Her confidence jumped several notches at the admiring glances she received when she strode into the office block.
Alex was standing in the reception area, chatting with members of his legal team, but he looked up as she stepped out of the lift and she saw him stiffen, his eyes locked on her, while a stain of dark colour ran the length of his cheekbones. For several minutes he was unable to disguise the effect she had on him, and he murmured a distracted comment to his companion as she strolled past, her smile brief and impersonal, hiding her surge of delight at the proof that he did genuinely desire her.
She was determined that their relationship would not become common knowledge among the other members of staff. There would be no overt flirting, no snatched kisses in the stationery cupboard—but it was cheering to discover that he would be suffering as much as she.
It was a busy morning; Alex was tied up with appointments with clients, and in his free moments had to deal with several urgent phone calls. When Jenna took in his coffee she sensed his growing impatience.
‘I’ve hardly seen you all morning,’ he complained. ‘How are you today? Is your hand healing?’
‘It’s fine,’ she assured him. ‘I’m fine. I don’t know what happened to me at the weekend. I’m not usually so pathetic. I’m determined not to let Lee bother me.’
‘You’re not pathetic,’ Alex told her gruffly. ‘You were terrified by your ex-husband—anyone would have been upset. But I’m glad you’re feeling more positive. You look stunning,’ he added. ‘I’m not sure how long I can last in keeping our relationship a secret. You don’t know how tempted I am to rip your clothes off, lean you across my desk and take you.’
‘Alex!’ Jenna instantly lost all sense of composure, her face flaming, and he chuckled unrepentantly.
‘It’s hell, isn’t it? I’m seriously thinking of installing a shower in my office, with just the cold tap plumbed in.’
‘I think I’d better get back to work,’ she muttered hastily, and his face became more serious.
‘I’m busy at lunchtime, but I’ll drive you home tonight, okay?’
She felt a stab of panic that Lee’s lookout, Brian, would be watching, and then gave herself a mental shake. ‘That would be nice; stay for dinner.’
She went to lunch alone, as Margaret had taken the day off. Alex’s personal assistant was so much happier as a result of his organising nursing care for her husband, and Jenna smiled as she joined the queue in the self-service restaurant; it was hard to believe that she had once thought Alex to be hard and unfeeling!
‘Let me take that,’ said a voice from above her head, and she glanced round, startled to find Selina Carter-Lloyd next to her. ‘There’s a space on my table over in the corner, if you’d like to join me.’
Selina commandeered the tray and paid for the meal before Jenna could remonstrate, and she had little option but to follow her to a secluded part of the restaurant.
‘There was no need for you to pay for my lunch,’ she stated firmly, pulling out her purse to reimburse the other woman.
‘I want to talk to you,’ Selina said determinedly, and Jenna sighed.
‘Yes, I gathered that. What about?’ she enquired coolly, although there could only be one subject that Selina wished to discuss with her.
‘Alex is making the biggest mistake of his life, and it’s all your fault.’ Selina launched into her attack. ‘He loves me. He always has. A marriage between us has been on the cards for years, but I was happy to wait until Alex had built up his career. My parents own swathes of Hampshire,’ Selina continued haughtily, ‘and I’m their only child; everything will eventually pass to me and my future husband—Alex. It’s all planned, and I won’t let him throw away our future because of a stupid obsession with his secretary.’
Jenna took a deep breath. ‘I understand how hurt you must be, but I’ve never put any pressure on Alex—far from it. Alex chose to end his engagement to you.’
‘Only because he feels sorry for you,’ Selina snapped. ‘He explained that he felt guilty, because he seduced you and then discovered you were a struggling single mother. He felt he had no option but to stand by you.’
Jenna swallowed and put down her fork, her meal untouched. She suddenly felt very sick as doubts surged through her. How did Selina know so much about her situation? Alex had to have told her. She had always felt that he regretted ending his relationship with Selina, and had done so through a sense of honour because he had been unfaithful to her. Could it be true? she wondered bleakly. Could he still be in love with Selina and only continuing his affair with herself out of guilt?