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‘I appreciate it. And good work needs rewarding.’ He leaned towards her and Peta panicked. What sort of reward was he talking about? A kiss? More than that? She shrank even further into the seat.
‘You’ll see a handsome bonus in your pay cheque at the end of the month.’
Peta breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I’ve not typed my notes out yet,’ she pointed out. ‘You might be disappointed.’
‘I don’t think so. You’re by far the best assistant I’ve had in a long time.’
‘In that case,’ she said, taking advantage of one of his rare moments of companionship, ‘could I take a laptop home to do the notes? I really won’t have time at the office and I don’t want to work late and leave Ben again.’
‘Consider it done,’ he said. ‘He needs you as much as I do.’
Peta must have shown her surprise because he added, ‘Believe me, Peta, I do appreciate that you have a home life. I press people hard, I know—it’s the only way to get anything done—but I too have a life outside work.’
‘You do? I thought there was nothing more important than turning around ailing businesses.’
‘I know I give that impression. I’ve always worked hard.’
‘So what do you do outside work hours?’ she asked, amazing herself by her temerity.
‘I too have a son,’ he admitted. ‘A son who complains that he never sees enough of me.’
His confession stunned Peta. Of all the rumours that had spread through the company, this wasn’t one of them.
‘You look surprised.’
‘I am. I didn’t know; I didn’t realise; I thought…’ Her voice tailed off in confusion.
‘You thought I was a workaholic, maybe even a bit of a playboy in my spare time? I do know what’s being said about me, Peta.’
‘But you don’t care to correct it?’
‘My private life is just that—private. I prefer it to remain that way.’
‘You can rest assured I’ll say nothing,’ she said, and at that moment they drew up outside her house.
‘Wait!’ He leaned forward and put a hand over hers when she made to open the door. ‘Gareth will let you out.’
His touch meant nothing and yet it took her breath away. She turned her head to look at him and his brown eyes darkened and his lips brushed her cheek. Just that, nothing more, yet it felt as though he was making love to her.
‘Thank you, Peta, for brightening up my evening. You look truly beautiful.’
Peta was saved answering by his driver opening her door. She climbed out speedily, turning only at the last minute to smile weakly at her boss. The compliment was late, yet it made more of an impact because of it. Her fingers trembled as she put the key in the lock, and the car didn’t move until she had safely closed the door behind her.
CHAPTER THREE
ANDREAS pondered his problem. He could, of course, get another girl from the agency, but how many was that now? And Nikos had liked none of them. There had to be another answer. He drank cup after cup of black coffee until finally a solution came to him. It put a smile on his face as he showered and got ready for work, and he was impatient for Peta to arrive.
When she did he called her straight into his office. Andreas Papadakis didn’t believe in beating around the bush. If he had something to say he came straight out with it. In his opinion it was the only way.
‘Miss James…Peta, I need your help.’
He saw the way she frowned, pulling her delicately shaped brows together. He saw the way she bit her lower lip, which she always did when she wasn’t sure what to expect of him. Gone was the sexy dress of last night, replaced by one of her smart suits. The dress had amazed him. He had never imagined her wearing anything so revealing. Amazed and pleased him. He’d heard a few whispered comments about what a lucky so-and-so he was to have an assistant like that. And it had certainly made him look at her in a new light.
Not that he hadn’t already realised her potential. She was an exceedingly attractive girl who never made the most of her assets. That gorgeous auburn hair, for instance, was always tied uncompromisingly back, and those lovely dark blue eyes were never shown off to their advantage. Last night, when she’d carefully made them up, he had felt their full impact for the first time. The things they’d done to him were best forgotten. She was such an ice-cold maiden that if she’d read the ignoble thoughts in his mind she would have very likely walked out of her job. And now he needed her more than ever.
‘Can you think of anyone in the secretarial pool who’d do your job as well as you?’
‘You’re sacking me?’ The colour faded from her cheeks, her eyes widening in dismay.
‘Of course not,’ he assured her quickly. ‘I have something else in mind.’
Her chin lifted in another of her delightful habits and she looked at him warily.
‘I need someone to look after Nikos.’
‘Your son?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you’re asking me. Why?’
‘Because his current nanny’s handed in her notice.’
Her incredibly blue eyes flashed her indignance and he wondered why the hell he hadn’t noticed long before now how gorgeous they were. They were enough to send any man crazy.
‘I’m a qualified secretary, not a child-minder,’ she retorted. ‘I don’t want to spend my life looking after someone else’s children.’
Andreas hadn’t expected her to say yes straight away, he had known she would need a lot of persuading, but she sounded so adamant that he feared she would never agree. Perhaps he ought to give her no choice, either she take the job or… No, if he did that he’d risk losing out both ways. ‘You hate having to leave Ben every day, don’t you?’ he asked quietly.
