Boss Meets Baby(103)

Georgia had sunk every spare penny she’d had after paying the bills and running their home into Noah’s fledgling gardening business. With her blessing, he was intending to reinvest as much of the cash he’d received from that commission into making the business even more viable…In a couple of years’ time maybe they would both be able to relax a little where money was concerned, instead of working practically every hour God sent.

‘Don’t worry, my dear…we won’t be so formal every night,’ Moira assured Georgia, having seen the doubt flicker across her face. ‘We do like to do things properly at the weekends, but during the week we’re very informal. There’s a smaller dining room, just down the hall from the kitchen, and we usually eat in there. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a second, I’m just off to see where Chief Strachan is. I expect he’s busy finishing off some work and has forgotten the time. God knows the poor man’s been up to his eyes in it since he came back here! And what with poor Valerie breaking her leg, you haven’t arrived a moment too soon, lassie, and that’s a fact!’

Georgia breathed a sigh of relief when the other woman exited the room. She couldn’t deny she welcomed a few moments by herself, to reflect on where she’d landed. Considering the job in hand, there— was no doubt in her mind about her secretarial abilities passing muster—but, having finally met her new boss, she did have some concerns as to whether they would get along. Lord knew, it could be frankly exhausting working for someone without a sense of humour, and quite honestly Georgia had been hoping for a breakthrough in that department. People in London these days seemed so uptight, with most of them consumed by long working hours and making career goals their God, that it made working as a temporary— secretary for such driven individuals sometimes— frankly hellish.

Sighing, she got up from her chair to examine the paintings that bedecked the walls. Turning up her nose at the stern male portraits to rest her gaze instead on the more genial scenes of pastoral serenity that were so invitingly displayed alongside them, she— felt a little of the anxiety she was holding in her body ease from her shoulders.

‘My apologies for keeping you waiting.’

She turned at the sound of that richly attractive and commanding voice, her gaze diverted by the sight of Keir walking straight to the head of the table in a brisk manner, straightening the cuffs on his open-necked white shirt, as though about to head up a board meeting instead of sitting down to dinner. Surprisingly, he was wearing denim jeans, and the faint aura of some classic male cologne lingered in the air as he moved.

Catching the briefly intense flare of the searching azure glance that immediately came her way, Georgia felt her stomach react as if she’d just plum meted several thousand feet without a parachute. Noah should have warned her that the Laird was so…so compelling! But perhaps it was understandable— that younger brothers left out such important details when describing another man to their sisters!

Feeling ridiculously annoyed that she should be so thrown off-centre by her employer’s good-looks, when— she wasn’t remotely an easily impressed girl at all, Georgia lightly shrugged her shoulders.

‘Not at all. I was just enjoying looking at your beautiful paintings. The portraits are a little too severe for my taste, if you don’t mind my saying…but— the country scenes are lovely.’

‘You like art?’

‘Of course.’

The surprise on her face held the unspoken question. Doesn’t everybody? and Keir found himself inordinately pleased by her vehemence.

‘There are many paintings in the house—some by some very famous Scottish artists indeed. Perhaps when we’re not so busy there might be an opportunity— for me to show them to you? Now, please…sit down. There’s only the three of us this evening as some of the staff are off duty, so there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Moira, why don’t you tell Lucy that she can serve the soup?’

As the older woman turned hurriedly away again, Georgia felt her cheeks burn with indignation beneath Keir’s disconcerting scrutiny. She arranged herself in her chair. Didn’t he know it was rude to stare? She swallowed hard, irritated with herself that she should let herself be so affected by the way he looked at her. She’d worked for attractive bosses in the past…of course she had. But none had bothered her sufficiently that she couldn’t think a single straight thought without feeling flustered!

Reaching for her perfectly folded napkin, Georgia shook it out and laid it in her lap. ‘This is such an incredible— house, and the grounds—from what I’ve seen so far—are quite breathtaking! You must love living in such a beautiful place,’ she commented conversationally.

Her blood ran cold as ice water at the look in his eyes. ‘That is your assumption, is it?’

‘I only meant that—’

‘Don’t be so quick to make careless judgements, Miss Cameron,’ he advised broodingly. ‘Have you not heard the adage “never judge a book by its cover”?’





CHAPTER TWO


‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN?’

She found herself trapped by his glance for an almost excruciatingly long moment, and Georgia wondered what she’d said that was so wrong. There wasn’t just irritation in his chastising glare. She was sensitive enough to detect some deep unhappiness there too, and for some reason her stomach turned hollow. There was such strength of will and vitality in Keir’s strong, handsome face, and the idea that such an indomitable visage might be hiding some profound hurt behind it disturbed her more than she considered natural for somebody she’d only just met, and— she didn’t know why…