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lips parted. ‘Definitely,’ she said tartly.
He grinned suddenly, his eyes alight with wicked amusement. ‘Why not, then?’
Alex wriggled in her chair, then folded her hands in her lap. ‘I would feel—I would feel uncomfortable. I would feel bought even if not for the usual reasons.’
Max Goodwin eyed the ceiling. ‘Give ’em all back to me, then. I’m sure I could find someone who’d appreciate them.’
‘That would be more appropriate,’ she mused, ‘but there’s something else. To be perfectly honest, I would feel a certain amount of chagrin that you don’t consider the real me good enough.’
‘It’s not that,’ he said through his teeth. ‘I just don’t want you to feel like Cinderella. OK, yes—’ he raised his hand ‘—I also need the other side to take you seriously, therefore a slightly more sophisticated aura would be a help.’
Alex chewed her lip. Part of her would like to decline, she decided. There was plenty about Max Goodwin that rubbed her up the wrong way—sheer arrogance, for one thing. How pleasant would it be to turn the tables on him, though? To prove to him she would not be an embarrassment to him, something he’d barely, just barely, stopped short of saying?
She looked down at herself rather ruefully at that point. She’d had no opportunity to explain why she looked rather dishevelled or why she was dressed the way she was—on a point of pride she wouldn’t deign to do so now anyway.
But it was a challenge and it could be really interesting.
And there was Simon and his company to consider, not to mention the coming baby…
‘I guess I could give it a go,’ she said, ‘although—’ she shrugged ‘—I didn’t that long ago leave my convent, for what it’s worth, Mr Goodwin, only about a year ago.’
Something like amazement touched his eyes. ‘You were a nun?’
‘Oh, no. But my parents died when I was seventeen and a boarder at the convent, so I stayed on. The Mother Superior was related to my father—my only living relative. And I boarded with them during my time at university. She died last year.’
‘I—see. Well, I was going to say that explains it, but what does it explain?’ he asked himself rhetorically and smiled whimsically.
‘It probably explains why I’m a bit of a plain Jane, why I’m used to a simple, useful life,’ she told him gravely. ‘It doesn’t mean to say I can be imposed upon.’
He stared at her. ‘You’re worried that I might be tempted to take advantage of you, Miss Hill?’
‘Sexually? Not in the least,’ she returned serenely. ‘I would imagine I’m quite out of your league, there, Mr Goodwin. Anyway, for all I know you could be married with a dozen kids.’ She paused, as for some reason not clear to her Max Goodwin appeared to flinch.
Then he said, ‘I’m not married.’ He frowned. ‘What, just as a matter of interest, would you imagine my “league” to be?’
‘Oh—’ Alex waved a hand ‘—glamorous, sophisticated women of the world.’
He grimaced, but didn’t deny the charge. And he said, ‘If you’re not worried about being imposed upon in that way, what are you worried about?’
‘I get the feeling you’re a master at getting your own way whatever the cost,’ Alex said candidly, and took her glasses off to polish them on her scarf. ‘I wouldn’t take kindly to that,’ she said calmly, but quite definitely, and repositioned her glasses.
But it seemed as if Max Goodwin suddenly had his mind on other things. And, indeed, he had, as it occurred to him he’d never seen such remarkable eyes and was it his imagination or—was he unable to resist them?
Of course not, he reassured himself. It was her very correct, fluent Mandarin, obviously. All the same…
‘Have you ever tried contact lenses?’ he found himself asking.
Alex blinked behind her glasses at the abrupt change of topic but, not only that, at the impression she’d got that Max Goodwin had gone from businesslike to personal somehow—but surely that was ridiculous?
‘Yes, I do have a pair, but I prefer my glasses,’ she said slowly and with a slight frown.
‘You should persevere with your lenses,’ he told her and stood up. ‘OK, let’s get this show on the road.’ He strode over to his desk and buzzed for Margaret Winston.
Margaret, when she came, didn’t see a problem in the making over of Alex Hill; she looked relieved instead. Then she became practical.
She named a leading department store and told them they had a customer-service department that assisted in putting together wardrobes, co-ordinating cosmetics and even had their own hair salon. She would get right onto the phone to them, she said, and organize a consultation immediately.
‘Thank you, Margaret, that’s excellent news. By the way, am I running late again?’
‘Yes, Mr Goodwin, you are—I’m just about to ring ahead and advise them.’
‘Thanks. Uh—I’d really like to brief Miss Hill. When am I going to have time to do that?’
Margaret thought for a moment. ‘I’m afraid it’s going to have to be after hours,’ she said a little helplessly. ‘Six o’clock this evening, for an hour, is about all the free time you have left.’
‘That OK with you, Miss Hill?’ He swung back to Alex.
She frowned. ‘Where?’
‘Here. I have a penthouse on the top floor. Just use the penthouse buzzer and give your name—Margaret will pass it on to the staff up there.’ He held out his hand to Alex.
She didn’t offer him her hand. She said instead, ‘Brief me?’
Max Goodwin dropped his hand. ‘Yes, brief you on these negotiations,’ he said and added precisely, ‘that is all. And for the simple reason that it may not only be social chit-chat you’ll be translating, because many a meaningful conversation has been held outside a conference room. So I’d like you to be aware of some of the nuances behind these talks.’ He raised a satirical eyebrow at her. ‘All clear?’
Alex shrugged. ‘I only asked.’
‘Because, despite what you said to the contrary, you couldn’t help wondering if I had something else in mind?’
Alex smiled suddenly. ‘If you had known my Mother Superior, you would also know that “penthouses” and “after hours” are all things sensible girls should avoid like the plague. I guess that habit of suspicion becomes a bit engrained. I really am over it now, though—I’ll come.’ She held out her hand, quite unaware of the startled look in Margaret Winston’s eyes, then the small smile of approval that good lady allowed herself before she left.
But it was when he took her hand and shook it that Alex discovered something curiously mesmerizing about Max Goodwin. Was it pure animal magnetism? she wondered. A heady assault on the senses because, even if he was arrogant and incredibly high-handed, he was also good-looking and impressive with those broad shoulders and narrow hips so that he wore his beautifully tailored suit to perfection?
Was it the sneaking suspicion that, despite those blue eyes and the suit, he’d be quite capable of throwing you across the back of his horse like a disobedient squaw and cantering off with you?
Don’t be ridiculous, Alex, she chided herself immediately…
But it wasn’t only that tantalizingly dangerous appeal to him, she reflected. There was a vitality to him that was hard to resist. There was the fact that she might despise his ways and means, but she found him an interesting, worthy opponent to cross swords with.
There was that wary little