'Business calls?'
'Well—er—yes, most of them.'
'Tell me about the ones that weren't.'
'There was this Miss Knight kept ringing up. She wouldn't believe you weren't in the office. I had to be very firm with her.'
He smiled. 'That I should like to have heard.'
She said defensively. 'I can be firm if I want to, you know. I dealt with Miss Moore for you too.'
'Julia? She turned up again? I was afraid she might. Unlike Vera, who has a job to hold down, Julia's time is her own and Daddy's money makes her a very spoilt girl. What did she want?'
'She wanted you, of course, but when I told her you were away she—' she broke off.
'Yes?' he prompted quite gently.
Gemma swallowed and continued valiantly, 'She tried to find out if you—if you and I were—'
'Sleeping together?' he drawled, and she nodded mutely.
'Oh dear,' he said, grimacing. 'I fear I've put you in a false position, Gemma. Please accept my humble apology. I'm very sorry.'
Her anger flared suddenly as she caught his look of suppressed amusement. 'I don't think you are sorry,' she said hotly. 'Neither can I imagine you being humble.'
He pursed his lips and nodded judicially. 'You're wrong, Gemma, I can be very humble when I'm asking for something I want badly.' His lashes lowered and his eyes held hers in a long, long look that made her shake inside.
But she managed to hang on to her annoyance, trying to ignore the way her heart was thumping against her ribs. 'I'd like to get this clear, Mr Durrant, before I go on working for you. You did indeed put me in a false position when Miss Moore came into the office the other day and you—and you—' her mouth dried up and she gulped humiliatingly.
'Yes?' he enquired with a mocking smile. 'I what?'
'You k-kissed me,' Gemma muttered, pink with embarrassment.
He leaned back in his chair, studying her face. 'So I did, and very pleasant it was too. You're eminently kissable, Gemma Lawson, as I'm sure you've been told many times before in your young life.'
She forgot he was her boss and she a paid employee. 'Oh, shut up!' she burst out desperately, with a quick glance round the room at the other tables, most of which were fortunately empty. 'Let me say what I want to say. I think I know now why you engaged me—one of the reasons that you didn't tell me when I asked you. I think you want to give the impression that we're—we're having an affair. V think you want me as a—a kind of—of hedge to keep away your girl-friends when they get too demanding, or won't take no for an answer.'
There was a long silence and she crumbled her roll into small pieces and kept her eyes on her plate.
At last he said, 'So that's what your clever little brain has come up with, is it?'
'Yes.' She met his look defiantly now. She had started this and she was going to see it through. 'And there's no need to be sarcastic. I think you're just using me, and I object to being used. I was prepared to stand in for Beth because it suited me to do so, but I'm not prepared to stay and work as your secretary if it means that people think I'm—I'm your mistress. Which,' she ended triumphantly, 'I'd rather die than be!'
He smiled hatefully. 'Very concisely put, Miss Lawson. Though your grammar is a bit shaky, don't you think?'
She glared at him, 'Oh, you, you—' she gasped, close to tears.
He regarded her for a moment, then he leaned across the table and covered her hands with his own strong ones, his long firm fingers winding themselves round hers. 'Poor little Gemma,' he murmured. 'It's a shame to tease you, you're so very young, but you rise to the bait so deliciously, and I must admit that a girl who can still blush is quite a novelty these days. But to return to your accusation, which I emphatically deny. No, I didn't engage you to choke off my too-demanding women friends. Normally I can do my own choking off without any help.'
She looked at him, at the hard, almost haughty lines of his face, heard the arrogant note in his voice, and thought she could well believe that.
'I really am sorry,' he went on, 'that the little episode with Julia upset you. When I kissed you I acted on impulse, which is a thing I rarely do, and it was entirely because I wanted to save myself— and you—from the scene that I knew was brewing, and that I hadn't time to deal with if I wanted to catch my train to London. And that's all there was to it.'
But it wasn't all, Gemma remembered only too well. That first kiss had been followed by another after Julia had left, one that Julia hadn't witnessed, so his explanation didn't hold water.
