Blind Date with the Boss (Heads or Hearts #6)

​CHAPTER NINE

LOGAN sat in darkness in his penthouse apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour, watching the spectacle of lights reflected on the silky black water below while he listened to Brahms.

He tried to listen without thinking about Sally Finch. It was crazy that he was still thinking about her. But he kept picturing her here in his apartment, curled comfortably beside him on the sofa, her head resting on his shoulder as they listened to this music together. He imagined running his fingers through her dazzling curls.

Fool .

With an angry cry, he lurched to his feet, stood at the big glass picture window with his hands plunged deep in his pockets and stared hard at the inky water and the reflections of city lights while he willed his thoughts away from X-rated possibilities.

Sally Finch was an employee and he was a boss who never mixed business with his private life. He’d seen other men follow that course, only to run their business off track, or to crash on the sharp and treacherous rocks of office politics.

But all that aside, Sally wasn’t his type. With no professional qualifications, no burning ambition, no long term plans, she’d drifted into an inheritance and found herself an easy job where she could chat all day.

In fact, she had too much to say. I thought you might not be happy .

Her comments still nagged at him.

How could he not be happy? His life was at the exact place he wanted it to be. His business plan was on target, he had an enviable apartment with position, position, position. Women – beautiful, intelligent women – found him attractive. He was perfectly happy.

Today he’d told Sally that she reminded him of his sister and he’d been dead right. Carissa had said something equally annoying last week when he’d dropped off the boys. She’d tried to lecture him about the women he dated, tried to suggest that he was deliberately choosing women who were career driven. Women who weren’t looking for marriage and children.

That was true. So what?

It was an important part of his five year plan. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by the kind of romance his sister wanted for him. Surely she understood his perennial fear? If he took his eye off the ball, he’d make a fatal error of judgement, a bad gamble like his father’s, and everything he’d tried so hard to achieve would collapse around him.

But when he’d tried to explain that to Carissa, she’d said: I’d hate to see you take a gamble with your happiness.

What was it with these women? Why did they think they had a special gift of second sight that could detect happiness at twenty paces? How could Sally Finch or his sister know anything about his state of mind, his personal level of contentment?

Before Logan could get his head around this quandary, his phone rang and, with an irritated sigh, he turned the music down and answered it.

‘Hi, Logan, it’s Carissa.’

Speak of the devil .

‘I know you’re probably terribly busy, so I won’t beat about the bush. I’m ringing to ask a big favour.’

For Sally, it was business as usual at work the next morning. People who’d been at the teambuilding workshop smiled and greeted her. Maeve was bubbling with happiness – last night’s date had been sensational.

Logan gave Sally a brief nod as he hurried past with his phone glued to his ear and then, mid-morning, he completely ignored her as he hurried out again, deep in conversation with a consulting engineer. They didn’t return for the rest of the day.

Sally, working hard at being sensible, decided she was pleased. Life was much easier when Logan Black didn’t talk to her, didn’t smile at her.

At five, she was getting ready to leave when Kim told her that some scaffolding, provided by Blackcorp, had collapsed in a big mine in Western Australia. Three men had been injured and the boss and his engineer had flown over to Perth to investigate what had gone wrong and to ensure that the injured men received the very best medical attention.

‘But cheer up,’ Kim said when she saw Sally’s long face. ‘It’s not your problem and the boss is a genius at handling this kind of drama.’

‘I’m sure he is.’ Sally picked up her handbag, slung its strap across her shoulder. ‘Actually, I think I might cheer myself up by going to see a film tonight. I need a bit of escapism.’

‘I have nothing special on,’ Kim said. ‘Would you like company?’

Sally grinned at her. ‘I’d love it.’

The boss was still away on Friday when the white roses arrived. Sally thought their ivory petals were even more perfect and fragrant than last week’s blooms and, in the privacy of the lift, she buried her face in them before she delivered them to Maria Paige on the next floor.

Maria was busy on the phone, so Sally put the flowers in the vase, which was once again ready and waiting. She wondered what would happen to them. Would Maria arrange for their delivery to Logan Black’s lover? Would she take them home to her house? Or would they sit here, unappreciated, in this empty office for the entire weekend?

Maria remained busy, so Sally left quietly none the wiser.

Determined to use the weekend to distance herself from a certain person at work, Sally was rather pleased to see Anna and Steve that evening, even though they were only calling to drop off the children.

