Christmas with the Boss (6 page)

After she dried off in the bedroom, Jilly pulled on a clean pair of
shorts and singlet top before she tied her purple sarong in a fancy twist
around her neck so it looked like a dress. Her temper was simmering; she was
fairly unimpressed with Dominic’s juvenile antics.

What was his problem?
Nice to her face, and
offering to take her for a surf?

Have a chat? Have a beer together? And then play stupid pranks on
her?

 So different to her serious boss from work. She shrugged before she
ran a brush though her hair and twisted it up in a clip. He could come clean
about the silly practical joke and they could laugh about it. All she wanted
was honesty.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she frowned. If she was honest,
she had to admit that the sight of Dominic was making her want more than that.

She ran a smudge of lip gloss across her lips before she stepped
outside. He was at the far end of the porch watching the clouds swirl above the
beach. The storm was building from the south and lightning lit the late
afternoon sky. He turned as she walked along the wooden floor, her bare feet
silent on the timber.

Jilly stood in front of him with her arms folded. He could talk
first and explain what he was up to. He smiled but didn’t speak.

She couldn’t help herself. “So?”

The smile got wider and irritation buzzed through her.

“So what?” he said. Was this guy really second-in-charge of a
multi-billion dollar trading bank?

“So what’s with the teenage boy pranks? And while I’m saying my
piece, I thought you’d agreed last night to stay out of my cottage while I was
here.”

This time Dominic frowned back at her. “What do you mean? I haven’t
been here today…not until now anyway. What pranks?”

“Like mow the lawn? And move my car?” Jilly leaned back against the
verandah rail while she waited for him to answer, but all she got was a shake
of his head. “And push my chair?” Her voice was softer now because she knew he
couldn’t have done that. He’d driven past a few seconds later.

He seemed to be thinking for a moment and Jilly narrowed her eyes
waiting for his latest excuse.

“No. I’ve been in town.”

“So who mowed the lawn?”

He shrugged. “My aunt organizes the upkeep of the place. The
handyman must have come while we were at the beach.”

“On Christmas Day?”

He shrugged. “This is the north coast, not the city.”

Her temper eased a little. “So you didn’t move my car and leave the
house door open?”

“No. I didn’t and I wouldn’t do that without checking with you.” He
smiled at her and the crinkles around his eyes made him look even sexier.

“Okay then…and you say the shower locked itself.” Just as well he’d
been here to get her out because there was no one else within calling distance
and she would have been stuck in there.

“I’ll have to prop it open next time I have a shower.”

“I can hang around if you want to lock it.”
Dominic ran his hand through his hair and stared at her. Jilly’s
gaze dropped to his lips and a warm tremor ran though her as she remembered the
dream she’d had about him. Followed instantly by heat flooding her cheeks.

He screwed his face up into a strange expression, opened his mouth,
shook his head and then closed his mouth again. Jilly had never seen this
confident man at a loss before. Finally he ran his hand through his hair. “You
can’t
stay here. I’m not going to say anymore because I don’t want you to think I’m
bat shit crazy but...”

She waited for him to finish but Dominic held out his hand. “Come
on. That beer’s getting warm. We are going to have a Christmas drink and you
can tell me a bit about yourself. Why you came up here for a holiday.”

Jilly hesitated and then reached out and took his hand. Pleasant
warmth tingled up her arm, and headed south as he led her to the outdoor table
and pulled out the chair. He popped the top of a beer and passed it to her and
she tipped it to her mouth, appreciating the cold liquid. The beer soothed her
parched throat but the effect of one drink zinged thought her whole body. She
peeped from beneath half-closed lids as Dominic lifted his bottle but he was
looking at her. His gaze travelled slowly over her bare shoulders, down to the
knot where her sarong was tied. It had been a long time since anyone had looked
at her like that and a small thrill ran through her. She took another sip of
beer; she needed to do something to ignore the rapid beat of her heat. She knew
a flirtatious look; it might have been a long time between drinks but she could
read his mind.

“Not quite the Hilton where the firm held the Christmas drinks.” He
smiled as she leaned back on the padded vinyl chair that was beneath the
scarred wooden table. “I didn’t see you there?”

A bolt of grief shot up from her chest and lodged in her throat.
Jilly looked down at the table. The pre-Christmas function had been the same
day as Dad’s funeral. The girls couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t go, but
she’d told no one about her Dad until she’d come back to work the day after the
funeral. Finally she lifted her head. “I was at a …a funeral. I wasn’t being
anti-social.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

 She lifted her head and he was looking curiously at her.

 “You didn’t miss much. A lot of silliness, too much drinking and
some sore heads the next day.”

“I heard how Shaz got Mr Burns up on the dance floor.’ She let out a
little giggle. “Apparently he can tango with the best of them.”

The lump in her threat eased as a sexy smile crossed Dominic’s face.
“The rose she put between his teeth was a nice touch.”

“She’s a mad character. Lightens the place up, doesn’t she?” She was
a good friend to Jilly, but despite that, Jilly didn’t share much personal
stuff with any of her work friends.

“She is. I often wonder why people let their hair down at work
functions.”

Jilly shrugged. “I know what you mean. Everyone is formal and on
their best behaviour all year, and one night in the festive season can bring it
all undone.” She smiled at him ruefully. “And there speaks the voice of
experience.”

 It was at last year’s Christmas party that she’d met Phil’s wife.
That had been the last social work do she’d been to.

“You too?” Sympathy filled his expression. “I learned very early
that work and pleasure don’t mix.” This time his laugh was rueful. “About ten
years back, in my first position as a trader at the Federal Bank, I discovered
too late that the lady who had me bailed up under the mistletoe was the
Chairman’s wife.”