'There—I've apologised,' he said gently. 'Satisfied?'
Gemma wasn't satisfied. She didn't understand Harn Durrant and she didn't trust him. Common sense, and something more—a feeling that she was out of her depth with this man—told her that she ought to say no, she wasn't satisfied. That she wasn't prepared to carry on with the job, and that he must look for someone else to take Beth's place. But some stronger urge that she didn't understand made it impossible for her to say the words.
'I—I suppose so,' she muttered, and felt his fingers on hers in a hard pressure. 'Good,' he said, and he looked really pleased, although probably he was just relieved that he wouldn't have to start looking for another secretary, Gemma assured herself.
'Just as a matter of interest, though,' he quizzed her, 'how did you manage to get rid of Julia?'
Here was an opportunity to score a point. 'I pointed out that you weren't worth breaking her heart over,' she said coolly. 'And I advised her to do what they tell you to do when you lose a pet dog—go out and get another one as soon as you can.'
His head jerked back, mimicking a blow received on the jaw. Then he roared with laughter. 'Oh, Gemma, you're superb! What should I do without you?'
Reluctantly she smiled. Then they were both laughing together and suddenly everything was different. As he left her to procure coffee Gemma watched his tall figure moving easily across the long room, between the tables, to the white-clothed service counter, and her doubts and fears began to drift away. He looked every inch a top executive and she could envisage a future where she worked intimately with him, as a personal secretary should, understanding him, making allowances for him, not taking offence when he was irritable, defending him against silly people who tried to encroach on his time and attention.
She was brought back from this rosy dream as he placed her coffee on the table before her and said, 'And now, let me explain what I've got in mind for the immediate future. I shall accept one of young Underhill's plans for the new building here and tell him to get on with it immediately. As I won't have an office until it's finished I've decided to scrap all the office furniture, move anything essential—the files and so on—down to Mrs Brown's department, and leave that good lady in charge until the building work is completed. I suppose it will take a matter of months. Meanwhile I shall return to London.'
'Oh!' she breathed, and her stomach felt as if she had suddenly gone down in a lift. The deadly feeling of disappointment took her by surprise. Not to see him for months!
He was watching her face closely. 'I shall, of course, want you to come to London with me,' he said.
That took her breath away and she gaped at him. 'Come to London—with you?' she repeated stupidly.
He smiled faintly. 'Don't make it sound like an improper suggestion! I should require your services only as a secretary, in spite of all your nasty suspicions.' He became serious. 'I realise this is a bit of a surprise to you, Gemma. You're very young and this is your first job, but—as I said once before—I think you're a girl who is at home in the modern world, and the modern world is full of challenges. The woman who's been working as my secretary in London is leaving in a couple of weeks to have a baby, and I shall need a replacement. From what I've seen of your work and heard of the way you've already come to terms with the technology, I think you'll do very well.'
'But—but London—' Gemma stammered. All her plans about being cool and collected were in ruins after this surprise attack on
them. 'I don't know London at all. I wouldn't have anywhere to live or anything.'
'That's arranged,' he said crisply. 'Brenda Johnson is willing to give you a room in her flat for the time being. Her husband is away serving in the Far East and I think she would be quite glad of some company.'
'I don't know,' Gemma said doubtfully, thinking of what Beth would say; thinking too of leaving Beth alone when Ian was off to Naples. 'May I think it over?'
'If you must,' he said, suddenly cold. 'Let me know tomorrow morning at the latest.' He tossed down the remainder of his coffee and got to his feet. 'Are you ready now? We'll get the removal work started.'
Oh dear, Gemma thought in utter confusion, as she followed him out to his car, the only bonus in all this is that apparently Derek will get the job he so much wants.
The afternoon passed in a hectic rush of activity. Summoned by telephone, Derek Underhill appeared, looking apprehensive. After a very brief conference Harn accepted one of his two new plans in its entirety. 'Get cracking straight away, will you? We shan't need planning permission for this work, you said? You've got your builders lined up? Good. I shall leave the whole project in your hands, then—you'll be accountable to me. I shall be in London while the work is going on and I'll phone occasionally for a progress report. Is all that clear?'
