‘You need to be careful. You put yourself out there and...’ he shook his head ‘...you have no idea what could be lurking around the corner. That date of yours? Sure, he’d had too much to drink and maybe he’s a paragon of virtue when he’s sober, but under the influence of drink you can never be certain what direction a guy might take if he’s rejected. There can be a thin line between thinking you’re in control of a situation as a woman and realising that you’re not.’
‘Yes, you said something of the sort when you...came to my rescue two evenings ago,’ Grace said sweetly, while she counted to ten and then to twenty, making sure to keep her temper in check.
Nico frowned.
‘So we agree...’ he murmured.
‘Not really, because I don’t tellyouhow to runyourlife.’
Lush, silky lashes shielded Nico’s expression for a couple of seconds but there was a lazy smile on his face when he drawled, softly, ‘Would you like to?’
‘That’s not my place,’ Grace countered quickly. His dark eyes on her made her skin prickle and she licked her lips. She could feel the pulse in her neck beating fast.
She longed for the safety of her desk and her computer and emails that needed urgent attention. And yet, just as when he had surprised her at that jazz club, there was a simmering, dangerous excitement inside her. For someone who had always led a cautious life, never taking chances, it was heady and disturbing and frightening.
So why did she like it?
‘We’re friends,’ Nico encouraged smoothly.
‘Yes, but there’s also a lot of work to get through...’
‘This is more important,’ Nico said firmly. ‘Seeing you in such a state of panic on Saturday evening—’
‘I was not in a state of panic!’ Grace interrupted impatiently.
‘Perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration.’
‘I was uncomfortable. Not the end of the world.’
‘As I was saying, Grace, seeing you in such discomfort made me realise that you’re more than just someone I pay to come in between the hours of nine to five to work for me...’ He shifted but kept his eyes pinned to her face. ‘You’re someone I care about and it’s because I care about you that I want these barriers between us to drop. I want you to feel free to express yourself around me, to tell me what’s on your mind...’ He gestured to their surroundings, which were the last word in plush. ‘If I don’t know what you think, then how do I know whether you’re enjoying your job or not?’
Grace looked at her boss and the sincere expression on his face with frustration.
Had she been the only one to feel that sizzle of something when his hand had covered hers? She had been secretly thrilled that he had rushed to her side in the club even though she might noisily make her stand for independence. It irked her that she couldn’t shake all those feelings of attraction, that she couldn’t get onto the same page as Nico and see the sudden shift between them as a friendship that would simply mark a different chapter in their relationship.
She was desperate for everything to remainwork onlywithin the glass walls of his expensive offices.
Anything beyond that scared her because she wasn’t sure how she could handle it. Fancying him made her vulnerable and she didn’t want to be vulnerable.
She’d been vulnerable as a kid and she wasn’t going to revisit that place again.
‘I love my job.’
‘But what about the guy who gave it to you? Hmm?’ He grinned with wicked amusement. ‘Less love there?’
‘You’re playing games.’
‘Maybe a little,’ Nico admitted, ‘but it’s true that we’ve taken a step forward and it’s important we keep it where it is because I’m genuinely interested in knowing what you think about me, aside from what you think about the job or the offices or the pay cheque at the end of the month. A happy employee is a loyal employee and if you have any problems with me, then I want you to take this opportunity to air them...’
Grace relaxed and fumbled her way to ground she could understand. Nico, for all his charm, thought with his head. Was he protecting his asset? He valued her professionalism and over the years she had had her salary increased hugely along with her responsibilities.
After four and a half years of seeing only one side of her, was he suddenly keen to make sure there was nothing she was hiding from him that might jeopardise their very successful working arrangement?
Had seeing her with Victor made him realise how little he knew her and therefore how easily she could pull the rug from under his feet by letting him down on the work front because she wasn’t happy about telling him what she thought? What she really thought? He suspected that she didn’t approve of his colourful love life, as he’d said himself, in passing.
But where he had maybe given it no thought, had he now woken up to the fact that the woman he now realised he didn’t know half as well as he’d thought might just be banking her disapproval? Quietly biding her time until the scales overbalanced and she took off for another job?
Nothing mattered more to Nico than work. It was the one thing on which he was deadly focused.