Darcy didn't like the fact that it stung her somewhere very deep and secret to think that Max would dismiss her ability to seduce him so summarily, but before she could acknowledge how inappropriate that was she muttered something incoherent and left before she could make a complete ass of herself.
* * *
Max watched the space where the door had just closed, rendered uncharacteristically still for a moment. Darcy Lennox. Her name on his list of potential PAs had been a jolt out of the blue, as had the way her face had sprung back into his mind with vivid recollection as soon as he'd seen her name. He doubted he could pick many of his ex-classmates out of a police line-up, and Darcy hadn't even been in his year.
But, as small and unassuming as she had been, and some four years behind him, she seemed to have made some kind of lingering impact. It wasn't an altogether comfortable realisation for a man who regularly excised people from his life with little regret, whether they were lovers or business associates he was done with.
Her eyes were still seared into his mind-huge and blue, a startling contrast to that pale olive complexion, obviously inherited from her Italian mother.
Max cursed himself. Startling? He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it even messier. He was running on fumes of exhaustion since returning from a trip to Brazil a couple of days ago, and quite frankly it would be a relief to have someone working for him who wouldn't feel the need to see him as a challenge akin to scaling a sexual Everest.
Darcy Lennox exuded common sense and practicality. Dependability. The fact that she had also been in Boissy, even if her time had been cut short, meant that she knew her place and would never overstep the mark. Not like his last assistant, who had been waiting for him one morning, sitting in his chair, dressed only in one of his shirts.
He tried for a moment to conjure up a similar image featuring Darcy. but all he could see was her serious face and her smart, structured shirt and skirt, the tidy glossy hair. A sense of relief infused him. Finally an assistant who would not distract him from the deal of a lifetime. A deal that would set him up as a serious player in the very competitive world of global finance.
Quite frankly, this was the best thing that had happened to him in weeks. Darcy would meld seamlessly into the background while performing her duties with skill and efficiency. Of that he had no doubt. Her CV was a glowing testament to her abilities.
He picked up the phone to speak to his temp and when she answered said curtly, 'Send all the other applicants away, Miss Lennox is starting tomorrow.'
He didn't even bother to reiterate the two-week trial caveat, so confident was he that he'd made the right decision.
Three months later
'Darcy, get in here-now!'
Darcy rolled her eyes at the bellowed order and got up from behind her desk, smoothing down her skirt as she did so. When she walked into Max's office and saw him pacing back and forth behind his desk she cursed the little jolt she always got in her solar plexus when she looked at him.
Virile, masculine energy crackled in the air around him. She put her uncomfortable reaction down to the fact that any being with a pulse would be incapable of not responding to his charisma.
He turned and locked that dark golden gaze onto her and snapped out, 'Well? Don't just stand there-come in.'
Darcy had learnt that the way to deal with Max Fonseca Roselli was to treat him like an arrogant thoroughbred stallion. With the utmost respect and caution and a healthy dollop of firm-handedness.
'There is no need to shout,' she said calmly. 'I'm right outside your door.'
She came in and perched on the chair on the other side of his desk and looked at him, awaiting instruction. She had to admit that, while his manners could do with finessing, working for Max was the most exhilarating experience of her life. It was a challenge just to keep up with his quicksilver intellect, and she'd already learnt more from him than she had in all of her previous jobs combined.
Shortly after starting to work for him he'd installed her in a luxurious flat near the office at a ridiculously low rent. He'd waved her protests away, saying, 'I don't need to be worrying about you living in a bad area, and I will require you to be available to work out of hours sometimes, so it's for my convenience as much as yours.'
That had shut Darcy up. He was putting her there so she was more accessible to him-not out of any sense of concern because she was on her own in a city she didn't know as well as she might, considering her mother's Italian background. Still, she couldn't complain, and had enjoyed the chance to have a central base from which to explore Rome.
Max had been true to his word. She'd found herself working late plenty of evenings and on some Saturdays for half the day. His work ethic was intimidating, to say the least.
He rapped out now, 'What was Montgomery's response?'
Darcy didn't have to consult her notes. 'He wants you to meet him for dinner when he's here with his wife next week.'
Max's face hardened. 'Damn him. I'd bet money that the wily old man is enjoying every moment of drawing this out for as long as possible.'
Watching his hands, splayed on his slim hips, Darcy found it hard to focus for a second, but she forced her gaze back up and had to acknowledge that this was unusual. Most people Max dealt with knew better than to refuse him what he wanted.
His mouth was tight as he spoke almost to himself. 'Montgomery doesn't think I'm suitable to take control of his hedge fund. I'm an unknown, I don't come with a blue-blooded background, but worst of all, in his eyes, I'm not respectably married.'
No, you certainly are not, Darcy observed frigidly to herself, thinking of the recent weekend Max had spent in the Middle East, visiting his exotically beautiful lover, a high-profile supermodel. A little churlishly Darcy imagined them having lots of exotically beautiful babies together, with tawny eyes, dark hair and long legs.
'Darcy.'
She flushed, caught out. Surely working with someone every day should inure you to his presence? Not make it worse?
'It's just dinner, Max, not a test,' she pointed out calmly.
He paced back and forth, which threatened Darcy's focus again, but she kept her eyeline resolutely up.
'Of course it's a test,' he said now, irritably. 'Why do you think he wants me to meet his wife?'
'Maybe he just wants to get to know you better? After all, he's potentially asking you to manage one of the oldest and most illustrious fortunes in Europe and his family's legacy.'
Max snorted. 'Montgomery will have already deemed me suitable or unsuitable-a man like that has nothing left to do in life except amuse himself and play people off each other like pawns.'
He raked a hand through unruly hair, a familiar gesture by now, and Darcy felt slightly breathless for a moment. And then, angry at her reaction to him, she said with not a little exasperation, 'So take...' She stopped for a moment, wondering how best to describe his mistress and settled for the most diplomatic option. 'Take Noor to dinner and persuade Montgomery that you're in a settled relationship.'
Max's expression turned horrified. 'Take Noor al-Fasari to dinner with Montgomery? Are you mad?'
Darcy frowned, and didn't like the way something inside her jumped a little at seeing Max's reaction to her suggestion. 'Why not? She's your lover, and she's beautiful, accomplished-'
Max waved a hand, cutting Darcy off. 'She's spoilt, petulant, avaricious-and in any case she's no longer my lover.'
Darcy had to battle to keep her face expressionless as this little bombshell hit. Evidently the papers hadn't yet picked up on this nugget of information, and he certainly didn't confide his innermost secrets to her.
She looked at Max as guilelessly as she could. 'That's a pity. She sounds positively delightful.'
He made that dismissive snorting sound again and said, with a distinct edge to his voice, 'I choose my lovers for myriad reasons, Darcy, not one of which I've ever considered is because they're delightful.'
No, he chose them because they were the most beautiful women in the world, and because he could have whoever he wanted.
For a moment Darcy couldn't look away from Max's gaze, caught by something inexplicable, and she felt heat start to climb up her body. And then his phone rang. She broke the intense, unsettling eye contact and stretched across to answer it, then pressed the 'hold' button.
'It's the Sultan of Al-Omar.'
Max reached for the phone. 'I'll take it.'
Darcy stood up with not a little sense of relief and walked out, aware of Max's deep voice as he greeted his friend and one of his most important clients.
When she closed the door behind her she leaned back against it for a moment. What had that look been about? She'd caught Max staring at her a few times lately, with something unreadable in his expression, and each time it had made her silly pulse speed up.