His Secretary Mistress(46)

The words hovered on her tongue, but when she opened her mouth they would not come. If nothing else she owed him her honesty; she couldn’t lie and tell him the most beautiful night of her life had meant nothing to her. If he walked away now he wouldn’t leave her in peace, but purgatory. She needed him in the same way that she needed oxygen to breathe—but what was he offering and did she have the courage to accept?

‘I wanted you from the moment you fell into my arms,’ he told her as he watched the play of emotions on her face. ‘Common sense dictated that you would cause havoc in my life, yet I was determined to employ you as my secretary. I can’t deny that I was hoping for more than just a working relationship between us, but then you sprang the bombshell that you were married.’

Jenna had the grace to look ashamed. ‘That first day in the park, you overwhelmed me. I’d never felt such a strong attraction to a man before, and I was so embarrassed. You were my boss, you’d already dismissed one secretary for being too eager, and I was desperate to save face. When I realised you thought Chris was my husband, I went along with the deception.’ She stared up at him, her heart in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘How sorry?’ he teased gently, his fingers threading through her hair. ‘Sorry enough to kiss me?’

His mouth hovered over hers, tantalisingly close yet not quite touching, and with a moan she stretched up on tiptoe to close the gap. It was like coming home after a long journey, she thought dazedly as he crushed her against his chest, the fierce possession of his lips betraying a hunger he could no longer disguise. His kiss was no gentle seduction but a passionate assault on her senses, his tongue plundering the inner sweetness of her mouth while his hands roamed her body, as if he was desperate to convince himself she was really in his arms.

‘Mummy, I’m hungry.’

The small voice filtered through the haze of desire and she drew back, her eyes huge, as she was torn between her hunger for Alex and her need to answer her child’s call.

There was no contest, Alex accepted—and rightly so. She would not be the woman he had come to admire if she was a half-hearted parent. For Jenna the responsibilities she felt for her small daughter ran deep. He could only hope he could convince her that there was room in her life for him.

‘Alex, I…’ Already she was retreating, running scared, and he dropped a light kiss on the tip of her nose as he released her.

‘One day at a time, Jenna. That’s all I’m asking. Discovering you have Maisie was a shock, I have to be honest—not least because although I’m sure I will like her, she may not like me, or the idea of sharing you with a man she’s never met. I don’t know where this is leading, sweetheart,’ he admitted softly. ‘If anyone had told me a couple of months ago that I would be besotted with a single mother with the uncanny knack of turning my life upside down I would have laughed. But here I am, asking for the chance to have a place in your life and Maisie’s.’

‘Jenna, I’ve put a DVD on for Maisie to watch,’ Chris called from the hall. ‘I’m shooting off down the pub now, with the lads. You okay?’ he enquired as he stuck his head round the kitchen door and saw her standing in Alex’s arms. ‘I could stay if you need me?’

‘I’m fine,’ Jenna assured him, amused to see the way her brother and Alex were eyeing each other up. ‘Alex is going to stay for lunch,’ she added, glancing at him in silent query, and was rewarded with a smile that turned her legs to jelly.

She placed a couple of pizzas in the oven, made a salad and added a light dressing, all the while listening to the voices from the living room—one deep-toned, the other high-pitched and full of laughter as her daughter chattered to Alex. He had been honest when he admitted he didn’t know where a relationship between them would lead, but he would not deliberately hurt Maisie, she was certain of it. She could only pray that her own emotions would remain intact.





CHAPTER EIGHT





‘HAVE you ever thought about sending these to a publisher?’ Alex asked as he sprawled on the sofa, flicking through the pages of the fairy stories Jenna had written and illustrated for Maisie.

‘Don’t look at them,’ she pleaded as she finished clearing the floor of toys and reached out to take the ribbon-bound pages. ‘They’re just silly stories. But Maisie loves fairies, as you may have noticed,’ she added with a wry smile, recalling Alex’s stunned expression when he had studied the murals she had painted on her daughter’s bedroom walls. ‘No one else would be interested in them.’