‘Oliver’s inhaler is in the bag with Rose’s nappies,’ said Anna, looking unusually pink-cheeked and pretty in a grey silk dress and pearls. ‘He only needs it if he starts to wheeze. Two puffs should do the trick.’

Steve, whose bear-like size was accentuated by a scruffy blonde beard, gave his sister a rough hug. ‘Great to see you, little Sal. How are you handling the big smoke?’

‘I’ve got it licked.’ Sally grinned extra brightly to stifle any urge of Steve’s to interrogate her endlessly. He had come to her rescue that night at the dance and she needed to curb his fiercely protective instincts.

‘That boss of yours has a reputation for being a tough nut to crack,’ he said.

‘Really?’ Sally gave a carefully casual shrug. ‘I’m only on the front desk, so I don’t really have much to do with him.’

Fortunately, that seemed to be the right answer. Steve and Anna hurried away and Sally spent the evening reading story books aloud. Oliver didn’t wheeze at all and by eight he was settled in the little back bedroom in the bed next to Rose.

Once both children were sleeping like cherubs, Sally went downstairs, and read a murder mystery while flipping through television channels, struggling to stay awake until their parents returned, shortly after midnight.

The rest of the weekend, usually Sally’s two favourite days of the week, seemed to stretch interminably. Kim invited her to a friend’s housewarming party on Saturday night.

‘The more the merrier,’ she said.

Sally knew that she needed to get out and meet young people. One of the exciting things about living in Sydney was the smorgasbord of eligible young men. Sally had hoped to meet all sorts of nice guys. But then Logan Black had fallen in a duck pond and his wet shirt and warm smiles at the team-building workshop had redefined her vision of masculinity.

How silly.

Sillier still was the fact that she couldn’t dredge up enough interest in this party. Instead, she cleaned out and sorted Chloe’s pantry. She visited a pet shop and thought long and hard about buying a cat for company. She went for several long walks and she sent a falsely bright and chatty email to her parents.

The boss returned to the office on Monday.

Sally looked up as the big sliding glass doors parted for a tall, dark suited figure and when she saw that it was Logan her heart leapt high and hard. She thought he looked strained and tired. He definitely needs more than a cup of coffee for breakfast .

He smiled at her, actually smiled and said, ‘Good morning, Sally.’

Sally, again. Not Miss Finch, or Miss Sparrow .

‘Nice to see you back,’ she said as cheerfully as she could.

‘Thank you, Sally. It’s good to be back.’

Surprised but emboldened by his friendliness, she called after him, ‘I was sorry to hear about the accident in Western Australia.’

At the security doors, Logan paused and turned back to her. ‘Yes, it was bad. But the injured men are in good hands. They should make a full recovery. And we were able to put our minds at rest about our scaffolding.’

‘That’s good news for Blackcorp.’

He fumbled in his trouser pocket, then slanted an embarrassed smile in her direction. ‘I seem to have forgotten my swipe card. Could you let me in?’

‘Of course.’ Sally’s poor heart was close to meltdown as she pressed the buzzer on her desk to operate the security doors. They slid open with a soft swish, but Logan didn’t continue through.

Instead he stood with his hand in his trouser pocket and he stared at the foyer’s marble flooring with a thoughtful frown, while the doors gently closed again. Sally was about to press the buzzer for a second time when he retraced his steps to her desk. ‘Sally, I have a question.’

‘Yes?’ She couldn’t help adding, ‘I happen to know that you’re rather good at asking questions.’

He responded with another small smile. ‘I need a little help with something. Would it be possible for us to meet here at five this evening? I won’t keep you long.’

Her mouth opened, but no sound emerged. Had she forgotten to breathe?

Logan frowned at her. ‘Is that a problem?’

‘Oh, no.’ At last she found her voice but it was rather squeaky. ‘No, it’s no problem. Five o’clock is fine. Absolutely.’

‘Wonderful.’ He offered a brief dip of his dark head. ‘I’ll see you then.’

He crossed again to the security door and waited and Sally thought how totally, deliciously handsome he looked with his shiny black hair and his lovely dark eyes, his sharp white shirt and classic suit. And she knew exactly how beautiful his body was beneath that superfine clothing. Broad shoulders, deep chest, narrow hips, long powerful legs.

‘Sally?’ Faintly bemused, he glanced back at her. ‘The door?’

‘Oh, sorry.’ Blushing profusely, she pressed the buzzer to let him through.