by Jessica Hart
Helen laughed confidently and shook back her glorious hair. `He won't mind being disturbed by me,' she said, laying her hand on the door and opening it. `Will you, darling?' She half stepped inside, leaning back against the door in a deliberately provocative pose. `Your gorgon's trying to stop me coming in, Luke, but you can spare me five minutes, can't you?'
Kate couldn't hear Luke's reply, but Helen gave another throaty laugh and pushed the door to behind her triumphantly.
Kate was left staring at the blank door, shaken by a gust of contradictory feelings; dislike, envy, disgust. There she had been, marvelling at how hard and invulnerable he seemed, and all it took was a pair of long legs and few provocative poses and he was as gullible as any other man!
Well, it was none of her business, of course. Kate resumed typing angrily. If Luke was fool enough to take up with a girl he already had good reason to distrust, that was his look-out.
But she wished he weren't. She didn't mind his being rude, or aggressive, or even unpleasant, but she didn't like his being stupid.
Kate made four mistakes in the letter she was typing before she gave up and stalked along to the coffee machine to work off her bad temper. Returning to her desk, she ripped the paper out of the printer and started afresh.
She was not going to get involved with Luke's business.
She was not going to care if he wanted to make a fool of himself.
She was sensible, practical, capable Kate.
By the time the door reopened she had talked herself into believing it, and was absorbed in typing, the epitome of a discreet, efficient secretary.
Luke ignored her as he walked with Helen to the outer door. `See you later, then,' he said,
letting his hand slide down the shimmering fall of hair.
`I'll be waiting.' Helen lifted her face, and he kissed her on the lips before patting her on the
bottom as she left with evident reluctance.
He turned back to the office. Kate's face was mask-like as she picked up a folder from the desk. `Here are those letters for signature.'
For once, Luke looked taken aback. `You've finished them already?'
'Of course.' Kate met his eyes blandly. `You said you wanted them urgently, and I knew how
busy you were this morning.'
Luke's slate-grey eyes narrowed as he took the folder from her, but he made no comment at her sly dig at the time he had spent with Helen. `I'm going to finish that report,' he grunted.
`I don't want to be disturbed.'
`By anyone?' asked Kate, all innocence.
`By anyone!' he snapped, striding over to his office. He banged the door shut behind him, but a few moments later it reopened. `Kate?'
'Yes?'
`Get me some coffee, will you?' He half closed the door again, then thought better of it, and stuck his head round once more. `Please!'
It didn't take Kate long to fall into a routine. Every morning she would arrive promptly at nine o'clock, but Luke was always there before her. Sometimes she wondered if he ever went home.
As he had predicted, Luke was a difficult man to work for. He threw huge amounts of work at her and set impossible deadlines, expected her to have acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of the company on her first day, and snapped if she proved less than a mind-reader. She was rarely able to leave on time and soon learnt not to expect any appreciation from Luke.
In spite of it all, Kate was content. She might deplore Luke's manners, but she couldn't help being impressed by his undoubted abilities. He had an immense capacity for work, and could absorb the most technical of reports with startling speed. A shrewd financial brain combined with ruthless drive had made him one of the most successful men in his field, and, while he might not be loved by his staff, he was universally respected.
Kate dealt with all the work quietly, efficiently and with a complete lack of fuss that gradually earnt a grudging respect from Luke. She never flapped, or complained, or bothered him with silly questions, and their battles were limited to her insistence on courtesy. Luke grumbled about having to say please and thank you the whole time, but usually gave in to Kate in the end.
`You obviously don't dislike him as much as you said you did,' Serena said. She and Kate were sitting in a wine-bar, making the most of the free peanuts.
'No-o.' Kate hesitated. `He hasn't done anything to make me like him particularly, but I suppose we get on quite well when he's not shouting at me and I'm not ticking him off about his manners.'
`Don't get on too well. He might recognise you!'
