Her Not-So-Secret Diary(5)

She'd come a long way since arriving in Surfers but the past still  haunted her at the oddest times. A word tossed out and she was back in  her childhood purgatory, her disastrous marriage. Nightmares were few  and far between these days but she still recorded her dreams. A security  thing, she supposed.

At least Jared had taken the hint and not pursued further conversation  as the car sped south. It gave her a moment to shake off the bad. The  bad was gone, over, done, she reminded herself. As Roma had told her at  her final session, good times ahead. And that was what it was all about,  right? Refocusing on the present, Sophie resumed her attention to the  upcoming meeting.

She reread the document on the screen for the umpteenth time. She  couldn't remember a darn word. It was as if her mind had shut out  everything except her awareness of the man beside her. Right now his  forearm relaxed on the steering wheel. Suntanned, sprinkled with dark  hair and sporting an expensive-looking watch, ropes of sinew shifting as  he swung out from behind a truck and changed lanes.

She jerked her eyes back to the screen. This infatuation, or whatever it  was, was not going to get her paid at the end of the day. She reminded  herself he was unavailable. Involved with someone else. Focused on  family and his high-flying career. And most important: she wasn't  interested in getting involved.

It should have been easy to push it aside and if it hadn't been for that  stupid dream this whole attraction thing never would have happened.  Would it?

'No special guy, then?'

The question asked in that deep voice jerked her out of her self-talk  and put her immediately on the defensive. She focused her gaze on the  road ahead. 'I don't see how having a man in my life is relevant to my  ability to do my job.'                       
       
           



       

He was silent for a beat, as if considering her snarky response. Then he  said, 'I generally find women in steady relationships make for more  stable employees.'

'Only women?' How sexist was that? But she didn't say it. She'd done  enough damage in the past twelve hours. She just wanted to do her job  with a minimum of fuss and attention and get paid at the end of the day.  Then she never had to see him again.

'Rest assured, I have a strong and committed work ethic, Mr  Sanderson-Jared. And while we're on the topic, how about women in no  relationship?'

And why the heck had she said that? Was her subconscious trying to get her into trouble?

With smooth efficiency, he overtook a shiny red Porsche. 'Which category do you fall into?'

'Does it matter?'

'It might.'

A sharp excitement stabbed through her, followed closely by one of  anger. She forgot her decision not to look at him. His profile-his very  strong, very masculine profile-betrayed no clue as to what he was  thinking. 'What do you mean "it might"?'

What about Melissa? Did he think she'd forgotten? Not noticed? No matter  how gorgeous his looks, no matter what she'd fantasised, she did not  play the other woman. She knew how it felt to be left for someone else.

'I need to know whether you're expected home this evening,' he continued  as they neared their destination. 'I missed work yesterday, which means  we'll need to work late tonight to catch up.'

'Oh.' The barely audible word escaped her lips as the implication sank  in. Just him and her alone in his office. To catch up on work. How  ridiculously foolish and pathetic she was, to have assumed he'd had  something more on his mind.

'No one's expecting me. I live alone.' She hoped her face wasn't as pink  as it felt. Still, it wouldn't have mattered since he didn't even  glance her way.

'You don't have other plans, I hope.'

'No.' And from his tone she rather gathered that she'd have had to  cancel if she had. Pam had warned her the man was work-driven and  focused and expected the same of his staff.

'Which reminds me … ' He indicated his phone on the console between them  while he adjusted his earpiece. 'Get Melissa for me, please. She's on  speed dial.'

'Melissa.' Her stomach dipped, clenched, but she did as he requested,  then turned away and watched the scenery slip by. High-rise apartments  and businesses interspersed with strips of green and pandanus trees and  now glimpses of blue sea. She wouldn't allow herself to feel  uncomfortable.

'Lissa, hi, it's me. I won't be home for tea, I'm working back.' Brisk  and to the point. Pause. 'I don't have time to talk about that now,  Liss. I have someone with me.' He lifted his sunglasses to rub the  bridge of his nose. 'Later. And tell Cryssie I'll call by the hospital  tomorrow for sure. Yeah. Bye.'

