Cinderella Substitute (5 page)

Mischief danced in Lorna's eyes as she smiled at Jenni.

Jenni sighed and sipped her tea, ignoring Lorna's teasing.

"You don't think I'm making a fool of myself, then?"

Lorna stared at her. "Why would you be making a fool of yourself? You're entitled to a life, Jenni. You're young with a fantastic figure, a pretty face and a great personality." She grinned and licked a piece of chocolate from her finger. "Mike from Accounts really likes you."

Jenni shook her head in reproof at Lorna's blatant hint.

"Yeah right! Like he'd be interested in me! Come on, look at the time. I daren't be late twice in one day.

* * * *

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Nate watched Jenni depart in a huff along the corridor. He wasn't quite sure what was different about her today. She looked the same . Well, almost the same. But he didn't remember noticing she had such great legs before, or the way her skirt fitted so very nicely over her hips.

No wonder Mike Walker had started to pay her attention.

Jenni deserved better than some wet-behind-the-ears moneyman, but she had shot off to lunch pretty quickly and Nate couldn't help but wonder who she had been lunching with.

He heard Jenni sneak back into the office after her lunch break. The tell-tale squeak of her chair as she slid it out from under the desk gave her away. He looked at his watch, realizing she had taken the full hour and had just about made it back in time. Jenni never took her full break. Maybe she
had
been to meet Mike. For some reason, the thought didn't please Nate at all.

* * * *

"Did you have a nice lunch?"

Jenni gave a guilty start as Nate entered the office. Had he noticed she'd been a few minutes late?

"Lovely, thanks." Nate in a bad mood could be very trying.

She wished he would go back to his own office. She hated it when he kept hanging around. It made it so hard to concentrate on her work.

"Go anywhere nice?" He drummed a pen against the top of her desk.

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Her temper rose. What on earth was the matter with him today?

"Only to the café down the road. Did you forget something, Nate? I need to get on." She kept her fingers poised over the keyboard and willed him to go away.

"I just wanted to let you know that we have a hectic time ahead of us. I'm afraid it will mean a lot of late nights and some weekend work."

She looked at him and tried to interpret the expression on his face. He didn't often bother telling her they needed to do extra hours. "That's okay, I could use the money," she said.

"What I mean, Jenni, is it might not be a good time to, you know, get involved with anyone." He stopped the irritating drumming to lean casually against the desk.

Now he really had her beat. She was horrified. Was he hinting that she shouldn't get ideas about
him
? Of all the conceited ... !

"I wasn't aware my private life was any concern of yours, and if you think for one moment I would be interested in you, then you can think again."

He drew himself up to his full height. She knew by the frosty look on his face she had said something out of turn.

"I was referring to your friend Mr Walker," he announced in a glacial tone. Before she had time to respond, his door slammed shut and he was gone.

"Well, that told you," she muttered.

How to completely humiliate yourself in one easy lesson
. It was just as well she'd never thought of Nate in a romantic 42

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light. Well, except for one very nice dream she'd had the other night.

She switched off that particular memory.

Nate's door exploded open. "Have you done those memos yet?"

"Almost," she lied, and started to type, forcing herself to concentrate on her work.

* * * *

The morning turned into a long and horrible afternoon. By the time she'd finished her work, the cleaners had started to vacuum the carpet in the corridor outside her office. Her head pounded with the noise.

She switched off her monitor with a sigh. Nate still remained in his office, hard at work. Darkness had fallen outside, and as she turned off her desk lamp, she realized she felt both tired and hungry. She rapped on Nate's door, then pushed it open and carried on in. "Nate, I'm going home now.

Are you done yet?"

He looked as tired as she felt. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. Stubble showed in a faint shadow along the line of his jaw.

"I'll take you home. I've had enough for today." He switched off his computer and stood up to pull his jacket from the back of his chair.

Even with her higher heeled shoes he still loomed over her, a fact she had half registered earlier in the day when she had cannoned into him in the doorway. He locked the design cabinet, then switched off his office light.

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She trailed along the corridor behind him to the lift. The doors chimed open as they reached the deserted lobby. The onyx reception desk stood empty. Lorna had gone home much earlier. Only the uniformed security guard remained in the building to make his routine nighttime patrol.

"I can catch the bus, Nate. It would save you from going out of your way."

He checked the messages in the "in" tray. "No, I'll take you. It's dark and freezing out there." He paused in his paper shuffling. "There's something here for you, Jen."

She accepted the slip of paper from him and started to read before she registered why the rounded, childlike scrawl appeared familiar.

Her mother's words leapt up at her from the cheap lined paper.

"Sorry I couldn't get away to meet you. I'll be in touch
when things are better.
"

The signature said Tracey, her birth mother's first name.

The letters swam in front of Jenni's eyes. Her knees had all the strength of marshmallows. A strong arm encircled her waist as Nate steered her into Lorna's chair.

The guard's footsteps rang muzzily in her ears. She heard him confer in an urgent tone with Nate. The buzzing noises receded as she came back to reality. Nate squatted on his haunches at her feet.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." She never fainted. What's been happening to her lately?

"I thought you were going to pass right out. You looked as white as a ghost." He looked concerned.

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"I'm fine, honestly."

His nearness made her nervous. The faint masculine scent of his cologne tugged at her senses. She stood up, her knees still weak. "It seems to be my day for making a fool of myself."

"I'll drive you home." He placed his arm around her waist once more, causing her to give an instinctive jerk at the intimacy of the gesture.

