The Billionaire Boss's Innocent Bride by Lindsay Armstrong Page A

will have a much broader scope.’
    ‘I don’t understand.’
    He sat forward. ‘These negotiations are going to be successful, Alex—’
    ‘I thought you said there was some hard bargaining—and so on?’
    ‘There is, but I wouldn’t have undertaken them if I hadn’t done my homework and if I hadn’t thought they’d succeed.’ For a moment the tough, successful high-flier he was was very evident in the set of his face. Then he relaxed and continued, ‘Once this is over, I’ll be spending quite a bit of time going backwards and forwards to China so a permanent interpreter, as well as a quick wit, will be an asset to me.’
    Alex’s eyes nearly fell out on stalks. ‘M-me?’ she hazarded raggedly. He looked amused as he nodded. ‘What’s so surprising about that?’
    She blinked a couple of times. ‘It…I…I just didn’t expect it.’
    ‘You’d be part of the household,’ he went on and took particular stock of her reaction to that, but he couldn’t decide if it was shock or relief he saw in her eyes.
    ‘Not only because of Nicky, but because I’ll be spending a lot more time down here so—it would kill two birds with one stone,’ he added.
    She took a breath. ‘But Nicky will be going back to his mother. Or—won’t he?’ she asked experimentally.
    Max Goodwin took his time about replying and he looked entirely inscrutable at the same time. ‘His mother rang last night, it so happens. Her mother’s operation was a success but she needs a couple more days with her. Until then negotiations have been put on hold, but Nicky will spend time with me whatever happens.’
    ‘How long would you want me for?’ Alex asked into the silence that had developed after his last words.
    He smiled faintly. ‘For as long as you wanted to stay with me.’ He paused, then named a remuneration package that made Alex blink at its generosity. All the same she licked her lips and tried to concentrate on the other aspects of this development. ‘Does this have anything to do with what happened last night?’
    she queried straightly, at last.
    Max Goodwin rubbed his jaw and wondered what she’d say if he told her that it did. That he now not only felt responsible for a six-year-old son he’d just met, but a girl who suffered panic attacks, a girl, alone in the world, he simply couldn’t bring himself to abandon.
    And he wondered what she’d say if he told her that he’d firmly convinced himself that once he got back on a professional footing with her—and since he was not going to receive any encouragement to do otherwise—he would kill stone-dead any passing attraction to her. That was what it had to be anyway.
    Of course what would be the wisest thing to do, in other circumstances, would be simply to cut the connection, but he couldn’t do it—not after what he’d seen last night.
    He answered obliquely, ‘I wouldn’t like to see that happen to you again, Alex, but, you know, it would be a good step along the road for you. If you do want to go into the Diplomatic Corps, a background in the mining industry, trade experience, the contacts you might make could all be invaluable to you.’
    Alex felt her eyes widen as she could only agree with him. It would certainly be an impressive item on her CV. It could open all sorts of doors for her, far more than behind-the-scenes interpreting for Simon…But here she grimaced.
    ‘I…Simon—’ She looked worried. ‘I—’
    ‘I will make it up to Simon in return for losing you,’ he said.
    ‘Part of the household, though—what exactly does that mean?’ she said slowly. He said casually, ‘Much the same as the last three days, when Nicky’s here, at least, but because I’ll be working from down here much more it’ll be like a semi-permanent abode. Whenever you feel you need to go home, though, that’ll be fine.’
    Alex relaxed a little and couldn’t control an impulse to smile suddenly.
    ‘What?’
    ‘It’s a job that sort of defies description,