She nodded. ‘More than you’ll ever know.’
‘Oh, I do; you underestimate me. This is the perfect solution. It will solve your dilemma as well as mine. You and Ben would move into my house, you’d be there for him whenever he needed you, and you could also do some work for me from home.’ To him it was the simplest solution, the obvious one.
The look on her face spoke a thousand words. ‘Mr Papadakis, living with you is the last thing I want. Ben and I are happy as we are. I love my little house. Why should I give it up? And, for that matter, where’s your wife? Why can’t she bring up her own child?’
Andreas’s eyes shadowed as his thoughts raced back to the blackest days of his life. ‘My wife’s dead,’ he told her bluntly, ‘and you wouldn’t need to give up your house; you could let it.’ He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and pressed home his faint advantage. ‘Sit down. Think again about the benefits.’
Reluctantly she perched herself on the edge of a chair, crossing her legs so that her skirt rode up. Not for the first time he felt a stirring in his loins. But that sort of thing had to be put to one side. He needed her to feel safe, not threatened. He hadn’t failed to notice in the car last night how she had drawn back from him when he kissed her cheek. Someone, somewhere along the line, had destroyed her trust in men, and he had no intention of adding to it.
‘I desperately need someone to look after Nikos. You know how much time I put in here—the poor little guy hardly sees me.’
‘So why don’t you work from home?’
It was a logical question and he grimaced. ‘I’d love to, but if I’m to turn this company around I need to keep my finger on the pulse.’
‘How long would you expect me to do the job?’
‘I don’t know. Until I find someone else, perhaps, maybe even indefinitely if it works as well as I hope it will. You won’t lose out, I assure you.’
‘What if Nikos doesn’t like me?’
‘He will.’ How could he not? Peta James was good with children, he’d seen that for himself. She was also exciting and provocative. He’d noticed at the conference how easily she talked to other people. In fact she had seemed far more at ease with some of them than with him. He hadn’t liked it. He’d fancied her that night more than he’d ever expected.
‘In fact,’ he went on, ‘it might be a good idea to take you to see him before we finally sign the deal.’
‘Sign the deal?’ she repeated with a frown.
‘Figuratively speaking, of course,’ he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Smiling didn’t come easy to him these days. There were too many pressures, too much to do, too many sad memories, and Nikos was the one who suffered. If he could persuade Peta to take this job it would be the best thing that had happened to his son in a long time. It might not be so good for him, here, because she was incredibly efficient, but his son’s well-being meant more to him than anything else.
‘We’ll finish work early tonight and I’ll take you to meet him,’ he said decisively.
‘I can’t,’ Peta said with the now familiar toss of her head. ‘Ben’s playing football. I try never to miss a match.’
It was Andreas’s turn to frown. ‘Bronwen leaves at the end of the week. I need to have everything sorted well before then. How about after the football match? Bring Ben with you. It will be good for the boys to meet.’
‘How old is Nikos?’ she asked, and he could see her mind turning over the situation.
‘Seven,’ he answered, ‘though he’s very grown-up for his age.’
‘Does he have a Scalextric?’
‘You bet.’
‘Then I’m sure Ben will get on with him,’ she said with a faint smile.
And the way she said it reassured him that her answer would ultimately be yes.
Peta’s mind was in a whirl. Her first instinct had been to turn Andreas down. She still might, because would it be wise, feeling as she did about him? It was scary the way he’d managed to set her feelings alight last night. Scary and undesirable. She’d been hurt too much in the past to want to get involved. It was far better to keep things on a purely professional level. But would she be able to do that living in the same house?
She placed the last lot of post on his desk for signing. ‘How do I get to your house?’ She had no idea where he lived. Again the rumour machine had him living in a fantastic mansion overlooking Southampton Water with a whole host of servants at his beck and call.
‘No need to drive; I’ll pick you up. What time does the match finish?’
About to say he didn’t have to put himself out, Peta decided against it. She was the one doing the favour so why should she do the running?
Peta clapped and yelled enthusiastically every time Ben’s team scored a goal. And when Ben himself scored she went wild with delight. ‘Well done, Ben!’ she shouted, jumping up and down, clapping her hands. ‘Go for it!’
Another much louder voice echoed her words from behind. ‘Well done, Ben!’
She turned and there was an instant’s sizzling reaction as she met the eyes of Andreas Papadakis. She was the first to look away, praying fervently that he wasn’t able to read her mind. It was all so wrong, this physical attraction. Despite her telling her body to behave itself, it had gone into involuntary spasm and there was nothing she could do about it.
