Boss Meets Baby

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘I really think that we should put the brakes on here.’

  Easing herself out of his arms and stooping to pick up the sheet again, Georgia held it to her front. Inside her chest, her heart thrummed with regret and pain that she couldn’t easily curtail her instinct to be sensible and allow Keir to take her back to bed again. Her only consolation was that given time he might thank her for behaving more rationally.

  ‘Okay. I can see that you’ve made up your mind about this. Even though I would do a hell of a lot to persuade you differently.’ Touching his knuckles tenderly to her cheek, Keir turned away from her with an audible sigh.

  Wishing she could just relent and tell him she’d changed her mind, Georgia watched him go over to the bed, pick up his shirt, then leave the room without saying even one more word…

  CHAPTER NINE

  IN SEARCH OF some strong black coffee the next morning to chase the ‘fog’ from his brain because he’d hardly slept the night before for thinking, Keir strode into the large country-house kitchen only to find Georgia already there.

  She was wearing a long tunic-style lilac shirt over matching loose trousers. Nonetheless, the silken cloth lovingly outlined her shapely hips and derrière as she reached up to the old-fashioned dresser for a mug. Mesmerised, Keir fancied the material was like a living rippling sea over the sensual island of her body, and a surge of pure lust gripped him with a vengeance. The impact was dizzying, yet straight afterwards his head cleared almost miraculously, and he secretly marvelled at how just the mere sight of this woman could effect such a dramatic change in him.

  Before Georgia had come to Glenteign he had been angry and resentful at being forced to return to his family home, even though he’d always known that he would do his duty there. Mired in the past because of his surroundings, and the hurtful recollections triggered by his brother’s unexpected death, most— of Keir’s attention had been consumed by his situation. But now—now he found his mind transfixed— instead by the allure of this lovely woman…

  Drawn by the pure rush of need that pulsed in his veins like one of the fast-flowing inlets that wound its way down through the Glens, Keir crossed the flagged kitchen floor to join her, walking up behind her without a word and sliding his arms around her waist.

  ‘Good morning,’ he greeted her softly, his voice deliberately lowered and his lips a mere half-inch from the tender place just behind her ear that smelled so divinely of her sweet erotic essence.

  ‘I was just going to make some tea,’ she said breezily, slipping from his arms as easily as though she were some silken will o’ the wisp. ‘Would you like some?’

  Keir did not welcome the tumult of powerful rejection— that kept his feet rooted to the floor. Her moving away from him like that was not the scenario he’d anticipated,— and immediately his temper surfaced.

  ‘You should know by now that I only drink coffee in the morning!’ he snapped.

  ‘My mistake,’ she replied, unoffended and gave him a little half-smile. ‘If you want to sit down at the table I’ll make you some. Moira has already left to go grocery shopping in Dundee, so if you want breakfast I’ll make that for you too.’

  Regarding his stony expression, Georgia wished she hadn’t been so hasty to free herself from his unexpected— embrace. His hard, masculine body had felt so good pressed up close to hers, and his warm, enticing— breath and the hypnotic blend of his aftershave— had whispered seductively over her skin. But the truth was that she hadn’t known how Keir would greet her this morning, after yesterday’s events, and she’d steeled herself for the possibility that he might be a little bit cool with her.

  After all, she had rejected his invitation to go back to bed, and with hindsight he might easily have concluded— himself that it was better if they didn’t sleep together again. Plus, he had made it quite apparent that what they had was merely something fleeting, and— not something that heralded any right future for them both. Why else would he have told Georgia that the man she eventually ended up with would be lucky to have her?

  ‘I don’t want any breakfast. I’ll just have some coffee.’ Assessing her with an almost accusing glare, he— seemed to suddenly and chillingly assume his role of somewhat distant employer, and Georgia’s insides cramped in protest. ‘You can bring it into the study when it’s ready. I’ll be in there working.’

  ‘Keir?’

