Wyoming True - Diana Palmer Page 0,87

said. His eyes went back to the sheet. “A cardinal?” He glowered at her. “And please don’t tell me that he wants to date you.”

“Of course not. He’s a friend of my grandmother’s.”

He drew in a breath. Her comments about men who wanted to date her disturbed him. He studied her in silence. He was extremely wealthy, not only from the work he did but also from an inheritance left to him by a late uncle.

“You don’t want the job because I’m single?” he asked bluntly.

Now her eyebrows lifted almost to her hairline. “Mr....” She glanced at the paper in her hand. “Mr. Chandler,” she continued, “I hardly think my taste would run to a man in his forties!”

His dark eyes almost exploded with anger. “I am not in my forties!”

“Oh, dear, do excuse me,” she said at once. She had to contain a smile. “Honestly, you look very much younger than a man in his fifties!”

His lips made a thin line.

The smile escaped and her pale blue eyes twinkled.

He wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at her.

She just grinned.

He sat back in his chair. “Well, you can obviously deal with Jackie, which is a plus. She drives me crazy. Her mother’s in Europe with her latest boyfriend and unlikely to return until her daughter’s grown or married or in prison.”

She laughed.

He shook his head. “And you have qualifications.” His dark eyes narrowed. “You aren’t connected with any foreign spy service?”

“Not unless I joined in my sleep,” she assured him. “Honestly, I’m just a plain working girl.”

“Working at what?” he returned with a cold smile. “You don’t cite any previous job experience. How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.” She thought fast. “I worked for my grandmother as a social secretary after I got out of college.”

“You don’t list her on your sheet of references.”

“Why would I list a relative?” she asked.

“You did list a relative. The Texas Ranger.”

“Oh. Him.” She sighed. “Well, a distant relation is less likely to lie for you than a close one, right?”

He laughed. “I give up. All right. We’ll try it for a couple of weeks and see how you work out. You can start by cataloging the library. Can you take dictation, answer the phone, make appointments...?”

“Well, yes,” she began, hesitantly.

“We’ll add all that into the job description, then. You can be my private administrative assistant. It’s getting harder to avoid bringing work home as the business expands, and I do need someone in that capacity. Can you handle it?”

“Of course,” she said without hesitation. She’d done all that for Grandmère, after all, without pay.

He mentioned a figure that was a little surprising. It was a great deal more than most women could expect for the services he’d outlined, and her face betrayed her.

“You’ll be living in. Did I forget to mention that?”

Oh, dear. Complications. However, it would be convenient. Her grandfather wouldn’t know where to find her. Neither would the cousin who kept trying to force her to give up a fortune in property that he thought rightfully belonged to him—despite the concrete will that left it to Gaby. The cousin, Robert, was disturbed. Very disturbed, to her mind, but he intimidated his mother to the point that she avoided even speaking to him.

“That will be fine,” she said after a minute. “Do I have to room with the Goth Girl?” she added with raised eyebrows.

He chuckled. “No. You’ll have your own room. And please don’t call her that to her face,” he added. “I have too many breakables in here that I’m fond of.”

“I’ll restrain myself,” she promised.

He got up. “Well, it will be interesting, if nothing more,” he said. “You’ll start Monday. How’s that?”

Today was Friday. That gave her the weekend to organize things. Since she owned her apartment, she had no worries about the rent going unpaid. “I’ll be here first thing Monday morning,” she promised.

“I leave the apartment at eight in the morning to get to the office on time. You’d better be here before then. Or you might not be able to get in,” he added with pursed lips.

She took his meaning. The Goth Girl would probably lock her out once she knew Gaby was going to work here. She chuckled. “Okay. I’ll be here before eight.”

“Do you have other relatives besides your grandmother?” he asked curiously.

Her face closed up. “No,” she said without elaborating.

That expression made him curious. But there would be plenty of time later to dig deeper, if he wanted to. He needed an