“But what hospital is he in—?” Sarah began, only to be cut off by a click. Well, there wasn’t anything she could do now anyway. She’d find out more the next morning, and perhaps then there would be a more definite prognosis than “touch and go.” Distressed by her boss’s sudden illness, she quickly combed her hair, then drove over to his house. As instructed, the housekeeper let her in, and the tiny little woman told Sarah the details. Mr. Graham had seemed fine that morning, and had played nine holes of golf. After lunch, he’d complained of pains in his left arm, then abruptly collapsed.
“It can come at any time,” the housekeeper said solemnly, shaking her head. “You just never know.”
“No, you never do,” Sarah agreed.
It was the next morning, when she was called to an unusual meeting in Mr. Edwards’s office, before Sarah realized that Mr. Graham’s heart attack could drastically affect her own job. Rome was present too, his dark eyes concerned as he watched her.
Sarah darted a quick glance at him, quivering as she thought of the way he’d kissed her, then just as quickly looked away. She couldn’t meet the intensity of his gaze and keep her mind on her job, and that was distressing. No matter how much pressure she’d been under, she’d always been able to perform her duties; it was upsetting to realize that Rome could throw her off balance with just one look.
“Sarah, sit down, please,” Mr. Edwards invited, his shrewd eyes kind as he watched her. Sarah had always gotten along with Mr. Edwards, but he’d never before asked her to attend a meeting. She sat down and calmly folded her hands in her lap.
“Henry won’t be back,” Mr. Edwards said gently. “I’ve talked to his doctor personally. If he takes it easy, avoids stress, and doesn’t have another attack, he may live a number of years, but he won’t be able to work. He’s going to take an early retirement. Rome is being promoted to senior vice president.”
Again Sarah risked a quick glance at Rome, to find him still watching her with that unnerving intensity. He leaned forward in his chair and offered, “I can’t hire you as my secretary. Kali has been my secretary for years, and of course she’ll move up with me.”
That wasn’t a surprise. Sarah gave him a gentle smile that ripped through his insides, causing his fist to clench suddenly. She hadn’t expected to be his secretary; it would never have worked anyway. She simply couldn’t have worked so closely with him, every day. It had been bad enough just seeing him occasionally. “Yes, of course. Am I being fired?”
“Good lord, no!” Mr. Edwards said, startled. “No, don’t think that at all. But we wanted to give you a choice. I’m bringing a man in from Montreal to replace Rome, and his secretary doesn’t want to relocate. If you want the job, it’s yours, and he’s agreeable. If you’d rather transfer to some other department, just say so. You’ve done an outstanding job for Spencer-Nyle over the years; the choice of jobs is yours.”
Sarah thought of transferring, but she really liked the intense atmosphere of the executive offices, where decisions were made that affected thousands of people. The challenge kept her interested, and though she was in proximity to Rome, the fast pace of her work tended to keep her mind off him during the day.
“I’d like to be his secretary,” she finally answered gravely. “What’s his name?”
“Maxwell Conroy. He’s been directing our Montreal office very competently. I believe he’s English.”
“Yes,” Rome confirmed. Probably Rome had already pulled Maxwell Conroy’s personnel file from the computer and memorized every word of it.
“Good,” Mr. Edwards said heartily, rising to his feet and signaling that they were dismissed. Rome followed Sarah out the door, but didn’t return to his own office. He was close behind her as she went into her office, and he closed the door behind them. Feeling absurdly nervous, Sarah moved away from him and sought refuge behind her desk.
“I want you to know,” he murmured, leaning over the desk and bringing his face close to hers, “I want you for my secretary…badly…but my common sense tells me that I’d never get any work done. I’d be the stereotypical boss who chases his secretary around the desk, so for the sake of the company, I suppose I’ll have to keep Kali.”
Sarah stared at him, losing herself in the dark wells of his eyes. “I understand,” she whispered.
“Do you?” He straightened, his smile quizzical as he looked down at her. “I’m not so certain that I do. Maybe you can explain it. Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?”
She normally didn’t make dates during the week, as she never knew when she would have to work late, but when Rome asked her, her usual caution flew out the window. “Yes, please.” She couldn’t hide the pleasure in her eyes, and he stared at her for a moment before he leaned down once again and kissed her once, hard.
“I’ll pick you up at eight. How does Chinese sound?”
“Wonderful. I love Chinese.”
Her hands shook after he’d gone when she tried to get through her routine paperwork. This was beginning to look like a serious relationship, and there was no way she could back off from it, no way she even wanted to. She thought of Diane, and her eyes closed briefly. She would have died in Diane’s place, if she could have, but no one had been given a choice. Rome was free now, physically and legally if not emotionally, and whatever chance she had with him, Sarah meant to take it.
If he didn’t have a business dinner scheduled, Rome took her out every night that week. Sarah didn’t question her good fortune; she simply enjoyed every moment she had with him. Reminding herself that he’d asked only to be friends, she tried not to say anything or make any gestures that he could interpret as being flirtatious, though sometimes that hardly seemed to matter. When he kissed her good night, his light kiss would linger, as if he were inexorably drawn to the soft warmth of her mouth, and soon she’d be locked in his arms as they kissed with all the pent-up fervor of teenagers. But there was no more than that; he always drew away before any deeper intimacy developed between them, and Sarah took that to mean that he didn’t intend any serious relationship to grow between them. He seemed content with things as they were; he had companionship and lively conversation from her, as well as the comfort of shared interests. She wanted more; she wanted everything he had to give, but perhaps he was giving her all he had. She knew that Diane was never far from his mind, and whenever they talked about her, as they inevitably did, his expression would grow bleak.
A week after Mr. Graham’s heart attack, Maxwell Conroy flew in from Montreal. He was a tall, lean Englishman with a precise British upper-class accent, a cap of golden hair, and the liveliest, most wickedly dancing blue-green eyes Sarah had ever seen. He was more than handsome; he had an ageless, aristocratic beauty to him that held women bemused, staring at him helplessly. If Sarah had been able to see anyone but Rome, she would probably have fallen in love with Maxwell Conroy on sight, but as it was, he received only her usual polite, slightly remote smile.
He wasted no time. The first time Sarah was alone with him he asked her out to dinner.
She looked up at him with startled, wide eyes. There was no way of mistaking his intentions, not with those luminous eyes so plainly telegraphing his thoughts. She bit her lip; how could she refuse him without making things difficult between them at work? She didn’t want to commit herself, though, because Rome could ask her out at any time. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she finally refused, keeping her voice gentle. “We have to work together, and you know that although there aren’t any actual company rules against employees dating, it’s generally discouraged within the same department.”
“I also know that as long as people are discreet it’s generally ignored.”
She drew a deep breath. “I’m seeing