calling it an office was misleading. It was more of a work station. The behind-the-scenes office layout at Wild Ideas was open plan, cut up into cubicles, some larger than others. Michele’s area was quite large, but not fancy in any way. Plain pine furniture. No carpet. No doors. One window that looked out on to the main road.
Still, everything in it was clean and functional, with state-of-the-art computer equipment, along with every piece of software imaginable. Jessie got very excited to work on the very latest G5 Macintosh, which was so much faster than her old Imac.
Just as well, because her predecessor had left things in a right mess. There was so much to sort through that when lunchtime came she ate a sandwich at her desk. Margaret from Reception dropped by and brought her some coffee, which was sweet of her. Jessie could see that they were going to become friends.
The only breaks she had were to go to the ladies’ room and to make three phone calls. The first was to the restaurant to say that she was quitting. Since she was only a casual anyway, they didn’t much care. They’d fill her spot within hours. The second was to the day-care centre. True to form, Emily didn’t give a hoot that she would be late picking her up. Traitorous child! The third was to Dora, who was thrilled Jessie had got the job.
Unfortunately, Jessie couldn’t explain about the fiasco with the Marshall brothers, not with Michele sitting right next to her.
Actually, Jessie liked it that she worked right beside Michele and wasn’t off in another section on the floor, either in a corner by herself or with a whole bunch of other graphic artists. It seemed that at Wild Ideas, each creative designer had their own personal graphic artist. Sort of like their own private assistant. Jessie could see that this was a very successful way of doing things. New team leaders were being trained all the time. No wonder Harry Wilde never had to head-hunt executives from other agencies. He didn’t need to.
‘Time to wrap it up for today, girls. It’s almost five.’
Jessie whipped her head round at Kane’s voice to find him leaning against the open door frame, watching her. He looked as if he’d been there a while.
Actually, she’d surprised herself, the way she’d been able to put the man out of her mind for most of the day. But the moment their eyes met once more, all the feelings he evoked in her rushed back.
Not just heart-pounding desire. That was a given. But accompanying jabs of panic, and worry.
Her life since Emily had been born had been so simple. And straightforward. Maybe a little boring. And yes, lonely at times. But not too stressful.
If she became involved with Kane Marshall—even on just a casual basis—he would begin to make demands on her time and her space. As a single mother who now had a full-time job, Jessie knew she wouldn’t have much spare time for leisure and pleasure.
‘So how did our new girl work out, Michele?’ Kane asked.
‘Excellent,’ Michele replied crisply. ‘She’s very good at what she does. And I suspect she’ll be very good at what I do. Eventually,’ she added with a cheeky wink.
Jessie didn’t know what to say in reply to such fulsome praise, so she said nothing.
‘We’d better get going, Jessie,’ Kane asked. ‘The traffic will be heavy. I’m driving Jessie home today,’ he explained to Michele. ‘She has to pick her daughter up by six and she’s not sure about the train timetable.’
‘Yes, I know. Jessie told me all about your knight-to-the-rescue act,’ Michele said drily, a slightly knowing smile playing on her mouth. ‘Off you go, love. And thanks for all your hard work. See you tomorrow at eight-thirty.’
‘Eight-thirty?’ Kane echoed. ‘I thought the hours here were nine to five.’
‘Jessie and I had a talk and we decided eight-thirty till four-thirty would suit us better. We’re both up early with our children anyway. Might as well get them to day-care and get to work. Then we’ll have more time to spend with them in the evening.’
‘Whatever.’ Kane shrugged his broad shoulders, his nonchalance reminding Jessie that men like Kane didn’t have to worry about making time for children. All they had to think about was themselves.
Men did that very well, she reminded herself. So don’t go thinking he’s driving you home because he’s genuinely kind. He’s driving you home because he wants to get into your pants.
Jessie was appalled when this thought didn’t repulse her, as it normally would. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed celibate this long. Suppressing a sigh, she turned off her computer, picked up her bag and stood up.
‘Bye, Michele. Thanks for being so nice. See you in the morning.’
‘She is a nice woman, isn’t she?’ Kane said as they rode the lift down to the basement car park. He sounded surprised.
‘Very,’ Jessie agreed. ‘Good at her job, too,’ she added, determined not to let her secret thoughts and desires make her go all stiff and awkward with him again.
‘Harry doesn’t hire any other kind,’ Kane commented.
‘I hope he won’t be disappointed with me when he gets back.’
‘I’m sure he won’t be, Jessie. This way,’ he directed when the lift doors opened.
She was glad when he didn’t get all handy once they were alone in the car park. She wasn’t keen on guys who used any opportunity to grab at a girl.
‘Here we are,’ he said, stopping beside a sleek silver sedan. Inside, she noticed, it had grey leather seats and that lovely new smell. Jessie didn’t know what the make was and she didn’t ask. She knew next to nothing about cars. Which reminded her…
‘By the way, I won’t be leasing a car just yet,’ she advised him as he drove expertly round the circular ramp that led to the street.
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t like to rush into things. I like to think about them first before taking the plunge.’
‘Is that a learned habit, a statement of fact, or a warning for me?’
‘Do you need a warning?’
The car emerged into the late-afternoon sunshine, and very heavy traffic. Kane’s very masculine mouth remained shut till they stopped at the first set of lights.
‘Jessie, let’s not play games with each other,’ he said firmly. ‘You came into that bar the other night looking for male company. If you hadn’t been told I was a married man, we’d already be lovers.’
Jessie decided then and there that the time had come for the truth. Her pride demanded she not let him think she made a habit of cruising bars at night, picking up perfect strangers and agreeing to go to hotel rooms with them.
‘No one in the ladies’ told me you were a married man, Kane,’ she confessed, her chin lifting as she turned her head his way. ‘I made that up.’
‘You what? But why? I mean… Oh, go to hell!’ he muttered into the rear-vision mirror. The lights had gone green and the driver behind was honking his horn.
‘Look, just drive and listen!’ she told him in that tone she used on Emily when she wouldn’t go to bed at night.
Once he got over his shock at her giving him orders like that, he actually obeyed. The silence gave her the opportunity to tell him the truth, starting with her working as a decoy earlier this year when she hadn’t had any money. She explained how she hated it and had quit, but agreed to do it one last time so that she could buy Emily the expensive fairy doll for Christmas.
He did throw her a startled look when she said she’d only gone into that bar last Friday night to do a decoy job. When she revealed who her target was, his car almost careered into the wrong lane. She had to tell him to keep his eyes on the road again, after which she was able to finish her story. She even