Passion From The Past. Кэрол Мортимер

there would one day be quite a power struggle between the two men. James Courtney would still be capable of running the firm when he was eighty, she had no doubt of that.

      ‘He is,’ she confirmed her mother’s statement. ‘But filling in for his secretary when she’s off sick isn’t exactly what I’d planned for my future.’

      ‘Don’t be silly, dear!’ Her mother’s tone was impatient, the red of Laura’s hair a deep chestnut on the older woman, her face and figure still youthfully attractive. ‘When he’s made chairman, if you’ve made enough of an impression on him, then he may just make you his personal secretary.’

      Laura knew her mother was ambitious for her, in fact it had been her mother’s promptings that had made her apply for the senior position she already had at Courtneys, but surely even she couldn’t imagine she could be made personal secretary to the chairman of a company as big as Courtneys at the age of twenty, as she would be next year? It appeared she could.

      ‘There are plenty of other girls more qualified for the position,’ she pointed out to her mother. ‘The girl I’m standing in for on Monday, for one.’

      ‘I’ve no doubt she is.’ Her mother’s eyebrows rose. ‘But you’ll just have to make yourself even more—indispensable to him, won’t you?’

      Laura frowned, looking at her mother disbelievingly. ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘Oh, don’t be naïve, Laura!’ Her mother stood up to pace the room impatiently. ‘No girl gets anywhere these days on qualifications alone, there are just too many talented women. I’ve no doubt Gideon Maitland’s present secretary makes more than her secretarial attributes available to him.’

      ‘Mother!’ Laura gasped her indignation on the other girl’s behalf. ‘Diane Holland is happily married.’

      ‘So?’

      ‘Mother, really!’ And Laura left the room in disgust, going upstairs to her bedroom before she lost her temper.

      Where her mother got these ridiculous ideas from she just didn’t know, but this one about Gideon Maitland was the most ridiculous yet. Her mother couldn’t really imagine she would enter into an affair with a man just to get on in her career. No woman had to do that nowadays. It was the time of equality, wasn’t it?

      Besides which, she had no reason to suppose Gideon Maitland had even realised she was female, let alone that he was attracted to her. Goodness, a man like that, with his looks and money, could take his pick of any woman in the world. Hadn’t he chosen the beautiful and famous Petra Wilde to be his girl-friend?—and they didn’t come any more exclusively beautiful than that. Gideon Maitland had no need to indulge in needless affairs with his secretary. Why cause complications like that in his office when he had the lovely Petra Wilde in his life—in his bed?

      Nevertheless, her mother had put the thought in her mind, and consequently she felt awkward about facing Gideon Maitland on Monday morning. Not that he could possibly know about the embarrassing suggestion her mother had made, but she knew, and she could hardly bear to face him.

      She arrived early on Monday morning, her intention being to explain the work of the past week to Dorothy before she had to go down the corridor to Gideon Maitland’s office. Dorothy always arrived at eight-thirty, so Laura had decided to do the same this morning, spending the next half an hour going over every detail of the work she had done in the other woman’s absence.

      When she had finished she gave Dorothy a shy smile. ‘It’s good to have you back.’

      The other woman smiled, a woman in her mid-forties who had been with James Courtney for the last twenty years. It was rumoured that she had been in love with her boss years ago, but her sudden marriage at the age of forty seemed to have put an end to that. But her loyalty to James Courtney remained constant even during his cruellest of moods—and he had plenty of those.

      ‘Mr Courtney doesn’t like his routine disturbed,’ Dorothy excused, as if guessing that he had been unbearable to work for the last few days. ‘You’ll find Mr Maitland a lot less—strict about the rules.’

      In other words he wasn’t such a swine to work for! Even guessing how impossible their bad-tempered boss had been the last few days Dorothy could still defend him. And no doubt his mood would mellow now that his efficient, almost mind-reading secretary was back.

      Laura stood up reluctantly. ‘I suppose I’d better go along to Mr Maitland’s office now, it’s almost nine.’

      Dorothy was sorting through the pile of mail on her desk, already back in command. ‘Good luck, dear,’ she said absently. ‘And if you run into any problems don’t hesitate to call me for help, although you should find the work more or less the same as here.’

      ‘I hope so,’ Laura said fervently.

      She had no choice but to go to Gideon Maitland’s office now, remembering his comment about her not being late.

      The door to the inner office was closed, so she assumed he was already in there. Now what did she do? His secretary’s desk seemed to be clear of all visible work, but she couldn’t just sit here doing nothing.

      ‘Good morning.’

      She turned with a start, blushing as she saw Gideon Maitland standing casually in the doorway of his office. ‘Good morning—er, sir,’ she returned awkwardly.

      He straightened, very dark and attractive in a navy blue three-piece suit, the waistcoat fitted against his taut stomach. Most men of his age, seated behind a desk all day, would have run to fat by now, but this man obviously had some way of keeping fit. The memory of Petra Wilde and his relationship with her instantly flashed into Laura’s mind, and she blushed at her own awareness of this man’s attraction. He made her quiver all over just to look at him, and how she was going to work with him she had no idea.

      ‘Call me Gideon,’ he invited smoothly.

      ‘Oh no,’ she shook her head, wishing she had more confidence in her appearance. Once again she was dressed to look cool and efficient, the brown tailored suit and cream blouse were smart if not exactly attractive. ‘I—I couldn’t.’

      ‘Of course you could,’ he insisted briskly. ‘I have every intention of calling you Laura.’

      She flushed with the pleasure of him actually being aware of her first name. ‘That’s different.’

      His mouth twisted. ‘Because I’m the boss and you’re the secretary?’

      ‘Well, I—Yes.’ She looked down at her hands.

      Gideon looked at her steadily, his piercing grey eyes taking in everything about her. ‘We may not always have just a business relationship,’ he drawled.

      Laura swallowed hard, looking at him with wide eyes. Goodness, her mother couldn’t be right, could she? This man wouldn’t expect more than secretarial duties from her, would he? Not that she wasn’t attracted to him, but she didn’t approve of those type of relationships. Besides, he had Petra Wilde, hadn’t he? No, he must just mean that perhaps they could become friends. She would like that.

      ‘What would you like me to do, Mr Maitland—er—Gideon?’ It didn’t feel right calling him that, and she doubted she would be able to do it again.

      The morning rushed by in a haze of work. Gideon Maitland was as dynamic as James Courtney, although he wasn’t so aggressive to the people he worked with, making sure she went to lunch even though they were really busy. Laura enjoyed working with him, and found him decisive and accurate, quick to put people down if they made a mistake but equally quick to give praise if praise were due.

      For all the wall of harshness that surrounded him he was popular with the other staff, male and female alike, and most of them could hardly wait for the time he took over as chairman.

      ‘I wouldn’t mind being his secretary,’ one of the girls at Laura’s table remarked as she ate her lunch in the staff canteen. Gideon Maitland