At Her Boss's Bidding Read online

  ‘You were lucky to have such a lovely big back yard when you were growing up,’ she commented. ‘My parents were inner-city apartment people. Career people, too. Frankly, I often felt like the odd man out. I wasn’t surprised when they sent me to boarding-school. I was often in their way. Of course, I was upset when they were killed, but it wasn’t till I lived with Lettie that I knew the kind of love and attention that a child cherishes. She wanted me. She really did. She was always there when I needed her. I never felt that with my parents. So it was impossible to let her down when she needed me.’

  A wave of sadness hit her as she thought of Lettie and the cruel illness that had taken her. She didn’t realise Justin was there till he took her into his arms. ‘You are the kind of person who would never let any person down,’ he said softly. ‘A very special person. I am so lucky to have found you, Rachel.’ He tipped up her chin and kissed her so tenderly that it brought a lump to her throat.

  Was this the kiss of love? Could her heart’s desire be coming true this quickly?

  Alice clearing her throat had them pulling apart, but Rachel didn’t feel at all embarrassed. She was too happy for that. Alice looked happy too. Perhaps she was also hoping for what Rachel was hoping for.

  Rachel didn’t have the opportunity to find out till after lunch was finished. With Justin retreating to the family room to watch the final round of a golf tournament on TV, Alice was able to draw Rachel into the living room on the pretext of showing her the famous teapot collection. But the conversation soon turned from pottery to personal matters.

  ‘Has he told you about Mandy yet?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘He won’t speak about her at all. Or his marriage.’

  ‘Typical. His father was like that. Would never speak of emotional matters or past hurts. So, do you really love my son, Rachel? Or is this just an affair of convenience?’

  ‘I love him with all my heart,’ Rachel confessed. ‘But I daren’t tell him that. He told me right at the start he didn’t want my love. Just my companionship.’

  ‘Oh, is that what prudes are calling sex these days?’ Alice said with a dry laugh. ‘Companionship.’

  Rachel just smiled. ‘I don’t dare ask him about Mandy, either. Although I do know who she left him for. It was Carl Toombs. But I don’t know why. I can only guess.’

  ‘I see. Well, if he won’t tell you what happened then I will,’ Alice pronounced firmly. ‘That cruel bitch. There is no other word for her! She told my son that the reason she was leaving him for another man was because he was no longer physically attractive to her. Just because he’d put on a few pounds. At that time he was a dealer, working crippling hours. And slaving away on his own private projects with every spare minute, just to give her the best of everything. When he combined a sedentary job with take-away food and no energy to exercise then of course Justin put on some weight. But he was far from fat. Still, that’s what she called him the day she dumped him. Fat and flabby. And boring to boot. She also complained about their sex life, but what time did he have for fun and games when he was beating himself to death making himself rich enough for her? Not that Justin could ever have been rich enough for her, not compared to Carl Toombs. She wanted to justify her appalling behaviour and to do that she sacrificed my son’s self-esteem. It was wicked what she did to him that day. Wicked.’

  ‘Poor Justin,’ Rachel murmured.

  ‘He was shattered afterwards for a long, long time. His only refuge was in work and exercise. God knows the hell he’s been through as a man, emotionally and mentally. I can’t tell you how happy I am that he’s finally met a decent girl like you, a girl who can truly appreciate the fine man he is. You do really love him, don’t you?’

  ‘Alice, I’m crazy about him. As for Mandy, she had to be stupid not to appreciate what she had.’

  ‘That’s the strange thing. I honestly thought she did. She seemed to love Justin when she married him. And she always said she’d have a baby as soon as they were financially secure. Frankly, when she did what she did I was almost as shocked as Justin. She didn’t seem that sort of girl. Of course, she is the sort men always made a play for.’

  ‘She’s really that beautiful?’ Rachel asked, her heart twisting with jealousy.

