She attempted a smile, although they tended to be rather wasted on Tyler from what she could remember. ‘Like any other relationship, in fact.’
To her surprise, an arrested expression sprang into the cold blue eyes that were boring in to her. ‘Do you think you can teach that?’
‘Teach what?’
‘All that stuff you were just talking about…you know, understanding, being aware of people…’ Tyler waved a dismissive hand, clearly unable to remember any other alien concepts.
‘Of course,’ said Mary, surprised.
This was one area she really did know about, thanks to Alan. He had been running a coaching course when she’d met him, and she had been bowled over by his psychological insights and grasp of the complexities of human relationships.
Of course, it hadn’t helped when their own relationship had fallen apart, but that was experts for you.
‘I’ve run a number of courses on workplace relationships in the past,’ she went on, thinking there would be no harm in bigging herself up a little. ‘It’s an interesting area, and it’s amazing what a difference tackling problems like this can make to a company’s productivity.’
‘Do you do other kinds of coaching?’ Tyler asked.
‘Yes.’ Mary was really getting into her stride now. ‘I can help people identify their goals at a personal level and work out a strategy to achieve them.’
Now she was talking his language. Tyler looked at her with approval. He might not have a clue about relationships, but he understood goals and strategies all right.
‘In that case, I might have a job for you,’ he said.
Mary was taken by surprise. ‘I thought you weren’t involved with staff recruitment?’
‘This isn’t about staffing,’ he said. ‘It’s about me.’
‘Oh?’ said Mary, puzzled but polite.
‘Yes.’ Characteristically, Tyler went straight to the point. ‘I want to get married.’
CHAPTER TWO
MARY laughed. ‘Well, this is very sudden!’ she said, entering into the spirit of the joke and pretending confusion. She pressed a hand to her throat as if to contain her palpitations. ‘I don’t know what to say. I had no idea you felt that way about me.’
‘What?’ Tyler stared at her.
‘Still, it’s a good offer,’ she said, putting her head on one side as if giving it serious consideration. ‘I’m thirty-five, and a girl my age can’t be picking and choosing. I’m up for it if you are!’
Looking down into her face, Tyler realised with a mixture of incredulity and outrage that she was laughing at him. The grey eyes were alight and a smile was tugging at the corner of her wide mouth.
‘I’m serious,’ he said, glowering.
The smile was wiped off Mary’s face and it was her turn to stare. ‘I thought you were joking!’
‘Do I look like the joking type?’
‘Well, no, now you come to mention it, but…No, come on.’ She laughed uncertainly. ‘You are joking!’
‘I can assure you,’ said Tyler grimly, ‘that I am not in a humorous mood.’
‘But…you don’t want to marry me, surely?’
His expression changed ludicrously. ‘Good God, no!’ he said, appalled at the misunderstanding. ‘I don’t want to marry you.’
Charming, thought Mary acidly. She knew that she wasn’t beautiful and, OK, she was a bit overweight at the moment, but she wasn’t that bad, and Tyler was no George Clooney, when it came down to it. He had no call to look as if he would rather pick up slugs than touch her.
‘Well, you know,’ she said, leaning forward confidentially, her smile a-glitter with defiance, ‘that’s what the princess in the fairy tale always says to the frog, and you know what happens to them!’
Tyler’s fierce brows were drawn together in a ferocious scowl, and if Mary hadn’t been so cross with him by this stage she would have been quailing in her heels. As it was, when he demanded, ‘Do you want a job or not?’ she only looked straight back at him.
‘I’m not at all clear what this job of yours involves,’ she said. ‘Or, to put it another way, I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about!’
A passing waiter, seeing that they were without glasses, approached with a tray, only to falter as Tyler waved him away irritably, but as the man made to retreat Mary gave him her best smile.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’d love one.’
Ignoring Tyler’s glare, she helped herself to a glass of champagne. She didn’t care what he thought anymore. It was late, she was tired, her feet hurt and she was fed up with Tyler Watts looming over her. She didn’t know what he wanted, but it didn’t sound like it was anything to do with recruitment, and that meant he was wasting her time.
‘I think you’d better go back to the beginning,’ she told him coolly and took a sip of champagne.
Tyler drew a deep breath and counted to ten. If he was the kind of man who was prepared to admit that he had made a mistake, he would have to accept that he might have made a big one in approaching Mary Thomas.
When the idea had first struck him, she had seemed ideal. She had been talking about coaching and he needed a coach. More to the point, he didn’t want to spend time finding a suitable coach, and here was one, right in front of him and anxious for work, it seemed.
Her ordinariness had been appealing too, if he was honest. While accepting in principle the idea of a relationship coach—it was just one step in his strategy, after all—Tyler hadn’t been looking forward to the prospect of discussing his private affairs with anyone too smart or sophisticated. He had every intention of remaining in control of the whole process, and Mary Thomas had looked suitably meek and deferential. All he wanted was for her to offer him a few pointers and then fade into the background.
But the closer he looked, the less ordinary she seemed. Take away that ill-fitting suit and those ridiculous shoes, and you would be left with a lush figure and an impression of warmth that made an intriguing contrast with the direct grey gaze and the slight edge to her voice. Mary Thomas, he had realised already, was not going to do meek or deferential.
It was annoying, Tyler admitted. He had decided that she was the person he needed, and once he had made up his mind he liked to go straight for what he wanted. His ability to focus on a goal and his refusal to be diverted had been the secret of his business success and he wasn’t going to change a winning strategy now. He didn’t have time for doubt or hesitation. He needed to get Mary Thomas on side, and get the job done.
‘All right,’ he said. ‘I’ll start again. I want a wife.’
There was a pause while Mary tried to work out what was going on. He sounded utterly clear and utterly serious but she couldn’t see how this could be anything other than a very elaborate joke at her expense. People just didn’t say things like ‘I need a wife’.
Although, perhaps, people like Tyler Watts did.
‘I think you’ve misunderstood what I do,’ she said after a moment. ‘I’m not a dating agency. I can find you a secretary or a computer operator, but not a wife.’
And then she offered a smile, just in case he turned out to be joking after all.
Tyler looked down at the empty glass in his hand, made an irritated gesture and put it down. He was getting frustrated. Mary Thomas didn’t seem to be taking this seriously