The Ex Who Hired Her. Kate Hardy

in the past, right now he knew that Alexandra Bennett was going to be really good for Field’s. And his family business was the whole purpose of his life nowadays.

      ‘Tell me about your ideas,’ he said instead, then sat back and watched her blossom as she talked. As she expounded on her ideas her eyes shone and her face was completely animated. She clearly loved her job; this was her passion, the reason she got up in the mornings.

      And then he wished that word hadn’t slipped into his head. Passion. He could remember her being passionate in bed with him, once she’d got past her shyness. Once she’d got past the embarrassment and awkwardness of her very first time, started to learn how she liked him to touch her, and what gave him the most pleasure when she touched him …

      Oh, hell, he really needed to stop letting his thoughts run away with him like this.

      ‘So why did you pick marketing?’ he asked.

      She blinked. ‘Sorry?’

      ‘I thought you were going to be a lecturer.’

      ‘That’s not relevant.’

      And he’d hit a nerve, judging by the expression on her face. ‘OK. Ignore that. I just wondered what made you pick marketing as a career?’

      She shrugged. ‘I was in a bit of a rut in my job. A friend who worked in HR persuaded me to let her practise on me and got me to do some tests. The results said that marketing would suit me as a career, so I found myself a job as a marketing assistant and started studying for my professional exams.’

      Exams, he remembered from her CV, where she’d gained distinctions in every paper. And she’d done the whole lot in less than a year. ‘So was your friend right? Are you happy?’

      ‘Yes. And this job is a challenge. I’m glad I went for it.’ She paused. ‘Though I really didn’t know you were anything to do with Field’s.’

      Her eyes were very clear; maybe she was telling the truth.

      ‘The agency put you in at the very last minute.’

      ‘I’d just signed up with them. I was looking to make my next career move,’ she explained. ‘They said there was the perfect job for me, except the application date had already passed. And then they said they’d see if they could do something about it.’ She spread her hands. ‘I really wasn’t expecting them to ring me and say I’d got an interview, so I didn’t bother doing any research on Field’s. When they said I had an hour and a half to get there, it was too late to do more than read the factsheet they sent me and then spend five minutes walking round the store before the interview.’

      He couldn’t leave it. ‘If you’d known I was going to be doing the interview, would you have turned up?’

      ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I would’ve had to think very hard about it.’

      ‘But you came back for a second interview.’

      ‘Because I wanted the job. This sort of challenge doesn’t come up that often, and I realised it’d be pointless cutting off my nose to spite my face.’

      He could appreciate that.

      ‘So why did you give me the job?’ she asked.

      Even though he hadn’t wanted her back in his life? ‘Fair question,’ he acknowledged. ‘Because you were the best candidate. And you said it wouldn’t be a problem working with me.’

      ‘It won’t be.’

      He wasn’t so sure. ‘This elephant in the corner thing isn’t going to work. We’re better off getting everything out of the way. We need to talk about what happened. And then we can move on and have a chance of a decent working relationship.’

      Her face went white. ‘You want to talk about it here?’

      She had a point. The trattoria was quiet, but not that quiet. ‘After we’ve eaten,’ he conceded. ‘Your place or mine?’

      She shook her head. ‘Neutral territory. Isn’t there a park or something near here?’

      ‘On a March evening? We’ll freeze. Your place or mine?’ he repeated inexorably.

      She sighed. ‘Yours.’

      So she could walk out when it got too much for her? he thought cynically. ‘That’s settled, then.’

      The lasagne was good. Probably the best she’d ever tasted. Except Alexandra was so nervous, she could barely swallow. Why hadn’t she kept her mouth shut? Why had she had to make that stupid comment about him dating twig-like women? Why hadn’t she kept the conversation strictly to business and insisted on discussing marketing ideas for the department store?