  ‘I have to admit she’s stunning to look at. And she has a captivating manner as well. A real charmer, no doubt about that. I’m not surprised that the likes of Carl Toombs went after her. What did surprise me was that he succeeded in getting her. I honestly thought she loved my son. Obviously, she had us both fooled. Maybe she was always a little gold-digger at heart. Though, to give her some credit, she didn’t take a cent from Justin when she left him. Guilty conscience, probably. Though I dare say she was already getting enough money out of her wealthy lover. Mistresses of men like that don’t want for anything. Still, if she thought he was going to leave his wife and marry her then she’s been sorely mistaken.

  ‘But Justin will marry you,’ Alice added, and Rachel’s heart jumped.

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘Because he’d be crazy not to. And my son is not crazy. You wait and see. I suppose you haven’t told him you love him.’

  ‘No way. Why? Do you think I should?’

  ‘Not yet. Men like to think love and marriage are their idea entirely. It’s a male-ego thing. And, speaking of male ego, I think we should rejoin said male ego before it begins to feel neglected.’

  Both women were chuckling away when they entered the family room, only to be shushed into silence by said male ego watching male stuff. They looked at each other and pulled appropriate faces, then withdrew to the kitchen to make afternoon tea and exchange the exasperated view that they didn’t know why women bothered falling in love with any man in the first place!

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  RACHEL insisted Justin drop her off home after the luncheon at his mother’s. Without his coming in.

  ‘I have washing to do,’ she told him. ‘And a host of other little jobs to organise myself for the coming week. I’m sure you do, too,’ she added firmly when he looked as though he was going to argue.

  He sighed, then went.

  The following morning Rachel was so glad she’d taken that stand. Glad she was alone and travelling on the train to work. Very glad she’d got a seat and she could read the front-page story in the daily newspaper privately.

  TOOMBS FLEES AUSTRALIA, the headlines screamed.

  TYCOON IN INVESTMENT SCANDAL.

  The details were a bit sketchy, but it seemed Carl Toombs had finally done what many people had forecast for him. He’d gone bust, and taken a lot of creditors and investors with him. The journalist writing the article implied it was only his company that had gone belly-up. On a personal basis, Toombs himself was probably still as rich as Croesus. Being a conscienceless but clever crook, he would have siphoned money off into Swiss bank accounts, or other anonymous offshore establishments, before doing a flit at the weekend, minus his family.

  There were photos of his wife and children at the gate of his harbourside mansion, plus the classic comment from the wife saying she knew nothing about her husband’s business dealings, and had no idea where he was. She claimed to be as devastated as his employees and business colleagues, who’d all been left high and dry without their entitlements etc etc etc.

  Did that include his PA-cum-mistress? Rachel wondered. Or had she vanished with the disgraced tycoon?

  Only time would tell, she supposed. But how would Justin react to this news? Rachel couldn’t even guess. This was one area where she still didn’t have all the answers, despite what Alice had told her the previous day. The subject of Mandy was verboten with Justin.

  Rachel arrived at work in a state of nervous anticipation over Justin’s mood. No use hoping he wouldn’t have seen the headlines and read the story. He worked out every morning with people who lived and breathed such news. It would be the main topic of conversation in AWI’s gym this morning. It would be the main topic for discussion in ju
st about every office and household in Sydney that day. But not hers. She didn’t dare bring the matter up.

  Or did she? It wouldn’t be normal not to mention it. Oh, she didn’t know what to do for the best!

  Justin was already in his office when she arrived, with his door firmly shut. She dumped the paper on top of her desk in full view, then set about making his usual mug of coffee, determined to act naturally. When it was ready she tapped briefly on the door then breezed right in, as was her habit these days.

  Justin was sitting at his desk with his nose buried in the morning paper.

  ‘So what do you think of Carl Toombs going broke like that?’ she remarked casually as she put his coffee down. ‘I was reading about it on the train on the way in. The papers are full of little else.’

  When he glanced up at her, he didn’t look too distressed. Just a bit distracted.

  Rachel’s agitation lessened slightly.

  ‘Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke,’ came his caustic comment.

  ‘I guess he’s not really broke, though,’ Rachel remarked. ‘People like that never are.’

  ‘Maybe not, but the media will hound him, wherever he goes. He won’t have a happy life.’

