant to her—otherwise how could she have married another man so quickly after getting rid of his baby?

Not that he was going to tell Harry and Gina about that. It was something he never, ever talked about. To anyone. He’d buried the anger and the hurt, and they were staying buried.

‘She’s what we need,’ Gina said. ‘She can think on her feet, she’s full of ideas, and she’s straight-talking. And she was the only one to mention a budget—she’s grounded in the real world.’

Jordan couldn’t deny any of that. But could he cope with having her back in his life?

Harry clearly sensed the younger man’s reservations, because he asked, ‘Did you clash badly with her, or something?’

Or something. She’d been the first girl Jordan had really fallen in love with. She’d charmed him utterly. To the point where he’d even planned to spend the rest of his life with her.

How stupid he’d been. It would never have worked. Then again, neither had marrying someone he’d been friends with for years, someone who had the same kind of background that he did. He’d failed there, too. So, as far as he was concerned, relationships were best kept short and sweet—and ended before they started to sour.

‘Jordan?’

He made a noncommittal murmur, not wanting to explain.

‘Whatever happened—and I for one won’t pry—you were both a lot younger then and still had a lot of growing up to do. People change,’ Gina said.

Jordan didn’t think so. Alexandra had been incredibly ambitious—expecting their unborn child to give her an entry into his world and a hand up from her own—and he’d bet that she was just the same, now. That kind of personality trait didn’t change.

‘Let’s go through the candidates and see who we’re going to bring back for a second interview,’ he said, wanting to shift back onto safe ground.

On three of the final candidates, they were agreed; on the fourth, there was no way he could explain why he didn’t want her without dragging up too much of the past.

Just as they finished, Jordan’s PA knocked on the door. ‘I’m so sorry to interrupt, Mr Blake. I’m afraid it’s a matter that can’t wait,’ she said to Harry.

‘Go,’ Jordan said. ‘You too, Gina. I know you’re both up to your eyes. I’ll do the debriefs,’ he said.

‘Are you sure?’ Harry asked.

‘Absolutely.’ It meant he’d get a word with her on his own—and then maybe he could find out what she was really up to.

As soon as his colleagues had gone, Jordan spoke to the candidates in the order he’d seen them. He commiserated with the ones who didn’t get through to second interview and explained why, so they could work on their skills for the future; and he gave a briefing pack to the three candidates who’d got through to the next round.

And finally it was time to face Alexandra.

All the candidates had been seen in order. Most had come out looking dejected; three had come out looking pleased. And, as the last one to be interviewed, Alexandra was the last one to be debriefed.

She had thought about leaving quietly, so she didn’t have to see the expression in Jordan’s eyes when he told her that she was rejected. But that would be the coward’s way out, and she wasn’t a coward. Plus the debriefing was going to be useful for her next interview. Even so, her nerves were strung so tightly that she stumbled as she walked through the door.

‘Ms …’ He paused, looking her up and down. ‘Bennett.’

Then she realised that Jordan was on his own. Oh, no.

This was going to be really bad. He wouldn’t have to hide the fact that he was gloating when he told her that she hadn’t got the job.

Well, they did say that attack was the best form of defence. She lifted her chin. ‘You could’ve just sent a message via the agency that I didn’t get the job. You didn’t need to bother telling me personally.’

‘Actually, you made the list for second interview.’ He handed her an envelope. ‘And this is the briefing pack for the situation we want you to think about and discuss with us tomorrow.’

It was so unexpected that it silenced her. He was actually giving her a chance?

Then, when he spoke again, she wished she’d just said thank you and made a run for it.