‘There’d only be a conflict of interest were I to kiss you now.’
Her head snapped up and the colour on her cheeks deepened. ‘Er, quite.’
‘And that’s not going to happen.’
‘Good,’ she said sharply, as if she was trying to convince herself as much as him. ‘Excellent.’
Was that disappointment that flared in her eyes? Alex shifted in the chair. ‘So in answer to your question, no, my decision to fire you had nothing to do with the kiss.’
‘What did it have to do with, then?’
‘Your competency.’
Phoebe reeled. Her competency? What on earth was going on?
When Alex had informed her that he’d intended to fire her as casually as if they’d been discussing the weather, she’d thought that nothing more he said could shock her.
She’d been wrong.
‘My competency?’ He nodded. ‘What about it?’
‘Bas
ed on the…unusual…events of last night, I’m not convinced you’re the best person to represent Jo.’
Phoebe gasped. The arrogance of the man. How dared he question her competency when he knew next to nothing about her? ‘That’s absurd.’
‘Is it?’ he said in that lazy drawl that made her want to thump him.
‘Were you not there last night? Did you not see how I turned a fiasco into a triumph?’ Phoebe glared at him, all hope of remaining polite and pleasant a dim and distant memory. ‘Last night’s party resulted in thirty column inches across six newspapers and four requests for interviews with Jo. Three magazines are going to run features on her and her handbags and the party will appear on the society pages in all of them. This morning I had a call from one of the major high street stores who want her to design a range of accessories for them.’
Phoebe got to her feet, as if standing would somehow stop her anger from brimming over and making her say something she might really regret. ‘How, exactly, is that incompetent?’
Alex didn’t answer. He merely raised an eyebrow and it shot her anger into incandescence. ‘I’m very good at my job, Alex. I have ten years of experience. I’ve handled million-pound accounts and I’ve launched products that have turned into best-sellers. I’m also brilliant at breaking up rowing journalists at press conferences, evading difficult questions and managing crises. Winning over disapproving brothers is a new one for me, but I will get there in the end.’ She paused and gave him an icy smile. ‘I’ve been working with Jo for weeks and we make a great team. She has extraordinary potential and a great career ahead of her. Her launch is in a fortnight and all the plans are in place. I will not let you ruin this for her.’
Long seconds passed before Alex spoke and when he did his voice froze her blood. ‘Why don’t you tell me about the parts of your career that haven’t, I presume, gone quite according to plan?’
The parts of her career that hadn’t gone according to plan? His words whipped the wind from her sails and she dragged in a shaky breath. What parts? There weren’t any. At least none that he could possibly know about… ‘What do you mean?’ she hedged, sitting back down and filling with trepidation.
The way he just looked at her, like an animal stalking its prey, turned her even colder. ‘I’m talking about the soap, the perfume and the musician.’
Phoebe felt as if he’d pulled the chair out from underneath her. ‘How do you know about them?’
Alex’s eyes glittered. ‘I know an awful lot about you.’
Her stomach fell away and her head went fuzzy. ‘Did you have me investigated?’
Alex nodded.
‘Why would you do that?’
‘Standard due diligence procedures. Why wouldn’t I?’
Phoebe rubbed her temples and sank back down into her chair. Oh, God. He’d had her investigated? What sort of man did something like that? Jo had mentioned that Alex could be a touch on the protective side, but this was madness. Last night he hadn’t even known her name. Now, thanks to investigators who must have toiled throughout the night, he probably knew more about her than she did herself.
‘Unless you want me to fire you right now, you can start with the soap.’ Alex’s eyes glittered, as if he was actually relishing the moment.
Phoebe felt as if she were sitting on knives. ‘What do you know about the soap?’