The Rebound Guy (3 page)

‘No.'

And this time Kelly was telling the truth.
Nice
was definitely not a word she'd use to describe Jason Knight.

Chloe smiled even wider. ‘But you like him anyway....'

Kelly resorted to silence. And more wine.

Like
was also the wrong word to use to describe what she felt for her new boss. It had been pure and unadulterated lust, that was all.

That was
all
?

The silence didn't last long. It never did. Not when Kelly had uncomfortable thoughts running round her head that she needed to expel. ‘Okay, maybe I
liked
him.' She wasn't prepared to use another word just yet. That one, for all its wishy-washiness, was scary enough. ‘Maybe I haven't felt that way for a long while.'

She paused to take another sip of wine. Chloe put her elbows on the counter, rested her chin in her upturned hands and sat there looking receptive. Kelly didn't make her wait long. ‘And maybe I hadn't felt that way since well before I split with Tim, but that doesn't mean anything... Don't give me that look, Chloe! It wasn't a sign from on high. Just my hormones getting in a fizz over a nice-looking guy.'

But it would have been a whole lot easier to believe her own pep talk if she wasn't actually both relieved and pleased about the strong physical reaction she'd had to her new boss.

‘It just took me by surprise,' she added. ‘I haven't told you this, but for a long while I've been a bit worried about my lack of interest in the opposite sex. I wondered...I thought...' She looked Chloe in the eye. ‘I was afraid the chemo had fried that bit of me. I felt like someone had turned something off inside me, that I was broken somehow.'

‘But you're not,' Chloe said sympathetically and firmly.

‘Yup. And now everything's okay. I'm all fixed again. That's all I need to know.'

Chloe topped up Kelly's glass. ‘So why don't you do something about it?'

Kelly's residual head-nodding turned to shaking. ‘Not a good idea.'

‘Because...?'

Kelly stood up and walked over to the other side of the kitchen, glass in hand. ‘Did you not hear last week's story, with the sleazy boss and the desk...?'

‘You wouldn't have that glow in your cheeks if you thought he was sleazy and, from what I can gather, he's got a steady job, money in the bank and he's rather easy on the eye. Much better than most of the single men out there in their thirties.'

Kelly wanted to disagree with that, but her sister-in-law had a point.

‘And the problem with Mr Sleaze was that you didn't like him back. You've already said you're attracted to your new boss. Does
he
like
you
?'

Kelly sighed and clutched her wine glass to her chest. ‘He couldn't stop staring at my breasts when we first met, so I'd say that's an affirmative.'

Chloe sat up and clapped her hands lightly together. ‘That's decided then.'

‘Nuh-uh,' she said, and walked down the hallway to check on the boys, who were still watching TV. When she came back she sat back down on a stool, faced Chloe and put her glass down. ‘Not only is he the boss, but he's got a bit of a reputation as a player. He's no good for the long-term.'

‘Who mentioned anything about long-term?' Chloe sipped her wine and looked at Kelly from under her lashes. ‘Keep it short and sweet—you set the rules, you set the timing... Sounds like the perfect rebound guy to me. You're long overdue one of those.'

Kelly snorted. ‘You're out of your mind! It's still a recipe for trouble and I
need
this job.'

‘No, you don't,' Chloe said. ‘You've got enough savings for a deposit. Why wait? You should be out there looking for a nice little house. Don't tell me you're as scared of house-hunting as you are of man hunting.'

‘I'm not scared,' Kelly said, lifting her chin. ‘I just want to build up a buffer before we move, a little nest egg that I can rely on in case...'

The room went very quiet. After a few seconds Chloe leaned over and put her hand on top of Kelly's. ‘In case it comes back,' she said softly.

Kelly swallowed and nodded. ‘I need to know I won't lose the house if I can't work for a while. The boys shouldn't have to go through that all over again.'

There was the sound of keys in the front door and the tiny stampede happened all over again, except this time Cal and Ben were shouting, ‘Uncle Dan! Uncle Dan!'

Chloe stood up. ‘Okay, I'll stop pushing. It's just that I can't help but feel that you're marking time, and that's not you. You're such a go-getter and I can't understand why you don't want to
go get
the house of your dreams—' she lowered her voice ‘—or a gorgeous man who's into you.'

