His Secretary: BBW Romance (Her Second Chance Book 1) (2 page)

“This is it?” he asked.

Max had caught him up. “Yes. Mrs Draper will be along in a moment.”

“Very well. I want all the files for the Clarkson deal on my desk. I’ll review them, and take notes. I have a conference call scheduled with my uncle later this afternoon.”

“Mr Pierceson, can I ask you a favour?”

He leaned back on the edge of the huge polished desk, and folded his arms in front of him. People always wanted something from him. “You can ask, Miss Lewis.”

“Please reconsider using another secretary.”

“Is Mrs Draper not up to the job?”

“Yes ... but she’s a little out of practice. This was supposed to give her a confidence boost. And I’m not sure that’s going to happen.” He liked her bluntness, it was cloaked in tact.

“And why would you think that?” The amusement returned to his eyes, he wondered what relationship these two women had, because Miss Lewis sure was fighting Mrs Draper’s corner. If this was his office he would be asking questions about why Mrs Draper was here at all.

“She’s not used to dealing with people so...” She hesitated, and he couldn’t resist filling in the blanks.

“Rude? Arrogant? Demanding ... shall I go on?”

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

“But it was what you were thinking.” He allowed it to rest between them, but she didn’t look awkward or deny it. He could see why Bob valued Miss Lewis as an employee. “Listen. I know what I’m like, I also know there are business men out there much worse than me. So I am doing her a favour. If she can survive me, she can survive anyone.”

The look on Miss Lewis’s face said it all. Mrs Draper was doomed to go home in tears. Oh, well it wouldn’t be the first time. And maybe it was best if she learned to hate him.

“You can do this,” she said to herself, although the face looking back at her contradicted that statement. If it wasn’t for Max she would sneak out of the rest room and head for the elevator. But Max had put herself on the line for Helen, and she wasn’t going to let a man bully her into letting her friend down.

Standing up straight she took a deep breath, and walked out, head held high. Everything about today felt alien, from the people who smiled politely at her, to the clothes she wore, and the shoes that tip tapped on the hard floor. Why had she ever thought she could do this?

Because your family needs you to. That was what she clung to, as she walked towards the office, where her boss for the next five days waited to chew her up into little pieces and spit her out.

“Ahh, there you are. I thought you’d run away.” He didn’t smile, so she knew he wasn’t joking. What he didn't know was how close to the truth he was. And he would never know. She conjured up a picture of her two beautiful daughters, and smiled sweetly.

“What do you need me to do?”

“OK. I have a good grasp of this deal, but not the ins and outs of it. So we have to go through all of these papers. I expect you to make notes, which at the end of the day I need typed up and put on my desk so I can go over them each night.”

“All of these?” she asked, looking at the five boxes of files on his desk.

“Yes. We are going to be spending a lot of time together for the next two days, Mrs Draper. So let’s get on with this. By Wednesday I need to have a presentation together, and it will be delivered on Thursday so I can go home on Friday.”

“I see. Where do you want to begin?”

“We’ll go through the files chronologically. I might need to cross reference, so please make your notes clear and precise.”

“I always do.” She smiled openly, knowing he probably didn’t mean to be offensive. On second thoughts, he probably did.

He lifted the first box off his desk, and placed it on the floor. She watched with some appreciation at the way his strong arms tensed and flexed, and wished she could get a look at him without a shirt. It had been a long time since she’d run her fingers across a man’s chest, and then lower... She licked her lips, and unconsciously chewed on the end of her pencil.

“I can appreciate how much of a distraction I am, but if you don’t mind, we have work to do.”

Her head snapped back. “Sorry,” she said, and quickly knelt on the floor by his side. Too close for comfort, and she felt an old unfamiliar rush of arousal course through her body. Why did she have to be so attracted to him? She had sworn off men for life, but now with him so close she yearned for the touch of his fingertips on her naked skin.

“Ready?” he asked, lifting the lid off the box and taking out the first folder.

