Christmas with her Boss

She glanced across at Craig but Craig was bending down to pat Killer and was obviously not in too great a rush. She turned back to William and he realised he was being assessed. She held his gaze for a long moment and then gave a decisive little nod. Whatever test there’d been, it seemed he’d passed. Manipulation was past. It was time for honesty.

‘Scott’s been through hell and back,’ she said bluntly. ‘His leg was so badly smashed they had to put in a rod instead of bone. It healed but then they had to insert another rod because he grew. That got infected.’ She swallowed. ‘He almost died. Again. The leg still hasn’t completely healed but it will and he’s okay to get around. He’s really good on crutches. If you could…just do what he wants. And if you can think of anything he’d like, I’d appreciate that too. I’ve bought him so many computer games he surely must be over them but I’m hopeless at thinking of what a teenage boy wants. He’s so restricted-but he needs a manly present.’

Her frankness was working as manipulation never could. But he could do this. He even puffed his chest a little. ‘So you’d like me to take your kid brother Christmas shopping for manly presents? I can do that.’

‘Ooh, you’re not my boss, you’re my hero,’ she said and before, he could begin to guess what she intended, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him. It was a feather kiss, almost a mockery, but not quite. It was a kiss of laughter and of sudden friendship, and why it had the capacity to make him feel…

How did it make him feel?

He didn’t know and it was too late to find out. Craig was replacing his hoses and yelling, ‘Are you coming or not?’

‘I’m coming,’ she called. ‘I’ll just go lose my overalls and check with Scott. But this is a great idea. My milking’s sorted, my brother will be happy and I have a superhero in the dairy. What more could a girl want?’

It took Meg an hour to get to the factory and back, by which time William and Scott had been gone for an hour as well. Which left Meg back at home, with no way of knowing when they’d get back.

She was worrying about her brother. She was also worrying about why she’d kissed her boss. It had been an impulsive gesture, the sort she’d make to anyone who’d done her a big favour, but somehow…it seemed more.

She couldn’t think of kissing her boss. That made her feel weird. She went back to worrying about Scott.

‘You’re worrying he’s taken him back to New York?’ Letty demanded as she caught Meg looking out of the window for maybe the twentieth time.

‘He can’t. There are no planes.’

‘You’ve worked for the man for three years. Don’t you trust him?’

‘Of course I do.’

‘Then why worry? Two hours is hardly time to Christmas shop.’ But then she hesitated. ‘Oh, but wait. These are guys. Half an hour there, half an hour back, five minutes at the perfume counter-yep, they should be back by now.’ She grinned. ‘But maybe they’re doing some bonding. He misses his father, does Scotty. Pass the raisins.’

‘You want me to mix the ingredients?’

‘I handed you the bowl five minutes ago-so you could look at it?’

Whoops. ‘Sorry.’ She applied herself to her creaming. ‘Why didn’t you do this before?’ she asked. ‘Aren’t puddings supposed to have been made a month ago?’

‘You didn’t get any time off and I was milking. I’m not getting any younger. But, back to your young man…’

‘My boss.’

‘He doesn’t seem to mind hard work.’

‘You say that like it’s a compliment. He’s addicted to work.’

‘Plus he’s really cute,’ Letty said and eyed Meg sideways.

‘He’s my boss. I hadn’t noticed.’

‘Right,’ Letty said dryly.

Right?

So, okay she had noticed. What normal warm-blooded woman wouldn’t notice W S McMaster?

But what use was there in noticing? For the three years she’d worked for him their relationship had been totally businesslike. Her boss worked far too hard for it to be anything else. He never noticed her, she thought. She was just one of his four PAs.

But sometimes… Sometimes when they’d been on a trip together, when they’d been working late, when she’d suddenly been a little too close, maybe even a little too familiar as tiredness crept in at the edges, she’d thought he made a conscious decision not to notice her, as if there were some barrier he couldn’t cross.

As, of course, there was. He was her employer.

He was a billionaire.

She mixed the ingredients with her hands, letting the warmth of her hands meld the mixture. She was still staring out of the kitchen window, but she was no longer looking for the absent Scott and William. She was thinking of William as he’d been this morning. Mucking round with his hose. Enjoying himself.

She’d kissed him.

It had been nothing but a silly gesture, she told herself. It meant nothing.

Only that wasn’t quite true. Meg Jardine had kissed William McMaster. The lines between boss and secretary had blurred.

Leading where?

‘You think that might be creamed enough?’ Letty demanded and she looked down into the bowl and thought yep, it was getting so warm it was starting to melt.

There was an analogy somewhere here. Melting…

‘You want me to chop some nuts?’ she managed and Letty grinned some more and handed them over.

‘Go right ahead. A girl’s gotta vent her spleen on something. You’re wondering how much perfume those boys are intending to buy, or are you wondering something else entirely?’

CHAPTER FIVE

THEY didn’t appear for lunch and an hour later Meg was really starting to worry. ‘I’ll take the tractor over to Jenny’s and phone him from there,’ she muttered. ‘They should be back.’

‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Letty told her. ‘They’ll have found a football game or gone to the movies or chanced on something really interesting that only boys can understand. You didn’t tell them a get-home-by time, for which I’m grateful because it’s time we stopped mollycoddling our Scotty. Our Scott.’ Then she spoiled it by glancing at the clock. ‘But I hope Will’s fed him. And he didn’t take any painkillers. If his leg’s hurting…’

‘See,’ Meg retorted and they both smiled, shamefaced.

‘Shortbread next,’ Letty declared, so they made a batch, and then another, and they were almost desperate enough to start a third when finally the car turned into the drive. Meg just happened to be looking out of the window when it did.

‘What on earth have they got on behind?’ she demanded, heading for the door.

The dogs were flying down from the veranda. Meg managed to stroll out with what she hoped was a little more dignity.

‘Don’t say we were worried,’ Letty hissed beside her and she agreed entirely. They hadn’t been worried at all.

What did they have behind the car?

A trailer. A really large trailer. And on the trailer…

‘They’ve bought a car,’ she muttered in amazement. Or…two cars?

‘So much for perfume,’ Letty muttered. ‘This is never going to fit into a stocking.’

‘Come and see, come and see.’ Scott was out of the car, shouting his excitement, and the dogs were barking hysterically in response. William emerged from the driver’s side, leaned back on the car door and crossed his arms-a genie who’d produced magic and was now expecting appreciation. He was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved open-topped shirt. He looked…great. He must have stopped at a clothes shop, Meg thought, and then she thought