Kelly stood up too. Of course Chloe didn't get it. She hadn't lost the home she'd thought she'd stay in till she died, the house that both Cal and Ben had been born in. She hadn't watched the man she loved walk away without a backward glance and then take every opportunity to grind her even further into the dirt with the heel of his shoe. She hadn't watched her children sleeping and felt sick with fear that one day she wouldn't be there to tuck them in at night.

‘I'll go and ask Dan if he'll give you a lift home,' Chloe said, heading for the hallway. ‘Save you getting the bus.'

Kelly nodded but her sister-in-law was no longer in the room to see it. She put her half-drunk wine down and picked up her handbag.

She knew she needed to get past those things, she really did. But it was easier said than done. That was why getting the house was important.

She allowed herself a moment to linger on Chloe's
other
suggestion of how to move on....

Okay, she admitted it. A hot fling with someone like Jason Knight would be fun. But she wasn't looking for fun. Didn't need it. That wasn't what her life was about at the moment. So she was going forward with her plans to save and buy a house because, once that was done, she knew she'd be able to stop holding her breath. She'd have taken the first step to moving on.

‘Boys!' she yelled and headed towards the sitting room. ‘Get your stuff together. We're going in five minutes!'

THREE

‘Kelly, could I
see you before you go this evening?'

Kelly stared at the closed office door and then the clock. Half past four. She'd hoped she'd be able to slip away quietly, with a polite farewell and a nod, as she'd done all week. This was the last thing she needed on a Friday afternoon. Especially
this
Friday afternoon. She was physically and mentally exhausted. They'd worked hard on the multimedia presentation Jason was putting together for Dale McGrath's camp all week, and her boss had certainly flung everything at it—a slide show, a brochure, a promo video.

She was also tired because she'd discovered Jason did everything at one speed: fast forward. And Jason's bounce seemed to be contagious. She'd accomplished more in a week than she ever could have imagined. More than she'd have managed in a month not long ago. But that didn't mean she wasn't dog tired at this end of the week.

To make it worse, he was so blooming enthusiastic! Instead of seeing the extra workload as an inconvenience, something to be got through to get to the end goal, Jason was like a big kid with a new toy. How could they make the promo video more interesting, slicker, glitzier? Could the video guy put in that cool fade he'd just shown them? Kelly could still see the big grin that had spread across Jason's face when the technician had done just that. Most disconcerting.

The other reason Kelly was exhausted was because she was doing her level best not to like her new boss. Not that she wanted to
dislike
him; she just wanted to stay professionally neutral, but that was very difficult when he kept wearing the same expression her boys did when they knew it was Saturday morning and they were going out to play football.

She rose from her seat, blew out a breath as she picked up her notepad and pen and then opened Jason's door.

She chickened out of direct eye contact for a few seconds, leaving it until she was pulling out the chair opposite his desk and sitting in it, giving herself a few seconds in which to prepare for the inevitable kick in the ribcage when she looked at him.

It still came when she looked up, winding her more thoroughly than usual—maybe because, instead of the usual glimmer of both humour and challenge in his eyes, he was looking far too serious.

But, unfortunately, Kelly discovered she liked serious from him. The way his brows drew together and his focus hardened just made her pulse drum all the harder.

Oh, help. If he kept this up she'd be toast. And she'd done so well burying Chloe's stupid suggestion about a hot and heavy rebound fling.

She cleared her throat. ‘Is there something wrong?'

Jason stared at her for a minute then swivelled his laptop round to face her. The promo video they'd been working on began to play, not the first rough cut she'd already seen, but a more polished version. It ran for a couple of minutes and she watched the now familiar footage roll past, feeling Jason's eyes on her the whole time. When it finished he just said, ‘Well?'

Kelly frowned. ‘I think it looks great,' she said. ‘Especially the tidied up graphics.' It was unlike any running shoe ad she'd ever seen. Instead of concentrating on lone runners pounding along through mountainous scenery or busy city streets, it was full of fast-paced shots of all sorts of things. Interesting things, colourful things, vibrant things. The clip left her feeling energised and ready to zing along the corridor at speed. That had been Jason's idea: to convey the swiftness of Mercury, without even showing a runner or a shoe.

She stopped staring at the blank laptop screen and met his gaze. ‘If there's something the matter with it, I can't see it.'