Kate shook her head. `I'm just his secretary,' she said with an unconsciously wistful smile. `Luke's single-minded in the office. As long as I get through all the work, he wouldn't notice if I did the dance of the seven veils on his desk-he'd just tell me not to mess up his papers!'
`He sounds awful,' Serena said frankly, pinching the last peanut. `I don't know why you put up with him.'
`He's not that bad,' Kate said, instantly on the defensive. `He'll talk to me about work and let me make my own comments and suggestions.'
`Big of him!'
'It's more than he does with most people. He was always a loner, and now he's even more so. He keeps people at a distance. I made him laugh the other day, and I felt as if I'd just conquered Everest!'
'Why, what did he do?'
'Nothing. He just laughed. I've seen him smile, of course, but it's usually more of a sneer. This was a proper laugh…' Kate trailed off. It was impossible to explain to Serena the sheer unexpectedness of seeing Luke throw back his head and laugh. All she had done was make a dry comment about a newspaper headline, and suddenly it had been as if a complete stranger stood before her, his face alight with humour, and she had been shaken by the rush of triumphant warmth she had felt. She had made him laugh! She had got through that iron wall of indifference, and without even trying.
`He's much nicer when he laughs,' she finished lamely.
`Kate!' Serena put down her wine glass and looked at Kate with foreboding. `You're not-you're not-thinking of doing anything silly like falling for Luke, are you?'
Falling for Luke? Kate shrugged off a small shiver of memory.
`Of course not,' she said crisply. She took a sip of her wine and avoided Serena's accusing eyes. `You ought to know me better than that, Serena! I'll admit that I like him more than I expected, but I'm far too sensible to fall for a man like Luke. That would be asking for trouble!'
CHAPTER FOUR
KATE went into work the following Monday to find Luke sitting on the edge of her desk, flicking through the diary.
`Good morning,' she said, hanging up her coat and wishing she could get Serena's ridiculous suggestion out of her mind. She felt cross at the very thought. She knew enough about Luke to be under no illusions about him, and there was no danger whatsoever of her falling for him. The whole idea was absurd! So absurd that it had kept her awake at nights. After two restless nights she felt grouchy and irritable and on edge.
Luke had merely grunted in response to her greeting as he compared the desk diary with the slim leather one he carried in his pocket.
`I said, good morning!' Kate reminded him, and he looked up with an exasperated sigh.
`Oh, very well… good morning, Kate.' He eyed her sardonically. `Is that sufficient, or do I need to say anything else?'
'You could ask me if I had a nice weekend,' Kate suggested, refusing to be intimidated by his sarcasm.
`Did you have a nice weekend?'
'Yes, thank you. And you?'
'Not particularly,' he snapped. `Now that we've 'one the social bit, can we get on with some work? We're going to Paris tomorrow.' He rushed the diary across the desk towards her.
Just for one night. Get on to the travel agents -and book a hotel and two flights-first class.'
`When you say "we", does that include me?' Kate asked carefully.
`As there are just two of us in the room, I'd have thought that was obvious. Why, is there a problem?'
`It's rather short notice.'
`So?'
'I might have something planned,' she pointed out, searching in her bag for her own diary.
`You'll just have to cancel it,' Luke said unsympathetically. `This is important. And that reminds me, don't book any appointments for this afternoon.'
`Are you going to be out?'
'We are going to be out,' he corrected her. `I'm taking you to get your hair cut.'
Kate had been making neat notes in the diary, but her head jerked up at that. `I don't need to have my hair cut!'
'Yes, you do. It's important to give our clients the right impression of LPM, and I don't want you turning up in Paris looking like that.'
`Looking like what?' Kate's voice was deceptively mild but her eyes held a glitter of frost.
Luke hunched his shoulders irritably. `You look so bloody prim and proper with your hair tied back like that and those sensible suits of yours. It's like having a governess instead of a secretary!'
`I suppose I should be flattered that you even notice what I wear,' Kate snapped back, angry and more than a little hurt. `I'd always thought that as long as I typed your letters and answered your phone I could be dressed in rags for all you would care!'
