Read Online His Christmas Acquisition by Cathy Williams - Free Book Online Page B

Boxing Day, turning him into an ill-tempered guest at the party given by his godchild’s parents, a party which had become a tradition of sorts over the years and which he had always enjoyed.
    Glancing at his watch again, he was beginning to wonder whether Jamie had decided to jettison work altogether. A week ago such an act of rebellion bordering on mutiny would have been unthinkable, but in the space of a heartbeat all preconceived ideas about his quiet, efficient, scrupulously reserved secretary had been blown to smithereens.
    He was in the process of debating whether to call her when his office door was pushed open and there she was, unbuttoning her sensible black coat and tugging at the scarf around her neck.
    ‘This is getting to be a habit,’ Ryan grated, striding back to his desk and resuming his position with the chair pushed back and his long legs extended to the side. ‘And don’t bother to try and tell me stories about delays on the Underground.’
    ‘Okay. I won’t.’
    Things had irreparably changed. Over a fraught day and a half, Jamie had resigned herself to that and come to the conclusion that the only way she could continue working for Ryan was if she put every single unfortunate personal conversation they had had behind her. Lock them away in a place from where they couldn’t affect her working life. And the kiss …
    The horror of that moment and the fact that it still clawed away in her mind was something that would have to be locked away as well.
    All the same, she was having a hard time meeting his eyes as she relieved herself of her coat, gloves and scarf and deposited the bundle of post on his desk, along with her laptop computer, which she switched on in an increasingly tense silence.
    ‘Look, I’m sorry I’m late,’ she eventually said when it seemed like the silence would stretch to infinity. ‘It’s not going to be a habit, and you know that I’m more than happy to work late tonight to make up for the lost time.’
    ‘I can’t have unreliability in my employees—beside the point, whether you’re happy to work late or not.’
    ‘Yes, well, I hoped that you might understand given the fact that half the country is still on holiday.’ She couldn’t prevent the edge of rebelliousness from creeping into her voice, but the past day and a half had been beyond the pale and nothing seemed to be changing. Greg had appeared on the doorstep, putting a swift end to proceedings on Christmas day. Who on earth had been willing to listen to Jessica’s histrionics—because her sister had had absolutely no qualms about letting the rest of the world into her problems. Apparently no one. There had been a half-hearted attempt on the part of some to try and clear the sitting room but within forty-five minutes they had all dispersed—including Ryan, although in his case Jamie had had to push him out of the door. In true intrusive style, he had been sharply curious and more than happy to stick around. Jamie was having none of it.
    And since then her house, the bastion of her peace of mind, had become the arena for warfare.
    Jamie now knew far too much about the state of her sister’s marriage for her liking.
    With nowhere else to stay, and determined to put things right, Greg had now taken up residence in the sitting room, much to Jessica’s disgust. Everything was chaotic and, although Jamie had sat them both down and gently advised them that perhaps sorting out their marriage problems was something that could be better done in their own home, there seemed to be no glimmer of light on the horizon.
    Jessica was standing firm about needing her space andGreg was quietly persistent that he wasn’t going to give up on them because she was having a temporary blip.
    And now Ryan was sitting stony-faced in front of her and she wasn’t sure that she could bear much more.
    ‘Can we get on with some work?’ she half pleaded. ‘There are a few contracts that you need to look at. I’ve emailed them to