  ‘I pity the people who worked for him,’ Rachel went on, and watched his eyes.

  They definitely grew harder. And colder.

  ‘People who work for men like Toombs are tarred with the same brush. If you lie down with dogs, don’t complain when you get up with fleas.’

  Rachel was shocked by the icy bitterness in his voice. Shocked and dismayed. He wasn’t over Mandy at all. Not one little bit.

  Her phone ringing gave her a good excuse to flee his office before she said something she would later regret. She was quite glad to close the door that separated them.

  It was Alice, who’d seen the news about Toombs on a morning television programme.

  ‘There was no mention of Mandy,’ she said.

  ‘No,’ Rachel agreed.

  ‘She always did keep a very low profile. How’s Justin?’

  ‘Hard to say.’ Rachel didn’t want to get into the habit of gossiping about Justin to his mother. ‘Would you like me to put you through to him?’

  ‘Lord, no. No, I was just wondering. I also wanted to say again how lovely you looked yesterday, Rachel.’

  ‘Thank you, Alice. And let me say that was one fantastic spread you put on. You’re sure you weren’t trying to fatten me up?’ she joked just as the door from the corridor opened and the most striking woman Rachel had ever seen walked in. She looked like something you saw in the pages of the glossies. Long blonde hair. Even longer legs. Enormous blue eyes. Pouting mouth. A body straight out of an X-rated magazine.

  ‘Er—Alice,’ Rachel went on, trying not to sound as sick as she was suddenly feeling. ‘I…I have to go. Someone’s just come in…’

  Not just someone, of course. The one. The cruel bitch. The cruel but incredibly beautiful bitch.

  ‘Can I help you?’ Rachel asked frostily as hatred warred with fear. It was no wonder Justin hadn’t got over her. Who could ever compare with this golden goddess? She was the stuff men’s dreams were made of.

  Admittedly, she was wearing a tad too much make-up for day wear, especially around her eyes, and she was dressed rather provocatively, if expensively. Her camel suit had to be made of the finest leather—since it didn’t wrinkle—but it was skin-tight, with a short, short skirt and a vest top with cut-in arm-holes and a deep V-neckline. Her gold jewellery looked real, though, again, there was a bit too much of it for Rachel’s taste. Several chain necklaces, one of which was lost in her impressive cleavage. Dangling earrings. A couple of bracelets on each wrist. Even an anklet, which drew Rachel’s gaze down to the matching camel-coloured shoes, along with their five-inch heels.

  She looked like a very expensive mistress. Or an equally expensive call-girl.

  ‘I was told this was Justin McCarthy’s office,’ she said in a voice which would be an instant drawcard on one of those sex phone lines. Low and husky and chock-full of erotic promise. ‘Is that right?’

  ‘Yes. And you are…?’

  ‘I’m Mandy McCarthy, Justin’s ex-wife,’ she informed Rachel without a hint of hesitation. ‘And you must be Justin’s new PA,’ she added with a strange little smile.

  Rachel stiffened. ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I see,’ she said. ‘Yes, I see. Is Justin in here?’ she added, going straight over to Justin’s door and winding her long bronze-tipped fingers around the knob.

  Rachel was on her feet in a flash. ‘You can’t just walk in there.’

  ‘You’re wrong, sweetie,’ the blonde countered, her smile turning wry. ‘I can. And I’m going to. Please don’t make a scene. I need to speak to Justin alone and I don’t have much time.’

  ‘If you say anything to hurt him,’ Rachel ground out through clenched teeth, ‘anything at all…I’ll kill you.’

  She laughed. ‘You know, I do believe you would. Lucky Justin.’ And then she turned the knob and went right in.

  Rachel sank back down into her chair, ashen-faced and shaking.

  Justin couldn’t have been more shocked when the door opened and Mandy came in.

  ‘What the—?’ he muttered, automatically rising to his feet.

  ‘Sorry to drop in like this, Justin,’ she purred, shutting the door behind her. ‘I don’t think your girlfriend outside is too happy about it, but that can’t be helped. You can tell her after I’ve gone that I’m no threat to your relationship.’

