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For Peter
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
COMING NEXT MONTH
CHAPTER ONE
‘I WOULD like to strangle that woman with one of her diamond necklaces!’
Kit looked up as her outer office door opened, inwardly wincing as it was thrown back with such force that it slammed against the wall. Inwardly, because outwardly she always remained the calm and efficient personal assistant that she was…
She raised enquiring brows as her boss, Marcus Maitland, strode purposefully across the room to his own office, receiving a narrow-eyed glare for her efforts, his handsome face harsh and grimly set.
‘I don’t want to be disturbed,’ he bit out gratingly as he wrenched open his own office door. ‘By anyone,’ he added forcefully, slamming that door behind him with equal force.
Kit breathed out slowly, turning to Lewis Grant, the lawyer for Maitland Enterprises, as he entered the room. ‘I take it the meeting with Angus Gerrard didn’t go as planned?’ she prompted softly.
‘Not exactly.’ Lewis grimaced as he sat on the edge of her desk to look across at the blankness of the door so recently closed in both their faces. He was tall and blond and in his early thirties.
Marcus and Lewis had set out earlier for their meeting with Angus Gerrard believing the takeover of the other man’s newspaper empire was only a formality; a mere signing of the papers was to be performed. But, from Marcus’s comment when he’d come in, and his obvious fury, Kit had a feeling that it had been far from a formality!
‘Nothing that you did or didn’t do, I hope?’ Because she also knew, from six months of working as Marcus Maitland’s personal assistant, that he worked so hard himself he was not a man to accept incompetence or compromise in others.
Not that she could blame him; as a multimillionaire, involved in numerous diversified companies and holdings, he had little time to spare for other people’s mistakes.
‘No—thank goodness!’ Lewis gave a rueful grin.
‘The lady he wants to strangle with her diamond necklace?’ Kit prompted knowingly.
Lewis nodded. ‘Catherine Grainger.’
Exactly whom Kit had thought Marcus was referring to. But had hoped that he wasn’t.
She hadn’t known of it when she’d started working for Marcus Maitland, but there seemed to be some sort of long-running competitiveness between Maitland Enterprises and Grainger International. Catherine Grainger was the major shareholder and head of the latter. In the six months that Kit had worked for Marcus Maitland this was the third time the two of them seemed to have locked horns over a business acquisition.
Kit grimaced. ‘What happened this time?’
Lewis shrugged. ‘She outbid and outmanoeuvred us. Angus Gerrard signed a contract with her yesterday,’ he enlarged as Kit continued to look at him.
‘Oops!’ she breathed slowly.
‘Oops, indeed,’ Lewis acknowledged as he continued to stare at the door Marcus had closed so decisively behind him minutes ago. ‘You know, Marcus mentioned this is the third time this has happened in the last few months,’ he said slowly.
Kit looked up at him enquiringly as his words echoed her own recent thoughts.
‘It’s probably nothing,’ Lewis dismissed briskly as he stood up. ‘There’s obviously no point in my hanging around here—’ he smiled wryly ‘—so I may as well get back to my own office—if only to shred these defunct contracts!’ He picked up his briefcase from beside Kit’s desk before leaving for his own office further down the carpeted corridor.
Kit was still frowning as she watched him go. Surely it was all a coincidence that Marcus Maitland had lost yet another deal because Catherine Grainger had outmanoeuvred him…? To attribute the blame to anything else was surely to bring into question the integrity of everyone who worked closely with Marcus Maitland. Including herself.
‘Daydreaming, Miss McGuire?’ a female voice queried nastily. ‘Does that mean that Marcus isn’t back yet?’ Andrea Revel added as she strolled into Kit’s office completely unannounced, bringing the aroma of her heavy perfume with her.
Kit kept her expression deliberately bland, knowing that it wouldn’t be her secretary, Laura’s, fault that this woman had managed to get in here without interference. The latest in what appeared to have been a long line of women in Marcus Maitland’s life, Andrea Revel seemed to think she was a law unto herself when it came to Marcus.