  But he was already walking out through the door as Georgia called his name, and he did not bother to wait and hear what it was she had been going to say…

  ‘The dinner party on Saturday night…Did you do a final count of all the acceptances and inform Moira how many were coming?’

  Hating the deliberately formal tone he’d adhered to all morning—as if she were truly just someone who worked for him and had never been remotely anything else—Georgia briefly licked her lips before turning in her chair to reply.

  His handsome face was unsmiling, yet no less compelling for the frown that creased his brow. Keir’s annoyance was tangible.

  ‘It’s imperative that everything is right,’ he interjected. ‘Some of the “great and the good” from the local community are coming, and this is the first big dinner we’ve held at Glenteign since work on the gardens was completed. Apart from the curiosity and criticism that that in itself will provoke, you can be sure they’ll be scrutinising everything in the house with a fine tooth comb…From the silver plate decorating— the dining table to what kind of tissue paper we put in the bathrooms!’

  ‘There’s no need to worry. Everything’s been arranged. I got up early to go over it all with Moira before she went into Dundee shopping this morning, and— we’ll do a final check again tomorrow.’

  ‘And did you remember to tell her that the Dean likes his beef very rare?’

  Georgia had already told him yesterday that she had. Now it was her turn to frown. She got the distinct feeling that he was spoiling for a fight. Was it solely because she hadn’t been as warm as she could have been earlier, when he’d embraced her in the kitchen, or was it something else?

  ‘I did. I told you—there’s nothing to worry about.’

  ‘I think I should be the judge of that!’

  ‘What’s the matter? Is your burn causing you pain? Why don’t you let me take a look at it and change the dressing?’

  On her feet before he could answer, Georgia walked straight over to his desk, despite his expression— being less than welcoming and even seemed to be warning her off. A wave of deep unhappiness descended. She didn’t want them to continue on for the rest of the day like this…like sworn enemies either side of a high wall. They had shared something wonderful— yesterday…something Georgia would always remember. She hoped that Keir would too, after she’d left Glenteign.

  ‘It’s fine.’ He held up his hand to indicate that she stay where she was, his firm jaw clenched ominously tight. ‘Why don’t you just get back to work? I really don’t need you to fuss over me!’

  ‘Why are you being like this? I thought that—’

  ‘You thought that because you let me seduce you, you— should now be receiving some kind of special treatment?’

  Georgia could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and hurt. ‘I thought nothing of the kind! And I didn’t “let” you seduce me! It was entirely mutual…you know it was.’

  Holding her gaze for long seconds, Keir finally turned his face away with a muttered expletive under his breath. ‘Then why did you push me away earlier? As if my very touch burned you?’ he demanded.

  In the deep recesses of his mind Keir despised himself for allowing his acute sense of rejection to get the better of him. But when Georgia had not responded— with the affection he’d desired, and had instead deliberately moved away, it had catapulted him right back to the centre of his childhood pain. Both his parents had been past masters at rejection.

  Elise Strachan had been affectionate one minute and cold as ice the next, and when drunk had often p
ushed him and Robbie away. And if either of the boys had hurt themselves in any way, instead of comforting— them, his father would admonish them with, ‘You need to learn how to take a few hard knocks…stop snivelling and toughen up!’This from the age of three…

  ‘Your touch did burn me, Keir…But not in the way you think.’ Georgia’s hand came down on his arm, and he sensed her heat radiate right through the linen sleeve of his shirt so that his whole body became instantly inflamed with desire.

  ‘Then come here and kiss me!’

  Suddenly Georgia found herself in Keir’s lap, and he was holding her face captive as his mouth plundered hers. The wildly addictive taste of him made her writhe and yearn for him to touch her the way he had touched her in bed yesterday.

  Just as his hand found her breast beneath her silky top and hungrily cupped it, the loud ringing tones of the telephone made them both spring apart.

