The Virgin Secretary's Impossible Boss

She stood up abruptly. ‘What is there for me to feel jealous of?’ she scorned. ‘If those women are stupid enough to accept the little you want to give them, then that’s their problem. I can assure you that I have absolutely no interest in warming your bed!’ Andi regretted the words almost as soon as she had said them, realizing she might have said too much. Revealed too much.

Linus regarded Andi through narrowed lids, inwardly surprised by her vehemence. He only came to Tarrington Park every couple of months, but never during any of those visits had he seen the coolly distant Andi this rattled by anything; those gorgeous brown eyes were positively gleaming with her indignation, and bright spots of angry colour were on her usually pale cheeks.

His mouth hardened. ‘Maybe you should wait until you’re asked before saying no,’ he teased. ‘I was referring to your own lack of a love-life just now, Andi,’ he explained.

She blinked, her polite, businesslike mask falling back into place as she resumed her seat behind the desk. ‘I knew that,’ she dismissed sharply.

Linus continued to look at her for several long seconds, contemplating Andi’s completely defensive reaction.

Things had been a little tense between the two of them when they’d first begun working together, probably due to a certain amount of understandable resentment on Andi’s part at almost being bullied into working for him. But once Andi had accepted that Linus genuinely did want her complete input into the renovations to Tarrington Park—and that his long absences gave her a free rein when it came to the inner décor, the awkwardness between them had started to fade. Now, a year later, Linus totally appreciated that when it came to his business affairs Andi was quiet, efficient and everything that he could wish for in a PA.

Her reaction just now reminded him that she was also an extremely beautiful woman. The tailored suits and blouses she always wore could never hide the fact that she was shapely in all the right places, with long, sexy legs that went all the way up to her…

‘Linus?’

‘Sorry.’ He gave an impatient shake of his head as he brought his wandering thoughts back from considering just how sexily attractive his PA was. ‘We’ll start the drive up to Scotland tomorrow,’ he bit out abruptly as he straightened. ‘Besides viewing the castle near Edinburgh, there’s someone I need to visit.’

‘Edinburgh?’ Andi echoed. ‘Just a moment.’ She eyed him suspiciously. ‘Isn’t the Scottish rugby team playing against Wales over the weekend?’

‘I think that they are, yes,’ Linus confirmed lightly, his expression deliberately innocent.

‘You think that they are,’ Andi echoed knowingly.

She knew that Linus didn’t just like to play hard, but that his business success was due to the fact that he worked like a fiend too. But, no matter how wealthy he had become, or how busy he was, Linus had maintained his boyhood love for the game of rugby, and whenever possible he attended the games played by the Scottish team.

It was impossible to miss the fact that the Six Nations tournament was about to start this weekend, or that Scotland were due to play at home at Murrayfield, an area of Edinburgh, on Sunday. Too much of a coincidence in the circumstances.

‘You know that they are, Linus.’ Andi gave a derisive shake of her head. ‘In fact, I bet you have a ticket for the game.’ She raised mocking brows.

‘Actually, I have two tickets,’ he conceded dryly.

Andi’s eyes widened. ‘You’re expecting me to go to a rugby match with you too?’

He scowled. ‘Why not?’

For one thing, Andi had absolutely no interest in the game of rugby. For another, attending a rugby match with Linus certainly wasn’t in her job description.

Andi shrugged. ‘If you’re visiting friends and going to a rugby match I really don’t see why you need me with you in Scotland at all.’

Linus’s scowl darkened ominously. ‘This is the first time I’ve asked you to come away on business with me and you’re refusing?’

‘I didn’t say that.’ She shook her head slowly, aware of that dangerous glitter in Linus’s eyes.

‘That’s what it sounded like to me,’ he rasped tersely.

‘Then you must have misheard,’ Andi came back calmly.

Had he? Linus wondered, frowning. He and Andi had worked well together on the occasions he’d come to Tarrington Park, but on a personal level they had never got past the stage of his being allowed to call her ‘Andi’ , instead of the ‘Andrea’ she had initially insisted upon. A situation that Linus had thought suited them both, until Andi’s sharp response just now…

He frowned darkly. ‘Are you coming to Scotland with me or not?’

Andi gave a cool inclination of her head. ‘Of course I will accompany you, if that’s what you want.’

