First day as partner and all he’d been able to think about was getting to the information centre as soon as possible to see if she really was there; if she was real.
Well, now he knew. Definitely real. Definitely gorgeous and definitely ought to be off limits. He yanked his mind back from its determined wanderings into extremely dangerous territory and thanked God she’d been wearing trousers. He rolled a pen between his fingers, trying to stop the memory of the sensation when he’d crossed from stockings onto bare skin.
He was on the fast track, just made a partner and had worked damn hard to get there. The last thing he needed was distracting by a lust-on-legs temp.
Then again, just because he had career ambitions didn’t mean he had to live like a monk. It wasn’t as if he were thinking anything serious here. Marriage and kids were in the long-term plan, but short-term? Hey, he was a man, after all.
Office affairs did get complicated, though. He’d seen it a million times. Never got involved himself as a result—part of his unwritten code. Work was for work, play came after.
But she was a temp—and a New Zealander at that. She’d be onto another temp job or another country in no time. Perfect match for a full-throttle, fast-burning fling.
A partner and a temp, though? Dodgy waters.
He smiled his thanks at Gina—absolutely none the wiser about any of the new databases she’d just run through for him.
‘Tell. All. Now.’
One look at Gina’s face and Lissa knew she couldn’t fudge it. ‘I thought he was Karl.’
‘What?’
‘Rory. I thought he was Karl. At the party.’
‘At the party?’ Gina echoed. ‘Rory was there?’
‘On the balcony.’
‘You didn’t come in?’
‘I went home early. He gave me a lift.’
‘O-K…’ Gina stood, positively agog. ‘So what happened?’
Lissa felt the heat in her cheeks again. She fussed with her mouse. ‘I, er, told him I wasn’t interested.’
‘What?’
‘I thought he was Karl and that you’d set him up to come flirt with me, so I told him I wasn’t interested.’
Gina started to laugh. ‘And a fat lot of notice he took of that! I knew it would happen like that. Man, that’s why I wanted Karl to keep you out of the way so I could have just one chance with Rory before he saw you.’
‘What?’ Now it was Lissa who couldn’t keep up.
Gina sighed. ‘Look, babe, I’ve known Rory for ages and he’s never shown a flicker of interest in me or any other girl here. We all drool over him and he’s just Mr Charming to everyone. I was hoping that maybe when he got back he’d see me in a new light. I wanted Karl to eliminate you from the scene.’
‘Eliminate me?’
Gina rolled her eyes. ‘Look at you. Tall, legs that go for ever, curves in the right places. Long, beautiful hair. Frank and funny. You’re a bloke magnet. Look how many of the guys have tried to chat you up and yet you won’t go out with any of them. You’re the female equivalent of Rory. Gorgeous and unattainable. It was obvious you two would hit it off.’
‘Unattainable?’
‘Yes, and even if you aren’t that’s the vibe you give off.’ Gina looked at her slyly. ‘But I just saw the way he was looking at you and, let me tell you, I’ve never seen him look that way at anyone before. And I’ve never seen you look flustered before. And you definitely look flustered.’
Lissa put her elbows on the desk in front of her and rubbed her temples.
Unattainable? She hadn’t exactly been unattainable last night. She’d been easy, almost. Until now her desire to be unavailable in the office had succeeded. But Rory had shown that shield to be worthless. He’d shattered the illusion just by looking at her. This couldn’t be happening.
He wasn’t Karl the flirt. She needed to snap out of it and fast. He was a partner—one of the bosses. Been there, done that, and complicated wasn’t the word. She’d had one of the best graduate jobs on the market and had ruined it by having an affair with her boss that had turned really nasty.
She forced herself to concentrate, and like the others worked through lunch. Come two o’clock everyone was beginning to flag.
‘Coffee?’ Lissa asked. ‘I’ll go.’ She was eager to stretch her legs.
Both Hugo and Gina looked up; Lissa grinned at the desperation on their faces. ‘I’ll be back in ten.’
She braced against the chilly wind and got there in record time. Glancing around as she entered, she froze on the spot as she saw Rory with two consultants sitting on the far side deep in conversation and coffee. As she looked across his head lifted and their eyes met. His were glittering green and she felt lanced by them, feeling the impact all the way through to her marrow. She told herself the heat in her cheeks was from the cold air not that hot look.
Placing the order quickly, she stood determinedly watching the barista do his stuff, trying not to listen to any sounds from the seated area behind her. Once she had the coffees she couldn’t help a swift glance to the corner where he’d been sitting with the others. To her immense relief, the chairs now stood empty. Breathing out for the first time since she had entered the shop, she left it.
He was waiting by the door. She hadn’t seen him and nearly dropped the coffee when he said straight into her ear, ‘Let me carry those.’ He had the tray from her before she’d computed what he’d said. She had no choice other than to turn and fall into step with him.
‘Have you forgiven me?’ He was watching her with those dancing eyes.
She said nothing.
‘Are you going to talk to me?’
She stopped and growled at him. ‘No and no.’
He smiled back at her. She looked away crossly and continued walking. Damn him for having such a gorgeous smile. It made it hard to stick to her resolve—impossible, in fact. ‘You should have told me who you were.’
‘Probably,’ he admitted. ‘But it was so much fun not to. It was very enlightening.’
‘Gina will never forgive me. I hadn’t told her everything.’ The last part came out as a mumble and she was annoyed to feel the tell-tale heat rise in her cheeks.
‘And I won’t either,’ he said easily. ‘She never needs to know. Have dinner with me.’
The change in tack was a surprise. ‘No.’
‘Lunch?’
‘No.’
‘Coffee?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t do office affairs.’
‘Neither do I.’
‘Then why are you asking me out?’
‘I’m willing to make an exception in your case. Anyway, who said anything about an affair?’
She bit back her smile. She’d walked into that one. She didn’t blame him. Different time, different place, she might have been saying yes. But not in this universe. He was a workmate, more than that, he was one of the bosses. But she didn’t want to drag up old issues and decided to deflect him with a different