The secretary smiled back ruefully. ‘Two of the applicants yesterday were men and they fared no better. Mr West can be a little difficult to please.’
Mr West sounded impossible to please. Kim kept her thoughts to herself, merely inclining her head and then waiting as the other woman tapped on the interconnecting door, opening it and standing aside for her to pass through as she said, ‘Miss Abbott, Mr West.’
Stepping into the room, Kim was aware of several things seemingly all at once. Her surroundings were large and light and airy, the floor-to-ceiling windows, which took up most of the end wall, showing an incredible view of the city. The room was beautifully furnished, but then it would be. And it was quiet. Although the offices were located on an extremely busy main road, you’d never have thought it. Lastly, but not least, the bright light streaming in through the windows had the effect of turning the man sitting at the massive desk in front of her virtually into a silhouette, putting anyone entering the room at a distinct disadvantage. Something, Kim felt sure, Blaise West was fully aware of.
‘Good morning, Miss Abbott. Please be seated.’ He had stood to his feet as she approached, leaning forward and shaking her hand before indicating the chair placed at an angle to one side of the desk.
Kim was glad she could sit down. If the room was impressive, the man was more so. Now she could focus properly she could see he looked hard and rugged, not good-looking exactly but the thick black hair turning grey at the temples and startlingly blue eyes gave an impression of vibrant virility. He was expensively put together, his suit and shirt screaming a designer label, but it was the way the clothes sat on the big male body that was electrifying, that and his height. Probably because she was so sensitive about normally being on an eyeline or looking down an inch or two on most men, the fact that Blaise West was at least six or seven inches taller than her had come as a shock, that and the aggressive masculinity. Ridiculously it seemed wrong that he was sitting in an office. He should be scaling an unscalable mountain or fighting man-eating crocodiles in some remote undiscovered land; something extreme anyway.
Without any preliminaries whatsoever, he settled back in his huge leather chair and said coolly, ‘So you want to come and work for me, Miss Abbott. Why is that?’
Coherent thought went out of the window. For the first time in her life Kim felt she knew what a rabbit experienced when it was caught in the glare of a car’s headlights. She stared at him blankly, knowing she had to say something, especially because she was confirming his earlier words—another moron.
Pulling herself together with some difficulty, she forced herself to answer the question she had expected to be asked at some point in the interview and for which she’d prepared a reply. ‘As I explained in my letter, I’ve been at the Surrey branch for a couple of years now and feel that has given me a good grounding as to what makes West International such a hugely successful company. I like my job there but I feel it is time for more of a challenge.’
He said nothing for a few moments. Kim felt the urge to start babbling but restrained herself. Whatever she said or did she wouldn’t be offered this job, she knew that, but she would like to get through this interview without making an absolute fool of herself. So instead of giving in to the nerves that were attacking her, she waited.
‘Textbook answer.’ It was not laudatory. ‘And said in slightly different ways by the previous applicants.’
Kim decided she didn’t like Blaise West. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be sorry, just say something original.’
She didn’t think he would like the original thought that sprang to mind. Reminding herself that she certainly needed the job in Surrey and he was the controlling force in all the branches, she said stiffly, ‘I would like the opportunity for more responsibility and to travel now and again, which I understand the post of your personal assistant involves.’
‘Would it surprise you to know that they’ve all said that too?’
She definitely didn’t like this man. ‘Actually, no, it wouldn’t.’
‘Oh, and why is that?’
‘Because if you treat people as morons they are likely to behave as morons,’ she said sharply. She regretted it immediately, not so much for herself but because she realised too late she might have got his secretary into trouble. And one didn’t answer Blaise West back; his face said so. She waited for the explosion.
‘Ah…’ He leaned forward, the vivid blue eyes never leaving her face. ‘You heard.’
It was no good denying it. She nodded, deciding she wasn’t going to apologise for her tone. If she got the sack in Surrey, she got the sack. She’d survive.
‘Then I apologise. I should imagine it wasn’t the best start to a job interview,’ he said quietly.
The apology was so unexpected she blinked in surprise. Clearing her throat, she said warily, ‘It doesn’t matter, Mr West. Like the others, I am clearly not what you’re looking for. Thank you for your time.’ As she stood up she saw his eyes narrow.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
She stared at him, her cheeks burning. ‘I presumed the interview was at an end.’
‘Then you presumed wrong. We haven’t even started.’ As she sank down in the seat again, he continued to dissect her face. She didn’t think she had ever felt quite so uncomfortable in her life. ‘Now…’ he leant back in the leather chair once more, his elbows on the padded arm rest ‘…I’m going to ask that question again and I’d like a truthful answer this time. Why do you want to come and work for me, Miss Abbott?’
She couldn’t remember the last time she had blushed like this. ‘It was a truthful answer,’ she said tightly. And then, as the black eyebrows rose quizzically, she added, ‘Just not a complete one, perhaps.’
She thought she saw his mouth twitch. It was a well-shaped mouth, firm, sensual, above a cleft chin. ‘So?’
His soft, silky tone didn’t fool Kim. He was determined to have his pound of flesh, she thought hotly. Of course, she could make up a hundred and one things which would be more acceptable than the truth, but somehow she felt he’d know if she did. Pride straightened her spine. ‘Like I said, I do feel I’ve gone as far as I can at your Surrey branch, but to be fair I probably wouldn’t have applied for this post but for something I overheard.’ She hesitated. ‘Something which prompted me to step out of my comfort zone and prove something to myself, I suppose.’
The blue eyes were like lasers. ‘What did you hear?’
‘It was personal,’ she said flatly. ‘Let’s just say it was aimed at me and it wasn’t complimentary.’
‘Anything to do with your work?’
That was a fair question in the circumstances. ‘No, my work has always been satisfactory, as I’m sure Mr Goode would confirm.’
‘He already has or you wouldn’t be here now.’ It was dry. ‘So, Miss Abbott—’ he paused for a moment ‘—are you wasting my time?’
‘What?’ The colour which had begun to subside flooded her cheeks again.
‘Have you any intention of accepting this post should it be offered to you?’
A few minutes ago, perhaps even one minute ago, the honest answer to that question would have been no. Now…she wasn’t sure. Working for someone like Blaise West would undoubtedly be terrifying and exhausting, but did she really want to stagnate in Surrey for the next ten, twenty years? And that was what she had been doing, she thought with a painful dose of self-analysis. She had a degree of independence but she was still in the comfortable cocoon of being close to family with all her friends about her. She had her job down to a fine art, there was no challenge there,