‘What I want from you, Andi, is your input on the castle near Edinburgh. You did a good job with Tarrington Park; I could use your help,’ he stated clearly. ‘Will Marjorie be okay left on her own for four days?’

‘She isn’t on her own any more since you employed Mrs Ferguson as our housekeeper,’ Andi reminded him waspishly.

Linus scowled impatiently. ‘Don’t tell me you’re still annoyed about that?’

Andi had been more than a little put out when, during one of his whirlwind visits to Tarrington Park six months ago, Linus had calmly informed her that he had hired a housekeeper for the gate house. Not that it didn’t make a lot of sense to have someone taking care of the house; Andi just didn’t like feeling any more in Linus’s debt than she already was.

Her mother’s health was much improved from a year ago. The scandal of bankruptcy that had been revealed following Miles’s death had died down eventually, allowing Marjorie to pull back from that emotional edge she had been teetering on—although her mother was still more delicate than Andi would have liked.

But her mother and Mrs Ferguson were of a similar age and got on very well together, meaning there was absolutely no need for Andi to be in the least concerned about leaving Marjorie for a few days. ‘I wasn’t annoyed,’ she assured Linus frostily. ‘I just wish you had consulted me before you did it, that’s all.’

‘If I had, you would only have said no; I decided not to put us both through that particular argument.’ He dismissed her with his usual arrogance. ‘I keep you pretty busy here, and the gate house is far too big for your mother to manage on her own.’

‘Don’t bother trying to explain, Linus.’ Andi sighed. ‘We both know that in my mother’s eyes you can do no wrong.’

He raised dark brows. ‘What can I say? Women of a certain age seem to like me.’

It had come as something of a surprise to Andi that Linus chose to visit her mother whenever he came to Tarrington Park. His manner towards Marjorie was always warm and considerate. The fact that he had watched his own mother struggle to bring him up alone perhaps answered some of his softer feelings towards her mother. Whatever Linus’s reasons, he seemed to have a genuine affection for Marjorie, and she was constantly singing his praises.

Andi’s mouth twisted. ‘The newspapers seem to think it’s women in general!’

‘Oh, give it a rest, Andi.’ He gave her an irritated frown. ‘You can’t deny that employing Mrs Ferguson has made things easier for Marjorie.’

‘I’m not denying anything.’ Andi gave him a considering look. ‘Is life always that easy for you—something isn’t quite right, so throw some money at it and fix it?’

Brought up at Tarrington Park, surrounded by the indulgent love of both her parents, Andi couldn’t even begin to imagine what life had been like for Linus as a child, or a teenager. There had been lots of love—initially from his mother, and then from his Aunt Mae after his mother’s death when he was fifteen. But there certainly hadn’t been any money to spend on ‘fixing’ anything. It was one of the perks of his now considerable wealth that Linus could buy anything he pleased; could do what he wanted when he wanted. And usually did…

Andi had never complained about the long hours she had to work to bring about the changes in Tarrington Park, but Linus had been aware on his brief visits that she worried about her mother being left on her own so much. It had been easy for Linus to solve that problem by hiring a housekeeper. The way Andi had reacted at the time, anyone would have thought he’d been trying to move into the gate house with her!

‘It’s not always about money, Andrea,’ he conceded dryly. ‘But nothing I seem to do or say stops you from being stubbornly argumentative.’

Colour heightened the hollows of her cheeks. ‘I’m independent, Linus, not stubborn. There is a difference, you know.’

His mouth thinned. ‘Could you afford to take on a housekeeper?’

‘You know that I couldn’t.’

‘Then stop complaining because I could! It seemed the right time, especially with the new development in Scotland.’

‘Linus, you aren’t actually expecting me to move to Edinburgh to oversee the renovations if you buy this castle, are you?’ Andi gasped as the idea occurred to her, her expression one of horrified disbelief at the prospect.

‘Of course I’m not expecting you to move to Scotland,’ Linus taunted. ‘Live there for several weeks at a time, maybe, but not actually move there.’ He looked at her challengingly.

Andi stared at him. ‘Is that the real reason you employed Mrs Ferguson?’

His mouth thinned. ‘What are you talking about?’

Andi grimaced. ‘You employed Mrs Ferguson because you knew that once Tarrington Park had opened my full-time presence would no longer be needed here.’