Jilly relaxed as her laugh bubbled up. “I didn’t know you worked at
the Federal Bank.”

He laughed with her. “I didn’t after that. She told him I’d
approached her!”

A serious note crept into her voice. “I worked there for a while
too. It was an office romance that brought me undone too.”

Dominic lifted his beer in the air. “Merry Christmas, Jilly. Here’s
to no office romances.”

She lifted her beer and clinked the glass against his, ignoring the
pang of regret that lanced through her.

Dominic reached down to a bag on the floor. “I almost forgot. I
brought some dinner. Courtesy of the service station.” He pulled out a tin of
smoked oysters, and some crackers and cheese. “I was going to suggest maybe
cooking some steaks on the barbie, but the weather’s put a stop to that.”

Jilly uncurled her legs from beneath her bottom and stood before
disappearing into the kitchen. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

The smile that crossed Dominic’s face when she put the plum pudding
and custard in the middle of the table made the wait in the supermarket car
park well worth it.

Thanks, Ethel.

 “Merry Christmas to you too.”

She sat back down and picked up her beer and watched as he traced
his fingers over a scratch in the middle of the table. She leaned forward; DSP
was scratched into the wood.

“So you spent time here when you were growing up?” Jilly watched as
his fingers moved across to another scratch. “Family house, you said?”

He looked up and held her eyes with his. “More than that. After my
parents died I grew up here at my grandparents’ house. The one up the road
where I’m staying. This one was Aunty Vi’s.” He jerked his head to the side.
“Lived there till I left for uni.”

“You?” Jilly pointed to the other initials near his. “Sisters and
brothers?

“No, just me and my cousins.” He picked up the oysters and peeled
back the lid. “Two of them lived here and the other cousins who lived in
Brisbane used to come and visit once a year. Christmas here was a busy and
noisy time.”

“Where are they
all now?”

“Mostly
scattered all over the world. And my grandparents passed on.”

“I just lost my
Dad.” The words were out before she could think.

“So that’s why
you took some time off?”

She nodded
mutely as the grief resurfaced.

“You should
have taken longer.” The kindness in his voice almost brought her undone and
Jilly swallowed and changed the subject.

 “It was what?
Three days?” His gaze was fixed on her and she dropped her lashes and ran her
finger around the rim of the bottle.

“Yeah, it was long enough. It’s okay. But I might need the odd day
to sort out the estate when we go back.” Jilly sat back in her chair as he
arranged the oysters next to the crackers and then passed the plate to her.
“Thank you. And here I was thinking you were a city boy. Private school, old
boys’ network and all that.”

He looked at her quizzically over his beer.

“Shouldn’t make assumptions, should I?” She lifted her beer and
closed her eyes as the cool liquid slid down her throat.

“What about you?”

“Guilty,” she said. “Private school, uni and Dad’s old boys’ network
got me the job at the bank.”

“Everything you thought I was,” he said with a quizzical look.

She nodded guiltily.

A comfortable silence settled between them and they sat back
watching the storm come in over the sea. Jilly glanced at Dominic as he tipped
his beer back and drank. He was wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut out. When
he lifted his beer to his mouth, the muscles in his upper arm moved and Jilly
couldn’t help staring.

 
For someone who spends all day in the office he looks pretty
damn good.

A shaft of raw desire ran through her and she forced herself to look
away, but not before she caught his gaze. Sweat dampened her brow and the
skinny tank top she’d changed into after her shower clung to her chest. She
looked down dismayed to see her nipples hard beneath the shirt. Lifting her
eyes, a hot wave ran through her; Dominic’s eyes were at the same spot. She
focused her attention on his lips. She’d never noticed how lush and kissable
they were. Jilly averted her eyes as she let out a shaky breath. For a moment,
she’d thought he was going to lean over and kiss her.

And it wouldn’t have been unwelcome. Tension hovered in the air
until he reached over and put his hand on top of hers on the table.

“Jilly…” The moment was broken as a sudden wind roared in from the
ocean, accompanied by a loud crack of thunder. The hammock chair began to rock
back and forth creaking loudly, and the shower door blew shut and the bolt slid
across. The tension dissipated in a moment. They looked at each other and
smiled.

“See, these things happen.” Dominic stood and walked over to the
shower and opened the lock.
“All
you need now is to find the person who mowed the lawn and I’m out of trouble.”
Those sexy lips opened in a wide grin and his white teeth flashed in the
dimness that had descended as the black clouds raced in.

 “I’ll have to be more careful from now on.” Jilly stood and walked
across to the railing where he was leaning looking out to the storm. “I’m
sorry. I do seem to be blaming you for everything that goes wrong.” A low
chuckle reached her and she turned around with a frown. “What was that?”

“What?” Dominic looked around.

“That noise. Did you laugh?’ The hair on Jilly’s neck stood to
attention again—as did her nipples. Not that they’d ever gone down. She rubbed
her arms, making out she was cold, nothing to do with this sexual attraction
that was consuming her. As she let her gaze move up past those bare arms to his
sexy lips, she wondered how the hell she’d ever work next to him without
combusting into a haze of lust.

He was just too damned good looking.

“Are you scared here by yourself?” Dominic leaned in closer to her
and she got a whiff of surf, and sand, and sweaty man. She couldn’t help taking
a deep breath and inhaling the manly essence.

“No, why would you ask that?”

He shrugged. “It’s pretty lonely out here. For a city girl.”

“I’m fine. I’m enjoying the quiet.” Jilly wasn’t going to let him
know how unsettled she was. It was only the storm that was bothering her. Not
him or the spooky feeling that wouldn’t go away. The old cottage took on a
sinister air as more lightning flashed in from the sea.