His Secretary: BBW Romance (Her Second Chance Book 1) Read online

  “Time for a break I think.” He sat back on his heels, and flexed his arms. “I have some calls to make.”

  Feeling as though she had been dismissed, she got up and carefully made her way across the piles of paperwork. “Do you need anything?” she asked, turning around to catch him staring at her.

  Unaccountably flustered, he shook his head. “No. Nothing. Thank you.” He picked up the phone, and she left, feeling slightly bemused.

  First she headed to the employee’s lounge, and grabbed some coffee, then she went to find Max. Luckily she was in her office.

  “Go on in,” Max’s secretary told her. “She’s been out a few times to see if I’d set eyes on you. She was worried you might not survive the morning.”

  “Thanks,” Helen said, and went in to find Max busy looking at some papers. “Is that all you do around here? Look at bits of paper.”

  “It feels like it sometimes.” Max got up and came around to hug Helen. “I am so sorry I got you into this. I had no idea.”

  “Of course you didn’t. Don't worry, he’s not that bad. So far anyway.”

  “Well, any problems come and see me.”

  “I’m a big girl Max, I can look after myself. but thanks for the offer.” In reality she didn’t want to bring trouble to Max’s door. The last thing she wanted was to do anything to jeopardise her job at the bank.

  “I know. But I feel responsible, and Dan would never forgive me if I didn’t stick up for you.”

  “It’ll be fine. five days, what’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Don't say that.”

  “Relax. Well, I should let you get back to work. What I really came to ask is where can I sit and type up these notes? He wants them all done before I go home so I was going to make a start on them now.”

  “I’ll get Shirley to sort something out for you. Come on.”

  Helen drank her coffee as they went back out. If she made a good start on the notes now, she would be able to get home in time for dinner with her two girls. If not, they would eat with their grandparents, not that they’d mind. But at this moment Helen longed for the reassuring hugs from the two most precious things in her life. What she wouldn't give to be a stay at home mom.

  “Come with me, Helen. We’ll find you a desk,” Max’s secretary stood up and waited for Helen to follow.

  “Thanks, Shirley. I’ll see you later Max.”

  “OK. We can meet for lunch. If you’re free.”

  “I’d like that, but I might work through.” She patted the notebook which she had tucked under her arm.

  “If you work that hard you’ll make us all look like slackers,” Shirley joked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. You haven’t seen how slow I probably type. I might need a bit of practice to get back up to speed.”

  “Here we go,” Shirley showed her an empty desk in a small office filled with five other cubicles. “Anything you need, let me know.”

  “Thanks,” said Helen, sitting down at the computer. Her heart sank, this was not what she was used to working on. She glanced around the room, feeling very inferior again when she saw all the other people working, their fingers flying across the keyboard. This was going to be interesting. She tentatively clicked the mouse to open up a word processing document. And began to type.

  Chapter Four - Oliver

  Where the hell was she? He had expected her to come back to the office, not to have to go looking for her. In all honestly he expected her to be drinking coffee with her friend Miss Lewis.

  So that’s where he stormed off to first.

  “Miss Lewis is on a call.” He was told firmly by her secretary.

  “Do you know where Mrs Draper is? I can’t seem to find her. I’ve tried the lounge, so I thought she would be here.” In fact he was now beginning to think the woman had done a runner and left the office.

  “I showed her to a desk. I believe she’s typing up your notes.”

  “Oh.” That knocked him sideways, he had never thought that she might be conscientious enough to type during her break. “Which way?”

  “Down the hall and third on your right.”

  “Thank you.” He turned on his heel and went to find her, and when he did, she made him smile once more. “Problems?”

  She looked up at him slightly frazzled. “Last time I used one of these was in the computer dark ages. It does far more than it’s supposed to, but I think I’ve got the hang of it.”

  “Just make sure you save it. You don’t want to have to do the work twice.”

  “Now you have me scared. Where shall I save it to? It’s not my computer so I don't want anyone to delete it.”

  “Here, let’s see.”

  She went to get up, but he moved too fast and leaned over her before she had a chance. After all, she was a married woman, and in no way would be interested in him. Or so he thought. At first she tilted her body far away from him, as though to touch him would brand her as his own. But slowly she relaxed, intently watching what he was doing until her head rested slightly against his forearm.

  Bad idea. That dormant betrayer reared it’s head once more, and he caught himself looking down at her wonderful body, so voluptuous and curvy in all the right places. So soft and feminine, a real woman, it made him long of a place to call home, of being nurtured, of being loved.

  He cleared his throat. “There, that should do it. I’ve sent it to my phone too.”

  “Great, I never thought of that. Max has a smart phone, my girls spend hours playing games on it.”

  “Your kids? How many do you have?” He shouldn’t be asking, it didn’t matter to him.

  “Two little girls. Laura and Jessica.” She smiled, her gaze going off into the distance.

  “Shall we get back to work?” He didn’t need to be drawn any further into an impossible dream.

  “Oh. Yes, sorry. I got sidetracked with this. At least my fingers have begun to remember how to type. I should be up to speed by tomorrow.”