“As I’ll ever be,” she replied, taking her notepad out and trying to clear her mind of all the inappropriate thoughts it longed to conjure up.

The monotony of the work soon did the trick. Her boss obviously knew all about the deal, but to Helen it was a jumbled nonsense. Regardless, she made the notes he asked for, and felt pleased with herself when he asked her a question, and she could find the information quickly. Organisation was a skill you quickly learned when you had young children and a house full of toys. It paid off now, and the papers were neatly ordered, her notes meticulous.

Slowly her brain began to work differently, and she picked up the some of the details they were looking for. Although when he reached across her, and she caught the scent of his cologne, her brain had no difficulty shutting down to it’s base need. To feel her body pressed naked against his.

“Time for a break I think.” He sat back on his heels, and flexed his arms. “I have some calls to make.”

Feeling as though she had been dismissed, she got up and carefully made her way across the piles of paperwork. “Do you need anything?” she asked, turning around to catch him staring at her.

Unaccountably flustered, he shook his head. “No. Nothing. Thank you.” He picked up the phone, and she left, feeling slightly bemused.

First she headed to the employee’s lounge, and grabbed some coffee, then she went to find Max. Luckily she was in her office.

“Go on in,” Max’s secretary told her. “She’s been out a few times to see if I’d set eyes on you. She was worried you might not survive the morning.”

“Thanks,” Helen said, and went in to find Max busy looking at some papers. “Is that all you do around here? Look at bits of paper.”

“It feels like it sometimes.” Max got up and came around to hug Helen. “I am so sorry I got you into this. I had no idea.”

“Of course you didn’t. Don't worry, he’s not that bad. So far anyway.”

“Well, any problems come and see me.”

“I’m a big girl Max, I can look after myself. but thanks for the offer.” In reality she didn’t want to bring trouble to Max’s door. The last thing she wanted was to do anything to jeopardise her job at the bank.

“I know. But I feel responsible, and Dan would never forgive me if I didn’t stick up for you.”

“It’ll be fine. five days, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Don't say that.”

“Relax. Well, I should let you get back to work. What I really came to ask is where can I sit and type up these notes? He wants them all done before I go home so I was going to make a start on them now.”

“I’ll get Shirley to sort something out for you. Come on.”

Helen drank her coffee as they went back out. If she made a good start on the notes now, she would be able to get home in time for dinner with her two girls. If not, they would eat with their grandparents, not that they’d mind. But at this moment Helen longed for the reassuring hugs from the two most precious things in her life. What she wouldn't give to be a stay at home mom.

“Come with me, Helen. We’ll find you a desk,” Max’s secretary stood up and waited for Helen to follow.

“Thanks, Shirley. I’ll see you later Max.”

“OK. We can meet for lunch. If you’re free.”

“I’d like that, but I might work through.” She patted the notebook which she had tucked under her arm.

“If you work that hard you’ll make us all look like slackers,” Shirley joked.

“Oh, I don’t know. You haven’t seen how slow I probably type. I might need a bit of practice to get back up to speed.”

“Here we go,” Shirley showed her an empty desk in a small office filled with five other cubicles. “Anything you need, let me know.”

“Thanks,” said Helen, sitting down at the computer. Her heart sank, this was not what she was used to working on. She glanced around the room, feeling very inferior again when she saw all the other people working, their fingers flying across the keyboard. This was going to be interesting. She tentatively clicked the mouse to open up a word processing document. And began to type.

Where the hell was she? He had expected her to come back to the office, not to have to go looking for her. In all honestly he expected her to be drinking coffee with her friend Miss Lewis.

So that’s where he stormed off to first.

“Miss Lewis is on a call.” He was told firmly by her secretary.

“Do you know where Mrs Draper is? I can’t seem to find her. I’ve tried the lounge, so I thought she would be here.” In fact he was now beginning to think the woman had done a runner and left the office.

“I showed her to a desk. I believe she’s typing up your notes.”

“Oh.” That knocked him sideways, he had never thought that she might be conscientious enough to type during her break. “Which way?”