The other woman was astoundingly beautiful, with her pale blonde hair, slanted green eyes and a figure that had all the men in her immediate vicinity turning to admire her, especially as she usually wore some stunning creation or another. As a fashion buyer for one of the most prestigious stores in the city, Andrea had no problem finding or buying such clothing.
But Andrea also had to be one of the most unpleasant women Kit had ever met, and hard as nails with it. At least, away from Marcus Maitland she was. When in his presence, Andrea somehow contrived to look small, vulnerable, and completely feminine.
However, Kit refused to rise to the bait about sitting around daydreaming while her boss was out of the office. ‘Actually, he’s back—’
‘Oh, good.’ Andrea smiled as she turned towards Marcus’s office, showing even white teeth behind the glossy red lipstick she wore, which matched her short, fitted dress.
‘But he doesn’t want to be disturbed,’ Kit added firmly as she stood up.
Andrea gave her a dismissive glance. ‘He’ll want to see me,’ she said confidently, reaching for the door handle. ‘Go away,’ she bit out impatiently as Kit tried to move smoothly in front of her. ‘You take your duties as Marcus’s PA too seriously, as far as I’m concerned,’ she added scathingly. ‘In fact, I’ve told Marcus as much on several occasions.’
Kit drew herself up to her full height of five feet ten inches and looked at Andrea down the length of her nose as she breathed deeply in an effort to stop a cutting reply from leaving her lips. Andrea might be gone from Marcus’s life in a matter of months—in fact, to Kit’s disapproval, the secretaries in the company were taking bets as to how long this particular relationship was going to last!—but in the meantime she had to attempt to be polite to her. Even if sometimes she did inwardly feel like wiping that superior smile off the other woman’s face!
‘It doesn’t seem to have affected my current employment,’ Kit finally returned in a pleasant voice—not quite succeeding in hiding her resentment, after all.
Green eyes narrowed venomously. ‘Why, you—’
‘I’ll just ask Mr Maitland if he is free to see you now,’ Kit continued lightly, opening the door to Marcus’s office and closing it firmly behind her. After all, this was nothing personal, just part of her job.
But that certainly hadn’t been her most successful attempt at handling Andrea Revel, she inwardly berated herself as Marcus raised his head to look scowlingly across at her for her intrusion.
At the age of thirty-nine, Marcus Maitland had to be one of the most handsome men Kit had ever seen, with that midnight-dark hair and deep blue eyes. His nose was a straight slash, his lips sculptured, his chin square and determined. But she made sure always to regard him with cool impassivity.
Because she had been warned by Angie Dwyer, this man’s previous PA, when she had come for her interview for the job seven months ago, that the worst possible thing she could do was to fall for Marcus—that he never fell in love with any of the women he was involved with, his relationships with them only ever lasting a couple of months.
Considering the circumstances that had forced Kit to leave her last job—her boss seemed to have considered it normal policy to be involved with his assistant—she’d had no intention of falling in love with Marcus. Until she had actually met the man himself. Then she’d had trouble believing that any woman within a twenty-mile radius could actually stop herself from being attracted to him!
The term ‘tall, dark and handsome’ definitely applied to Marcus Maitland, but there was so much else that was attractive about him too. For one thing—when he wasn’t furiously angry, as he was this morning, he was capable of charming even the hardest heart, and his wealth and success had given him a self-confidence that made him stand out in any crowd.
In a word, Marcus Maitland was gorgeous!
But Kit took great care never to let him see what she really thought of him.
Besides, having taken account of Angie Dwyer’s warning, Kit played down her own looks when at work, wearing her copper-coloured hair in a French pleat, keeping her make-up minimal, discarding her contact lenses for thick-rimmed glasses during the day in an effort to lessen the effect of the deep grey of her eyes and surrounding dark lashes. The jackets of the dark business suits she wore were shapeless, the skirts always discreetly knee-length and her shoes low-heeled.
There was no way, she had decided, after looking at her reflection in the mirror that first morning she had come to work here, that any man seeing her like this would consider it part of her job to keep his bed warm if they should happen to be away on business together!
Kit had spent too long running round desks, and hotel bedrooms, trying to avoid her previous boss’s less-than-welcome advances, to want a repeat of it in her new job.
