His Christmas Acquisition Read Online Free PDF Page B

issue.
    ‘Where’s Jessica?’ she asked, standing up and moving across to the kettle.
    ‘I sent her on her way.’
    ‘And she listened?’
    ‘I have that way with women.’
    Jamie snorted, no longer bothering with the niceties that would have been more appropriate given that he was the guy who paid her salary. He had invaded her territory, and as far as she was concerned niceties were temporarily suspended.
    ‘Now you know why I got in late to work this morning. Jessica kept me on the phone for nearly an hour. She was a mess. I only knew that she had decided to sort herself out by coming down here when she phoned me from the train.’
    ‘No big deal.’ Ryan took the mug she was holding out to him and sat down. ‘Family crises happen. Why didn’t you just tell me the truth this morning?’ He watched her and realised that she was barely seeing him as she walked towards the kitchen table, nursing the mug in her hands. For a man who was fully aware of the impact he had on the opposite sex, being rendered invisible was a new experience.
    He, on the other hand, keenly noted this new casual dresscode of hers, the one she used when she wasn’t wearing her work hat. Lazy eyes took in the way her jeans clung to a body that curved in all the right places and the way her long-sleeved tee-shirt skimmed a flat stomach and lovingly contoured pert, full breasts. Even her hair looked different—less neat and pristine, more tousled, as though she had spent time running her fingers through it. Which, judgingfrom what he had picked up of the atmosphere in the house so far, she probably had.
    ‘I suppose because I happen to think that what happens in my private life is no business of yours.’
    ‘Oh, for God’s sake, I didn’t even know that you had a sister! How much of a state secret could that possibly be?’
    Jamie flushed and fiddled with the mug before taking a sip of coffee. ‘I … I’m not really the confiding type.’
    ‘Really? I’d never have guessed.’
    ‘I didn’t tell you about Jessica because the chances of you ever running into her were non-existent. I live in London, she lives just outside Edinburgh. She isn’t a part of my daily life.’
    ‘And that was exactly the way you wanted it until she had the misfortune to need your support.’
    ‘Please don’t presume to have any insight at all into my family affairs!’
    ‘If you don’t want me to presume, then you’re going to have to be a bit more forthcoming.’
    ‘Why? What difference does it make? I do a very good job for you and that’s all that matters.’
    ‘Why are you so uncomfortable with this conversation?’ He could have let it go. She was right; she delivered the goods when it came to her job and whatever happened outside it was absolutely none of his business. But Ryan decided that he didn’t want to let it go. It was as though a door had been partially opened and what lay behind it promised to be so intriguing that he was compelled to try and push the door a little wider.
    ‘You don’t understand. You’re my boss, for a start, and like I said I’m not into confiding. I prefer to keep my own counsel. Maybe it’s a reaction to having a sister like Jess. She always made so much noise that it was just a lot easier to keep quiet and let her get on with it.’
    ‘Easier, but maybe not better. Forget for a minute that I’m your boss. Pretend that I’m just anybody—your next-door neighbour who has come over to borrow a cup of sugar, coincidentally just at a time when you need a shoulder to cry on …’
    ‘I’m supposed to think of you as my next-door neighbour on the scrounge for a cup of sugar?’ She was momentarily distracted enough by the image to feel her lips twitch. ‘What would you be doing with the cup of sugar?’
    ‘Baking a cake, because I happen to be a kindly and caring neighbour who enjoys baking. It’s my favourite pastime. Next to flower arranging and cross stitch.’ She was relaxing. She was even smiling