'You'll be in London?' Derek repeated with a glance towards Gemma, who was piling up files on her desk, and Harn smiled grimly.
'Yes, and my secretary will be coming with me.'
Derek Underhill flushed and said nothing. Gemma almost yelled across the office that she hadn't made up her mind yet, but thought better of it. A cool modern girl wouldn't behave like that.
She carried the files down to Mrs Brown's office and was there for some time, rearranging them to that lady's satisfaction. When she got back upstairs Derek had gone and Harn was poring over his desk looking totally absorbed in his work.
'That's all for today, Gemma,' he said, without looking up. 'You can go home now.'
Feeling decidedly weak at the knees, Gemma went.
Beth was drooping listlessly over the cooker stirring something in a pan when Gemma opened the door half an hour later, but she turned and summoned a smile. 'Hullo, love, how's things?'
'Chaotic!' Gemma pulled a face and collapsed into the old wicker chair by the kitchen stove. 'Mr Durrant turned up today unexpectedly and after that the place was in a ferment. He's having the whole office re-vamped and modernised—I told you. And now he's decided on the plans, he's going back to work in London while the builders are in.'
Beth pushed the pan aside, and came across the kitchen. 'So your job will come to an end so soon? Poor old Gem, what a shame. You were really beginning to enjoy all that horrid mechanical stuff, weren't you?'
Gemma took a deep breath. 'He wants me to go to London with him,' she said, and added hastily, 'His secretary there is leaving. He seems to take it for granted that I'll go. He's even arranged for me to live with Brenda Johnson—the girl who came for my training—for the time being.'
Beth said slowly, 'And do you want to go?'
'I don't know,' Gemma confessed. 'I don't want to leave you on your own, Beth. Oh, I know what you'll say—that I mustn't miss a chance like this because of you, but—'
Beth said, 'But do you want to go?' Her voice sounded odd.
Gemma considered in silence, then said haltingly, 'Well, I suppose—other things being equal— yes, I think it might be quite an experience. London, the hub of the country's business—just the place for an ambitious young secretary!' She pulled a face. 'But I'm not going to leave you on your own, Beth, now that Ian's going away, and that's final. Heavens, it's not as important to me as all that.' But it is, something inside her whispered traitorously, it's terribly important. And that had nothing to do with being an ambitious young secretary, either.
She realised that Beth's shoulder's were shaking with laughter. 'We are a couple of mugs,' she spluttered at last, wiping her eyes. 'Here are you, thinking of missing a wonderful opportunity of going to London because of me, and here am I turning down a chance to go to Naples because I couldn't think of leaving you on your own here. Oh, Gem darling, we've both been pretty idiotic!'
'Naples—you?' Gemma goggled.
'Um,' Beth nodded, her brown eyes shining. 'Ian wants me to go along with him, and I could use my hand-out from Durrants to do it. I could probably get a job there—teaching English, perhaps, or something. Washing up in a restaurant even. I'd do anything to get to Naples. He—' she hesitated, then flushed. 'He wants us to get married later on, Gem, but—'
Gemma flung her arms round Beth's neck and hugged her tightly. 'It's the most wonderful thing that's ever happened! I couldn't have wished for anything nicer. Ian's a pet, and I'm sure you'll be so happy together. Oh, Beth love, let's start making plans straightaway. And when we've had supper you must go and see Ian and tell him Yes.'
'But—' Beth began again, but Gemma put a hand over her mouth.
'No buts, that's what's going to happen.' And Beth laughed shakily and agreed.
'And you'll go to London? You'll enjoy it? You're sure?'
'Yes, I'll go to London,' Gemma echoed. 'I'll enjoy it, I'm sure.'