‘Did I?’ Linus’s voice was dangerously soft.

‘Of course!’

‘Andi, I have no idea what I’ve done to give you the impression that my every act is Machiavellian in nature.’

‘Why don’t we start with the fact that you bullied me into working for you?’

‘That can change any time you feel like resigning!’ Linus assured her icily.

Andi frowned at him. Their two gazes were locked in a battle of wills, her own accusing, Linus’s challenging.

Andi’s gaze was the first to drop. ‘Do you want me to book the hotel in Edinburgh for all three nights?’ she prompted stiffly.

‘We aren’t staying at a hotel any of the nights,’ Linus informed her tersely. ‘I’ve made my own arrangements,’ he added playfully as Andi raised questioning brows.

She shrugged. ‘I’ll need to know where we’re staying so that I can let my mother know where I am.’

He nodded abruptly, obviously still annoyed about her earlier accusation of duplicity. ‘We will be staying at my Aunt Mae’s, near Ayr, tomorrow night. Then I’ve arranged—’

‘At your Aunt Mae’s…?’ Andi repeated, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Linus raised arrogant brows. ‘You have a problem with that?’

Not a problem, exactly. More a reservation. It was easy enough for Andi to keep her emotional distance from Linus on the visits he made to Tarrington Park, when she dealt with him only in a business capacity. Actually staying with him at the home of one of his relatives was far too intimate for comfort—Andi’s comfort.

She shook her head. ‘I’m sure your aunt won’t want one of your employees intruding on your visit.’

‘On the contrary,’ Linus drawled derisively, ‘She’s looking forward to meeting you.’

Andi’s eyes widened. ‘She is?’

‘Oh yes.’ He nodded mockingly. ‘She very much wants to meet the woman who has managed to put up with me for the last year.’

‘As your employee, you mean?’ Andi croaked.

‘Of course as my employee,’ Linus acknowledged tauntingly, those amazing eyes openly mocking. ‘The previous record for being my PA was only ten months.’

‘I didn’t know that…’ Andi’s voice tailed off. Admittedly Linus’s work schedule was as demanding as he was, the hours long, meaning that Andi’s hours often were too. But she couldn’t deny that she had found the last year completely absorbing, culminating in a strong feeling of satisfaction when Tarrington Park had finally opened as a hotel and conference centre, becoming almost an overnight success.

Linus shrugged. ‘I didn’t think it was important!’

‘Exactly what did you do to my predecessors?’ she questioned dryly.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ he bit out harshly.

‘Ah.’ Andi nodded slowly, her stomach muscles tightening. ‘I take it that was the problem?’

‘Apparently.’ He nodded tersely. ‘I don’t get involved with the women who work for me, Andi,’ he added abruptly.

Andi had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wondered if she had somehow given away her increasing awareness of Linus as a dangerously attractive man. Maybe this was his way of warning her not even to contemplate any thoughts of an intimate relationship ever developing between the two of them.

‘Then it’s lucky for both of us that I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in pursuing a relationship with you out of the office!’ she came back coldly.

Linus wouldn’t have called it lucky, exactly; Andi really was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. But by making Andi his employee Linus had effectively put an end to the idea of anything of a personal nature ever developing between the two of them.

Although, he couldn’t deny that his interest had been piqued a few minutes ago when Andi had reacted so defensively to the mere suggestion of intimacy between the two of them—before she had insulted him concerning his employment of Mrs Ferguson.

‘Lucky for both of us,’ he rasped dismissively.

Andi nodded. ‘By the way, Linus,’ she added challengingly as he went to go through to the adjoining office. ‘Perhaps I should just mention that my maternal grandfather is Welsh.’

He winced. ‘Does that mean you’ll be cheering for Wales at the game on Sunday?’

Andi gave him a sunny smile. ‘It certainly does. They have a good record, I believe?’

Linus gave her a considering look. ‘You know more about the game than I thought,’ he finally murmured.

‘Not really.’ She grimaced. ‘I just remember all of my grandfather’s telephone calls when they win a game.’

‘Hmm.’ Linus frowned. ‘After ten years, it’s time for Scotland to win again.’

‘Or England. They’re playing Italy on Saturday, I believe?’ she added innocently.