Although once she had actually met Marcus Maitland she hadn’t been quite so sure about that…!
Still, she had deliberately chosen her role as demure, plain, featureless, figureless Kit McGuire, and so far she had stuck to it.
But a few more conversations like the one just now with Andrea Revel, and she might just decide to throw caution to the wind and—
No, she wouldn’t, she gently rebuked herself; she enjoyed her work here, the people she worked with, the man she worked for, and most important of all—she needed the job! Besides, how would it look on her c.v. if, when she applied for another position, she had to own up to being dismissed for insubordination to her boss’s girlfriend?
But it would be nice, just for once, if Marcus could see what she looked like when away from the office, with her hair loose, no glasses to hide the luminous depths of her eyes, a pair of denims that fitted snugly to—
‘Well?’ Marcus snapped harshly, tapping his fingers impatiently on his desk top as he continued to wait for an explanation for her intrusion after he had explicitly told her he didn’t want to be disturbed.
At the same time completely bursting Kit’s bubble of illusion where, as in Hollywood movies, Marcus saw her change from a moth into a butterfly and instantly fell in love with the way she really looked. A fairy tale!
She straightened. ‘Miss Revel would like to see you,’ she told him briskly.
‘When?’
‘Now. She’s waiting outside in my office,’ she explained as he continued to scowl.
His brow cleared. ‘Then why didn’t you tell me that when you first came in?’ He stood up to move impatiently around her and open the inter-office door himself. ‘Come in, Andrea,’ he invited. ‘I was going to call you in a few minutes anyway; I have something I need to discuss with you.’
Kit stiffened as the other woman gave her a triumphant look in passing, her hands closing at her sides, her jaw clenching. Andrea deliberately went to link her arm with Marcus’s, before standing on tiptoe to kiss him lingeringly on the mouth.
Kit felt her stomach turn as Marcus bent his head with the intention of returning the kiss, quickly turning on her heel and leaving the room, closing the door behind her to lean weakly back against it.
So much for Angie Dwyer’s warning!
Kit had known by the end of the first week of working with Marcus that she was deeply attracted to him. Not the cleverest thing she had ever done in her life, but probably not the worst either. After all, Marcus had no idea how she felt, so at least her pride was still intact. It was only her heart that went AWOL every time she looked at him!
Only…!
She gave a self-deriding shake of her head as she moved back to sit behind her desk. It was probably as well that she could laugh at her own stupidity, because over the last six months Andrea Revel was the third woman Kit had seen Marcus get involved with—and they had all, without exception, been aged in their mid-thirties, petite, blonde, and curvaceously feminine—not twenty-six, tall and slim, with red hair.
In other words, even without the severe hairstyle, no make-up, and the shapeless business suits she wore, she just wasn’t Marcus Maitland’s type. It was—
‘Give me a call when you get back,’ Andrea Revel snapped as she suddenly stormed out of the inner office. ‘I may decide to see you again—but then, I may have something else more important to do!’ she ended before slamming the door behind her. Her face was an ugly, angry mask as she leant over Kit’s desk to thrust it inches away from Kit’s. ‘You think you’re so clever, don’t you?’ she hissed furiously as Kit could only blink her surprise at the attack. ‘But we’ll see who has the last laugh,’ she scorned as she straightened and, with one last flounce of her rich blonde hair, swayed provocatively from the room.
Now what on earth had all that been about? Kit wondered dazedly as she watched her leave, slightly shaken by the vehemence behind the woman.
The door to Marcus’s office opened again, gently this time. He stood framed in the doorway. ‘Has she gone?’ he enquired.
‘Are you referring to Miss Revel?’ Kit prompted innocently.
His gaze narrowed as he looked at her assessingly, a smile tugging at the corners of that sensuously curved mouth. ‘Yes, I’m referring to Miss Revel,’ he confirmed dryly, his earlier fury seeming to have abated as his normal good humour asserted itself.
Kit gave a slight inclination of her head. ‘She appears to have gone, yes,’ she confirmed evenly, still feeling totally stunned by Andrea’s verbal attack.
