CHAPTER SIX
BY FOUR O’CLOCK Friday, Leah had worked herself up into a state. Jason hadn’t called her in for that interview, though everyone else seemed to have trundled down to the function room over the past three days. Today, all the reps had been brought in off the road, going in for their interviews one by one, then stopping by her desk afterwards to tell her how absolutely fantastic the new boss was, and that their jobs were safe.
Peter, of course, was very relieved, though he confided to Leah that he hoped someone eventually told Mr Pollack—or his offsider—how hopeless their field sales manager was. Shelley had totally botched up their territories, he’d complained. As well as their country runs.
By four twenty-five, Leah had given up hope that she was going to have the opportunity this week to hand in her resignation personally.
Part of her was relieved. She hadn’t been looking forward to another confrontation with Jason Pollack, which is what it would have become.
On another level, she wished it was over. Now, she would think about that infernal man all weekend.
Leah started tidying up her desk, ready to leave at four thirty, when Trish showed up, looking flushed and excited.
‘I’m not going down to the pub for drinks tonight,’ she announced. ‘Sorry.’
‘That’s all right,’ Leah returned. ‘I’m going straight home tonight, anyway.’
She’d been afraid the new and much-lauded boss might show up at the pub, since he didn’t stand on ceremony. The last thing Leah wanted was to be with him in a semi-social situation. It had been bad enough, greeting him politely every morning and afternoon this week, as well as during the day when he walked past on the way to the factory, or the canteen, or wherever he’d been going. He always smiled at her, and it was impossible not to smile back. Her mouth simply didn’t obey her when he was around. Neither did her eyes. She hadn’t ogled him, exactly. But it had been a close call.
‘Where are you off to instead?’ she asked Trish.
‘You’ll never guess. Bob’s asked me out.’
‘Bob who? Oh, you mean Bob, the right-hand man.’
‘Yes.’ Trish beamed.
‘That’s great, Trish,’ Leah said with a warm smile. ‘Bob seems nice.’
‘He is. Very. Jim’s most put out, but I’d already told him it was over between us. He’s gone off home in a huff.’
Leah frowned. ‘I didn’t see him leave.’
‘He went out the side door.’
‘Has Mr Pollack left the same way?’ she asked hopefully.
‘No. He’s still in the function room with Bob. And you’d better start calling him Jason. He hates being called Mr Pollack.’
Leah sighed. ‘I won’t have to worry about that for much longer, Trish. I’ve decided to resign.’
‘What? But why?’ Trish looked upset.
‘I think it’s time I tried something a little more challenging.’
‘Oh, dear, I’m going to miss you terribly. Couldn’t you possibly find something more challenging here? Bob told me Jason is planning a brand new advertising campaign to get sales moving. You might be able to help with that.’
‘I don’t think so, Trish,’ Leah said, switching on the answering machine, then bending down to get her handbag from where it was sitting on the floor under the desk.
‘You haven’t resigned yet, have you?’ ‘What’s this about resigning?’
Leah’s head snapped up to find Jason striding towards them, his handsome face not smiling at her this time. Bob was a few steps behind, his face full of smiles as he looked at Trish.
‘Leah. She says she needs something more challenging,’ Trish said before Leah could assemble her thoughts, and her defences. ‘You could find her something in marketing, Jason, couldn’t you?’
The boss’s darkly frustrated eyes went to Leah’s. ‘I would not dream of forcing Ms Johannsen into doing anything she didn’t want to do,’ he replied, the use of her last name showing he was not pleased by her decision. ‘But if she wishes, yes, I’m sure something could be arranged. I would hate to lose such a valued employee.’
‘See?’ Trish said happily.
‘I hear you and Bob are going out to dinner tonight,’ Jason directed toward Trish. ‘Why don’t you two run along and leave me to have a private word with Leah? I was meaning to speak to her today, but time simply ran out on me.’
Leah hated the feeling of people talking around her. Hated the feeling of losing control of her own life.
