Taking On The Boss. Darcy Maguire
her friend called across the foyer.
Tahlia stared after her, shaking her head and glancing around her. Trust Keely to share her singledom with the world.
She was well aware of the fact that she wasn’t just going to bump into the perfect man, that she had to go out and find him, eventually, but there were so many more pressing things to deal with first.
First and foremost, she had to secure that promotion. She needed to have job security before mucking around in the dating scene and possibly finding a partner, just in case it didn’t work out.
She wasn’t going to go into any relationship blind, unprepared, naïvely optimistic, or with silly ideas like love was enough.
Her mum had put her career on hold while she had concentrated on motherhood. When things had come crashing down her mother had been left juggling it all, finding out just how hard life was if you neglected sense and relied on love to see you through.
Tahlia was going to wait.
She wasn’t going to be pressured into something she wasn’t ready for just because Emma and Keely were no longer single. She’d wait until after the announcement of her promotion, after she had everything sorted and under control—all bases covered, then she’d handle the man-in-her-life challenge.
Tahlia pulled up at the guard’s station, rubbing the muscles knotted in her neck. ‘Hey, George.’ Tahlia slapped her hand on the counter, shooting him a smile. ‘Thanks so much again for last night.’
‘No problems.’ The greying guard shifted his formidable weight in his seat. ‘Any time for you. They must give you that promotion soon, eh?’
Tahlia nodded, the buzz of her imminent success in climbing another rung coursing through her. ‘Absolutely. It’s so close, George, I can smell it.’
George smiled up at her, his cheeks creasing in full waves of doughnut crescents. ‘Better not to be late, then.’
‘Have a great day.’ She swung around, glancing at her watch, striding forward. George was right. If Raquel was looking for a reason not to promote her there was no way in the world she’d give her the satisfaction.
The job was so hers.
She connected with a wall of warm flesh and the scent of soapy clean male engulfed her.
Tahlia looked down, finding her footing and the guy’s shiny black, very expensive-looking shoes. His suit trousers were black, stretching up long legs that tapered to a nice flat waist.
His soft blue shirt was covered by a black suit jacket that was tailored to perfection, emphasising just how wide the guy’s shoulders were.
His tie was the colour of sapphires…she lifted her gaze…as were his eyes, that met hers with a casual assurance that touched his lips, firm and sensual and full of promises.
Tahlia’s breath caught in her lungs.
She shook herself. She was going to stay focused and on track, no matter how short-back-and-sides, clean-shaven, suit-obsessed, white-collar-cute he looked.
‘Hello,’ he offered, his voice rich and deep, flowing over her like liquid Swiss chocolate. The world tipped.
The man caught her arm, holding her steady, a flash of concern in his gaze. ‘Are you okay?’
His hand was strong, hot and muddling. Blood rushed to Tahlia’s face, filling her head with a blurring that she couldn’t afford right now.
She forced her knees to straighten, strengthen, to not fall for a ridiculous weakness that only happened in a twelve-year-old girl’s dreams.
‘Yes. Of course. I’m fine,’ she managed, lifting her chin and shooting him a smile of cool assurance. ‘Loose heel, that’s all.’
She cast a glance downward to her black heels, willing that one would fall off gracefully and save her from this embarrassment.
His gaze followed, coursing over her suit jacket, down her simple white blouse, over her short black skirt that stopped a good six inches above her knees, down her bare legs to her feet.
His eyes glinted and she had the sudden urge to cross her arms. She felt naked, as though he’d just seen far more of her than he should have. And liked what he saw.
Butterflies swarmed in her belly.
Tahlia jerked her hand up to her face, pushed back her blonde-streaked long fringe and pointed to the lifts. ‘Must go. Love to…’ Die on the spot. ‘But can’t be late for work.’
The cute-suit raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes flashing. ‘That’s it?’
She froze. What? Did he mean to suggest that he was well aware of her disgusting weak-kneed reaction and was expecting her to fall into his arms again? What arrogance!
‘It?’ she enunciated clearly, crossing her arms. What else could he want? ‘As opposed to, what?’
‘An apology.’
‘Oh.’ The sound escaped her throat. Of course he did. Obviously. Manners. Why hadn’t she thought of that instead of jumping to erogenous conclusions? ‘Sorry for—’
His mouth quirked, fighting what looked to be a smile.
She stiffened, her blood heating anew. ‘Sorry for…running into someone who was obviously not looking where he was going.’
‘Either,’ he added, his voice an octave deeper.
‘Either,’ she echoed as casually as she could, hating to concede a point, and more than infuriated at her body’s total lack of sense. ‘Fine, but since you agree that you weren’t looking where you were going either, you could apologise…’
His eyes sparkled. ‘You’re absolutely right, but I was brought up to believe in “ladies first”.’
‘I think that relates to entries, exits and queues, not to apologies.’ She glared up at him. ‘And you have to admit that men need all the practice they can get.’
The man put down his case. ‘Apologising?’
She nodded. ‘It’s really something they don’t do enough of.’
‘Bad day?’ He slipped his hands into his pockets. ‘Has your husband upset you?’
She shook her head, a smile jumping to her mouth. ‘I’m not married.’ Gawd, no. She wasn’t going anywhere near that challenge for a long time.
‘Your boyfriend, then?’
‘No—’ Tahlia took a step back, her stomach fluttering as though there were a thousand butterflies in it. Was he interested, in her? ‘Look, I have to go or I’ll be late and you don’t know my boss—’
He didn’t know her either.
‘She doesn’t let you forget any transgression, no matter how insignificant, and it’s not like she’ll be sympathetic to my bumped-into-a-cute-guy-in-the-lobby excuse, even though she is seriously in need of a good—’
‘You think I’m cute?’
She touched her lips. Oh, damn. That couldn’t have been her. She never babbled, let alone incoherently. She never put her feet anywhere except where she wanted to go.
She pointed to the lifts, opening her mouth, but no words would come out. What in blazes was going on with her?
‘See you around then?’ he offered, his warm mouth fighting a smile that promised to be as amazing as the rest of him.
She nodded, swung around and forced herself to get as much distance between them as possible, counting her steps, measuring her speed to look as little like the hasty escape it was as possible.
What was that?
Tahlia shook her head. She wasn’t going to even think about it. So, the guy was cute and lust was