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She passed it over, frustrated by his righteous stance. Paying her back, she thought. Rubbing it in.
“You can read me the mail while I take care of Josh,” he added, granting her professional purpose. “I’ll dictate whatever needs to be answered or followed through and leave that to you.”
“Fine!” she agreed and darted into her office for her notebook, determined not to be faulted again. He already had too much ammunition against her…when he decided to use it.
The man was devilishly clever. She had never trusted him with personal information, suspecting he would somehow wield it to gain more power over her. All along, she had instinctively resisted his strong magnetism, perceiving it as a dangerous whirlpool that sucked people in. Especially women. Amy was in no doubt it paid to be wary around Jake Carter.
She deliberately adopted a business-like air as she seated herself in front of his desk, preparing to sort through the mail with him. However, despite her sensible resolution to take guard, she found the next half hour highly distracting to her concentration on the job.
Jake had settled back in his chair, feet up, totally relaxed as he cradled the baby in the crook of his arm and tilted the bottle as needed for the tiny sucking mouth. He looked so natural about it, as though well practised in the task. He even burped the baby halfway through its feed, propping it on his knee and firmly rubbing its back. Amy herself wouldn’t have had a clue how to do that, let alone knowing it should be done.
“Good boy!” Jake crooned as two loud burps emerged, then nestled the baby back in his arm to continue the feeding.
Amy was amazed. Maybe, however improbable it seemed, Jake Carter was a staunch family man when it came to his immediate family. Or maybe his self-assurance simply extended to anything he took on. It was all very confusing. She could have sworn she had her buccaneer boss taped to the last millimetre, but he was certainly adding several other shades to his character this morning. Unexpectedly nice shades.
When they’d dealt with the last letter, Amy felt reluctant to leave the oddly intimate little family scene. It was Jake who prompted her, raising a quizzical eyebrow at her silence.
“All finished?”
“Yes.”
“Anything I haven’t covered?”
“No.” She stood up, clutching the letters with her attached notes.
Jake smiled at her, a genuinely open smile, nothing tagged onto it. “Let me know if you run into any problems.”
“Okay.” She smiled back. Unreservedly.
It wasn’t until she was back in her own office with the door closed between them, that it occurred to Amy how much better she was feeling. The day was no longer so gloomy. Steve’s betrayal had gathered some distance, making it less overwhelming. She could function with some degree of confidence.
Had she nursed unfair prejudices against her boss?
Had loyalty to Steve pushed her into casting Jake Carter as some kind of devil’s advocate who could shake the foundations of a life she valued?
Only one certainty slid out of this musing.
She didn’t owe Steve loyalty anymore.
Nevertheless, she’d be courting real trouble if she ever forgot the reasons she’d named her boss Jake the rake!
Amy spent the next half hour diligently working through his instructions, her concentration so intensely focused, she didn’t hear the elevator open onto their floor. The knock on her office door startled her. She looked up to see a woman already entering, a tall, curvaceous redhead, exuding an air of confidence in her welcome.
Amy felt an instant stab of antagonism. Some of Jake’s women had a hide like a rhinoceros, swanning in as though they owned the place. This one was new. Same kind of sexy glamour puss he usually picked, though—long legs, big breasts, a face that belonged on the cover of Vogue, hair obviously styled by a master cutter, very short and chic, designer jeans that clung seductively, a clingy top that showed cleavage.
“Hi! I’m Ruth Powell, Jake’s sister.”
Amy was dumbfounded. There was no likeness at all. If she hadn’t been presented with Jake’s nephew this morning, she would have suspected a deception. Some women would use any ploy to get to the man they wanted. Though on closer scrutiny, and with the help of the identification, Amy did see one similarity in the tri-angular shape of the eyes. The colour, however, was deeper, Ruth’s more a sherry brown than yellow-gold.
She had paused beside the door, returning Amy’s scrutiny with avid interest. “You’re Amy Taylor?” she asked before Amy thought to give her own name.
“Yes,” she affirmed, wondering about the testing note in the other woman’s voice.
A grin of pure amusement flashed across Ruth’s face. “I see,” she said with satisfaction.
Perplexed, Amy asked, “See what?”
“Why you dominate so much of Jake’s conversation.”
“I do?” Amy was astonished.
“So much so that amongst the family we’ve christened you Wonderwoman,” Ruth answered dryly.