At his side was a boy roughly Ben’s height, dark-haired and dark-eyed, but with a much rounder face than his father’s and a thinner mouth. ‘How did you find us?’ she asked. They’d arranged for him to pick her up at her house, which was a five-minute walk away.
‘I followed the noise. It sounds an exciting match.’
‘It is,’ she agreed. ‘And this is Nikos, I take it?’
‘It is, indeed. Nikos, this is the lady I told you about, the one who’s going to look after you when Bronwen leaves.’
Nikos looked up at her with serious brown eyes. ‘I don’t like Bronwen. She shouts a lot.’
Peta wondered whether he deserved it, whether he played her up when his father was absent. ‘Ben’s dying to meet you,’ she said with a warm smile.
When she’d told Ben they might be moving he’d been at first upset and then excited, especially when he learned that there’d be someone his own age to play with, and they’d probably be living in a much bigger house.
‘It will be good to have some company,’ said Nikos. ‘I get bored on my own. Which one is Ben? I like football. I’d like to play with them.’
Peta’s eyes met Andreas’s and she smiled, remembering him telling her how grown-up Nikos was for his age. And she was amazed at how good his English was, too. Ben hadn’t even started to learn a foreign language yet.
‘Doesn’t your school have a football team?’
‘Yes, but I am never allowed to take part. Dad is always too busy, and none of my nannies has liked football.’
Again Peta looked at Andreas. His lips turned down at the corners and he shook his head, suggesting that he knew nothing about it. Which was about par for the course, she decided. Andreas spent far too much time working, relying heavily on other people to look after his son. It was no wonder he didn’t know the thoughts that went through Nikos’s head.
‘Well, I like it,’ she said. ‘So go ahead and join your team; I’ll always come and cheer you on.’
‘You will?’ His eyes shone with delight. ‘Thank you. Thank you very much. Did you hear that, Dad? I think I am going to like my new nanny.’
Peta only hoped that his matches wouldn’t clash with Ben’s. She would hate to let Nikos down now that she’d made her promise.
When the match was over Peta wanted to take Ben home to shower and change, but Andreas insisted that it didn’t matter, and in the back of the car the two boys soon got to know one another.
‘They’re getting on well,’ murmured Andreas.
Peta nodded. ‘Ben’s a good mixer. What made you come so early?’
He gave a guilty grimace. ‘When I explained to Nikos where we were going it was his idea. I hadn’t realised he was so interested in football.’
‘Most small boys are.’
‘Am I being chastised?’
She looked at him then, and it was a big mistake. There was a hint of wry humour on his face, something she had never seen before. He was no longer the Tyrant but a father, with a son he loved but didn’t know much about. And he was sharing that knowledge with her.
It felt oddly like a bond, and she could so easily fall into the trap of revealing her feelings. But that wasn’t what he wanted, and neither did she, for that matter. Andreas needed someone to care for his son when he was unable to. And he had placed that trust in her. She dared not let him down by showing a marked preference for his body.
For once the rumour machine was right. He did live in a big house, though it wasn’t overlooking Southampton Water. It was set in its own grounds, hidden from the road, suddenly emerging as they rounded a bend in the drive. It was a red-brick and timber building, several hundred years old, by the look of it, with ivy clambering over some of the walls, tall chimneys reaching for the sky, every window gleaming in the late-evening sun.
‘I don’t own, I rent,’ he told her, seeing the look of awe and amazement on her face. ‘I took it while I looked around for somewhere suitable, but to tell you the truth I haven’t had time, and actually I like it here. I’m considering making the owner an offer.’
Nikos and Ben were already out of the car and running towards the house. Andreas and Peta followed. She felt uncomfortable walking beside him; it felt wrong to be going to her employer’s house, to even consider living with him. She wasn’t a nanny; how could he expect her to do a nanny’s job? Her only qualification was bringing up her own son. The tempting part was that she would see more of Ben. No more leaving him with Marnie while she worked late, or even when he came home from school. She would be there for him always. The thought brought a smile to her lips.
Andreas wasn’t looking at her, and yet he must have sensed her smiling because he turned and spoke. ‘You’re happy about the situation?’
‘I guess so. I was thinking about being able to spend more time with Ben.’ What she didn’t dare think about was spending time with Andreas. Not that she expected to see very much of him. With her safely ensconced in his house looking after his precious son, he would be able to stay at the office for as long as he liked.
And if he brought work home for her to do that would be even better, because there would be hours in the day while the boys were at school when she would have nothing to do. Unless he expected her to look after the house as well? She didn’t mind cooking for Nikos but what else would he expect of her? Exactly what were a nanny’s duties?