Marcus’s eyes gleamed deeply blue as he looked at her consideringly. ‘You know, Miss McGuire, sometimes I’m not sure you’re altogether quite what you seem…’
She remained outwardly composed, but inwardly her stomach was clenched, her thoughts were racing. What if he knew…what if he had guessed at her connection to…? But there was absolutely no reason why he should have done, she instantly consoled herself.
‘Miss Revel seemed—upset, when she left just now?’ she said briskly, deliberately changing the subject.
Marcus smiled more openly now, leaning against the doorframe to fold his arms across his chest. ‘Furious, you mean?’ he drawled.
‘Well…yes,’ Kit confirmed coolly.
He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head, his hair gleaming blue-black in the overhead light. ‘Your fault, I’m afraid,’ he derided.
Her eyes widened. ‘Mine? But—I was only doing my job just now,’ she defended. ‘Besides, she was rude to me first,’ she added quietly.
Marcus raised dark brows. ‘She was?’
‘Yes, she—’ She broke off, her frown deepening as she realised from his curious expression that he had no idea what she was talking about. ‘Exactly why is Miss Revel furious with me?’ she asked slowly.
He shrugged broad shoulders beneath the white silk shirt and dark tailored jacket he wore. ‘She’s taken exception—and I very much doubt we will see each other again—to the fact that you’re the one coming away with me this weekend rather than her.’
Kit stared at him blankly.
When had he—
When had they—
When had she—
What on earth was he talking about?
CHAPTER TWO
‘WELL, Marcus’s last PA did warn you that you might have to go away on business with him occasionally,’ Penny, Kit’s flatmate, teased her later that evening as the two of them prepared a meal together.
Yes, Angie Dwyer had told Kit that travelling with Marcus Maitland on business was part of her job description; it was just that it hadn’t been an issue over the last six months because, until this weekend, Marcus had preferred to take Lewis with him when he went on a trip.
Not that going away on business with Marcus Maitland was actually a problem. It was just the way he had told her and then chuckled at her stunned reaction that had thrown her slightly.
In fact, a lot!
‘Don’t look so worried, Miss McGuire,’ Marcus had grinned as she’d stared across the office at him after his announcement that he and Andrea Revel had parted company, and that he was taking Kit away for the weekend with him. ‘I’m not suggesting that I’m about to make indecent advances upon your person,’ he’d told her mockingly. ‘I just happen to need your capabilities more this weekend than I do Andrea’s rather more obvious charms!’
Kit hadn’t been too sure she found that an altogether flattering summing-up of the situation, but as she had made a point of deliberately playing down her own looks there wasn’t too much she could say in her own defence.
What would Marcus say if he could see her now? she wondered. Her hair was loose like silken flame past her shoulders, her skimpy tee shirt and fitted denims clung to her slender curves and there were no heavy glasses, either, to hide the large deep grey eyes that were surrounded by thick dark lashes. She looked a good ten years younger than the primly efficient Miss McGuire!
But knowing Marcus’s preference for tiny blondes, he probably still wouldn’t be impressed, she allowed ruefully.
‘So where exactly are the two of you going this weekend?’ Penny enquired with deliberate innocence as she sliced up tomatoes to go in a salad.
Kit paused in opening a bottle of wine to wince at her friend’s teasing. ‘We aren’t going anywhere,’ she corrected irritably. ‘Marcus has accepted an invitation from Desmond Hayes—’
‘The airline tycoon, Desmond Hayes?’ Penny cut in speculatively, blue eyes glowing interestedly.
‘Is there another one?’ Kit came back evenly—briefly enjoying her moment of glory as she could see that her friend and flatmate was impressed by the name of their host for the weekend.
‘None that matter,’ Penny acknowledged. ‘Wow. So you’re going to be spending the weekend with Desmond Hayes,’ she admired enviously.
Kit pursed her lips. ‘I am no more spending the weekend with Desmond Hayes than I am with Marcus Maitland; this is simply a working trip,’ she stated firmly.
‘Yes, but you’re still going to be there, alone, with two of the most gorgeous men—’
‘There’s apparently going to be a few other people staying too over the weekend,’ Kit quickly interrupted.