Amy flushed, suddenly self-conscious of how less flatteringly she had privately christened Jake.
“Actually, we weren’t sure if you were a firebreathing dragon who kept his machismo scorched, or a stern headmistress who made him toe your line. Now I’ll be able to tell everyone you’re Irish.”
“I’m not Irish,” Amy tripped out, feeling more flummoxed by the second.
“Definitely Black Irish.” Ruth started forward, gesturing her points as she made them. “You’ve got the hair, the eyes, and the spirit. You had me pinned like a butterfly for a minute there. Lots of power in those blue eyes.”
“I’m sorry if you thought me rude,” Amy rushed out, trying to get a handle on this strange encounter.
“Not at all. Call it a revelation. You must have Jake on toast.” She laughed, bubbling over with some wicked kind of sibling pleasure as she strolled over to Amy’s desk. “I love it. Serve him right.”
Amy mentally shook her head. It was an absurd comment— her having Jake on toast. He had enough women to sink a ship. He was hardly dying of frustration because she refused to rise to his bait.
We’ve got Amy Taylor right where we want her...
The insidious words suddenly took on extra meaning.
With Steve written out of the picture…
Held in Jake Carter’s seductive embrace…
But not precisely in his bed!
Amy almost rolled her eyes at the totally over-the-top train of thought. Imagination gone wild. Jake’s sister obviously enjoyed teasing as much as he did. None of it was to be taken seriously and it was best to put a stop to it.
“I beg your pardon, but…”
“Oh, don’t mind me.” Ruth twirled one perfectly manicured hand dismissively. “Relief loosening my tongue. I thought Martin’s injury was worse that it is. It was hell waiting around in Casualty, fretting over what was happening or not happening.”
Martin…that had to be her husband. “His shoulder is all right then?” Amy asked, belatedly recalling it had been dislocated.
“They put it back in. He’s sleeping off the anaesthetic now so I thought I’d pick up Josh.” Her gaze swept the area behind Amy, frowning at not spotting the capsule. “Where is he?”
“With Jake.” Amy nodded towards the connecting door.
Ruth looked her surprise. “You mean he didn’t ask you to look after him?’
Amy grimaced. “Well, we had a little contretemps about that. As I understood it, you entrusted him with your baby, so…”
“You insisted he do it?” Ruth’s eyes shone with admiration.
“I hope that was right,” Amy appealed. “He does seem very good at it.”
Ruth broke into laughter again, her eyes twinkling merry approval. “You are priceless, Amy. I’m so glad I got to meet you. As for Jake being good with Josh, he is. Dogs and children gravitate naturally to my brother. So do women. As I’m sure you’ve noticed,” she added with arch understanding.
“Hard not to,” Amy returned dryly.
“Too used to getting his own way, my brother.”
She was right about that but Amy decided some loyal support was called for. “He does work at it. Not much is left to chance, you know. His background research on every project is very thorough.”
“Oh, I wasn’t besmirching his professionalism. Jake was always an obsessive perfectionist. A born achiever.” Her mouth twitched sardonically. “But some things do tend to fall in his lap.”
Like a pile of willing women, Amy silently agreed, but it wasn’t her place to say so. She smiled. “Well, Joshua was in his lap, last time I saw him.”
“Right! It’s been fun talking to you, Amy. Hope to see you again someday,” Ruth said warmly, taking her exit into Jake’s office.
Fun…Jake’s family seemed addicted to fun. Amy wondered what it might have been like, growing up in that kind of atmosphere. She remembered her own childhood as being dominated by fear of her father. Not that he had ever stooped to physical abuse. He didn’t have to. He could cut anyone down with a word or a look. In hindsight, she could identify him as a control freak, but at the time, he was the authority to be escaped from whenever it was possible.
Her mother had been completely cowed. The only escape for her had been in death, and it was her death that had released Amy from staying any longer in her father’s household. Her two older brothers had already gone by then, driven away by their father’s unreasonable demands. She hadn’t seen them in years. She no longer had any sense of family.
What she did have was a strong belief in living life on her own terms. Which was probably why she hadn’t pushed for marriage with Steve. The thought of a husband was too closely connected to her father. She didn’t want to be owned like that. Ever. In fact, she’d found Steve’s much quoted term of being “free spirits” very attractive. Until she found out what “free” meant to Steve.
What a stupid, blind fool she’d been!
