Boss’s Marriage Agenda
Annie West
Chapter One
‘YOU’RE STILL ONfor tonight?’ Matt asked down the phone line.
Greer hesitated. The phone was jammed between her shoulder and ear as she jotted a quick note before calling up the document Conall needed for his meeting.
Wasshe ready for tonight?
Once she wouldn’t have hesitated. A Friday night out was a chance to unwind after a busy week. But she wasn’t that woman anymore, not fully. The accident had knocked her confidence. She felt different in ways she couldn’t explain.
Losing your memory will do that to you.
Five months blanked from your memory would rattle the most confident person and if she let it, that gap would terrify her. All she knew of that period was what Conall had told her. They’d set up the new Sydney office as planned, in between running his hugely successful investment company while most of his staff were still in West Australia.
The last thing she recalled was their move from Perth to Sydney. The car from the airport and Conall dropping her at her new flat before heading to his just-bought penthouse.
Today was the end of her second week back at work after the accident. Before that she’d spent weeks recuperating, first in hospital, then at home. At Conall’s insistence she’d only started back in the office part-time but was now well enough to do full days. Her boss hadn’t exactly hovered, but she’d seen his assessing stare, his concern about her doing too much. The staff they’d recruited had started downstairs and she’d carefully learned names and roles but still felt she was catching up on her own life.
She was tired of feeling like an invalid. She was fine, the doctors said so.
Fine except for missing a chunk of your life that you might or might not eventually remember.
She repressed a shiver.
No good worrying about what you can’t change. You just have to get on with things.
‘Sorry, Matt. I’m distracted. I’m in the middle of something. But I’ll be there. I’m looking forward to it.’
Fortunately she could still multitask, though she really had to concentrate. She juggled Conall’s diary, the challenging projects he’d given her, and everything else that kept his widespread business interests manageable.
But whereas once she’d done so confidently, now she had a niggling sense of something out of kilter. As if she’d missed a vital problem and would discover it too late. It infuriated her, making her triple-check everything.
After they said their farewells, Greer put down the phone and focused on the report filling the screen.
‘Going somewhere?’
She didn’t have to turn to recognise Conall’s voice, deep and easy like the smoothest of single malt whiskies. She felt a tickle of response inside and was torn between gratitude that the feeling was so familiar, and despair that even amnesia hadn’t cured her of that weakness.
‘Not at the moment.’
She highlighted the section she needed to update before she could send it to him. Only then did she swivel her chair to see him standing in the doorway between their adjoining offices.
Even braced, she felt the impact as her gaze met eyes so dark they looked black. Searching eyes under a frowning brow.
Not that the frown detracted from his charisma. Conall Abercrombie had everything it took to attract. Confidence. An aura of power. Intelligence in that speculative gaze and humour in the laughter lines bracketing his mouth. Strongly carved features that were arresting rather than handsome. Add to that a long, leanly muscled body that looked fantastic in jeans, business wear or more formal clothes.
He’d discarded his jacket, yanked his tie loose and rolled up his sleeves. His dark hair was just long enough to look rumpled from where he’d ploughed his fingers through it.
It was twenty months since he’d taken her on as his assistant yet she still felt a thrill, seeing him. A thrill she worked hard to conceal. If he knew how he made her feel…
Something was wrong. She knew instantly. ‘What’s up? The new contract or—?’
‘Nothing’s wrong. Who’s Matt?’
Greer stared. She and Conall worked closely together, with an easy camaraderie and mutual respect that allowed them to navigate long hours and intense pressure.
