The Boss's Christmas Proposal. Allison Leigh

pounding from lack of sleep. “It was nice meeting you, Sue. I am sure I will see you around.”

      “Maybe you’ll be in reception.” The other girl smiled. “They expect pretty women at the front desk.”

      Somehow, Kimi doubted that Greg Sherman intended for her to be registering guests. More likely, he would stick her in a housekeeping uniform and arm her with rubber gloves and a toilet brush for having the audacity of wanting to work there at all.

      “Ms. Taka.”

      She wanted to groan when he spoke her name. Already she was coming to expect that not-quite-identifiable tone in Greg’s voice when he addressed her.

      Longing thoughts of the wide bed in her suite were swept aside, replaced by the reminder that he had deliberately withheld from her the fact that he had even scheduled this meeting.

      She looked over at him. “Yes?”

      Sue was giving her a reassessing look. “Oh. It was that star.” The open, friendly expression on her face was gone. In its place was that odd combination of deference and suspicious fascination that Kimi had come to recognize when people discovered she was a Taka. Before she could respond, Sue quickly excused herself and disappeared out the door along with the dispatched groupies.

      The only other people remaining in the training room were Grace Ishida, Shin Endo and a few others, who had their heads bent in quiet discussion at the head of the room.

      Greg stopped in front of her. “Do you intend to disregard my authority at every turn?”

      Her lips parted, insult digging through her. “Do you intend to exclude me from all staff functions?”

      “You’re not officially on the staff until you’ve completed your paperwork with Human Resources.”

      “Which I thought I would be doing until I discovered you had directed me to a completely unoccupied—” she realized her voice had risen, and hurriedly lowered it again “—an unoccupied department. If you had intended for me to learn about the staff meeting, you would have told me so yourself. You had plenty of opportunity, after all, but you would rather instruct me on the finer points of a television remote control. I am here to work, Mr. Sherman, and I would like the opportunity to be allowed to do so. Despite your obvious belief otherwise, I am not incompetent.”

      Annoyance tightened the already hard line of his jaw. “My apologies if it seemed that I implied any such thing. My point is merely that your presence here will be distracting enough without you looking—” his gaze raked down her body, scorching her skin “—like this. If you felt such compulsion to attend this meeting, you could have taken the time to change out of this unsuitable getup.”

      She was overtired. That was the only reason there was a deep sting behind her eyes. Yes, her outfit was somewhat less than conservative, but she was hardly dressed like a prostitute. Nevertheless, she could eat crow if she had to. She had already gotten plenty of practice while getting herself reinstated with the university, after all.

      She made herself dip her head in a slight bow. “An error in my judgment for which I apologize. I thought it better not to be any tardier than I already was.” She pressed her lips together for a moment and swallowed the constriction in her throat. “I am not here to be a distraction to anyone. I am here to be part of Taka Kyoto.” How had he put it? “To be part of the family.”

      His slashing eyebrows quirked together over his blade-sharp nose. “And therein rests the problem, Ms. Taka. You’re part of the family. Do you really think that anyone within these walls is ever going to be able to forget that?”

      Kimi brushed the palms of her cold hands down the sleeves of her blouse. Disappointment coursed through her, sharp and deep. “I had hoped so, Mr. Sherman,” she finally admitted huskily. “But that does not mean that I will tuck my tail and run back home to Mommy and Daddy. As I said, I am here to work. Once I begin, if you find me so unsatisfactory, you will undoubtedly treat me to a set of those walking papers Mr. Endo was talking about. But I am not walking away before I have even begun.”

      With her words still settling around them, she turned and did walk away because there was another thing she had learned from Helen. And that was the graceful art of making an exit.

      Helen had just never warned Kimi that after said exit, a woman had to lean against a wall where she would not be seen, so her knees could stop shaking.