Читать книгу The Marriage Decider - Emma Darcy, Emma Darcy - Страница 10

CHAPTER FIVE

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 print-out 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.”

“Yes. Like getting on with work,” Amy tersely reminded him.

“You might need help in shifting to a new apartment.”

“I like the apartment I’ve got, thank you.”

“Not a good idea, keeping it, Amy. Memories can be depressing. I realise shifting would be another upheaval you might not want to face right now, but a clean break is the best medicine. Gets rid of the hangover.”

“Well, I’m sure you’d know that, Jake,” she said with blistering sarcasm.

The acid didn’t make a dint. “I’ll help you,” he said, as though she’d conceded to his argument instead of commenting on his quick turnover in women.

“I don’t need your help.”

He smiled and blithely waved her protest aside. “Consider me family. It’s times like these that family bucks in and picks up the slack. Since I’m the closest thing you’ve got to family...”

“I do not...remotely...associate you...with family,” Amy stated emphatically.

“Well, yes...” One shoulder lifted and fell. Devilment danced into his eyes. “...That probably would be a bit incestuous, wouldn’t it?”

“What?” she squawked.

“I can’t lie to you, Amy,” he declared loftily. “What zips between you and me could not be called sisterly... or brotherly...or motherly...or fatherly.”

She flushed, biting her tongue so as not to invite more along this line.

“However, I am genuinely concerned about you,” he said, projecting such deep sincerity it swallowed up the devilment and threatened to suck Amy in right after it.

She fought fiercely for a bank of common sense, needing some safe ground between her and Jake Carter. The danger of him infiltrating her private life felt very acute and every instinct told her it wasn’t wise. He could badmouth Steve as much as he liked but was he any better? His record with women was hardly in his favour!

“I’ll ask around,” he burbled on. “Find you a nice apartment. Closer to work so you won’t have far to travel. Bondi Beach isn’t really suitable for you.”

“I like Bondi,” she protested.

He frowned at her. “Not good for a woman on her own. A lot of undesirables gather out there at weekends. You wouldn’t be safe going out at night without an escort.”

He had a point, but where was safe at night without an escort? Life without Steve was going to take some adjustment.

“Why not have a look around Balmoral if you want to live by a beach?” Jake suggested. “It’s a respectable area. Doesn’t draw any trouble.”

She rolled her eyes at him and his big ideas. “It’s also a very expensive area.”

“No more than Bondi. And being on the north side of the harbour, it’s much handier to Milsons Point. You won’t have to drive across the bridge to work.”

“I can’t afford it. I can’t afford where I am without a partner.”

“I said I was upping your salary. Let’s say another twenty percent. That should let you live decently.”

Amy’s mouth dropped open. Her mind flew wildly into calculation mode. “That’s more than Steve earns!”

He grinned. “You’re worth it I’ll just go and ring a few estate agents I know. See what they can come up with. In the meantime, send these off.” He handed her the replies she’d printed out. “They’re all fine.”

He hitched himself off her desk and left her gaping after him like a goldfish caught in a bowl, looking out at a foreign world. Jake Carter had always been a shaker and a mover, but never before on her behalf. Was it out of concern for her or did he have other motives up his sleeve?

Amy ran her fingers through her hair, trying to steady the mad whirl in her mind. What could she believe as irrefutable fact? Both Jake and his sister were into game-playing, scoring points. Nothing they said could be taken too seriously.

On the other hand, Jake always delivered what he promised. He wouldn’t backtrack on the money. Her salary would now be more than she’d ever dreamed of earning, putting her on a financial level where she was truly independent. Which meant she had options she didn’t have before.

A grin broke across her face.

Such a large salary would certainly make her life considerably brighter and it was wonderful to be valued so highly. This morning she’d felt her future had fallen into a black hole, but it wasn’t true. There was life after Steve. And she was going to make the most of it, thanks to Jake.

Though if her devious boss was thinking he could attach personal strings to that big hunk of money he’d just handed her, he could think again!