  “I hope so.”

  She looked up, startled by his tone. “Sorry. I promise I’ll get all your notes typed up before I go home tonight.”

  “Again, I hope so, Mrs Draper. This is a very important deal for the bank. I do not wish to put any more pressure on my uncle’s health by not being ready for Thursday.”

  “Of course. Do you have any news?”

  They had begun to walk back to his office, he found himself looking at her at every opportunity, she was completely stunning, and the most attractive thing about her was that she had no idea. Who ever her husband might be, Oliver wondered if he knew how lucky he was. Or did he take her for granted?

  “Mr Pierceson?”

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “This is your office.” She stood looking at him, a faint smile playing on her lips. Lips he wanted more than anything to kiss.

  Whatever spell she had cast over him he determined anew to make her dislike him. Starting now.

  Chapter Five - Helen

  She wanted to scream, a tight band of pressure had wrapped itself around her head, threatening to make it explode.

  “OK. Last box for the day.” He lifted the third box down and took the lid off, while Helen glanced at her watch. It was already three thirty, and she had reams of notes to type up. If they did another box she wouldn’t make it home before midnight, yet alone the girl’s bedtime.

  “Do you want me to go and get you some coffee or anything to eat?” she asked.

  “Are you struggling to keep up, Mrs Draper?” He wasn’t teasing, instead he fixed her with a steely stare. Something had changed in him, and he no longer seemed approachable or indeed friendly in the slightest.

  “No. But you skipped lunch, and I ... sorry I asked.” When Max had come to see how they were getting on he had told her they would do better with no interruptions. Max had left them to work, a worried look on her face. So there had been no lunch break, and Helen was seriously flagging in energy.

  His brow crea
sed for a moment, and then smoothed out while he went back to reading pages after pages of information, barking out instructions for her to compile into legible sense. However, her writing was beginning to look like a spider had done a happy dance over her page. Although happy dancing was the last thing she felt like doing. Her mind once more drifted back to home, and her two lovely girls who would be out of school by now and on their way back to their grandparents’ house.

  “Your attention would be most welcome.” He snapped his fingers in her face.

  She took a deep breath. “Sorry, can you repeat that?” She kept her voice even although she wanted to berate him again for being so rude. She was tired and irritable, and could, at this moment, relate to her daughters when they threw temper tantrums.

  “The acquisition of Turner Foundry, March 2001, can you cross reference that with the loan from the bank? I want to check those dates.”

  “Sure. Is there a problem?”

  “No. I don’t think so, but this is not my money were dealing with, so I want to make sure the contract is water tight.”

  “It means a lot to you, that your uncle has asked you to do this?” He looked at her, and she knew she shouldn’t have asked, before he could answer she said, “Sorry. None of my business. I’m so used to listening to other people’s problems I forgot.”

  He looked at his watch. “That reminds me, I have to call him to check in. Why don’t you go and get started on typing what you have so far, we can pick up with this later.”

  She tried not to let the relief show, instead she clambered unsteadily to her feet. Her legs had gone numb, and she swayed slightly, his hand shooting out to catch her, and stop her from falling.

  “Sorry. You’d think I’d be used to crawling around on the floor like this with two young girls.”

  His hand stayed where it was, his fingers gripping her firmly, but his touch light. Helen looked into his deep brown eyes, and wanted to melt right into him. He was the sexiest man she had ever met. And that’s when it hit her how stupid she was, and how out of her league he would always be. She was a poor, downtrodden, deserted housewife, and he was some kind of gazillionaire.

  “Thank you,” she said, pointedly lifting her arm to release herself from his grasp.

  “I’d hate for you to fall and mess up all the papers,” he replied, his voice deep, his expression unfathomable.

  “Of course. The papers.” She stepped very carefully over the neat piles, and reached for the door handle.

  “It does mean a lot to me.”

  She turned around to look at him, once more his face was soft, his eyes deep pools of emotion. But she didn’t speak, not trusting her voice to come out as anything other than aroused. The hours shut in this room with him had given her a sense of his moods, of his body language, and right now the rich businessman was gone, replaced by a young uncertain man.

  “He gave me a chance to make something of myself, he believed in me, when many other people would have cast me into the trash.”

  “But he’s your uncle.”

  “It doesn't give me the right to demand he help me. And I didn’t do so well at school that there was much promise in me. But he nurtured what he saw, and now I try my hardest to live up to that. If I can repay him in some small way by getting the bank through this deal without him at the helm, then I’ll feel in some way less obligated to him.”

  “I think you’re going to need that coffee. I’ll bring some back with me. How long do you think you’ll be?”

  He looked at his watch. “If I don’t come and find you first, come back in an hour. We’ll finish up this box and then call it a night.”

  She looked rather despondently at the box, only the top few papers had been removed. “An hour,” she repeated, and went out to find Max.

  ***

  “I’m not going to make it home until late,” Helen said to Max. She hated interrupting her when she was obviously busy.

  “Do you want me to speak to Mr Pierceson for you?” Max asked, putting her pen down and coming around the desk to stand next to Helen.

