Falling for the Lawyer - By Anna Clifton Page 0,38
and trying to run it for her was no longer an option if he wanted her to become a part of his life. And that was precisely what he did want.
He’d been prepared to back off from her when she’d told him about the engagement, but his time with Simon and her family that night had given him a clear view of what lay in store for her, and he didn’t like it. He hadn’t quite gotten to the bottom of whatever was going on between Simon and Alex’s cousin but what he did know was that Alex was headed straight for the ornamental mantelpiece in her fiancé’s life.
He would have to tread carefully though. He knew what his own temperament could be: demanding, impatient, willful. It would take every ounce of his self-control to give Alex the space she needed so that she didn’t dematerialise before him and disappear out of his life forever. She was that fragile.
“Okay then Alex, if that’s what you really want,” he replied, his mouth taut with determination. “Although you and I may both live to regret this decision.”
“It is what I want.”
“Then I’ll be the model of formal propriety from now on,” he confirmed wryly. “And I’ll have to get my head around it by next Monday because we’re going to be working closely together.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have a client coming down from Queensland to give me a statement. I’ll need you with me from ten in the morning until late, maybe after midnight. No, don’t start arguing with me until I’ve finished. That call I received tonight, just before I arrived at your parents’ door, it was from that client. He’s developing a resort up north and wants me to commence proceedings against his builder. I need you to come with me to his hotel so that you can type his statement up as we go. We’ll only have one day to get it right as he’s leaving on Tuesday.”
“But why can’t he come to the office?”
“Because contrary to my instructions he shipped fifteen boxes of files to the hotel instead of my office. Now that they’re there I’m not going to risk any going missing during another move. Between you and me Alex, this guy’s as slippery as an eel and I wouldn’t put it past him to lose a few reams of paper if it suited his case.”
“But can’t Vera …?”
JP was already shaking his head. “I’m sorry, if you think I’m taking Vera you can forget it. She’s not up to this job, you are.”
Alex wrung her hands together in fidget-ridden torment. “It’s not the late night, or the hours …” she began to explain.
“I know. It’s the two of us together but you don’t need to worry Alex, I’ll treat you the way I treat any other PA in the firm—just as you want.”
Chapter Seven
When Sophie was made Acting Head of HR her brother had given her an illustrated coffee table book featuring the best excuses to give your boss when taking a sickie. When Alex visited Sophie’s house she’d occasionally flick through its pages and some of the more creative excuses were still clear in her mind.
‘My dog is having a nervous breakdown’ was one of Alex’s favourites, as was ‘My toe is stuck in a bath tap.’ There were quite a few others coming to Alex’s mind too as she travelled to work that morning. Unfortunately, she was positive that none of them would satisfy JP were she to ring in sick that day, despite their creative flair. But it wasn’t until she sat down at her desk at eight-thirty, her mobile phone ringing like crazy in the depths of her handbag, that she finally accepted that her mental quest to find a way out of an entire day sitting next to JP had failed.
“Hi Hun!” Simon piped up cheerfully on the other end of her phone when Alex finally answered it. “Can you get away for an hour by any chance? I’m in the city now. “
Alex hesitated. Normally she wouldn’t leave the office for no good reason but she was going to be working very late and so agreed immediately. Somehow, she’d clear it with JP and it would give her an opportunity to spend some desperately needed private time with Simon.
Despite spending most of the weekend together at his family’s house things were still strained between them. Time and time again she’d tried to begin a conversation to clear the