He gave a low groan. ‘I can see we’re going to have fun this weekend.’

Andi wasn’t sure that ‘fun’ was how she viewed the prospect of the next four days, being alone in Scotland with Linus. Totally physically aware of him as she was, and warned off by Linus’s claim that he never became involved with female employees, those four days promised to be difficult in the extreme…

CHAPTER TWO

‘I THOUGHT you said it didn’t always snow in Scotland in February.’

‘Okay, so it turns out I was wrong.’ Linus scowled darkly as he sat behind the wheel of the Range Rover, trying to see the road ahead through the heavily falling snow.

They had set out from Hampshire very early that morning, stopping off somewhere near Manchester for lunch before continuing the drive. It was dark as the snow began to fall softly almost as soon as they drove over the border between England and Scotland, that snow becoming heavier the further they drove towards his aunt’s home near Ayr, on the west coast.

‘Perhaps you should have checked the weather forecast before we set out,’ he added impatiently.

‘I should have? You gave me the impression that you had everything about this trip under control,’ Andi murmured dryly, no more happy at the possibility of having to come to Scotland for weeks at a time than she had been yesterday when she’d first realized it was a possibility.

‘Unfortunately, even I can’t control the weather!’ It really was foul, Linus acknowledged grimly as it occurred to him he could see barely six feet in front. Their progress was becoming slower by the minute. ‘If it doesn’t let up soon, then we may have to look for somewhere else to stay for the night.’

He could feel Andi’s gaze on him as she gave him a sharp look.

‘Is it really that bad?’

‘You can see that for yourself.’ He nodded in the direction of the road ahead. The grass verge and the road were hardly distinguishable from each other now; the road itself was rapidly being covered in a treacherous layer of slippery snow.

Not that the Range Rover wasn’t up to dealing with it, but it was no good if Linus couldn’t see where he was going. The fact that he hadn’t seen any traffic coming down the road the other way for some time now told him that the way ahead was probably even worse than it was here.

‘I have no intention of sleeping in the Range Rover, so look out for somewhere we can stop for the night.’ Linus grimly kept his concentration on the road in front of them.

Andi turned her attention to looking through the falling snow for any sign of habitation, especially for the lights of an inn or a hotel where they could rest until the snow eased. She felt overwhelmingly guilty because she hadn’t checked the weather forecast and wasn’t more prepared. Feeling disgruntled with Linus over the possibility of having to live in Scotland for weeks at a time was really no excuse.

‘Over there!’ she suddenly cried, pointing to a light ahead of them on the left-hand side of the road. ‘It could be an inn, or—No, it’s just a street lamp.’ She grimaced her disappointment.

‘A street lamp has to mean habitation of some kind.’ Linus narrowed his gaze in the direction she had pointed. ‘Yes! A short way down that lane—at least, I hope it’s a lane.’ He frowned darkly as he turned the vehicle in the direction of the lights, the covering of snow obscuring everything but a flat blanket of white that he sincerely hoped had some sort of firm surface beneath. ‘It’s an inn,’ Linus added with satisfaction as he saw the sign, bearing a thistle and a stag, swinging in the gusting wind. He turned the Range Rover into what he hoped was the otherwise deserted car-park, easing the tension in his shoulders as he gently put on the brakes and brought the vehicle to a stop. ‘Not a very big inn, but it will have to do.’ He grimaced out of the window at the small, barely discernible building. ‘Feel like making a run for it?’ Ruefully, he turned to prompt Andi.

She grimaced. ‘Do we have any other choice?’

‘No—but I thought I would ask anyway,’ Linus baited her as he reached in the back of the vehicle to get their coats, handing Andi’s to her before pulling on his own. ‘Don’t get out until I come round for you,’ he advised firmly as he braced himself for opening the door and facing the freezing weather outside. ‘If I lose you in this, I might never find you again!’

Andi shivered as she felt the blast of ice-cold wind when Linus quickly opened the door and climbed out, before closing it again. The snow was falling so thickly now that she couldn’t even see him as he made his way round the vehicle to her side; she was only aware that he had done so when the door was wrenched open beside her.

It had only been a few seconds, but Linus was already covered in snow, his coat hidden beneath the icy flakes, the darkness of his hair bearing a frosting of the fluffy whiteness too. ‘Careful; it’s icy,’ he warned as Andi lowered her feet to the ground.