Sophie couldn't pretend she hadn't heard the conversation. The way that  smooth tone had roughened with something that sounded close to  exasperation.

'My sister,' he muttered.

A tiny shiver danced down her spine and she remained motionless a  moment, lips pressed together to stop the smile threatening at the  corners of her mouth and trying not to feel ridiculously … what? Pleased?  Excited? Delighted?

She shouldn't be feeling any of those things.

Leather creaked as he shifted in his seat. She saw the movement from the  corner of her eye, saw him glance at her as he exhaled an impatient  breath through his nostrils. 'I fail to see the humour. Ever tried  reasoning with a seventeen-year-old girl?'

Her smile bubbled over into a laugh and she glanced his way. Clenched  jaw. Hands a little tight on the steering wheel. Speedo a little high as  they cruised along the esplanade and into Coolangatta. 'Can't say I  have. But I've been one, so I can tell you it does get better.'

He made some non-committal noise as he pulled to a stop outside a  four-storey apartment block and switched off the ignition. 'It can be a  challenge at times.'

He spoke as if he were Melissa's parent rather than her brother. Or  maybe it was just that brothers were never meant to get along with their  sisters. Yet she knew that wasn't true. The dysfunctional household  she'd been brought up in had tainted and distorted her perception of  family life and love.

'Do you have siblings?' His voice interrupted her thoughts.

'A brother. In Melbourne.'

Somewhat surprised by her instant switch from bright and chirpy to gloom  and doom, Jared reached for his jacket on the back seat. 'You're not  close?'                       
       
           



       

She followed his lead, gathering her bag and laptop. 'I haven't seen him  in years, so no.' She peered through the windscreen at the nondescript  grey building behind a cyclone fence. 'This is the place?'

'Yep.'

Jared had been itching to get another good look at her since they'd left  Surfers but the traffic had been snarly and required his full  attention. Now he took a moment. The brandy-coloured eyes had lost that  desperation he'd seen in his office and he doubted the hint of blush on  her high wide cheekbones was make-up-more likely her natural colour. And  her lips … they were something else. Full, luscious-looking and caramel  glossed … they promised to taste as sweet …

Damn it, not now.

He reminded himself this wasn't a date, ordered his unruly body to  cooperate and forced his attention to the building in front of them  while he rolled down his sleeves. 'You have to think potential, Sophie.'

He'd made his fortune by seeing possibilities and making them happen.  He'd been a millionaire at twenty-seven because he dared to dream and  didn't let others tell him it wasn't possible.

'I'm afraid I'm not very imaginative.'

His gaze swung back to her just as she turned to him with a stunned  tell-me-I-didn't-say-that expression and their gazes locked and for a  beat out of time the spectre of that dream fantasy smouldered in the  tiny space between them. 'I don't believe that for a moment.'

'Believe it,' she muttered, and, pushing out of the car, she started walking.

He shrugged into his jacket, grabbed his briefcase from the back seat  and caught up with her along the path. Without further comment she  accompanied him to the main door where they met the owner, Sam Trent,  and Ben Harbison, an architect who'd worked with Jared on several  projects. After a briefing in Sam's office, they spent half an hour  inspecting the premises while Sophie took notes. For the remainder of  the meeting, she worked unobtrusively at one end of the table, the only  sound the quiet click of her keyboard.

Unobtrusive? For the second time in as many minutes Jared looked up from  the plans in front of him, his gaze unerringly finding Sophie. Focused  on her task, she wasn't giving him a second's glance.

How did she manage cool concentration when he couldn't? Her fast,  efficient fingers with their clear-varnished nails were the cause of the  clicking and Jared couldn't stop thinking about them being fast and  efficient in other ways, as she'd described in her dream. And whenever  the breeze wafted through the open window, it wasn't the sea air but her  fragrance that floated to his nostrils.