* * * *

Nate's heart raced as he supported Jenni on the walk across the car park. He could feel the soft, yielding warmth of her body as he steadied her. It had been a long time since he had held a woman so closely. Too long. Jenni's femininity and her closeness stirred deep-seated emotions he had never expected to feel again.

He relinquished his support with relief when they reached the car. Her proximity disturbed him in ways he didn't want to admit. She accepted his help to climb in with a murmur of thanks.

"How do you feel now?"

She looked at him. "I'm okay, just feeling rather foolish.

I've never fainted before in my life."

"It was a bit of a shock. I asked the security guard if he knew who'd left the note, but he hadn't seen anyone."

She seemed to be digesting the information. "If Lorna had been there, she would have contacted me straight away, so it must have been after she finished work."

He grunted an assent. It sounded logical.

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Jenni must have spoken to Lorna about the weekend's events. He wondered how much she had told her, not that anything needed to be hidden.

There had been enough rumors after the accident, along with numerous well-meaning women who had all appeared to be convinced he needed a shoulder on which to cry. Well, he hadn't. Nate didn't subscribe to the idea that talking about things made them any better. He'd discharged himself from the hospital as soon as possible after the accident and had refused to see the bereavement counselor.

He glanced across at Jenni. Behind those awful glasses she wore, her tired eyes looked sad. He hated the thought of dropping her off at her tiny flat and leaving her on her own.

He pulled the car to a halt in the lay-by opposite her home. The takeaway appeared to be doing good business amongst the teenagers.

"Thank you for the lift." She paused as if trying to come to a decision. "You're welcome to come in and have some supper with me, if you like."

Her suggestion took him by surprise. He'd had the feeling the other day that she hadn't been comfortable with inviting him in. She had appeared awkward and diffident, very different from the young woman he thought he knew.

* * * *

Second thoughts occurred to Jenni even before she opened the front door and snapped on the light. Nate sank into her armchair, weariness stamped all over his frame. A little pain pierced her heart as she looked at him. She clamped down 46

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hard on the feeling. Nate was her friend and her boss.

Nothing more.

She escaped into the kitchen to prepare the supper before she could betray herself. Nate switched on the television and she heard the noise of some motoring program.

Her cupboards were pretty empty as she hadn't had chance to go shopping for a few days. She examined the contents of her fridge and popped her head around the door to ask if he liked omelettes, only to find he'd dozed off.

He appeared so vulnerable, sprawled in her tatty throw-covered armchair. His long legs stretched out in front of him and the stubble on his chin showed dark against the faint olive of his skin. She stood for a moment, just watching, and then feeling as if she had done something illicit, turned back to her cooking.

Fifteen minutes later, she had two fluffy ham and cheese omelettes and salad ready on trays. She wished she'd had something more original to offer him, but at least the food smelt good. Nate remained asleep in the armchair. She wondered how to wake him.

"Nate."

He didn't stir, so she placed a tentative hand on his arm and shook him.

"Supper's ready."

He groaned and pulled himself straight while he rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, Jenni. I'm not very good company tonight." She passed him a tray. He sniffed the food with appreciation.

"Smells great."

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Nate ate his dinner like a starving man. Soon both their plates were empty. It felt nice to have company in her flat.

Most evenings she was there on her own. He refused another cup of tea, and sounded reluctant as he pulled on his jacket before announcing he had to go.

Jenni followed him down the narrow stairs so she could slip the chain across on the door after he'd gone. He stepped outside onto the pavement.

"Don't stay down here, Jenni. It's too cold." His dark blue eyes locked with hers. She tried to read his thoughts. Without any warning, his head dipped and his lips brushed against hers in a sweet but all-too-brief caress before he went leaving her cold and alone in the hallway.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Jenni watched Nate leave before she closed her door and trudged back up the dingy stairs to her flat. What a day! One minute Nate had been as grouchy as a bear with a sore head and the next moment he kissed her.

The downside soon followed the high of his kiss. Nate was still her boss. He didn't see her in any kind of romantic light.

He still grieved for the beautiful fiancé he had lost under such awful circumstances two years earlier. To fall for Nate would be a bad idea. A
very
bad idea.

She peeled off her clothes and promised herself a few days away from work as soon as things quietened down in the office. She hadn't taken any holiday for months. It would be nice to have the time to do some more painting. Art restored her spirits and a little restoration sounded good about now.

She clicked off the bedside light after she hopped into bed.

Christmas presented a whole other bundle of problems. Like what to do with herself whilst everyone else spent time with their loved ones. Last year, she'd spent the festive season alone in her flat with the television for company and a frozen chicken dinner for one. She closed her eyes and snuggled down under the duvet with a hollow feeling in her heart.

* * * *

The following week passed by in a blur of late hours. Nate retreated back into boss mode. Apart from the nights when 49

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he insisted on giving her a lift home, they never seemed to be alone together.

When her phone rang on Friday afternoon, Jenni had the start of a tension headache.

"Are you all set for tomorrow then?" Lorna chirped.

She had finally relented to Lorna's nagging about going shopping for new clothes and make-up, but Jenni already had second thoughts about it. She hadn't spent much money on herself for what seemed like forever.

"If I must," she said, only half joking. The idea of change excited her, but Lorna's enthusiasm for the project was overwhelming.

"Don't tell me you're feeling chicken? Listen, pop down later and see me if you get a chance. I'll show you what I've arranged. It's going to be great."

Jenni hung up to cross the office, ready to feed the invitations for the Christmas dance into the photocopier. She stood and waited for it to churn out the copies. She had never been to the dance before. The first year she had worked for Nate, her mother had been too ill for Jenni to feel comfortable about leaving her. Last year, it had been too soon after her death. Jenni hadn't felt like celebrating.