Read Online Secretary on Demand by Cathy Williams - Free Book Online Page A

adventure,’ she confided, leaning forward to retrieve her glass of port and recklessly not bothering to clasp the top of her blouse so that her small breasts could be tantalisingly glimpsed. No wonder he was pursued by women, she thought. They probably were all falling over themselves to rise to the challenge of making him lose control.
    â€˜Would this have anything to do with your experience in Ireland? Before you came down here?’
    â€˜What experience?’ Shannon dodged, frankly glugging the port at this point.
    â€˜With Eric Gallway.’ He stretched out his long legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles, and proceeded to fix her with an unblinking stare.
    â€˜Nothing happened between Eric and me,’ she muttered feebly.
    â€˜Which is why you threw hot food all over him.’
    â€˜Anyway,’ she said with sullen resistance, ‘as I’ve already told you, it’s none of your business.’
    â€˜But in a way it is. The fact is, we’re thinking of hiring him…’
    â€˜What? To work in your company?’ Her stubborn expression was replaced with horror. She would pack in the job tomorrow if the alternative was running into Eric Gallway round every corner!
    â€˜Yes, as a matter of fact.’
    â€˜Then you can accept my resignation as of now.’ She teetered to her feet, alarmed at how unsteady they felt, and hovered there, hoping that she could make it to the front door without losing either her dignity or, for that matter, her sense of balance.
    â€˜Oh, sit down! He won’t be working where you are. He’ll be working for my newly acquired media group, in front of the cameras. I gather the thought of that rather appealed to his vanity.’
    Shannon sat back down. Sitting felt distinctly better.
    â€˜And the reason I want to know what happened between you is that I want you to tell me if there’s any reason why we shouldn’t hire the man.’
    â€˜Any reason like what?’ She was beginning to feel vaguely cornered by this subtle battering of her defences.
    â€˜Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps you uncovered something about him…’
    â€˜Oh, I uncovered something about him all right,’ she said bitterly, ‘but nothing that would make him unemployable.’
    â€˜And what was that?’ His voice was a silky whisper and he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighsand staring intently at her. She sincerely wished he wouldn’t do that. It made her feel giddy.
    In the short, taut silence that followed his question, she could feel a reckless urge to confess everything to the man sitting in front of her. And why shouldn’t she? It wasn’t as though it were some dark, horrifying secret. In fact, it would be a relief to tell someone, someone unconnected with the whole affair. Since coming to London, she had maintained a rigid silence about the unfortunate episode, preferring to be accepted as the person she was now, and not judged in any way by what had happened in the past. But wasn’t it more in keeping with the varnished exterior she was cultivating to laugh the whole incident off with a casual shrug and a knowing smile?
    â€˜I had an affair with him!’ she confessed gaily, ruefully realising that her glass was once again empty just when she could have done with a bit of morale bolstering.
    He nodded and failed to look nonplussed. ‘How did you meet in the first place?’
    â€˜He came to the radio station to do an interview with my boss about the differences between working in Ireland as opposed to working in England. How things differed in the area of media and suchlike. Also our radio station was up and coming because it was small and really only dealt with local gossip.’
    â€˜And you fell for his charms, did you?’ He stood up and watched patiently and expressionlessly while she wobbled to her feet, then he helpfully took her arm to steady her. ‘I gather