'There's no need to get hysterical,' Luke said. He stood up and tucked his diary back into the inside pocket of his jacket.
The lack of interest in the gesture infuriated Kate. `I am not hysterical!' she said through gritted teeth. `Why do men always say that as soon as women dare to answer back?'
`If that were the case I'd be permanently accusing you of being hysterical,' Luke pointed out. `Anyway, what are you getting so het up about? I only made a simple comment about your appearance.'
`Oh, it was a simple comment, was it? I don't suppose it occurred to you that I might not like being accused of being prim and proper, or looking like a governess? Does it even occur to you that I'm a human being and not just another piece of office machinery?'
Luke glowered. `For heaven's sake, stop overreacting!'
`No wonder your secretaries keep leaving you!' Kate was searching for a pen, banging papers up and down on her desk furiously. `You have no consideration for other people's feelings at all!'
`I'm not in the business of worrying about feelings,' Luke said coldly. `As far as I'm concerned, you're here to do a job, and part of that job involves projecting the right image of the company. Now, if you want to look like some uptight spinster when you're in London, that's fine, but this meeting tomorrow is my big chance to break into the European market, and I'm not going to blow it just because you can't be bothered to make the right impression!'
`What's wrong with what I've got on?' Kate demanded, gesturing down at her Prince of Wales check. `It's smart, and it's suitable. What more do you want?'
'I want some style!' Luke said, exasperated. `There's nothing wrong with that suit, but it doesn't do anything for you, and nor does your hairstyle. That's all I'm saying.'
`All you're saying is that you don't mind having an efficient secretary, but you'd really rather I looked completely different!'
Luke's mouth was set in an angry line. `If you're going to be unreasonable, Kate, I'm not going to bother arguing with you!'
`Me, unreasonable?' Kate pushed back her chair and leapt to her feet. Luke's comments had caught her on the raw and she was angrier than she had ever been, certainly too angry to consider what she was saying. `You're a fine one to talk! You've got a nerve, going on about the impression you're afraid I'll make in Paris when you're the one who hasn't the first idea of how to behave!'
The black look had descended on Luke's face. `I should be careful what you say to me, Kate,' he warned. `You're not the only girl in the world who can speak French.'
`I'm probably the only one who would put up with your rudeness!' Kate retorted. `You treat everyone here like your slaves. Do this, do that, dress like this, cut your hair like that! Well, I'm your secretary, not your slave, and I'm not going to change my image just to suit you!'
`Don't push me too far, Kate,' Luke ground out, `or you won't be my secretary much longer!'
`Fine!' Incandescent with rage, Kate snatched up her bag and marched over to the coatstand.
`Where do you think you're going?'
`Where do you think?' Kate said, dragging on her coat. `I'm going to find an employer who'll appreciate the skills I have to offer and who doesn't care if he has to put up with some grotesque frump sitting in the front office!'
Her hand was at the door and she had half opened it when Luke strode over and pushed it firmly shut. `I didn't say that!'
He was standing very close to her. Kate dropped her hand from the door-handle but stood her ground. `It sounded like that to me!' she said.
Luke stared down at her. Her face was bright with anger, her eyes glittering and her chin set defiantly.
`Oh, hell!' He raked his fingers through his dark hair and sighed. `Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I had rather a fraught weekend, and I was taking my bad temper out on you. I'm sorry.'
Kate was so surprised to hear him apologise that she could only look uncertainly up into his face.
`I do appreciate you,' he went on. `You're the best secretary I've ever had.' And then, unfairly, he smiled. `Honestly!'
Kate's defences were no proof against a smile like that. She took a step back. Really, it was just a smile, just a crease in his cheek, a glimpse of teeth, a rare glimmer of warmth in his eyes. It was nothing to get excited about. There was absolutely no reason for her anger to melt like butter in a hot pan.