She didn't get it. All week Jason had been banging on about how it had needed to be slicker, hipper...cooler. The finished product looked all of that and more.

He turned the laptop back to face himself, fiddled with the mouse, and when he turned it round again a section of the video swooping through the skyscrapers of Manhattan began to play.

‘What are those graphics running underneath?' he asked in a low tone. ‘I didn't authorise those.'

Kelly's mouth opened and closed. ‘Those were the stats you wanted to include, that we were waiting for from Research and Design. When I gave your last feedback to the production company they'd just come in, so I asked the team to find a way to add them in.'

Instead of looking pleased at her efficiency, which he'd been complimenting her on all week, Jason continued to look at her with unblinking eyes. ‘Without consulting me?'

Kelly swallowed. He'd been very busy on an international call at the time, and she'd known he'd wanted to get the notes off to the production company as soon as possible. ‘I thought that was what you wanted.'

Jason flipped the laptop closed and pushed it to one side before leaning back in his office chair. ‘I decided to keep the facts and figures to the brochure, just let the video represent the ethos and aspirational qualities of the product—which you would have known, if you'd taken the time to ask me.'

Oh.

Jason sighed. ‘I know I said I like your initiative, Kelly, but you've been here less than a week and you're already starting to make executive decisions.'

Kelly looked at her hands folded in her lap. ‘I'm sorry,' she said, and she probably should have left it there, but somehow the truth came barrelling out of her mouth anyway. ‘To be honest, I didn't think you'd mind. I thought you'd just...forgotten.'

Jason's eyebrows rose. ‘So now you're telling me that I can't do my job properly and that a temp who's been here five days needs to pick up after me?'

Okay, it sounded bad when he put it that way.

Jason shook his head and looked away. ‘You didn't think I'd care,' he said wearily. ‘But why would I
not
care when the new product I've been working on for close to two years is on the line?'

Thankfully, she managed to swallow her next response.
Because you don't seem to care about anything too deeply,
she'd almost said.
Because everything seems like one big game to you.
Just like her boys, he only seemed to care about how edgy or flashy or cool everything was.

‘I'm sorry,' she said again, but this time there was an added ring of sincerity to her tone. ‘It's nothing to do with you, really. It's me....'

Okay...this was starting to sound like a bad break-up.

‘Sometimes I'm a little too independent,' she added. ‘It's just that recently I've had to... I've been used to...'

Making it worse, Kelly.
He doesn't want to hear about your personal woes.

She took a moment then continued. ‘I'll contact Ace Productions right away and ask them to take it out.'

Jason's expression softened. ‘No. Leave it. Your instinct was good. But it's my project and I get the final say. Just because I'm enthusiastic about my work doesn't mean I take it lightly.'

She nodded. She hadn't known that about him. And now she did. Good. She let out the breath she'd been holding and her lips started to curve.

Jason regarded Kelly with interest. All week he'd been charming and friendly to her—as charming as he could be without actually
flirting
—but he hadn't had more than a nod or an affirmative phrase. And now he'd just told her off and she was smiling at him? How did that work?

He smiled back. Not his charm-the-birds-from-the-trees smile, just an ordinary one. A weary one. It had been a long week. ‘Okay. Well, as long as that's clear. This project is my baby. And I feel exactly the same way about it as a mother feels about her children.'

She squinted at him slightly, as if she wasn't quite sure it was possible to equate a running shoe with a living, breathing mini human being. ‘If you say so....'

Jason's smile upgraded to a grin. He didn't know why he liked his prickly assistant's prickles so much, but he did.

‘I know you're not going to believe me, but in a creative sense it really is like seeing something born. Years ago now, I had the seed of an idea, just the inkling of a new design that might really improve a running shoe, and it's been growing and developing ever since. The shoe is finished—it's ready to go out into the big wide world—and I want the very best for it.'

‘Why?' she said, looking back at him. The expression she wore was of open curiosity, not guarded politeness, as he'd been used to from her all week.

‘Why does anybody want the best for their “babies”?'

She pressed her lips together and thought for a while. ‘Because you want them to fulfil their potential—be all they can be.'

He nodded. ‘Exactly. And I know these shoes have the potential to be revolutionary—I just need to convince the rest of the world of that too.'

