‘Annoying...’
‘What else? It’s an inconvenient attraction. Nothing more.’
‘Of course,’ he said stiffly.
‘But it’s there and it’s going to be impossible for us to continue working together. I thought...it might not intrude but...’
‘My fault.’
‘No one’s fault, Nico. It is what it is. Tomorrow I’ll begin looking for another job.’
The pain that tore into her as she uttered those words made her feel dizzy and sick. That she had actually already begun the exercise made no difference. She had openly stated her intention and now it was written in stone, a declaration of intent from which she could not, now, withdraw.
‘No need.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The last thing I would want is for you to...feel uncomfortable at the office. We work far too closely together for that to be a bearable situation. Not that that’s the point. I...you deserve better than to feel apprehensive whenever I’m around and I get it that you might, even though you have my word that what happened just then...an aberration...’ Nico breathed out heavily, unable to meet her eyes and making sure to step back, to put distance between them. ‘You can leave without working your notice.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
Nico smiled crookedly. ‘This isn’t how I ever saw our...working relationship playing out, but you’ve been the best... I wouldn’t even call you my secretary because you’ve been a hell of a lot more than that. My right-hand...woman. And, Grace...’ he pressed his thumbs against his eyes and then looked at her steadily ‘...I... I’ll miss you, but you would be more comfortable not having to come in, so don’t. As of this moment, I’m relieving you of your duties. You’ll be paid for as long as it takes for you to find another job and I guarantee that I will give you the most glowing reference you could hope to get.’
‘You mean...’
‘I mean you can return to the office, clear your desk and say farewell to this building with no obligations to ever set foot in it again.’
‘But what about my replacement?’
‘I’ll manage, Grace.’ He tipped his hand in a mocking salute. ‘I’m a big boy now.’
CHAPTER NINE
NICOLOOKEDATthe woman sitting across from him at the table in the romantic restaurant that Grace had somehow found the time to book between clearing her desk and leaving copious notes for whoever happened to replace her.
How had she managed that?
Nico had no idea. She must have worked until midnight. At any rate, he had returned to the office early this morning and it was as if the woman who had been by his side for so many years, the oil that lubricated the engine of his working life, had never been.
The desk had been empty. The two plants had gone. The work computer had been sitting squarely in the middle of the empty desk and the stack of neatly typed notes had told its own story of dedication to the last.
Nico surfaced to the sound of silence and his blonde date staring at him with gimlet-eyed disapproval.
‘I thought this evening was going to be fun.’ She pouted, toying with the stem of her wine glass.
‘So did I,’ Nico concurred.
She was everything any red-blooded man could want in a date when it came to looks. Long blonde hair, falling like a sheet over narrow tanned shoulders. Big, baby-blue eyes and breasts that refused to be constrained by the strappy top she was wearing. She was an easily recognised catwalk model and every head had swung round the second they had entered the restaurant.
Unfortunately for Nico, as soon as he had seen her emerging from the chauffeur-driven Bentley he had sent to collect her, he had realised that the last thing he’d wanted was a date with Flavia Destyn. Politeness had prevented him from doing what he had wanted to do and making up a something and nothing excuse to back out but now...having spent the past forty-five minutes in stony silence while his mind whirred with images of Grace, he could no longer pretend that he wasn’t bored out of his wits.
And it wasn’t Flavia’s fault.
‘I have a lot on my mind at the moment,’ he continued truthfully. He sat back as the exquisite fish dish he couldn’t remember ordering was placed in front of him, but he continued to look at his date, aware that he had already concluded that the evening wasn’t going to be going anywhere that involved the two of them in the same space.
What was she doing?
Who was she seeing?