  ‘Stay right where you are.’ Breathing hard, Keir scrubbed a rueful hand round his jaw before reaching for the receiver.

  All the while he spoke to whoever was at the other end of the line his gaze cleaved to Georgia’s with such riveting intent that her heartbeat refused to slow down, even though he was no longer kissing her or touching her. When he’d finished the call, his smile seemed to melt the very marrow in her bones as he lifted her hand to his lips to plant a kiss there.

  ‘Now, where were we?’ he teased. Glancing away, her— mouth still tingling where he had ravished it only moments ago, Georgia suddenly turned ridiculously shy. Here she was, sitting in her boss’s lap, letting him do the most delicious, delectable things to her with his eyes, his mouth and his touch, and she felt like the most gauche, inexperienced teenager. She might be a highly professional and competent secretary, a woman who had taken successful charge of her own and her brother’s life from a very young age, but right now none of those attributes readily came to her aid…

  Nobody had ever told her that falling in love could scramble your brain so much that when faced with the object of your desire it was impossible to even string two lucid thoughts together! Her glance fell almost with relief on the small metal figure of a soldier lying at the side of the blotter on the desk. She picked it up and examined it.

  ‘Does he belong to you?’ she asked lightly.

  Georgia sensed Keir’s body grow briefly rigid. When he didn’t answer straight away, she wondered if she’d done something wrong.

  ‘It belonged to my brother Robbie.’ He took the miniature figure from between her fingers and sighed. ‘It was one of a dozen. Robbie painted them all with painstaking care when he was about seven or eight…he spent hours and hours on them.’

  ‘What happened to the others?’

  ‘My father flung them into the fire in a temper, because— Robbie hadn’t been quick enough in bringing him his morning newspaper.’

  ‘Oh, how cruel!’

  Georgia’s eyes had actually filled with tears, and Keir’s lips twisted sardonically. ‘You think that was cruel, do you? Well, James Strachan surpassed that particular act of spite many times, let me tell you! You wouldn’t believe just what despicable depths the man could sink to when it came to the treatment of his family.’

  Reaching across Georgia to get to his desk, Keir opened a drawer and dropped the figure of the soldier inside. Closing it again, he quickly fielded the pain and rage the memory inevitably engendered, and studied the ravishing girl in his lap with a blend of sorrow and regret. Even talking to her about the smallest part of his past he somehow felt that he was sullying her. This beautiful, innocent woman who had single-handedly raised her fourteen-year-old brother and sacrificed her own plans and dreams for love of her family…

  That kind of pure, untainted love was a million miles from Keir’s own experience. That was why he knew deep down in his soul that he couldn’t expect their affair to go any further once the time came for her to leave. He wasn’t the man for her…no. She deserved someone much more whole and psychologically intact than he was…

  ‘I’m sorry that you and your brother had such an unhappy time when you were young, and I’m sorry your father was so cruel. I can’t imagine what that must have been like. I only ever knew love and kindness from my own parents when they were alive. Was that why you told me not to judge a book by its cover when I first came here? Because this house doesn’t hold happy memories for you even though it’s so beautiful?’

  She was regarding him with what Keir could only describe as infinite tenderness in her lovely greengold— gaze, and he couldn’t deny the almost overwhelming— wave of warmth that flooded his heart in response. Yet at the same time he knew it was dangerous— to keep succumbing so easily to the compassion— and caring that Georgia so naturally displayed. One day soon he would have to live in this house without her, and he’d better not encourage her to become more involved in his personal life than she was already. Ultimately it would be easier for them both if she didn’t.

  ‘I’m sorry…’ He put a hand on her back and indicated— she should get up. ‘I really have a lot of work to do, and enticing as you are…I can’t afford any more distractions today.’

