Buttoned-Up Secretary, British Boss (16 page)

“‘As soon as my feet are fully under their family table, who knows what’ll happen for me? Alexander could be my fast track to success at last…perhaps even stardom! And then telesales can take a run and jump!’”

‘That’s what she said,’ Alexander went on flatly. ‘It wasn’t me she was interested in at all—it was Bruno, who could maybe give her the chance to progress her stage career. And, looking back, I had to give her full marks for her enterprise. She’d made me feel that I was the only man on the planet that she had eyes for.

‘But her final words to her friends were, “I’ll do whatever it takes…You know me. Persistence is all—and I never, never give up—not when I really,
really
want something”.

‘Then I remembered what she’d asked me to write on the book, and it left me in no doubt about her true motive in hanging around to speak to me.’

There was complete silence for a few moments as Sabrina took in everything Alexander had told her. How dreadful that must have been, to be used as a tool in someone’s ambitions—and especially to get to a close
relative. How hurtful and how degrading for him. Being degraded was something Alexander McDonald would not have experienced before, and something he would never tolerate again.

‘So our wonderful “relationship” ended that night—and I’ve never seen her since,’ Alexander said noncommittally. ‘Neither have I seen Angelica’s name in lights either,’ he added.

Gently, Sabrina put her arm around Alexander’s waist and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry that you had to tell me that, Alexander,’ she said. ‘But I’m glad that you did because it does answer my question. To be treated in that way is unforgivable—well, I wouldn’t be able to forgive it if it happened to me,’ she said bluntly. ‘But I can understand your reluctance to actually tell someone—tell a woman—that you love her…’

At that, a slow smile spread across Alexander’s features and almost hungrily he gathered Sabrina up in his arms, virtually crushing her to him.

‘Sabrina,’ he whispered, his lips lingering over her hair and her neck. ‘I have never said those words to anyone because, I suppose…Well, because…’ He frowned briefly. ‘I have never heard them actually said to me. They are words which have always seemed unreal, belonging to another world, just out of my reach.’ He gazed down into her eyes, making Sabrina almost melt with longing and tenderness.

‘But since I met you I have found myself whispering those words, Sabrina, whispering them to myself. And now I’m going to say them out loud. For the first time in my life, I’m going to tell someone that I love them.
I love you, Sabrina Gold. I love you.
With all my heart, my soul and mind.’

And as he uttered the words, Alexander felt the
loosening of a lifetime’s tension, felt the unbelievable magic of laying his soul bare to someone he knew he would trust and adore for the rest of his days—if only she would have him.

Leaving him in no doubt about that, Sabrina wound her fingers around his neck, drawing him even closer to her. She tilted her head back, offering him her parted lips, all her senses swimming with emotion and happiness. Because she knew that he had unlocked that part of her she’d thought she’d lost for ever. For her, there was to be no more running away.

Today was the beginning of the rest of her life—of their lives.

And she knew it was going to be wonderful.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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First published in Great Britain 2010
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18–24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Susanne James 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4089-1954-5