Deceiving Her Boss (5 page)

 
"I want to know how you know Paul Mason."

 
Of all things for Sean to ask, this was one of the most surprising.  "Paul? 
He's a friend of a friend.  I know him socially.  Why?"

 
"You looked fairly cozy out on the patio tonight."

 
"With Paul?" Allie couldn't quite get her head around what Sean was
asking.  Was he asking her if she was involved with the man?  That was actually
kind of funny, she thought.

 
"Yes," Sean said with exaggerated patience.  "With Paul."

 
"You're asking me if I'm involved with Paul," Allie said, needing to
clarify where her boss was going with this.

 
"Yes, I am," he said.  "Are you?"

 
Allie sighed.  "I'm going home, Mr. Greyson.  Like I said, it's
late."

 
With one quick motion, Sean shifted forward, his legs on either side of Allie's,
essentially trapping her in her chair.

 
"What are you doing?" she asked, panicking slightly.  Close quarters
like these might mean that he'd see the streaks of the horrible makeup she
wore, and wonder.  "Let me up, please."

 
But Sean didn't move.  He was more than a little uneasy at Allie's panicked
response, since it could easily mean guilt.  Instead, he moved his legs a bit
closer together until they touched Allie's, and he leaned forward, his elbows
on his knees.

 
"Mr. Greyson, please.  Let me up."

 
"Tell me about Paul."

 
But Allie wasn't thinking about Paul at the moment.  All she could think about was
the man in front of her.  Her boss.   His hard legs pressed against hers, and
his green eyes roamed her face.  Allie fought hard against the sudden
attraction that came rolling in.  Again.  The same attraction that she had
fought against for ages, and seemed to have to beat down every few weeks or so.

 
They had worked closely together for over a year.  They talked.  They
occasionally traveled together.  They occasionally ate together.  But apart
from a few light touches on the shoulder or the arm, he had never ever touched
her.  And now, within the space of just a few days, that was changing.  And it
terrified Allie.  As long as she thought of him as her boss, as a machine that
dictated what she did and when, she could keep her feelings buried deep inside
of her.  And she needed to keep them buried.  She knew what had happened with
Sean's previous secretaries, and she was not going to let that happen to her. 
She was good at her job, and she was learning more than she'd expected when she
took the position.  The moment she let her attraction to Sean show, she would
be moved on.  Maybe not out of the company, but out of her position.  She
needed to get a hold of her feelings.

 
Sean was watching carefully as his mousy little assistant looked everywhere but
at him.  He knew the effect he had on many women, but he knew his Allie, and
she was unaffected by him, so this reaction of hers must be something else. 
And he intended to find out what.

 
"Look at me, Allie," he said firmly, his voice a touch chillier than
she'd ever heard it before.

 
She forced herself to look him in the eyes, but dropped her gaze almost
immediately.  Let him think she was shy, she thought.  She didn't need him
looking at her that intimately.

 
"Tell me about Paul," he said again.

 
But Allie shook her head and sighed. "Look.  It's late.  I'm tired.  We
can talk through anything that needs to be talked about at the office on
Monday.  But for now, I need to go home."

 
"You're not going anywhere until we've cleared this up."

 
"There is nothing to clear!" Allie said in exasperation, looking at
him at last.  "You are the boss.  I'm the employee.  When it comes to
professional things, I do as you tell me to.  You pay me well for that.  But
this is after hours, and this has nothing to do with work. "

 
"It has everything to do with work."

 
"How do you figure that?"

 
"Paul is a competitor."

 
Allie crossed her arms and looked indignantly at her boss.  "And you think
I'm selling off trade secrets?  I'm not sure whether to be more insulted at the
fact that you think that I'm that disloyal to you or my employment, or that you
think that the only reason he could be interested in me is to get at those
secrets."

 
"Come on, Allie," Sean said, leaning back a bit to give her some
space.

 
"What?  Which is it?"

 
"I know you're loyal to me, Allie, and to the company.  But sometimes, a
guy like that comes along, and..."

 
"And what?  The poor little homely secretary falls for the big powerful
businessman, who entices her into pillow talk to get the information he needs?
"

 
"You're not..."
  Allie had had enough.  She stood up within the confines of her boss' legs,
and tried to push them out of the way so she could move away from him.  But it
was like trying to move boulders.  Short of climbing onto the couch or straddling
his leg, she was stuck.

 
"Let me go," she said quietly.

 
"Not yet.  Sit back down."

 
Allie tried to reign in her temper.  "You may be my boss, but you do not
own me.  Now let me by.  If you need me, I'll be in my office on Monday morning
at 8:00."

 
But Sean refused.  "No.  Sit down, Allie."

 
Sighing, Allie lifted her head to the ceiling and counted to ten.  "Look. 
I'm not interested in Paul.  So that takes away any concern on your part about
what I tell him or talk to him about."

 
"Sit. Down."  Sean's tone of voice at last got through to Allie.  He
was angry.  Furious, really.  And Allie had no idea why.  She had seen him get
angry before, but never at her.  He never ever lost his temper with her.  Allie
sank back down onto the couch, crossing her hands in her lap and waiting.

 
With exaggerated patience, Sean stood up and began pacing the room.  "You
are my assistant.  Because of that, people may try to get close to you to find
out about specific things I do.  I don't know a lot about your personal life,
but you strike me as someone who is a bit shy and a bit naive.  I do not want
you to end up in a compromising position, just because you think that someone
cares for you when they are using you."

 
"You are getting more insulting by the minute, Mr. Greyson," Allie
said mildly, though inside she was fuming.  "I may be shy, but I'm not
naive.  And when it comes to Paul, you have absolutely no idea what you are
talking about.  And you're dead wrong."  She stood up again.  "I'm
leaving, sir.  Before I say something completely subordinate, and before you
insult me so badly that I can no longer work for you."

