Had she really been a participant in that? Or was it all part of some hazy, sensuous dream? No wonder his family had thought her such a little tramp if they had guessed!
‘You see,’ she heard him say quietly above her. ‘It’s easy when you know how.’
Her eyes were troubled as they met his gaze and saw the faint light of awareness burning there. ‘We didn’t...do it there?’ She had no memory of that.
‘Not exactly.’
Because his determination to please her and drive her out of her mind with wanting would have superseded even his own hot-blooded need for gratification. Because he was like that—and she had been his willing, subjugated toy!
‘That wasn’t me.’ She groaned again, dropping her chin onto her bent hand and supporting it by her elbow on the desk. And, echoing her thoughts of a moment ago, ‘No wonder they thought me so cheap. So easy.’
‘I promise you no one ever found out.’
She sent a glance up at him. ‘Didn’t they miss that tablecloth?’
‘I was responsible for setting up the tables for the following day’s lunch. It was easy to let them think I’d simply overlooked it.’
‘And you?’ She leaned back, her arms dropping resignedly onto the padded arms of her chair. ‘What did you think of me?’
‘You drove me mad,’ he admitted with a self-deprecating grimace.
‘And because of the way I behaved with you, you imagine I behave in the same abandoned fashion with every man I meet, that I’d be just as willing to jump into bed with you again now?’
His eyebrow lifted, but he made no comment on that score. ‘Stop feeling so bad about it,’ he advised instead. ‘We were young and hungry for each other.’ Tilting her face to his with the crook of his finger, he leaned forward and lightly kissed her on the mouth. ‘There were two of us in that cupboard that night,’ he reminded her softly. ‘But I’m more inclined to reserve the bedroom for making love these days, and I can certainly assure you that I would treat you with much more consideration now.’
But not respect.
He didn’t even need to say it.
‘Beautiful Magi...’
The caressing stroke of his hand along her throat brought her eyelids down against his unbearable tenderness. His eyes, when she opened hers again, were two sapphire pools of unfathomable emotion as they raked mercilessly over her tortured face.
‘I think that’s enough recall therapy for one day, don’t you?’ he advocated, his hand falling away from her. And, getting up from the desk, he picked up some letters she had typed for him which were lying in her tray and casually took himself off to his own room.
* * *
Andreas had arranged to attend a business dinner that Friday, although it hadn’t been marked in his diary and Magenta didn’t find out about it until the actual day arrived.
‘I’m sorry to spring this on you at such short notice,’ Andreas expressed, coming into her office looking unusually rushed, his jacket hooked over his shoulder, only hours before the planned event. ‘I don’t suppose you brought anything dressier with you than suits and blouses?’
‘Leggings and trainers?’ she quipped. Guessing from the sudden frown knitting his dark brows that he wasn’t in the mood for wisecracks, she went on, ‘I didn’t realise that my first week as your PA would call for dressing up for a night out at The Ritz.’ She shrugged. ‘Or wherever,’ she added, not even certain yet where he was supposed to be going. ‘I’m sorry. I imagined I’d be going home tonight.’
‘Did you?’ he breathed, in a way that made her wish that she hadn’t. ‘As you’ve already stated, you’re my PA. That means you’re on call twenty-four-seven. Is that clear?’ When she nodded rather uncertainly, he said, with his keen eyes assessing her, ‘Was there anything important you had planned?’
‘No, but—’
‘In that case we’d better get you something.’
We? Magenta darted a questioning glance up at him. He was already shrugging into his jacket.
‘I’m sure I could probably find something in my wardrobe at home if you could spare me for a few hours.’
‘I can’t.’
Which was just as well, Magenta decided. She doubted that she had anything suitable for the type of venue to which he’d be taking her. She hadn’t had much call to wear cocktail dresses since she’d had Theo—even if she’d been able to afford them.
‘You’re going to have to give me a sub on my salary,’ she told him worriedly when they arrived at a busy village with upmarket little shops. She was already paying the maximum amount she could off her credit card, which she used to cover household essentials, and she had nowhere near sufficient funds in her bank account to cover her bills, let alone spend on dresses.