She tried to cling on to the last remnants o: fury, but it was hopeless, and Luke must have read it in her face. `Come on,' he said. `Let's sit down and discuss this sensibly.'
Kate let him help her off with her coat and hang it back on the stand. She stood, remembering the way she had spoken to him and feeling foolish. What had got into her?
Luke propelled her into his office and sat her down on one of the soft leather chairs. `I'll get some coffee,' he said.
Taken aback by such unexpected treatment, Kate perched uncomfortably on the edge of the chair and accepted the proffered cup gingerly. She wasn't at all sure how to deal with Luke's being nice like this!
`Now,' said Luke, hitching up his trousers and sitting down opposite her, `can we start again?'
'I'm sorry. I was being stupid,' Kate muttered
`I think we were both being unreasonable. Your weekend obviously wasn't any better than mine!' Luke stirred his coffee thoughtfully. `I wasn't lying when I said you were the best secretary I'd ever had. It makes a real difference to me to have someone I can chuck work at and know it will get done properly. I don't need to tell you any, thing twice. I don't need to send letters back to be retyped. I don't need to worry in case I haven" got all the documents for a meeting. I can trust you. I appreciate all of that, believe me.' He paused. `Perhaps I should have told you this before, but… well, I get absorbed in what I'm doing. I'm not the easiest of men to work for, I know.'
`You did warn me.' Kate had managed to pull herself together and was making an effort to sound brisk and practical. `I really shouldn't complain.'
Luke looked up from his coffee with a swift smile of such dangerous charm that Kate, in spite of a valiant attempt not to succumb, smiled back.
He had always had a treacherous charm, she remembered, even as she smiled, all the more effective for being so rarely used. She wanted to resist, but there was a warm glow inside her, a tug of response to the light in his blue-grey eyes.
`Shall we just agree that you're the best of secretaries, and I'm the rudest man in the world, and not agonise about it any more?' Luke suggested, and when Kate nodded he leant forward and stretched out his hand. `Let's shake on it.'
Almost reluctantly Kate took his hand. Long, strong fingers closed around hers in a firm grip, and she felt something clench at the base of her spine.
`That just means that you can go back to being r
ude while I'll go back to being efficient,' she said as lightly as she could.
`I expect we will, but I promise to try harder, if you'll stay as my secretary.' He released her hand and sat back. `Will you?'
Kate relented. `Of course.'
`Good.' Luke eyed her speculatively. `And you'll let me buy you some new clothes?'
'I thought you wanted me to get a haircut!'
`That too.' Having seen how easily she succumbed to his devastating charm, Luke was losing no opportunity to make the most of it, Kate thought almost resentfully. `Look, you're important to this Paris trip. I'm relying on you to interpret, so they'll be concentrating on you. I just think it would help LPM's cause if you projected a different sort of image.'
Kate could see that she was being outmanoeuvred. `If you think it's that necessary I'll buy some new clothes myself,' she tried, but he shook his head.
`No, this is to be at my expense.'
`But I really can't let you buy clothes for me!' 'Why not?'
'Well… it's too personal.'
`If it bothers you that much, think of it as a kind of uniform,' Luke said, an edge of impatience creeping back into his voice, much to Kate's amusement. He had obviously been nice for long enough.
Realising that there was no point in arguing further at this stage, she stood up and gathered together the cups.
`I'll go shopping this afternoon,' she promised.
It was a busy morning, and Kate was glad of the hectic pace to keep her mind occupied. She didn't want to think about what Luke had said. Prim and proper. Uptight spinster. Was that how he saw her? Was that how she was?
She had spent all weekend telling herself how indifferent she was to Luke, only to lose control completely as soon as he criticised her. Some indifference! It would have been far more dignified to have reacted with cool unconcern, instead of shouting like that and then letting herself be won over by a simple smile. Really, it was pathetic!
Kate had resolved to go out and buy a token dress to keep Luke satisfied but she had reckoned without his insisting on accompanying her. He caught her trying to slip out of the office unnoticed, and took her arm in a firm grasp.
