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 semipermanent 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, doesn’t it?’
His lips twisted, then he gave a jolt of laughter. ‘I wouldn’t like to have to advertise it.’ He sobered. ‘But from the moment you made such a hit with Nicky—’
‘My fate was sealed,’ she supplied. ‘Part of my fate was sealed. But you are serious about the other side of it?’
‘Perfectly,’ he assured her.
Alex heard herself say swiftly, ‘Then I’ll do it,’ as if getting it out fast was the only way to do it because once she stopped to let herself think, she’d be tempted to run away and hide. But she couldn’t spend her life running and hiding. She’d decided that only this morning, hadn’t she?
‘Good girl,’ he said briskly. ‘But if we are to have Nicky for extended periods, we’re going to need some back-up for when we’re not here. Any thoughts there?’
Alex chewed her lip before she offered her thoughts. ‘Mrs Mills’ daughter is virtually a single mum—her husband’s in the army and overseas on an extended tour of duty. It’s her son Bradley that Nicky has played with and they get on really well together. I’m just wondering if Bradley’s mum could stand in for me. She seems pretty sensible, she’s nice, she’s young, it would be good for Nicky to have company, it would take the pressure off Mrs Mills—’
‘Don’t go on,’ he murmured. ‘You’ve convinced me. Would you like to go home and collect some more of your things?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Now? How? And what about
Nicky?’
‘Mrs Mills and I can cope for a couple of hours. Stan could drive you.’ He stood up.
Alex hesitated, then she said candidly, ‘I feel like pinching myself.’
He smiled, but said nothing.
‘I’ll go now, then. Thank you for thinking of me and offering me this job.’ She rose.
‘My pleasure, Alex,’ he murmured.
She hesitated, then made her way to the door.
He watched her go and sat down again behind the desk, leaning his chin on his fingers, his elbow on the desk with his brow furrowed.