She didn’t want to have a private word with this man. She didn’t want to have a private anything with him.
But Bob was swift to obey his boss’s command, and soon they were alone together. Though thankfully, not for long. The office staff kept going by on their way out, saying a polite cheerio to Jason, then calling out to Leah that they’d see her later down at the pub.
Finally, however, the trail of people ceased and Leah was forced to face her nemesis, alone.
‘You go somewhere for drinks on a Friday night?’ he asked from where he was still standing on the other side of the desk. Thank goodness. Usually. But not tonight.’ She stood up, her handbag at the ready to make a quick exit.
‘Why not?’
‘Trish won’t be there. I usually sit with her and I don’t like to go alone.’
‘I could take you,’ came his immediate offer.
‘Absolutely not!’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t like to be the object of office gossip.’
‘But you’re resigning. Or so you say,’ he added, a slightly cynical edge creeping into his voice.
Leah bristled. ‘I always mean what I say. I am resigning, and there’s nothing you can say or do to stop me.’
He stared at her, his head cocking slightly on one side. ‘Why are you afraid of me?’
Leah stiffened. ‘I am not afraid of you.’
‘Oh, yes, you are. Yet you shouldn’t be. I don’t mean you any harm, Leah. I like you. No, that’s a rather colossal understatement. I’m extremely attracted to you. I’d love to take you out.’
‘You’d love to take me to bed,’ she snapped, the words tripping off her tongue with a flash of venom.
His smile was her undoing. Because it was so damned honest.
‘That, too,’ he admitted. ‘But is that such a crime? Look at it from my angle, Leah,’ he went on persuasively. ‘I’m a single man. You’re a single woman. Without a current boyfriend, I’m told. Yes, I also admit to asking around the office about you. That’s what men do when they’re interested in a woman. And I am very interested in you.’
‘Why?’ she threw at him.
He looked rattled for a moment.
‘Why not?’ ‘Do you have a current girlfriend?’ she quizzed him.
‘No.’
‘Now why do I find that hard to believe?’ she scoffed.
‘I did have a girlfriend till recently. We split up a couple of weeks ago.’
How typical, she thought. Out with the old and in with the new. Men like him were never long without a woman on their arm, and in their bed. Good-looking women. Never plain ones.
‘Come out with me tonight, Leah. Get to know me. I’m not what you think.’
But you are, Jason’s conscience jeered. You’re not interested in a real relationship with this girl. You don’t want to marry her, or have children with her. She’s dead right about you. You just want her in your bed, at your beck and call.
A measure of guilt flooded in with this admission. But it wasn’t as strong as his desire, a desire that had become almost obsessive this past week. He’d had extreme difficulty putting his mind to the takeover of this company, his thoughts constantly distracted by her physical nearness. He kept making excuses to walk by reception, just to see her, and to reassure himself that the chemistry between them was mutual.
It was. He knew it was.
He’d delayed interviewing her, in the hope of calming her concerns about him. But that hadn’t worked. She was going to resign.
Exasperation joined his desperation. ‘If you’re not afraid of me and you’re going to resign, then there’s nothing to stop you coming out with me tonight. Is there?’ he ground out.
‘Maybe I just don’t like you,’ she snapped back. ‘Or hasn’t that occurred to your highness?’
Jason’s teeth clenched hard in his jaw. Damn, but if that desk wasn’t between them, he’d sweep her into his arms and kiss that saucy mouth of hers into total silence.
As it was, all he could do was glower at her.
She glowered right back.
If only he knew why she was fighting the chemistry between them. Her employment file hadn’t helped him all that much. She was still one big mystery.
The arrival of the cleaners gave Jason the opportunity he was looking for.
‘We need to talk,’ he pronounced firmly. ‘In private. Come with me.’
Leah threw a frantic glance at the two cleaners who steadfastly ignored her. Other than making a scene, she had no option but to do what he asked.
