The office hummed with conversation, but
none of it was personal. In every cubicle people were bent over their desks,
working hard at their jobs. Nobody even considered attempting to slack off, or
to simply look busy without being actually busy. The boss was in the place and
everyone knew it.
Danny Sullivan walked through the office
with his face set into a pleasant mask but his employees were not fooled, he
was a man who demanded perfection and hard work and nothing less would satisfy
him. Danny was a hard man whose full lips rarely broke into a smile although
his warm baritone voice could charm the birds from the trees. His long legs and
lean hips gave him a prowling grace and his broad shoulders and slightly too
close set blue eyes, looking out from under brows of an utterly lightless
black, made him look both cold and hard. Dangerous, as some of the women liked
to describe him, saying the word with a delighted little shudder.
Meghan Lowry saw him coming, gave a tiny
squeak and tried to jump into a cubicle. The woman sitting inside it gave her a
cold glare and an upraised finger before using her foot to shove her back out
and into the narrow hallway.
Danny saw Meghan as she stumbled back
into the hall and while his expression never changed his interest was instantly
piqued. His eyes raked quickly up and down Meghan’s lean body taking in the
slightly too large skirt that brushed her shin bones, the ill-fitting suit
jacket whose somber dark blue hue did nothing for her alabaster skin, the pale
green blouse below it that he guessed she had bought because she had thought it
would match the intense green of her eyes and the fiery red hair whose curls
were doing their best to escape the severe knot that held them unwilling
hostage.
Anxiety rolled through Meghan’s belly as
she faced her employer. She raised a hand in a half-wave, thought better of it
and then tried to get out of his way, unaware that the small bruise that lay on
the underside of her wrist had caught his attention.
“I’m a temp,” Meghan finally got out.
“One of your assistants is on maternity leave and the agency sent me. I was
told that you have several companies but that here was where I was to show up.”
Oh you idiot, Meghan scolded herself as
icy blue eyes studied her face intently, you should have said just introduced
yourself instead of blurting out such nonsense!
Her wrist was suddenly caught in a firm
grip; a small gasp of pain escaped her lips as the delicate flesh was squeezed,
causing the pain of the bruise to burst into fresh life. Confusion overrode the
pain as she saw a tiny small flicker at the corners of his sensual mouth.
“I am glad you showed up,” Danny
murmured. “I could certainly use some assistance.”
Meghan tried to think of something to
say. Her wrist was released but the warm pressure of his fingers lingered and
embarrassing warmth spread upwards from her cheeks to her forehead. “I can do
anything you need,” she began.
“Anything as defined by the Merriam
Webster dictionary?”
The sudden interruption flummoxed her.
Her eyes darted to the plain beige walls that outlined the cubicles, the
equally bland neutral toned carpet and then to the tips of her own shoes as she
tried to decide how to answer his quip. Should she joke with him? Stay silent?
She thought about the zero balance in her bank account and decided to simply
try a different tack.
“What may I do to be of assistance, Sir?”
The smile grew wider and several
unbelieving employees stared openly as it did. “I am sure I can think of
something. Jenkins,” This to the man who stood beside him, “Take her to my
office please.”
Meghan opened her mouth to say something,
what she was not sure, but before she had the chance to put any of her confused
thoughts into a sentence, Jenkins gave her a long level look, crooked his index
finger at her and whirled on his heel. She found herself having to practically
run to keep up with his strides
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