‘Stop bursting my bubble!’ Penny exclaimed disgruntledly, taking a sip from her glass of wine before looking sharply at Kit. ‘Don’t, for goodness’ sake, tell me that you’re going there as Miss McGuire, the PA from No-Nonsenseville? You are, aren’t you?’ she accused incredulously as she saw Kit’s raised brows. ‘Oh, Kit, you can’t—’
‘Of course I can,’ Kit said a little crossly. ‘This is a working trip, Penny, in case you’ve forgotten—’
‘I haven’t forgotten anything,’ her friend assured her seriously. ‘And, after the shenanigans with Mike Reynolds while you worked for him, I can’t exactly blame you for being more cautious where Marcus Maitland is concerned. But you’ve been his assistant for six months, Kit; surely you know what sort of man he is by now?’
Oh, yes, she knew exactly what sort of man Marcus Maitland was: clever and shrewd where business was concerned, a fair but demanding boss. But, as Angie Dwyer had warned her, he changed his women almost as often as he changed his shirt.
‘You’re going to meet Desmond Hayes this weekend,’ Penny said impatiently. ‘Desmond Hayes, Kit; one of the wealthiest men in the country!’
Kit gave a faint smile. ‘He may be, but the last I heard he was on his third marriage!’
‘No, that’s been over for some months,’ Penny dismissed.
Kit gave a firm shake of her head. ‘Then he’s in the middle of a messy divorce,’ she persisted. ‘In either case, I’m not interested. Neither,’ she continued firmly as Penny would have spoken, ‘do I intend changing a single thing about my appearance for what is, after all, a work commitment.’ If she kept repeating that phrase enough, she might even start to believe it herself!
Because a part of her was secretly excited at the thought of spending this time with Marcus away from the office—safely behind the façade of the PA from No-Nonsenseville, of course!
Penny gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re insane!’
Kit gave a smile. ‘I’ll try to bear that in mind.’
‘Insane!’ Penny repeated disgustedly before picking up the salad bowl and sweeping over to the kitchen table, leaving Kit to follow slowly behind her with the plates of baked salmon.
Maybe, feeling as she did about Marcus, she was mad to keep up this charade of efficient primness, but having started it she now had no idea how to finish it…
‘I beg your pardon?’ Kit looked at Marcus incredulously when he called for her the next afternoon, having allowed her to leave the office earlier so that she might be ready for the two of them to make the journey to Desmond Hayes’s home.
He gave a sigh. ‘I said, could you change into something a little less—formal?’ he repeated tersely, eyeing her cream linen suit and flat shoes with obvious distaste. ‘Desmond is expecting my partner for the weekend to be the current woman in my life, not my PA,’ he explained with the deliberate patience of an adult talking to a recalcitrant child.
‘But—but—’
‘Now you sound like a broken record,’ Marcus drawled derisively, moving past her into the flat’s hallway.
Penny was, thankfully, still at work; otherwise there was no knowing what she might have made of what Marcus was asking.
Kit wasn’t too sure of that herself! Exactly what did he mean, she was supposed to be the current woman in his life and not his PA? Surely he wasn’t suggesting—?
‘Calm down, Miss McGuire,’ Marcus ordered as he stood in the hallway looking down at her—a novelty in itself: at five feet ten inches tall, Kit usually found she was taller than most men. ‘I only said Desmond Hayes is expecting you to be the woman I’m involved with—not that I am expecting it too!’
She could feel the warmth of colour enter her cheeks at his taunting tone and mocking expression. But how else could she react after what he had just said?
Marcus gave another sigh. ‘It’s quite simple, Miss McGuire, I look on this weekend as purely business. Desmond may see it a little differently, hence—’
‘Hence you want me to appear to be your girlfriend,’ Kit finished dazedly.
‘There you are.’ Marcus smiled teasingly. ‘I knew you would get it in the end!’
She hadn’t got anything!
This was the very first time Marcus had mentioned anything about this particular aspect of the weekend. Deliberately so? she wondered as she looked at him suspiciously.
His smile turned to a scowl. ‘As I told you yesterday, I’m not about to make indecent advances on your person!’ he told her disgustedly.