His Secretary's Nine-Month Notice (Mills & Boon Modern)

by Cathy Williams

  ‘I think my life will carry on without it for a while,’ Violet responded tartly. ‘Get up. It’s time to go. I’m exhausted.’

  ‘So I take it that you’re not planning on settling down on the other side of the world?’

  Violet clicked her tongue and refused to give him the satisfaction of sitting back down, even though he was making less than zero effort to take the hint and leave.

  ‘No,’ she conceded after a while. She sighed and sat back down. This wasn’t a victory for him, she reasoned, but plain old common sense from her because if he wanted to carry on talking for ten more minutes, then he wasn’t going to budge, and her legs were feeling distinctly wobbly—probably because she had had her personal space invaded. ‘I couldn’t live over there. It would be a lot easier for Dad to move back here, and that’s going to be part of my job when I go over. To convince him to return to London.’

  ‘If he’s still got ties here, he might think that they could lead him astray,’ Matt suggested shrewdly, and Violet’s eyes widened.

  ‘I never thought of that,’ she admitted slowly. ‘You could be right. He’s still pals with the members in his band, and of course they still go to the pub and drink, which would be tough for him. I could persuade him to move closer to the coast. Far enough from London for temptation not to be right there on his doorstep...’ She looked at Matt and realised that this was just another of his talents—an ability to see through the clutter and chaos and get right to the heart of the problem in record time.

  She had absorbed that trait, just as she had absorbed all those others, and now she wondered whether, subconsciously, they had all bonded together to turn professional respect for him into something altogether more dangerous.

  ‘But back to this little start-up of mine,’ Matt drawled, and Violet blinked and focused on him, her mind still playing with the disturbing realisation that he had managed to crawl under her skin a lot more than she had ever suspected.

  ‘The reason I mention it,’ he continued with a gesture that smacked ever so slightly of a certain smug satisfaction, ‘is because I could use a safe pair of hands over there—steering the newly acquired ship, so to speak. On every single front, it would work for both of us.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, Violet, that you plan on disappearing for months—and having nothing to do on the other side of the world except rally your father’s spirits is going to get very frustrating for you after a very, very short while. You have a good brain and you need to use it. How are you going to do that in Melbourne? Maybe find some casual work behind a bar somewhere? Or else you could take up a hobby. Something you could make use of within the confines of the four walls of your father’s house so that you can keep a watchful eye on him.’

  ‘Stop being so negative.’ Violet looked at him steadily and calmly. There had been enough departures from common sense for the evening, thank you very much. ‘I’m sure I’ll be able to occupy myself when I’m out there.’

  ‘Yes, there’ll be adequate cash-in-hand casual labour jobs, although you obviously don’t need the money, which will make any not-much-of-anything temp job all the more frustrating. And, of course, anything more challenging might prove a problem, as you’re not a national. I’ve always got the impression that you enjoy a challenge.

  ‘So, joining the dots here, you’re going to be bored rigid...and I could use someone I trust implicitly in the initial stages of getting my new company in order. It’ll be a sizeable promotion for you. In charge of one of my fledging companies from ground zero. New title, new set of responsibilities and, of course, new pay cheque to reflect both those things. Don’t worry about work permits and all that tedious stuff. Consider it sorted.’

  He allowed a few seconds to elapse so that she could digest all the considerable advantages to what he was offering.

  And, Violet was forced to concede, they were indeed sizeable.

  Boredom would weigh heavily on her hands. Yes, of course, her time would be devoted to her father, to raising his spirits and going with him for the medical check-ups that she’d recently discovered he had been ignoring. Lord only knew what else would be unearthed once she got over there. But how well this man knew her. How well he knew that doing nothing would get to her very quickly. However, there was one missing link not even Matt Falconer could factor in, and Violet had no intention of enlightening him.

  ‘I could even set you up in a little apartment of your own, so that you and your father could maintain that very vital independence you’ve probably both grown accustomed to over the years, if you feel the need to bang the drum for financial independence. You could call it a perk that comes with the job.’

  ‘That’s a very generous offer, Matt...’

  ‘So shall we call it a deal? Shake on it?’ He dealt her one of those smiles that could knock a person for six. ‘Of course, there would be one or two contingents you would have to take into consideration...’

  ‘Of course there would be,’ Violet said drily. ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Isn’t that written somewhere in your company manual?’

  Matt burst out laughing and his eyes darkened with appreciation at the way she never had any qualms when it came to telling it like it was. Jesus, he would miss that!

  ‘You would have to sign up to returning to my employ in London after a predetermined length of time, and I’d say that six months would be a pretty generous timescale. You might also have to put up with me descending on you intermittently, just to make sure that everything is ticking over nicely.’

  ‘I’m very grateful for the offer, Matt.’ Violet pictured him meeting her father and finding a foothold in her life in Melbourne and she suppressed a shudder. He had enough of an effect on her, and that was without him knowing a thing about her. ‘But I’m going to have to say no.’

  Matt carried on smiling for a few seconds, then he frowned as her words sank in. ‘You don’t mean that.’

  ‘This situation has all been very sudden,’ she said truthfully, ‘but it’s going to provide me with a break to explore other avenues aside from working behind a desk in an office.’