‘Why Dale McGrath? You said the preliminary approach you made wasn't received with much interest. Why not just target someone else, someone who can catch your vision?'

He put his hands behind his head and let his weight push his chair into recline so he could stare at the ceiling. Why
did
he want McGrath so badly? There were plenty of other sportsmen out there. Some who were showier, more charismatic. But Dale's was the face he had seen when he'd imagined the first ad campaign and now he couldn't shake it. ‘I don't know why, but he just fits. Call it gut instinct.'

With that he sat up and his chair sprung upright behind him. The clock on the opposite wall said it was close to five.

Kelly followed his gaze and started to stand up. ‘Well, if that's all,' she said calmly, ‘I really should be going.'

He planted his feet on the floor and rose too. ‘Time for a quick drink? There's a great little place just round the corner.'

Kelly froze. ‘I don't think so,' she said as she straightened and met his eyes.

‘Not a date,' he added quickly. ‘Just to celebrate an intense but productive first week. Purely professional.'

She looked at him suspiciously.

‘Look,' he said, ‘half the Aspire team will be in there anyway. It's a regular Friday-night hang-out.'

She shook her head. ‘I'm sorry, I can't.'

‘Can't or won't?'

‘Can't,' she said stiffly. All that armour plating that had melted away when he'd been telling her about Mercury was back up in full force. ‘There's somewhere I need to be.'

One corner of his mouth hitched up. ‘Can't you make him wait? Just for half an hour?'

She hugged her notepad to her chest. ‘Actually, there's more than one and, no, they can't wait.'

Two?
Whoa. When he'd labelled her as a wildcat he'd only got it half right.

‘My sons,' she said quickly, then stared him down.

Jason stared back. He knew what this was about. She was expecting a reaction from him. He disappointed her by
not
running screaming from the room. So she was a mom. Didn't bother him any.

Except if...

‘You're married?' They'd been in close proximity all week. Surely he'd have noticed it before now. A ring was the first thing he looked for when an attractive woman walked across his path.

Okay, maybe not the
first
thing. But it was definitely in the top five.

He hadn't thought it was possible for her to look any more poker-like, but she surprised him yet again. ‘No, I'm not married.'

No problem, then.

But Kelly didn't look as if she shared his opinion.

She'd wanted to fudge it. He could tell it by the way her lips had moved silently before she'd said no. But she hadn't. And she could have invented a fictional Mr Bradford and been on her way home in a flash if she'd wanted to. That was a sign, right there. One he should probably not be paying attention to, but it was a hard habit to break.

‘After-work drinks... Not a good idea. It's against the no-dating-at-work policy,' she said matter-of-factly.

Jason frowned. ‘We don't have a no-dating policy.' He should know. He'd ditched it so he could start dating his former PA. They'd turned out to be such a good team. In the office... Out of the office... Especially in the bedroom. But then she'd gone and got all serious on him, talking about moving in together and hosting dinner parties. Jason shuddered. It had ended with a nuclear fight, a cold space in his bed and a vacancy at the office. That had been two months ago, and they hadn't found anyone suitable to replace her long-term yet. In the office, of course. Out of the office Jason wasn't looking for anything more than ‘temporary'.

‘You might not have a no-dating policy, but I do,' Kelly said quite seriously.

Jason blinked. Had he just heard her right? It took him a few moments to gather a sensible reply. ‘I said it wasn't a date. Just socialising after work.'

She narrowed her eyes. ‘Socialising is fine, and I'd be quite happy to go out in a group, but not tonight, and not alone with you.' She smiled sweetly at him. ‘Have a good weekend, Mr Knight.' And then she was gone. Out of the office and down the corridor before he could think of anything else to say.

Jason let out a dry, self-mocking laugh. Well, that told him! He didn't get that response very often when he asked a woman out for a drink. Far from it.

He sat back down in his chair and rubbed his face with his hand.

Oh, Kelly Bradford might
say
she didn't want to go out with him, but all week he'd seen the way she'd looked at him when she thought he hadn't been watching. That was why he'd issued his invitation in the first place. For a woman who told the bald, unvarnished truth about everything else, she was lying about this.

How intriguing.

And how very tantalising. He laughed again, but it was a lighter, more joyous noise this time.

Love-one to Ms Bradford. But that didn't mean she'd won the match.