His Christmas Acquisition. CATHY WILLIAMS

how these conversations with her sister went. The slightest whiff of criticism and she would react with jibes below the belt that were designed to wound. Jamie had long discovered that the fastest way of dealing with this was to walk away from the situation, to treat her sister like a child who was not responsible for her tantrums. They blew over as quickly as they materialised and making herself scarce removed her from the eye of the storm.

      She half-expected Jessica to linger on the staircase, turning on the full-wattage smile and bringing all her feminine wiles to play in an effort to charm Ryan. But, in fact, barely had Jamie sat at the kitchen table than Ryan appeared in the doorway and looked at her quietly, his hands shoved into his pockets.

      An uncomfortable silence gathered around them which she broke by reluctantly offering him a cup of coffee.

      She would cheerfully have sent him on his way, but there were things that needed to be said, and, reluctant as she was to open up any kind of discussion on her private life, she had no idea how she could avoid the issue.

      ‘Where’s Jessica?’ she asked, standing up and moving across to the kettle.

      ‘I sent her on her way.’

      ‘And she listened?’

      ‘I have that way with women.’

      Jamie snorted, no longer bothering with the niceties that would have been more appropriate given that he was the guy who paid her salary. He had invaded her territory, and as far as she was concerned niceties were temporarily suspended.

      ‘Now you know why I got in late to work this morning. Jessica kept me on the phone for nearly an hour. She was a mess. I only knew that she had decided to sort herself out by coming down here when she phoned me from the train.’

      ‘No big deal.’ Ryan took the mug she was holding out to him and sat down. ‘Family crises happen. Why didn’t you just tell me the truth this morning?’ He watched her and realised that she was barely seeing him as she walked towards the kitchen table, nursing the mug in her hands. For a man who was fully aware of the impact he had on the opposite sex, being rendered invisible was a new experience.

      He, on the other hand, keenly noted this new casual dresscode of hers, the one she used when she wasn’t wearing her work hat. Lazy eyes took in the way her jeans clung to a body that curved in all the right places and the way her long-sleeved tee-shirt skimmed a flat stomach and lovingly contoured pert, full breasts. Even her hair looked different—less neat and pristine, more tousled, as though she had spent time running her fingers through it. Which, judging from what he had picked up of the atmosphere in the house so far, she probably had.

      ‘I suppose because I happen to think that what happens in my private life is no business of yours.’

      ‘Oh, for God’s sake, I didn’t even know that you had a sister! How much of a state secret could that possibly be?’

      Jamie flushed and fiddled with the mug before taking a sip of coffee. ‘I … I’m not really the confiding type.’

      ‘Really? I’d never have guessed.’

      ‘I didn’t tell you about Jessica because the chances of you ever running into her were non-existent. I live in London, she lives just outside Edinburgh. She isn’t a part of my daily life.’

      ‘And that was exactly the way you wanted it until she had the misfortune to need your support.’

      ‘Please don’t presume to have any insight at all into my family affairs!’

      ‘If you don’t want me to presume, then you’re going to have to be a bit more forthcoming.’

      ‘Why? What difference does it make? I do a very good job for you and that’s all that matters.’

      ‘Why are you so uncomfortable with this conversation?’ He could have let it go. She was right; she delivered the goods when it came to her job and whatever happened outside it was absolutely none of his business. But Ryan decided that he didn’t want to let it go. It was as though a door had been partially opened and what lay behind it promised to be so intriguing that he was compelled to try and push the door a little wider.

      ‘You don’t understand. You’re my boss, for a start, and like I said I’m not into confiding. I prefer to keep my own counsel. Maybe it’s a reaction to having a sister like Jess. She always made so much noise that it was just a lot easier to keep quiet and let her get on with it.’

      ‘Easier, but maybe not better. Forget for a minute that I’m your boss. Pretend that I’m just anybody—your next-door neighbour who has come over to borrow a cup of sugar, coincidentally just at a time when you need a shoulder to cry on …’

      ‘I’m supposed to think of you as my next-door neighbour on the scrounge for a cup of sugar?’ She was momentarily distracted enough by the image to feel her lips twitch. ‘What would you be doing with the cup of sugar?’

      ‘Baking a cake, because I happen to be a kindly and caring neighbour who enjoys baking. It’s my favourite pastime. Next to flower arranging and cross stitch.’ She was relaxing. She was even smiling and he felt a kick of gratification that he had been responsible for that. For some reason, he didn’t care for the idea of her stressed out, tearful and unable to talk to anyone about it. His experience of women was that they couldn’t wait to pour their hearts out and confide in whomsoever happened to be willing to listen. He was the youngest of four and the only boy in the family. He could remember many an instance of sitting out one of his sister’s ridiculously long phone calls, waiting impatiently to use the telephone.

      This level of reticence was new to him. ‘So …?’ he prompted encouragingly.

      ‘So, look, I’m not sure how to say this but …’ Jamie sighed and adopted a slightly different approach. ‘Now that you’ve met my sister, what do you think of her?’

      ‘After all of my five-second acquaintance, I’m only qualified to tell you that she’s very attractive.’

      Jamie felt a stab of disappointment but she nodded sagely at him. ‘She’s always been the prettier one.’

      ‘Hang on a minute …’

      ‘Spare me the kindness. I’m stating a fact, and it’s not something that’s ever bothered me anyway.’ But for a fleeting second Jamie wondered what he had been about to say. Of course, it would have been a polite lie, but nevertheless … ‘Jessica’s beautiful and she knows it. She’s also married and going through a bit of a bad patch which will blow over just so long as …’

      ‘As she’s not offered any distractions by someone like me?’ He looked at her coolly.

      ‘I know what type of girls you go for—tall, blonde, beautiful and pliable. Well, Jess is tall, blonde, beautiful and at the moment she happens to be very pliable. I know you probably think that I’m being totally out of order in saying this stuff, but you chose to come here, and now that you’re here I’m afraid I have every right to say what’s on my mind.’ She licked her lips nervously. ‘I hope I’m not jeopardising my job by telling you this.’

      ‘Jeopardising your job? What kind of person do you think I am?’ He was outraged to think that she could even consider him the type of man who would penalise her for speaking her mind. Was that what she thought of him? Under her cool, dutiful exterior, did she think that he was some sort of monster?

      ‘Don’t worry, your job is perfectly safe, and if you’re so obsessive about your privacy then I’m happy to walk out that door right now and leave you to get on with hiding behind your walls. As for your sister, she might be the sort of woman I date, but I don’t date married women, even married women who claim to be unhappily married.’

      He stood up and the colour drained from Jamie’s face. She had enjoyed the free and easy way he had always had with her. It was all part and parcel of his unconventional personality, that curious, alluring mix of creativity, intelligence and self-assurance. Did she want to lose that? Did she want a boss who stuck to the rules and never teased her,