  ‘What other avenues?’

  ‘I know it’s in my contract to work out my full six-week notice period, but if I find a replacement before then, would you consider freeing me of that obligation earlier? Naturally, I wouldn’t be paid for any time I didn’t work. Maybe you could sleep on that and we can discuss it when I come in tomorrow morning?’

  ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this!’

  She’d gone to the door and now he joined her, scowling.

  ‘You don’t always get what you want,’ Violet told him gently.

  ‘If you want to leave that desperately, then far be it from me to chain you to your desk and force you to work out your notice period!’

  ‘You mean that? Because, the sooner I can be with my dad, the better.’ He was going to release her from her contract, she thought. He’d done what for him was the equivalent of begging, and now he intended to throw the towel in the ring with his usual flamboyance. All or nothing. That was his nature.

  It was terrifying.

  But she kept smiling as he stared down at her, glowering. Then, quite unexpectedly, he rested his hand on the door to the sitting room, which was ajar, and half stumbled as it flew open. And there he was, in the sanctuary of her sitting room.

  For a few seconds, he was lost for words as he stared at the baby grand piano positioned by the bay window. Violet followed his gaze. Without thinking, she walked towards the piano and gently smoothed her hand over the rich chestnut lid, then along the ivory-and-black keys, hardly aware of the picture she was painting, just doing something that was purely instinctive.

  ‘You play?’ Matt was mesmerised by just how slender and elegant a figure she cut, standing there, half-turned away from him, ethereal and wistful, exerting some weird magn
etism over him.

  He was right behind her. Violet could feel his warmth radiating outwards, swirling around her, but she didn’t feel uncomfortable or self-conscious because this was her comfort zone. She absently played a few keys and a soft, melodious tune took shape under her moving fingers, then she stopped and turned to him, embarrassed now.

  ‘I play,’ she murmured. ‘I must have inherited some of my father’s musical talent.’

  He was staring down at her with a veiled, oddly disturbing expression and she smiled, eager to lighten the moment and bring things back down to earth.

  ‘Don’t look so surprised, Matt. So what if I’m more than just the efficient, invisible secretary you’ve spent the past two-and-a-half years taking for granted?’

  ‘Take you for granted? Never,’ Matt murmured. His eyes drifted away from hers, down to the surprisingly full and perfectly shaped mouth. A sexy mouth, he realised, a mouth fashioned for kissing. ‘Invisible? Hardly.’

  The atmosphere had changed. Violet felt the shift and backed away, bumping into the piano and instantly straightening so that she didn’t sit on the keys. He was so close to her and he was no longer her boss. They were man and woman, eyes locked, breathing laboured, suffused in an electric charge that was suddenly so potent that she wanted to pass out.

  ‘You should go now,’ she said huskily. For a few seconds he didn’t move, and she wondered what she would do if the unthinkable happened—if that cool, firm, sensuous mouth covered hers.

  He backed off, and when there was some safe distance between them he said, gruffly, ‘One week. After that, Violet, you’re free to go.’ He spun round on his heels and headed for the door.

  He was already opening the front door by the time she caught up with him. Her body was still burning, as though she’d stepped too close to a conflagration that had suddenly changed direction and begun soaring towards her at speed.

  ‘What about me finding a replacement for you?’ she asked, and he looked at her coolly.

  ‘I’ll manage.’ He paused then said, cutting her to the quick, ‘I thought I knew you, Violet. Turns out I couldn’t be further from the truth.’

  CHAPTER THREE

  VIOLET WENT TO work the following morning, at the safe time of nine on the dot, to find the usually buzzing office almost completely empty.

  ‘Hush-hush, top-secret meeting.’ Lisa, one of the junior computer software analysts, approached her from behind and Violet spun round with a frown.

  ‘Top-secret meeting? I didn’t know that there were any meetings booked for today.’ She peered in the direction of the conference room, but the door was open and there was no one inside.

  ‘They’ve disappeared to one of the hotels. All the CEOs and the head of Accounts and a handful of the tech guys.’ She began heading towards her desk and threw over her shoulder, ‘Hey, you should be glad you’ve been spared that ordeal. You know how long they can go on for! Anyway, I’m holding the fort until they decide to start drifting back. Probably lunchtime. Knowing that lot from the tech team, they won’t be passing up the subsidised meal in the office cafeteria.’

  Bemused, Violet headed towards her office.

  By the time she got there, it had sunk in that Matt had delivered what could only be called a body blow.

  She had never been left out of anything. She had always been his right-hand woman, had sat in on all meetings. Very soon after she’d joined, he’d told her to scrap the boring business of taking minutes.

  ‘I don’t need you to remember on my behalf,’ he had drawled in that self-assured way of his. ‘I have an excellent memory. And so have you. Between the pair of us, we can remember what goes on in a two-hour meeting. Just make sure you transcribe as soon as we get back to the office.’

  Now, here she was, twiddling her thumbs, ostensibly dumped from whatever high-level conference they had gone to.

