‘Of course I’ve been listening!’
‘Then which bit would you like me to repeat?’ He raked his fingers through his hair and flicked her an impatient glance that was tinged with just a shade of disbelief, becausenot paying attentionwas something he could never usually accuse her of.
‘Forget it. I’ll start from the beginning. My plan was to go to Barbados, stay a few days—just long enough to begin the takeover process with the guys over there from Sailstart—and then head over to Hawaii for the wedding at the end of the month. Naomi was going to be in tow, enjoying the hotel she chose, but getting any serious work done with a girlfriend there would have been impossible. So, my plan was to return later in the month for the serious stuff to begin. Following me so far?’
‘Please don’t be condescending,’ Ellie said politely, and he grinned.
‘I am very much liking this new version of Eleanor Thompson,’ he murmured. ‘Can we have a bit more of her?’
His eyes roved over her in leisurely appraisal and Ellie reddened.
Where was the sensible girl with the sensible clothes and the sensible shoes? Why the heck had she been replaced by this outspoken lookalike with rebellious thoughts, a sharp tongue and a devil-may-care attitude that could only land her in trouble?
‘But,’ he continued briskly, ‘getting to the point, I’ve had a long chat with the boys over there. Did a bit of groundwork on Zoom and everything has been pushed forward. I aim to complete this deal when I’m there, and as you know that will be a critical period, so looks like my trip over there is going to go ahead after all. It’ll probably be longer than the original handful of days. The whole circus of lawyers and accountants are going to have to get involved, so it’s going to be a couple of weeks rather than a couple of days.’
He frowned. ‘No, not a couple of weeks. Scratch that. I need a bit of time to get prepared for Max’s big day. Ten days max out there. I’ll kill the island-hopping tourist jaunt, so extending the trip shouldn’t be a problem.’
‘Great.’ Ellie plastered a smile on her face. ‘I’ll make all the arrangements. Shall I keep the booking at the hotel in Barbados? Or would you like me to change it for somewhere else, now that Naomi won’t be going with you?’ She paused and wondered whether she had got ahead of herself with that assumption. Did she know the faintest thing about men and U-turns when it came to sex? Lust? She’d read enough articles to know that men were capable of doing extraordinarily idiotic things when they started thinking with the wrong part of their bodies.
Discomfort overwhelmed her as her mind hived off at a tangent and, just for a moment, she had a very graphic image of her boss naked, muscular and aroused.
She felt faint. Her body tingled and she was horrified at the dampness that slowly seeped between her thighs. Her breasts were suddenly hyper-sensitive, wanting to be touched.
‘Unless,’ she croaked, ‘you’ve changed your mind, in which case...er... At any rate, maybe you could let me know. I wouldn’t want to presume anything...’
‘You’re glowing like a beacon,’ he pointed out unhelpfully, and Ellie wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She would be very happy to be disgorged at some later point, after she’d got her act together.
‘Am I?’
‘Naomi won’t be coming along,’ he said. ‘Although, from what I’ve glimpsed in that letter of hers, she would like nothing more than just that. I’ll keep the room and the hotel, but you’ll have to book a separate room as well.’
‘A separate room?’
‘And an additional flight.’
‘Of course. I’ll need the details of your companion.’ Ellie’s imagination leapt into instant overdrive. Another leggy blonde? she wondered. How fast could one man move? At supersonic speed, it would seem. Had Naomi’s replacement been waiting in the wings all along? Surely not?
‘And,’ he countered thoughtfully, ‘I really should find out whether your passport’s up to date.’
‘Mypassport?’
‘You’ll be coming with me.’
‘To Barbados?’
‘You’ll have to make sure that everything’s in place for Trish or Caroline to take over the handling of some of your work, although you should be able to keep on top of most of it remotely, and Higgins will fill in in my absence.’
‘Why would I be coming to Barbados with you? I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.’
James frowned. ‘Not possibleare two words that have no place in my organisation,’ he said coolly. ‘I run this ship on the assumption that everything is possible. And the reason you’ll be coming with me is simple. I’ll need my secretary there because, like I said, I’ve managed to pull things ahead. And no one else is going to do because you know how I work. Originally,like Ialsosaid,I hadn’t planned on finalising anything on this trip. A few preliminary talks and the rest to be clinched at a later date—probably inviting them here for the sake of convenience. But, as things stand, that option isn’t on the cards, so yes, you’ll be coming out with me.’
‘But...’ Ellie breathed in deeply and thought two things at once. The first was that she couldn’t imagine being with her boss in a tropical setting, even if work was on the agenda. No. Not at all. And the second thing to cross her mind was her mother, whom she planned to visit at the weekend because the depression seemed to be kicking in once again. After those heart scares, Ellie was determined to do everything in her power to keep her mother on an even keel, and that was to be the weekend’s mission. Nice walks, pep talks, home-cooked food.
She took a deep breath and ploughed on. ‘I do understand that you might want someone there to keep minutes and do all the usual stuff, but I’m really sorry. I can’t take that much time out to go away.’
‘Why not?’ He leaned forward. ‘Boyfriend situation? Sorry, but he’ll have to take a back seat for a few days.’
‘Won’t Caroline do?’
