Ill remind you what I said at my interview, Joel,
Chesnie continued. That I am not, repeat not, remotely interested in marriage! Shed been spurred on by a growing niggle of annoyancebut she didnt regret a word of it.
Until Joels brow went up and he exclaimed, Marriage! Philip offered you marriage?
What on earth did you think he proposed? Chesnie exclaimed.
Joel looked at her, looked at her as if he was really seeing her. Oh, Chesnie Cosgrove, he answered, a smile coming to his wonderful mouth, looking at you, half a dozen offers spring to mind.
From boardroomto bride and groom!
A secret romance, a forbidden affair, a thrilling attraction?
Working side by side, nine to fiveand beyond
No matter how hard these couples try to keep their relationships strictly professional, romance is definitely on the agenda!
But will a date in the office diary lead to an appointment at the altar?
Find out in this exciting new miniseries from Harlequin Romance®.
The Tycoons Proposition (#3729)
by Rebecca Winters
A Professional Marriage
Jessica Steele
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ONE
MR DAVENPORT will see you now.
Chesnies insides had been on the fidget for the last half-hour and now renewed their churning. But she rose elegantly to her feet and maintained her cool exterior and followed Barbara Plattthe woman whose job she was hoping to secure for herselfinto the adjoining office.
Chesnie Cosgrove. Barbara Platt introduced her to the tall, dark-blond-haired man who was rising from his chair.
Thank you, Barbara. He had a pleasant, well-modulated voice, but as his present PA went out and closed the door Chesnie noted that there was something about the thirty-six or thirty-seven-year-old man who turned his blue gaze on her that said he could be exceedingly tough if the occasion demanded it. Take a seat, Miss Cosgrove, he invited, in one sweeping glance taking in her slim five feet nine inches of height, her immaculate business suit, her red-blonde hair, green eyes and what one of her sisters had called her pale, flawless complexion to die for. You found us without any trouble? Joel Davenport opened pleasantly.
The vast offices of Yeatman Trading would be hard to miss. Yes, she replied evenly, and that was all the time he had available for pleasantries, it seemed, for in the next split second her job interview with him was underway.
Sotell me about yourself, he opened.
My qualifications are
Were I unaware of your three years experience as a senior secretary, your excellent typing speeds, andaccording to your previous employeryour outstanding organising and communication skills, you wouldnt be sitting here, he cut her off.
Did she really want this job? He was tough! Shed had a couple of interviews with Human Resources before shed got this far; clearly there was nothing about her business background that hadnt been passed on to this man. She wondered about going back to Cambridge to workbut hadnt she made up her mind to make a complete break? She decided to give Joel Davenport another chance.
Im twenty-five, she informed him, and managed to stay outwardly cool when she realised that if hed seen her applicationand he seemed the kind of man who left nothing to chancethen he already knew that. Ive been working in Cambridge. He already knew that too. Stay cool, Chesnie, stay cool. The fact was, though, that she didnt know what she could add to what he already knew; her second interview had been thorough in the extreme. She stared at him, this man she was hoping to work for, green eyes staring frankly into blue, and, feeling defeated, asked the only question possible. What would you like to know?
He studied her, not a smile in sight. Shed had more appreciative glances. Youre well qualified. Your reference from your last employer is little short of glowing. Lionel Browning obviously thought the world of you.
And I him, she answered. Lionel Browning had been an absolute darling to work for. A touch muddle-headed, true, which was why he had left so much to herand which would all stand her in very good stead were she lucky enough to land this job.
Why then leave?
Chesnie opened her mouth to trot out the same reason she had given Human Resources: advancement in her career. To a certain extent that was true. But, had matters not come to a head when Lionels son, Hector, had decided to come into the business she didnt know if she would ever have been able to leave muddle-headed Lionel to run things on his own. But suddenly she found she did not want to lie to this direct-looking man. Id been thinking for some time that I wouldnt mind something more challenging to get my teeth into, she began truthfully.
But?
She looked back at Joel Davenport. He was cool, cooler than she. And he was sharpmy word, he was sharp. He knew, for all she was sure she hadnt slipped up anywhere, that there was more to it than that.
But I probably wouldnt have been able to leave Lionel had it not been for his son coming into the business. She halted, too late regretting she had let this tough-looking man see she had a softer side when it came to her ex-employer. Hector Brownings own firm went bust. So he decided hed come and give his father a hand.
You didnt get on?
It was part of my job to get on with everyone, Chesnie answered, not taking kindly to having her professionalism questioned.
So what went wrong?
She had an idea this interview was going very badly, and decided shed got nothing to lose by telling that which, hurt and humiliated, she had not told another living soul. Everything! she answered evenly, adjusting her position on her chair, catching the flick of his glance to her long slender and shapely legs now neatly crossed at the ankles. On the same day I heard from my landlord that hed decided to sell the propertyand, no desperate rush, but would I care to look for a flat elsewhere?I had a row with Hector Browning.
You usually row with the people you work with?
Lionel and I never had a cross word! Chesnie retortedand inwardly groaned. Shed be having a row with Joel Davenport any minute! And she wasnt working with him, or for himor ever!
He was unperturbed. Hector Browning rubbed you up the wrong way?