But when she had seen Beth off, bubbling with excitement on her way to tell Ian the good news, Gemma sat down and drank the last cup of coffee in the pot and tried to quieten her tingling nerves. This was her chance to become a cool, competent London girl like Brenda. A thoroughly modern girl. She couldn't miss the challenge now. But— enjoy it? She wasn't sure about that at all.
In fact, remembering Harn Durrant's dark eyes and the way they had regarded her across the table, she felt she would never be sure about anything again, least of all about his plans for her. That look had frightened and excited her. She was taking a huge leap in the dark, and butterflies were lurching wildly about her stomach as she contemplated the immediate future.
CHAPTER FIVE
Gemma arrived at the office next morning to find it stripped almost bare. Two workmen in blue overalls were removing the large, shabby desk where Harn had worked. Her own desk had disappeared, as had the chairs and the filing cabinets and the curly mahogany coat-stand. And of course the word-processor was nowhere to be seen.
Harn glanced over his shoulder at her from where he was standing at the window, reading a letter. 'Well,' he enquired brusquely, 'have you made up your mind if you can face the challenge of the Big Bad City?'
She hated it when he was sarcastic. 'If you want me to work in London, Mr Durrant, I'm prepared to do so,' she said calmly.
'Thank you for that generous concession.' The tone was still ironic, but she thought she detected a hint of triumph in his voice. He wasn't a man who liked to be refused anything.
He folded the letter and put it back in its envelope. The paper and the envelope were a pale mauve colour and Gemma thought she detected a faint perfume in the air, which certainly didn't come from Harn Durrant.
'Let's make a few plans, then,' he said. 'Obviously there will be no more work done here today, so I suggest you go back home and do some packing and I'll drive you up to Town this afternoon and park you with Brenda. She'll be expecting you. Run along now, and I'll pick you up at your home around five.' He pulled out a notebook and pencil. 'What's the address?'
Gemma felt as if the ground was being cut away under her feet and there was a deep abyss in front of her, but she pulled herself together sufficiently to say, 'I'm not sure I'll be ready by five. And I'd much prefer it if you didn't call at my home.'
He frowned. 'Why—to both questions?'
'Well, I—I haven't really got enough clothes suitable for working in London. I was going to buy some first.'
'That's easily settled. You can do your shopping when you get there. Much more choice, and Brenda knows the best shops; she'll be able to help you. Why don't you want me to pick you up at your home?'
Heavens, the man was insensitive! She said coldly, 'Because I doubt if my sister would c
are to see you.'
He looked faintly amused. 'Really? Is she still bearing a grudge?'
Gemma nearly blurted out, 'No—but I'm bearing a grudge on her behalf.' Instead she said quietly, 'I think it would be better if I took a taxi. I could meet you wherever you say.'
Harn shrugged without interest. 'Okay, if that's what you want. You can come to my flat.' He scribbled down the address, tore the leaf from his notebook and handed it to her. 'Don't be late,' he added, and it seemed like the parting shot in a battle.
Gemma would rather have died than be late. The taxi deposited her outside a block of custom-built flats at the expensive end of the town on the dot of five. Harn was standing beside his car in the private car-park and he stepped forward and paid her driver before she had a chance to get out her purse. He loaded her bags on to the back seat of the Mercedes, beside his own.
'Hop in,' he said, and slid into the driving seat, leaning across to open the passenger door for her. Gemma almost fell into the seat beside him. She had the impression that if she didn't get in quickly he might drive away without her—a man in a hurry, that was Harn Durrant.
He didn't seem inclined to talk, and Gemma leaned back against the soft pale leather of the seat and tried to relax, but it wasn't easy. She was tense as she kept remembering Beth's final words.
'Your life's your own now, Gem,' Beth had said as they stood on the doorstep of their home, waiting for the taxi. 'You'll make a success of things, I know you will. I'm just sorry—' She broke off, biting her lip.
'Sorry about?'
'I've got to say it, darling. I'm sorry it's Harn Durrant that you're going to London with. He's not right for you.'
'Beth!' Gemma laughed, squeezing her sister's arm. 'I'm going to work for the man, not marry him!'
Dangerous Male Page 8