  “No. This was supposed to be a real glimpse at what life would be like if I went back to having a career rather than a job. It won’t be right if you have to keep stepping in and saving me.”

  “I feel so bad getting you into this. I really thought you would come in and do some simple office work, not get embroiled in a multi million deal.”

  “Listen, I’m not here to lay blame, I agreed to the job remember? What I really came to ask you was whether you could check in on the girls, and take them home if it’s too much for my mom.”

  “Sure. Of course. Dan is coming around after his shift, we’ll go straight over.” She rubbed Helen’s arm reassuringly. “Hey, are you sure you’re OK?”

  “Yes. Honestly,” she answered, but turned away from Max so she didn’t see the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “I should go and get on with these notes. Thanks Max.”

  “No problem. Don't let him keep you too late. If you need to go, tell him.”

  “I will. But I don't think it will make a bit of difference, he’s trying so hard to get this deal right for his uncle.”

  “Just remember it’s his deal, not yours. This is not your problem.”

  “I can’t walk away. If I do he’ll be so far behind. It’s just five days, right?”

  “Right.”

  Helen went to the restroom, grabbed more coffee, and some junk food from the machine, and then headed back to the dreaded typing. Always trying to look for a positive in any situation, she realised that her typing speed was definitely picking up. Once she relaxed into it her fingers found the keys with less effort, and for the first time in years, she began to feel like a grown up in a grown up world, rather than simply a mommy in her children's world.

  She tried not to feel guilty. That would come later when Mr Pierceson made it clear their work was going to go on for a few hours more.

  Chapter Six - Oliver

  Despite his outward arrogance, Oliver feared failure. He feared, above all else that he would disappoint his uncle. The conference call had done nothing to ease his worries. This was going to be a long night, they would need to get through the box they had started. Before he got any sleep tonight, he would then go over the notes Helen had typed up until he knew the deal on the table inside out and upside down, and sideways if he needed to.

  His uncle’s health was hanging in the balance, and he didn’t want this to cause him any more stress. The whole situation made him edgy, and unfortunately it was Helen that took the brunt of his bad mood.

  “I thought we’d gone over this?” he asked sharply.

  “No.” She tried to keep calm, but an edge of frustration had crept into her voice. She flipped back through her notes. “You never mentioned an investment from anywhere in Switzerland.”

  “I’ve asked you to make complete notes. I can't believe you haven’t written it down.”

  She flipped back a few more pages. “Here, the loan was from a bank in Spain.”

  “You’re absolutely sure?”

  “Yes,” she said, her tone sounding as though she were trying to appease a five year old. “Look, you need to take a break. I need to type these notes up. I do have to go home tonight.”

  She sounded tired and exasperated. A state he could quite empathise with.

  “We need to get through the rest of this.”

  “Mr Pierceson, we are both tired. And I do need to get home. My kids haven’t seen me all day.”

  “I’m sorry about that, but one day with Daddy instead of Mommy is surely not going to hurt.” His voice held more than a hint of sarcasm.

  She paled, and her bottom lip trembled. “I need to step out for a minute.”

  She got up and he watched her leave. All thoughts of their work disappeared. He had upset her, and he wanted to know why.

  Following her out he found her by the water cooler in the now deserted lounge. It was so late everyone else had gone home.
As he approached she filled a cup with water, and her hand visibly shook as she brought it up to her mouth.

  “Are you OK?”

  She kept her back to him as she answered. “No. I shouldn’t be here.” She lifted her hand and he knew she was wiping away a tear. “I should be at home with my kids. I thought I could do this. But I was wrong. Please don’t blame Max. I’ll type these notes up and then I’ll go. I hope you can find someone else to replace me tomorrow.”

  “Listen, we’re both tired. And I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing.” Oliver Pierceson never apologised. He must be more tired than he thought.

  She shook her head. “You have nothing to apologise for. I’m an idiot for thinking I was ready to get back to a career.”

  “Why did you?” And why do you care? he asked himself. Let it go. Let her go. But he couldn’t, he had been drawn to her from the first moment. She was so different to any of the other women he met, both professionally and socially.

  “I wanted to make a better life for me and my daughters. We’ve struggled along for the last few months, I managed to stall my house being repossessed, but if I don't do something soon, the only thing my children are going to grow up hearing is how we can’t afford luxuries. Do you have any idea how soul destroying that can be when their friends have fantastic birthday parties and Christmas presents?”

  “Yes. Yes I can.”

  “Really?” She turned to face him. “Because if you’ve never been there I don't think you can. Your suit is probably worth more than my monthly income.”

  “And your husband?” The voice in his head yelled at him to leave it alone. While she was married she was out of reach, otherwise she would become a distraction he didn't need, least of all at this moment in his life. His time and energy had to be channelled into his work one hundred percent.

  “He left us. I have no idea where he is.” She wiped her eyes once more, and then turned to look at him defiantly. “So there you have it, I’m a failure. No marriage and no career.” She moved to push past him, but he put his arm across to stop her.