And spoiled. How could he not be? He was the only son and heir to a fortune; his every whim had probably been indulged from birth
. He might like to boast that he said no to almost everything, but she was willing to bet an entire year’s salary that nobody had ever said no to him.
‘I know,’ her friend said soothingly. ‘But for the next twenty-four hours he’s still the boss. And if we get a good reference from him we’ll basically be able to print money. We might even be able to pay off our loan.’ She giggled. ‘Besides, you have to admit that there are some perks working for him.’
‘Anna Harris, you’re a married woman. You shouldn’t be having thoughts like that.’
‘Why not? I love my Robbie, but Ram Walker is gorgeous.’
Laughing reluctantly, Nola shook her head. ‘He is so not your type, Anna.’
‘If you believe that you must have been looking too long into that big old Australian sun! He’s every woman’s type. As long as they’re breathing.’
Opening her mouth, wanting to disagree, to deny what she knew to be true, Nola glanced down at her notepad, at the sketch she had made of Ram.
Who was she trying to kid?
‘Fine. He’s gorgeous. Happy now?’
But as she swung round in her seat her words froze on her lips, and Anna’s response was lost beneath the sudden deafening beat of her heart.
Lounging in the open doorway, his muscular body draped against the frame, Ram Walker was watching her with a mocking gaze that told her he had clearly heard her last remark.
There was no choice but to front it out. Acknowledging his presence with a small, tight smile, she closed her notebook carefully and, as casually as she could manage, said, ‘Okay, that all sounds fine. Send the data over as soon as possible and I’ll take a look at it.’
Ignoring Anna’s confused reply, she hung up.
Her heart was ricocheting against her ribs.
‘Mr Walker. How can I help you?’
He stared at her calmly, his grey eyes holding her captive.
‘Let’s not worry about that now,’ he said easily. ‘Why don’t we talk about how I can help you?’
She stared at him in silence. Where was this conversation going?
‘I don’t understand—you want to help me?’
‘Of course. You’re only with us one more day, and I want to make that time as productive as possible. Which is why I want you to have dinner with me this evening.’
‘You mean tonight?’
Her voice sounded too high, and she felt her cheeks grow hot as he raised an eyebrow.
‘Well, it can’t be any other night,’ he said slowly. ‘You’re flying home tomorrow, aren’t you?’
Nola licked her lips nervously, a dizzying heat sliding over her skin. Dinner with her billionaire boss might sound like a dream date, but frankly it was a risk she wasn’t prepared to take.
‘That would be lovely. Obviously,’ she lied. ‘But I’ve got a couple of meetings, and the one with the tactical team at five will probably overrun.’
He locked eyes with her.
‘Oh, don’t worry. I cancelled it.’
She gazed at him in disbelief, and then a ripple of anger flickered over her skin.
‘You cancelled it?’