That I could, and did, cope with. What I was not prepared to stay and put up with was thatwas that Joel Davenport waited, saying not one word, which left her forced to continue. From the various snide remarks Hector Browning had made I knew he resented my closeness to his father, my affection for him and his affection for me. HeHector Again she hesitated, but the fact that she knew herself innocent made her tilt her chin a fraction. When he that day accused me of having an affair with his father, she made herself go on, I knew that one of us would have to go. Blood being thicker than water, I also knew it would be me.
You handed in your resignation.
I left last weekthe end of the month.
And were you? Joel Davenport asked.
Was I what?
Having an affair with his father?
Her eyes widened in surprise and annoyance that anyone could ask such a thing. Somehow, though, she was able to maintain the outer cool she showed to the world. No, I was not! she stated clearly, and, not wishing to say any more on the subject, she left it there.
To his credit, Joel Davenport allowed her to do so. He nodded, at any rateshe took it that he believed her. Human Resources will have explained the package that goes with the position. He took the interview into another area. Obviously the salary, pension and holiday entitlement are acceptable to you or you wouldnt have proceeded with your application.
Its a very generous package, Chesnie stated calmly. Generous! It was a sensational salary!
The successful candidate will earn every part of it, he replied, which she felt hinted that she was not the successful candidate. Though when he continued she began to wonder The job as my PA demands one hundred per cent commitment, he advised her, and surprised her by adding, Your qualifications aside, youre a beautiful woman, Miss Cosgrove he did not seem personally impressed and no doubt have many admirers.
About to deny she had any, Chesnie, who just wasnt interested in relationships, suddenly felt feminine enough to want to go along with his view that she had a constant stream of admirers at her door. They wouldnt interfere with my work, she replied.
I may need you to work away with me on occasion, he went on. She knew from the job description that there were times when Joel Davenport required his PA to accompany him on overnight stays when he visited their Glasgow offices, and had no problem whatsoever with that. Supposing such an occasion arose at short noticesay, half an hour before a theatre date with your favourite man?
Id hope my favourite man would enjoy the theatre just as much without me, she replied promptly, and thought she caught a momentary twitch of her serious interviewers mouthquite a nice-shaped mouth, she suddenly realisedbut it was come and gone in an instant.
Theres no one man in particular in your life?
No, she replied. Who had the time? Or the inclination, for that matter?
No marriage plans? he asked sternly, her one-syllable answer insufficient, apparently. But she resented his question. She hadnt asked him if he was married or about to be! She studied him for a moment. Good-looking, a director of the expanded and still expanding multi-national Yeatman Tradinghe had it all, which no doubt included some lovely wife somewhere.
Suddenly she became aware that as she was studying him, so keen blue eyes were studying her. Im not remotely interested in marriage, she stated bluntly, belatedly realising his question, in light of his statement that the job as his PA demanded one hundred per cent commitment, was perhaps a valid one.
You sound as if youve something against marriage, he commented.
With her parents and her sisters as fine examples, who wouldnt have? Chesnie kept her thoughts to herself. I believe the latest statistics show that forty per cent of marriages end in divorce. Personally, Im more career-oriented than marriage-minded.
He nodded, but when she was expecting some comment on her reply, he instead enquired, Youre still living in Cambridge?
For the moment. Though at present Im staying with my sister, here in London, for a few days.
Youre obviously prepared to move here. Have you found anywhere to live yet?
I thought Id better sort out a job first, she answered, and was surprised when, without a response, he got to his feet.
Perhaps you should set about finding your accommodation without delay, he suggested pleasantly.
Chesnie looked at him. Clearly the interview was over. She stood up as he came round his desk. She was wearing two and a half inch heels and still had to look up at him. Im not sure she faltered, not at all sure she should believe what she thought he was saying.
He held out his right hand, and automatically her right hand met his warm, firm clasp. I should like you to start on Monday, Chesnie, he confirmed, and for the first time he smiled.
Chesnie managed to keep her face straight while she was in the Yeatman Trading building, but once she had left the building so too did she leave her cool, sophisticated image, her lovely face splitting into an equally lovely grin. Shed got it! Shed jolly well got it! Only then did she acknowledge how very much she had wanted this job as PA to Joel Davenport.
It sounded hard workshe thrived on hard work. To be constantly busy had been her lifeline. She hadnt been sure what sort of work she wanted to do when she had left school, but with her studies finished and no need to spend time at her desk in her room she had spent more time with her parents. Their constant sniping at each other had driven her to take various courses at evening classes, all to do with business management.
It seemed to her she had been brought up in a house full of strife. The youngest of four sisters, with a two-year gap separating each of them, she had been twelve when her eldest sister, Nerissa, had marriedfor the first time. Nerissa was now on her second marriage, but that didnt appear to be any happier than her first. Chesnies second sister, Robina, had married nextshe was always leaving her husband and returning for weeks on end to the home she had confided she had only married young to get away from.
When her sister Tonia married, Chesnie had thought surely it must be third time lucky for one of her sisters. But, no. Tonia had produced two babies in quick succession and seemed to have quickly developed the same love-hate relationship with her husband that her parents shared.