  ‘Relationship?’ Justin repeated, his head reeling.

  ‘Don’t bother denying it. Charlotte told me all about you two.’

  It took Justin a couple of seconds to recall who Charlotte was.

  ‘I have no intention of denying it,’ he said coolly enough, pleased that he’d managed to find some composure.

  ‘She looks very nice,’ Mandy remarked and started to sashay across the room towards his desk. ‘Much nicer than me.’

  Justin couldn’t take his eyes off her, the way she was walking, the way she looked. This wasn’t the woman he remembered. Mandy had never dressed like this, or walked like that. Why, she looked like a tart! An expensive tart, admittedly. But still a tart.

  ‘I won’t take up too much of your time,’ she went on in a voice he didn’t recognise either. It was all raspy and breathy. ‘I have to leave for the airport shortly. I’m joining Carl overseas. Don’t ask me where and don’t look so surprised. You must have read the paper this morning, and you must have guessed I’d go with him. Mind if I sit down? These high heels are hell. But Carl likes me to wear them. He says they’re a turn-on.’

  She pulled up a chair and sat down, her skirt so tight she had difficulty crossing her legs. When she did, he had a better view than a gynaecologist. Thankfully, she was wearing panties, though he didn’t look long enough to check what type.

  Justin sank back down into his chair, stunned. She was misinterpreting his surprise but it didn’t matter now. What mattered was that he wasn’t feeling what he always thought he’d feel if he crossed Mandy’s path again. There was no pain. No hurt. Hell, he couldn’t even dredge up any hate! When he looked at this…stranger…sitting across from him, she bore no resemblance to the woman he’d loved. She’d once been a truly beautiful person, both inside and out. Now she was exactly what she looked like: a woman for hire. Cheap, yet expensive. All he felt was confusion, and curiosity.

  What did she see in Carl Toombs that she would do this to herself for him?

  ‘Why, Mandy?’ he asked. ‘That’s all I want to know. Why?’

  ‘Why? I would have thought that was obvious, darling. I love the man. It’s as simple as that.’

  ‘I don’t find that thought simple. One minute you were in love with me and then you were in love with him? What was it about Toombs that you fell in love with? From all accounts, he’s an out-and-out bastard.’

  She looked uncomfortable for a second. Then defiant.
‘He’s not all bad. You don’t know him the way I do. Sure, he doesn’t always play life by the rules, but he’s the most exciting man I’ve ever known. I…I can’t live without him, Justin. I’ll go wherever he wants me to go; be whatever he wants me to be; do whatever he wants me to do.’

  Justin was appalled. The woman was obsessed. But it wasn’t a healthy obsession. It was dark, and dangerous, and self-destructive. The wonderful girl he’d loved, and married, was gone forever.

  ‘What exactly are you doing here, Mandy?’ he asked, feeling nothing but sadness for her. ‘I don’t understand…’

  ‘I came here to apologise. In person. The things I said to you the day I left you. I didn’t mean them. Any of them. I was just trying to make you hate me as much as I hated myself that day. You’d done nothing wrong and, despite everything, I still cared for you very much. But I…I just had to be with Carl.’ Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes but she dashed them away. ‘Silly me. Crying over spilt milk. What’s the point? I am what I am now and nothing will change that.’

  ‘And what are you now?’ he asked, still having difficulty taking in the change in her.

  Her eyes locked onto his and they were nothing like the eyes he remembered. These eyes had seen too much. Done too much.

  Her laugh made his skin crawl. ‘I’d show you if I had time, and if your lady friend out there wouldn’t have to go to jail for murder.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘When I came in just now she told me if I said anything to hurt you again she’d kill me.’

  ‘Rachel said that?’

  ‘That surprises you?’

  ‘Did you tell her who you are?’

  ‘Yes. But she already knew. I could see it in her face. I had the feeling she knew quite a lot about me. You didn’t tell her?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well, she knows everything,’ Mandy insisted. ‘Trust me on this.’

  His mother, he realised with a groan. Yesterday. Or possibly earlier. He shook his head in amazement. ‘She never said a word.’