  To Georgia, Keir’s words were akin to somebody throwing a bucket of ice water down her back. Just when he had been opening up to her, sharing some of the pain of his past, he had all too suddenly closed down again and shut her out. Even though they had slept together. Was he subtly reminding her that she was after all only his secretary—and a temporary one at that? He was Laird—an important man in his community—and— when he finally decided to settle down with a woman it would no doubt be with someone from his own class and background. The sooner Georgia accepted that and divested herself of any secret hopes she might entertain of becoming closer to Keir the better.

  On her feet again, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded towards the glimpse of white bandage beneath his sleeve. ‘What about your dressing? I really think I should change it for you.’

  ‘It can wait until later.’

  ‘I only want you to be more comfortable.’

  ‘I’m fine. Like I said…we have a lot to do, and the work won’t get done by itself.’

  Pursing her lips, Georgia turned regretfully away. ‘Okay…But nobody can say I didn’t try…’

  The last thing she had expected was an invitation—though— it was more akin to a command—to join Keir at the dinner party on Saturday evening.

  For the past couple of days he had been kind enough towards her, but there had been no more incidents like the one when he’d spontaneously pulled her onto his lap and kissed her, and—more pertinently—no— late-night visits to her bedroom.

  Georgia knew she wasn’t imagining the distance he seemed to be deliberately putting between them. Telling herself that he must badly regret making love to her, she barely knew how she kept herself sane—but— reverting to her usual saviour of hard work helped. And when she wasn’t working alongside Keir in his study she helped Moira and the other staff in the kitchen, or ran errands for the household into Lochheel or Dundee.

  She’d begun to understand that this dinner party was to be a bit of a ‘statement’ for the new Laird. Not only had he returned to Glenteign when he’d always vowed he wouldn’t, but he’d also acted like a new broom—first getting the administrative side of the household up to scratch and inspiring new confidence— in his staff, and secondly organising the bold new designs for the formal gardens.

  Moira had told Georgia that the house had never looked as beautiful, and the younger woman believed her. Everywhere she looked polished surfaces gleamed, carpets and floors had been swept and vacuumed to within an inch of their lives, picture frames had been dusted, artefacts and ornaments fairly sparkled with the loving devotion they’d received, and the dining room and drawing room of a duke or a king could not have looked as decoratively elegant, she was convinced.

  Georgia felt a bit like Cinderella learning that she was going to the ball. Now she’d realised how important— thi
s event was to Keir in terms of his reputation— and standing in the community, she decided she couldn’t let him down by borrowing the same dress she’d worn to the classical concert shortly after she’d arrived. So she went into Dundee early on Saturday afternoon and, after a frustrating two hours of not finding anything she particularly liked or could afford, found the most exquisite black cocktail dress in a small retro boutique down a cobblestoned sidestreet. She was delighted when it fitted as though it had been made for her.

  When the time finally came for her to wear it, Georgia had spent a good half an hour beforehand in a scented bath, and had washed her dark chestnut hair until the little lights deep in the colour gleamed like tints of burnished copper. She took great care with her make-up too, and when there was nothing else to do other than drape her burgundy pashmina round her shoulders and take a final morale-boosting glance in the wardrobe mirror she left her bedroom to head down the long silent corridor to the staircase.

  Keir was in the huge chequered hallway, greeting his guests as they arrived back at the house after being shown round the gardens by the head gardener Brian. There was a smartly attired member of his staff waiting beside him with glasses of champagne ready to place into their hands after Moira Guthrie had taken any unwanted coats and jackets to the downstairs— cloakroom.

  As if he’d been intimately attuned to the very moment she would appear at the top of the grand winding staircase Keir glanced round to see Georgia standing there. Everything inside him rejoiced at the sight of her. He had always considered her beautiful,— but tonight in his opinion her loveliness excelled that of Venus herself. As he observed her one side of the Pashmina shawl slipped a little down one shoulder, and the smooth radiance of her perfect skin was inadvertently revealed in a black strapless dress—including the soft, sensual swell of her breasts. He hardly knew how he took his next breath he was so transfixed.