His warning came a little too late as her feet slipped from under her and she had to reach out quickly to grasp the front of Linus’s coat to stop herself from falling. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered between gritted teeth as she tried to steady herself. The wind and snow were so icy-cold that her face and jaw already felt frozen, her hair whipping about her face in wet tangles. ‘This is terrible!’ she attempted to shout above the roar of the wind, knowing Linus hadn’t heard her as he gave an irritated shake of his head, dislodging some of the snow in his hair so that it dripped down the grimness of his face and quickly melted against the heat of his skin.

Linus took a firm hold of her hand and turned to fight against the wind as they began to struggle towards the inn. The going was slow, and Andi was surprised at how far away it still looked when she glanced up, the icy wind beating against them so remorselessly that it seemed to deliberately hinder their progress. Almost as if it didn’t want them to reach the shelter and warmth the inn promised.

Andi couldn’t breathe properly through her nose, her throat burning when she attempted to breathe through her mouth instead. All the time the snow beat against her face, hard and painful as it stung against her flesh.

‘Damn it, we’re getting nowhere like this!’ She barely heard Linus’s impatient exclamation before it was carried away on the howling wind, so she was totally unprepared when Linus turned to swing her up into his arms and hold her close against his chest as he walked more determinedly towards the lights of the inn.

Andi’s arms were thrown about his neck as she burrowed her face against him to shelter from the icy-cold wind. Even the dampness of his coat was more comfortable than the burning in her throat as she tried to breathe through that frosty battering.

Incredible to think that, although it had been cold, the sun had actually been trying to shine when they’d left Hampshire earlier this morning; it was like being in another world.

What would happen to them if Linus couldn’t make it as far as the inn? Her arms tightened about Linus’s neck as she laced her frozen fingers tightly together. She should have thought to wear gloves. And a hat.

‘Almost there!’ Linus rasped grimly, obviously suffering as much as she was from the wind that was so cold it seemed to rip right through them. ‘Get the door,’ he prompted forcefully seconds later.

Andi raised her head and saw that they had actually reached the inn; light shone welcomingly through the small, frosted windows, and what looked like the warm glow of a fire too.

Her fingers were so cold, so numbed, that she had trouble unlacing them. The snow cracked on the sleeve of her coat and then fell away as she moved her arm towards the doorknob, fingers slipping at first before she managed to grasp and turn it. The two of them almost fell through the open doorway straight into what looked like the public bar.

Much to the incredulity of the landlord, as he gazed across at them with disbelieving eyes, his mouth having fallen open in surprise at anyone being out at all on an evening like this.

‘Shut the door behind us, would you?’ Linus instructed the other man grimly as he carried Andi over to where a fire burned warmly in the hearth in the otherwise deserted bar. He sat down, still holding Andi against him, as she seemed unable to release her clenched fingers from the shoulders of his jacket, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

‘It’s okay, Andi,’ he murmured reassuringly. ‘We’re okay,’ he added with satisfaction as the warmth of the fire began to thaw his numbed face and hands.

The tingling sensation that ensued was almost as painful, but it was a welcome pain after the worry of the last few minutes. He really hadn’t been sure they were going to make it as far as the inn as the snowstorm had become a blizzard, visibility down to almost nil, each step becoming a triumph of survival.

Not that Linus intended telling Andi that. He knew from experience that Andi was a woman who usually remained calm in any situation; she had through the death of her father and fiancé, the selling of her family home to pay off her father’s debts and coming to work for him. But the way she still clung to him so tightly now showed she had definitely reached the end of her endurance.

Arousingly so, Linus realized as he looked down at her with narrowed green eyes. She looked so tiny in his arms, vulnerable, even, her hair plastered to her head and across her face in damp tendrils, her eyes huge as she raised her head to look at him. A man could willingly drown in those chocolate-brown depths, Linus realized with a sharp intake of breath; could lose his own will, his very soul, and not give a damn as long as Andi continued to look up at him with that warmth in her eyes.

He had never noticed before how long her lashes were, thick and dark, a beguiling contrast to the honeyblonde of her hair. Her lips were a deep pink, full and pouting, as if waiting to be kissed.