  Coding on new apps as they came to fruition, and before the process of launching them onto the market began, was often a game of timing and secrecy. Beating the competition was everything, and that rested on no one finding out what was going on within the hallowed walls of Matt’s considerable business. Loyalty was of the essence.

  Violet told herself that it didn’t matter. Indeed, it was perfectly understandable, given the circumstances, but it stung and she found herself staring off into the distance, biding her time until everyone returned.

  Which they did.

  In dribs and drabs. The office filled out. The noise levels rose. It was a young, enthusiastic and wildly exuberant team.

  She didn’t know whether Matt had said anything about her resignation, and she kept a low profile, but her eyes kept darting to the bank of lifts, looking out for her boss. When he finally showed up, well after she had had her lunchtime sandwich and bottled water, she had given up on him returning at all and was busy collating information that would be needed for a handover.

  She was aware of him by the shadow over her desk, at which point she looked up, a professional smile pinned to her face.

  ‘Apologies if you got here and found an empty office,’ Matt said without preamble, before heading into his office. ‘Did you get all those emails sorted and sent? Hope you used your time out productively. Can’t have you shirking because you’re on your way out.’

  ‘All done.’ Violet was her usual crisp and efficient self as she followed him into his office and shut the door behind her.

  They usually spent at least an hour a day privately debriefing on updates on any of his many companies scattered across the globe. She flipped open her laptop, ready to start, when he held up one hand.

  ‘No need.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’

  ‘In fact, I’m going to have to get a number of the more sensitive accounts removed from your remit.’

  Violet paled. She stared down at her laptop and felt the prickle of tears gathering behind her eyes.

  ‘Of course.’ She cleared her throat and quietly closed the laptop. ‘If you make a list of them, I’ll make sure they’re transferred out of my portfolio.’

  Matt relaxed back and lounged into his leather chair, hands draped loosely over its arms. He pushed the chair back and angled it so that he could stretch out his legs. ‘In fact, maybe it would be better if you surrender your work computer completely.’

  ‘But why?’ She gazed at him in speechless consternation. She barely recognised the drop-dead gorgeous guy looking at her with bland, calm indifference. His hair was swept back, curling at the collar of his faded grey tee shirt. His navy eyes were cool and guarded. He was more of a stranger than the man she had met on the very first day she had walked into his office.

  ‘Why do you think you weren’t included in this morning’s activities, Violet?’

  ‘I had no idea there was a conference planned at all.’

  ‘It was hurriedly arranged last night. A significant development with one of our smaller takeovers in the Far East sparked the need for a conference. I arranged it myself.’

  ‘Because you no longer trust me,’ Violet said dully. She stared at her fingers, long, slender fingers, fingers that had delicately begun playing the piano almost before she could walk. She could feel her heart thudding inside her chest and she wanted to choke.

  ‘It’s not about trust, exactly.’

  ‘Oh, but it is, Matt.’ Violet looked directly at him, her face calm and pale. ‘If I surrender my work computer—and of course, I completely understand, and I’ll hand it over to you as soon as I leave this office—how am I supposed to carry on here? Should I go to the stationery office and stock up on paper and pencils so that I can write everything down longhand?’

  Just for a second, she saw a flash of something in those deep-blue eyes, but it didn’t last.

  ‘You can work on non-sensitive issues.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Well,’ Matt
mused, tilting his head to one side and appearing to give her question a great deal of thought. ‘There’s always a lot of office rearranging to be done.’ He waved a hand in the general direction of the industrial metal cabinet that stretched from floor to ceiling against the grey wall in his office, and which contained a ridiculous number of complex computer and coding manuals that were largely ignored by every single employee in the company. ‘There’s always that monstrosity. I bet half of those manuals are out of date. Could do with a complete clear-out.’

  They stared at one another in silence for a few seconds, then Violet asked, in a low voice, ‘Why are you doing this?’

  ‘You work in a sensitive business, Violet. You must know that. I can’t allow you to leave taking anything with you. For all I know, you might decide to set up shop over in Australia as a direct competitor.’

  ‘You don’t mean that!’

  ‘You’re defecting,’ Matt told her bluntly. ‘I have to take the necessary precautions.’ He breathed out deeply. ‘It’s also naturally troubling that you’ve refused the job offer I made yesterday. Had you accepted, I would have known that your loyalty remained with me. As it stands...’ He shrugged and let unspoken words settle between them.

  After two-and-a-half years, he no longer trusted her. He was intensely passionate, intensely volatile and, yes, he would see her refusal of his job offer as a kick in the teeth. But did he really think that she was the sort to go behind his back and draw down on his contacts so that she could set up in competition with him?

  That stung.

  It was as if the time they had spent together had counted for nothing in the end. She shifted, smoothing one shaking hand over her grey skirt. For once, the uniform that had always kept those lines of distinction between them firmly in place seemed to be giving at the seams.

  She felt miserable. She wanted to cry, but she wasn’t going to yield to the temptation. For a second, she wondered how he would react. He went out with women who were clones of one another, and the duration of his relationships ran to more or less the same timetable. A handful of months, sometimes mere weeks. And he didn’t do any form of histrionics. Violet knew this because on a couple of occasions, a weeping ex had descended at the office and had been dispatched with ruthless efficiency.