“Down the hall and third on your right.”

“Thank you.” He turned on his heel and went to find her, and when he did, she made him smile once more. “Problems?”

She looked up at him slightly frazzled. “Last time I used one of these was in the computer dark ages. It does far more than it’s supposed to, but I think I’ve got the hang of it.”

“Just make sure you save it. You don’t want to have to do the work twice.”

“Now you have me scared. Where shall I save it to? It’s not my computer so I don't want anyone to delete it.”

“Here, let’s see.”

She went to get up, but he moved too fast and leaned over her before she had a chance. After all, she was a married woman, and in no way would be interested in him. Or so he thought. At first she tilted her body far away from him, as though to touch him would brand her as his own. But slowly she relaxed, intently watching what he was doing until her head rested slightly against his forearm.

Bad idea. That dormant betrayer reared it’s head once more, and he caught himself looking down at her wonderful body, so voluptuous and curvy in all the right places. So soft and feminine, a real woman, it made him long of a place to call home, of being nurtured, of being loved.

He cleared his throat. “There, that should do it. I’ve sent it to my phone too.”

“Great, I never thought of that. Max has a smart phone, my girls spend hours playing games on it.”

“Your kids? How many do you have?” He shouldn’t be asking, it didn’t matter to him.

“Two little girls. Laura and Jessica.” She smiled, her gaze going off into the distance.

“Shall we get back to work?” He didn’t need to be drawn any further into an impossible dream.

“Oh. Yes, sorry. I got sidetracked with this. At least my fingers have begun to remember how to type. I should be up to speed by tomorrow.”

“I hope so.”

She looked up, startled by his tone. “Sorry. I promise I’ll get all your notes typed up before I go home tonight.”

“Again, I hope so, Mrs Draper. This is a very important deal for the bank. I do not wish to put any more pressure on my uncle’s health by not being ready for Thursday.”

“Of course. Do you have any news?”

They had begun to walk back to his office, he found himself looking at her at every opportunity, she was completely stunning, and the most attractive thing about her was that she had no idea. Who ever her husband might be, Oliver wondered if he knew how lucky he was. Or did he take her for granted?

“Mr Pierceson?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“This is your office.” She stood looking at him, a faint smile playing on her lips. Lips he wanted more than anything to kiss.

Whatever spell she had cast over him he determined anew to make her dislike him. Starting now.

She wanted to scream, a tight band of pressure had wrapped itself around her head, threatening to make it explode.

“OK. Last box for the day.” He lifted the third box down and took the lid off, while Helen glanced at her watch. It was already three thirty, and she had reams of notes to type up. If they did another box she wouldn’t make it home before midnight, yet alone the girl’s bedtime.

“Do you want me to go and get you some coffee or anything to eat?” she asked.

“Are you struggling to keep up, Mrs Draper?” He wasn’t teasing, instead he fixed her with a steely stare. Something had changed in him, and he no longer seemed approachable or indeed friendly in the slightest.

“No. But you skipped lunch, and I ... sorry I asked.” When Max had come to see how they were getting on he had told her they would do better with no interruptions. Max had left them to work, a worried look on her face. So there had been no lunch break, and Helen was seriously flagging in energy.

His brow creased for a moment, and then smoothed out while he went back to reading pages after pages of information, barking out instructions for her to compile into legible sense. However, her writing was beginning to look like a spider had done a happy dance over her page. Although happy dancing was the last thing she felt like doing. Her mind once more drifted back to home, and her two lovely girls who would be out of school by now and on their way back to their grandparents’ house.

“Your attention would be most welcome.” He snapped his fingers in her face.

She took a deep breath. “Sorry, can you repeat that?” She kept her voice even although she wanted to berate him again for being so rude. She was tired and irritable, and could, at this moment, relate to her daughters when they threw temper tantrums.

“The acquisition of Turner Foundry, March 2001, can you cross reference that with the loan from the bank? I want to check those dates.”

“Sure. Is there a problem?”