The Billionaire Boss's Bride(54)

‘I just think…’ What did she think? Quoting her own resignation letter back to her had been a dirty trick. Now she was supposed to come up with some plausible reason why she was quitting a supposed dream job. And she could hardly start waffling on about the money because the money was just another dreamy aspect of it.

‘Cut the crap, Tessa. We both know why you’ve suddenly decided that you have to quit.’

Silence. Tessa cringed into her chair and stared firmly down at the tips of her shoes. So, she had managed to dodge the inevitable let-down chat the evening before and now she was going to have it drummed into her head.

She didn’t notice him vacating his chair and wasn’t aware of what he was doing until he was leaning right over her, hands gripping the sides of her chair, his face thrust aggressively close to hers.

‘I just want to hear you say it,’ he grated softly.

That did it. This time she looked him straight in the eye, her rising anger matching his own.

As if it wasn’t enough that she knew what he was up to! Oh, no, he was determined to have it out in the open so that they could discuss it! Presumably like two adults. Maybe he needed to talk about it so that he could put any tiny speck of conscience he had to bed.

‘Okay. I’m leaving because I know what’s going on between you and my sister and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to continue working for you under those circumstances.’

‘You know what’s going on between me and your sister?’ Bafflement was quickly replaced by cold, dawning comprehension. Tessa wondered, for a few fleeting seconds, whether she might have made a mistake, but then decided that she had heard what she had heard, and, as if that weren’t enough, she knew what she knew. That Lucy was his type. In Tessa’s view, too many problems were caused by people trying to hide from the truth. She had seen enough of her friends and Lucy’s to know that ignoring certain glaring facts always proved very costly emotionally. Woe betide the poor woman whose boyfriend started avoiding phone calls, when her response was to make excuses on his behalf instead of interpreting the situation the way it really was.

Their fling, if it even deserved to be in that category, had been, Tessa thought, fragile from the word go. He had never been going to hang about for very long and if she had made the fatal mistake of falling in love with him, then that was her fault and her fault alone.

‘Care to elaborate?’ There was a dangerous softness to his voice that she chose to ignore.

‘I don’t see the point of that. Would you mind moving? I can’t breathe properly with you so close.’

He pushed himself away from her to go by the window where he proceeded to lean against the broad ledge, arms folded, like a judge contemplating a seriously irritating miscreant.

‘You think…what exactly?’

‘You know what I think! And there’s no point trying to deny it. I heard the two of you whispering by the front door, discussing that perhaps it would be best to keep the situation from me. I heard! And, for heaven’s sake, don’t even try to patronise me by pretending that you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about!’

‘I wouldn’t dream of patronising you and I remember the conversation distinctly.’

‘Right. Good. In that case…’ In that case, she thought, I’ll just get my act together and leave.

‘So in you jumped with your conclusions because, naturally, I’m the sort of bastard who sleeps with a woman and then has no compunctions about sharing himself with her sister. You wouldn’t say that you know me better than that?’

‘I never accused you of sleeping with Lucy,’ Tessa mumbled uncomfortably.

‘A minor technicality.’ Curtis overrode her interruption coldly. ‘Conspiring to meet up behind your back is as good as. And what a quick worker I am! Twenty minutes and I’ve already managed to make an assignation with a girl I didn’t know from Adam! What a lot of faith you have in me! Not forgetting your sister, of course.’

‘Lucy wouldn’t have known about…about us…’

‘Oh, that’s all right, then. For her to arrange to meet me after a couple of minutes and some polite conversation. Does she normally do that sort of thing? Get involved with a perfect stranger without bothering with the niceties of getting to know him?’

‘If you arranged to meet, then that would be step one in getting to know one another, wouldn’t it?’ Tessa shrugged. ‘Hence my resignation. Working with you under those circumstances would be too uncomfortable. For both of us.’

‘So, really, having written me off as a serial womaniser, you’re doing the big-hearted thing and giving me the space to move on to another model without having to work with model number one.’