Grabbing her handbag, she followed him down to the function room, thinking to herself that it would be ages before the cleaners got down there. She would be alone with him for far too long without any hope of interruption.
‘This is all nonsense,’ he declared after he banged the door shut behind her. ‘Your resigning is nonsense. That is nonsense,’ he said, waving an impatient hand in her direction.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she retorted, though she suspected he was referring to the way she was clutching her handbag in front of her, like a shield.
He began to pace about the room, raking his hands through his hair and muttering to himself. When he reached the far side of the boardroom table, he ground to a halt, his eyes stabbing across the room at her.
‘What in hell’s wrong with you?’ he demanded to know. ‘You say one thing, but your eyes keep telling me a different story. Are you or are you not attracted to me?’
Leah swallowed. A direct interrogation was the last approach she’d expected. She’d been worried he might do something more physical.
‘Don’t give me some bulldust answer, Leah. Tell me the truth.’
She drew herself up as tall as she could, doing her best to maintain her dignity, whilst all the while thinking he was devastatingly attractive when he was angry. The passion in his eyes and his face was extremely flattering, and incredibly seductive. Because it was all for her.
‘You are a very handsome man,’ she said, shaken by the dizzying waves of desire which started washing through her.
‘Handsome is as handsome does,’ he returned sharply. ‘What I want to know is do you want me as I want you, damn it?’
‘I…I…’ She could not go on. Could not say another word. Not yes. Or no. Nothing.
Her mouth had gone bone dry. Her mind went blank.
Her inability to answer thrilled Jason. Then aroused him. He had to touch her. Had to kiss her.
When he strode around the table towards her, her eyes blinked wide, her lips falling slightly apart.
But she didn’t turn and run.
Jason didn’t know why she’d been afraid of him. Or if she still was. But he was beyond caring. All that mattered at that moment was what her eyes kept telling him.
She was standing there, waiting for him, wanting him as he wanted her.
Disposing of that silly handbag took less than a second. Pulling her into his arms even less. He groaned as his mouth took possession of hers, his arms folding her close, then closer still. Technique seemed unimportant in the face of the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Triumph mingled with the most intoxicating pleasure. The kiss went on, and on, and on. Not foreplay, but an experience in itself, satisfying him with the way her body melted against his, her soft moans music to his ears.
Jason knew, long before his head lifted, that she was his. He didn’t need to rush things now. A quickie in this office was not what he’d been thinking about and craving all week. He wanted her in his bed. Tonight. All night.
And that was only for starters.
‘You are so beautiful,’ he whispered against her hair, his arms holding her close, close enough to feel the instant stiffening of her muscles.
What had he done wrong now?
She wrenched out of his arms, her face flushed, her eyes tormented as she stumbled back from him.
‘I’m sorry,’ she choked out. ‘But I can’t do this. No, don’t touch me again!’ she threw at him when he took a step toward her. ‘If you do, I’ll scream.’
He froze, his body as frustrated at his mind. What on earth was the matter with this girl?
‘You’re crazy, do you know that?’
‘Yes,’ she replied with a funny little laugh. ‘Yes. I think I must be.’ And she bent to scoop up her bag from where he’d dropped it on the floor.
Panic filled his heart that she would go and he would never see her again. Without thinking of the consequences, he reached out and grabbed her on the arm.
‘You can’t just leave without explaining yourself.’
The emotional distress in her eyes was instantly replaced with a defiant fury. ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you,’ she spat as she shook his hand away. ‘I’m going home now and I strongly suggest you don’t try to stop me.’
His mouth opened to demand she tell him if she would be here on Monday. But she was already out the door, fleeing from him like he was the devil himself.
Jason had never felt so helpless before. Or more frustrated. Logic told him to just let her go. Clearly, the girl had some serious problem where men were concerned.
But then he remembered how she’d felt in his arms and he knew that he could not follow his own advice.
This wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.
23-10-07, 01:28 PM
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