She was still thinking about the way his deep voice had made her squirm just the tiniest bit and how, up close, the smallest hint of stubble shadowed his chiselled jaw, when the sound of soft footsteps on the carpet behind her desk made her look up.
It was him! Coming this way! Jilly’s heart skipped a quick, panicked beat and she froze, her feet stuck to the floor.
He was right there, at her desk. No doubt he would expect to be acknowledged. She couldn’t just pretend to not see him and wait for him to go away. She took a deep breath, trying to slow her wildly racing heart.
“Matthew Stevenson,” he introduced himself. “Newest partner to the firm. And you are?”
“Jilly,” she mumbled shyly, taking his outstretched hand, wincing as he squashed it in his strong grip. “Jilly Watson.” Forcing herself to look up instead of at the floor, she met his eyes. He smiled, showing perfect white teeth. She smiled back, but at the same time, she wanted to sink through the floor. None of the other lawyers ever took the time to come and speak to her, and that was the way she preferred it. Being singled out for attention like this made her nervous. Had she done something wrong? Besides going overtime on her lunchbreak... she wasn’t in trouble for that, surely? It had only been a couple of minutes. Had Janice complained?
Dropping her hand, Matthew stepped forward and picked up the silver-framed photo off her desk. “Your little girl?”
She nodded, a proud smile creeping across her lips. “Yes. Lily. She’s six.”
“She’s gorgeous. Like her mama.”
Jilly’s mouth dropped open and she felt her face heat up with an obvious blush.
“I look forward to working with you, Jilly,” Matthew said. Then he put down the photo, winked, and was gone.
Oh, wow. Oh, wow! Jilly’s heart pounded. Had he really said that? Or had she just imagined it? He didn’t speak to all the secretaries under this roof like that, did he? She couldn’t imagine Janice or any of the other ladies tolerating that sort of talk. They ran a tight, respectable ship here. There was no room for flirting, no time for casual conversation, outside of breaks. Professional appearances were everything.
Across the room, Vanessa was staring at her, her mouth dropped open. On the other side, Janice was glaring over her glasses in disapproval. And in between, the secretaries who weren’t tied up on the phone or talking to clients were watching her too. Had they all heard what Matthew had said? I hope not! she groaned inwardly. I’m just here to do a job. Nothing more.
Matthew stayed out of sight for the rest of the day, but later, when Jilly went to refill her coffee cup, Janice made it plain that fraternising with the lawyers, even if it hadn’t been her doing, was against the rules of the office. Not in so many words, of course, but her body language had made it clear. There was to be no more conversation with the new lawyer. Not about anything other than work. That wasn’t the way things worked, here in ‘The Establishment.’
Feeling thoroughly chastised, even though Janice hadn’t actually said a word and she hadn’t really done anything wrong, Jilly kept her head down, concentrated on her filing, and made that one cup of coffee last for the rest of the afternoon. She wasn’t taking any risks. If someone had something to say, they could come to her to say it.
* * *
“What did he say? Come on! Give me the goss!” Vanessa was at her desk at thirty seconds after five o’clock. “I want to know everything!”
Jilly just shook her head. “He just introduced himself, that’s all. He didn’t say much else.” Just that you were gorgeous, she reminded herself. “But I’ve got to go. Have to pick up Lily. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
The rest of the day was a blur as Jilly battled rush-hour commuter traffic on the way to pick up her daughter from after-school care, went to the supermarket to pick up groceries for dinner, fed and bathed her little girl. But later, when Lily was sound asleep in bed and Jilly had the house to herself, the quiet wasn’t peaceful like it normally was. Now all she could hear was Matthew’s voice in her ears, the sexy baritone telling them to get back to work. The softer tone complimenting her daughter’s photo. Telling her that he looked forward to working with her.
His face flashed into the edges of her consciousness, making her heart skip a beat. There was something about him that filled her with excitement, something she hadn’t felt in a very long time, but she pushed it away. She was done with men. Never again would she let another man get close enough to her to break her heart.
You don’t have to worry because he’s not interested in you anyway, the sensible part of her insisted. He was just being friendly. What could you possibly have to offer a man like him?
Jilly topped up her wineglass and picked up the TV remote. Maybe there’d be something interesting on the telly, something to take her mind away from Matthew Stevenson. Reality television, or even a decent cooking show. Mindless entertainment that would make her smile and steal her thoughts. Anything would do, really. Anything to make her forget about the handsome new lawyer at her office.
Flicking through the channels, she decided on a gameshow, propped the pillows up behind her, and settled back to watch and answer as many of the questions as she could.
Getting four questions right in a row, she sighed contentedly.