 
But Sean was between her and the door, and he stood his ground, a large and
intimidating figure, particularly in the dark suit he was wearing tonight. 
"No," he said, almost casually.  "You're not leaving yet.  Not
until I tell you that you can."

 
"What do you want me to say?" Allie asked in exasperation. 
"That I'll stay away from Paul?  I can't do that.  I run into him from
time to time.  That I won't ever talk to him again?  Again, I can't do it.  I
actually like the guy.  But I have never, and would never, talk to him about
you, about my work, or about anything that you are planning.  What more do you
want from me?"

 
Despite his imposing figure, Sean moved quickly when he wanted to, and within
seconds, he was standing directly in front of Allie, his hands reaching out to
grasp her shoulders.  Looking down at her, he shook his head slowly.  "I'm
not sure what I want from you, Allie.  I just know that I don't want you to get
hurt.  And I certainly don't want you to get hurt because of me."

 
Allie reached up to try to dislodge his hands.  "I'm a big girl, Mr.
Greyson," she pointed out.

 
But Sean was looking down at where his hands grasped Allie's shoulders. 
"You're actually quite small," he said slowly.  "A tiny girl
dressed in a big girl's clothing.  Why do you do it, Allie?  Why do you wear
clothing that doesn't fit you?"

 
Allie yanked herself away.  "What I wear isn't your concern, Mr.
Greyson," she said quickly.  "I wear what I'm comfortable in."

 
"Most women would wear clothing that shows off their bodies.  You hide
yours.  Why, Allie?"

 
Allie closed her eyes and prayed for patience.  When she opened them, Sean was
watching her carefully.

 
"Mr. Greyson, my private life is not your concern.  Now will you please
let me go so I can call a cab?  I'm not only tired, I'm getting increasingly
irritated, and more and more likely to quit.  So if you don't want to spend all
of next week training a new assistant, you need to let me arrange for a car to
come for me."

 
Sean shook his head, smiling slightly. "You won't quit," he assured
her.

 
But Allie wasn't smiling when she said, "No, probably not."

 
"I think I'll take you home myself," Sean said quietly, shoving his
hands in his pockets and leaning against his desk.

 
"Not necessary," Allie protested.  "It's late."

 
"And by the time you call your driver and he makes it out here, and then
gets you home, it will be much later.  You did a lot of work tonight, Allie. 
The least I can do is drive you home."

 
Allie sighed.  "All right," she agreed.  "Can we please go
now?"

 
Sean nodded, then motioned for Allie to proceed him out the door.  Again, he
noted how poorly her dress fit her, both in style and color, but he would cut
out his tongue before mentioning it to her again.  She chose the dress for a
reason, he thought.  And it was none of his business.

 
Settling Allie into the passenger seat of his car, he moved over to the
driver's side.  He had had Allie in his car many times before, and never
thought anything of it.  But tonight, the car seemed too small, the passenger
seat too close, and he could smell the soft scent of the woman next to him.

 
Forcing his attention to the road, Sean drove Allie home, his movements sure as
he took the curves of the roads with ease.  By the time he pulled up in front
of Allie's apartment building, the tension between them was thick.

 
"Thank you for the ride," Allie said quietly as she pulled her coat
around her and reached for the door.

 
"You're welcome," Sean said, keeping both hands firmly on the
steering wheel.  "I'll see you on Monday."

 
"Monday," Allie repeated as she opened the door and stepped out of
the car.  "Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

 
Sean waited until Allie was safely inside her apartment before pulling away
from the curb.  He had wanted to walk her to the door, he realized, but knew
that doing so was inviting trouble.  Allie was nothing like any woman he had
ever been attracted to, and he had worked alongside her for over a year without
ever feeling any attraction at all to her.  So what was different now?  What
had changed?

 
It was true that he now realized that she had a pretty amazing body under those
awful suits.  And he genuinely liked her as a person.  But her skin was awful. 
Her hair was awful.  Those glasses she wore were awful.  But when she had
looked up at him with those soft eyes, as she had in his study tonight,
something had shifted.  He had wanted to kiss her.  And that, he thought, was a
problem.

 
He could not and would not get involved with Allie.  First and foremost, she
was his employee, and he was not interested, ever, in dating an employee. 
That's why he had lost secretary after secretary -- Allie was the first in a
long string of assistants that had been indifferent to him, and therefore
productive.  Second, he could not even imagine what people would think if he
turned up at any event with her on his arm.  She was nice, she was sweet, and
the vultures would eat her alive.  And third, well...  he couldn't think of a
third.

 
But this was obviously just a passing thing, particularly since nothing had
ever happened between them before.  And it could just keep on passing through,
as far as he was concerned.  He was going to keep his hands and his thoughts to
himself, and this wasn't going to even be an issue.

 
When Allie walked into her apartment, Anna and Paul were sitting at the kitchen
table, drinking coffee.  Paul looked up at his fiancée's roommate and shook his
head. 

 
"Wow.  You look a little different than you do around here on the
weekends, sweetheart.  I was surprised to see you looking so... well...."

 
"Awful.  You can say it, Paul.  It's deliberate."

 
"I gathered that.  But why?"

 
"Because the last three secretaries that Sean Greyson hired were all interested
in him, or at least in his wealth.  He finally refused to hire anyone under the
age of fifty, or at least happily married.  I figured that if I could show him
that I was just a competent but sexless young woman, interested only in my job
and my cats, he'd give me a chance.  So I wear makeup that makes my skin
sallow, I dress in shapeless suits or dresses, and I talk to him about nothing
except work.  I do absolutely nothing to appear attractive to him, and nothing
to call attention to the fact that I'm female."