Amy shook her head at herself and turned back to work. There was nothing to be gained by maundering over her mistakes. Her best course was to learn from them and move on. She was briefly tempted to pull out the magazine she’d bought this morning and read the article on exit signs. The thought of Jake catching her at it put her off. No more gaffes today, she sternly told herself.
We’ve got Amy Taylor right where we want her...
Amy didn’t like that smug little boast. She didn’t like it at all. She liked not precisely much better. She hadn’t spent two years honing her defensive skills with Jake Carter for nothing. Whatever he had in mind, she was not going to be a patsy, falling into his lap.
It was Jake who’d made a gaffe, blabbing to the baby. She’d be on her toes from now on, ready to block whatever little one-upmanship game he was planning to play. This time she’d be one step ahead of him.
Yes…she was definitely feeling better.
Jake certainly had a knack of putting zest into her life.
Which was a big improvement on the black hole.
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_da6de61f-61a7-57ea-ae05-23c8b40670fb)
IT WASN’T long before Jake came in to check how Amy was doing. Ruth had apparently left through his door to the corridor since there was no sight or sound of her and the baby. “On top of it?” he asked casually.
“No problem,” she answered, nodding to the printout of the work she’d done.
He picked up the sheets, then propped himself on the front edge of her desk to read them. As always, his proximity put her nerves on edge and she had to concentrate harder on keeping her fingers moving accurately on the keyboard. She was even more aware of him than usual, remembering how he’d held her earlier…his body, his touch. She wondered if he was a sensitive lover.
Her gaze flicked to his hands, the long tapered fingers wrapped around the sheef of paper. They’d stroked her hair so gently. She reminded herself Jake was very smooth at everything he did. Sexual sensitivity didn’t necessarily mean he actually cared for the person. Stoking his own pleasure more likely. Though he had seemed to care about her this morning. Had it been entirely a pose for an ulterior purpose?
“Couldn’t have worded this better myself,” Jake said appreciatively. His smile had a caressing quality that almost made Amy squirm. “You have a great knack of filling out my instructions, Amy, applying the right touch to get through to people without pushing too hard.”
She quelled the whoosh of pleasure at his praise. “I have been learning off a master the past two years,” she pointed out, her eyes lightly mocking.
“And an apt pupil you’ve proved,” he was quick to add, his admiration undimmed. “Don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re my right hand.”
He was laying it on with a trowel. Amy instinctively backed off. “So what’s next on the agenda?” He was probably buttering her up to land some task he didn’t want to do himself in her lap.
“Two years, mmh?” he mused, ignoring her question. “You deserve a raise in salary. Ruth is right.”
“About what?” This was very doubtful ground.
He grinned. “You’re priceless.”
Amy frowned. “Do you make a habit of discussing me with your family?”
He shrugged. “Perfectly natural. You are my closest associate. Don’t you mention me to yours?”
“I don’t have a family.” It slipped out before she could catch it back.
His eyebrows shot up. “An orphan?”
The interest beaming at her was not about to be sidetracked. Amy sighed. All this time she’d worked with Jake Carter and managed to keep him at arm’s length where any personal issues were concerned. Today she’d blown it in more ways than one.
“Not exactly,” she muttered, telling herself her family was so far removed from her it didn’t matter. “My mother died when I was sixteen. My father’s remarried and we don’t get on. I have one brother living in the U.K., and another settled in Alaska. Hardly what you’d call close.”
Having rattled out the bare facts, Amy constructed a dismissive smile which she found difficult to hold when faced with Jake’s appalled reaction.
“You mean you’re alone? Absolutely alone with no one to turn to? No backup support?”
“I’m used to it,” she insisted. “I’ve been on my own a long time.”
“No, you haven’t,” he fired back at her. “Which was why you were weeping on my shoulder this morning.”
Amy gritted her teeth and glowered at him. “Must you remind me of that?”
“At least I was here for you. Just remember that, Amy. When your scumbag of a lover let you down, I was here for you.”
“You’re my boss! You weren’t here for me,” she argued hotly. “It was purely a matter of propinquity.”
“Nonsense! I took your side immediately. I know what you’re worth. Which is a damned sight more than that fool did.”
She knew it! He just had to take advantage of any slip she made. He revelled in it. “I do not wish to discuss Steve any further,” she grated out.
“Of course not. The sooner he’s wiped out of your life, the better. Eminently sensible. Though there are practical matters to take into consideration.”
