He gave her the coffee cup. Zoe took it with a hand that was only just not trembling with rage.
I ironed my best shirt so this comedian could patronise me, she thought in fury.
She said aloud, ‘No need to worry about that. I’m the original Hard-Hearted Hannah.’
He was pouring his own coffee, but at that he stopped and looked round. One eyebrow flicked up in amusement. ‘No man gets to the fifth date with me,’ she told him, smiling so hard her teeth hurt. ‘Ask Suze. I don’t fall in love.’
He pursed his lips in a silent whistle. It was disbelief incarnate. It was the last straw.
‘I’m too easily bored.’
‘Bored?’ He did not sound pleased.
‘Yes.’ Zoe sipped her coffee. She was shaking with indignation but he would never have guessed it. Performing Zoe was in control again, and she was good. ‘I agree with you. Office affairs are messy. And never worth it.’
His eyebrows flew up.
So he didn’t like that, did he? Good! She could have hugged herself with glee.
She gave him her best hot babe smile, all eyes and intensity.
‘So chill out, dude. You’d never be a candidate.’
CHAPTER FIVE
SO HE’D never be a candidate, wouldn’t he? Ms Hip Chick was making a big mistake if she thought he’d ever want to be a candidate.
But even as the words formed in Jay’s furious brain he was finding other words pushing them out of the way. And not just words.
Hell!
Wrong time. Wrong place. Wrong woman. Oh, boy, was she the wrong woman, with her curls that she couldn’t keep under control and that spit-in-your-eye-as-soon-as-look-at-you manner.
He said it all to himself as he stared into her taunting brown eyes. Didn’t make any difference. He still had to wrestle his libido back into its cave.
Down boy!
‘Zoe Brown—’ he began darkly.
She put a hand on her hip and tilted her head at him defiantly.
Hell and double hell.
Precision and self-control at all times, Jay reminded himself. That was what made success. Whether it was long- distance running or business, the same principle applied. You focused on one goal—one—and you tuned out all distractions. Zoe Brown was going to be harder to tune out than most, but he would do it. Oh, yes, he would do it.
If he could still run when he could no longer feel his legs and there was nothing but will driving him on, he could neutralise the impact of a voluptuous mouth and a bad attitude. Maybe he could even turn it to his advantage, now he came to think of it. After all, she really, really didn’t like him. And most of her predecessors had liked him too much.
So he smiled blandly, straight into her hot eyes.
‘That’s a good start. Carry on hating me. That is definitely your unique selling point.’
‘What?’
‘It will compensate in full for your inexperience. Even for a certain amount of inefficiency.’
‘I am not,’ said Zoe between her teeth, ‘inefficient.’
‘No?’ He was deliberately sceptical. Suze had told her to challenge the girl. She’d said that was the only way to knock the self-doubt out of her. Well, this was going to be the challenge of her life.
‘If you’ll just tell me what you want me to do, I’ll even show you,’ she told him, with a fierce smile.
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Then come with me.’
She steamed beside him down to the open plan office so angry she could barely speak.
‘Abby,’ he said to a tall woman with soft dark hair and gentle eyes. ‘Zoe is joining us. Point her in the direction of a computer, would you?’
‘Sure, Jay.’
And to Zoe, ‘I’m giving a keynote speech at a conference in Venice. Public Relations in a Changing World. I scribbled out some notes and left a list of things I wanted checked and updated. It’s all on file.’
He seized a notepad off Abby’s desk and scribbled down some words. He tore the page off and handed it to Zoe.
‘There you are. That will get you into the file. Talk to me at the end of the day about how long it’s going to take.’
He left.
Abby smiled at Zoe. ‘I saw you earlier, didn’t I? Welcome again.’
‘Thank you.’
‘That sounds like the stuff Banana was doing. Interesting. Well, look, take the desk under the window for now, and we’ll get you logged on.’