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CHAPTER TWO

LEAH TURNED INTO the driveway of Beville Holdings, stopping at the security gate and smiling over at Ted, the man who manned the gate on the morning shift. Usually, he just smiled back and pressed the button that lifted the barrier, allowing her to drive through.

Today, Ted slid back the window and waved for Leah to wind her window down. Which she did.

‘He’s here,’ he called to her in a conspiratorial voice. ‘The new boss.’

‘What?’ Leah’s stomach twisted into an instant knot. She’d expected Jason Pollock to show up at work sooner or later, but not this soon.

‘Didn’t you read about the takeover in yesterday’s paper?’ Ted asked her.

‘Er…no, I didn’t,’ Leah replied, not wanting to seem too on the ball. She didn’t exactly play a blonde bimbo role at work, but at the same time, she didn’t drop any clues over who she really was. She liked it that she was treated as a simple working-class girl from Gladesville. No one at Beville Holdings had ever been to her waterview apartment or connected her surname—Johannsen—with the diamond dynasty.

‘Well, his name is Mr Pollack and he arrived over an hour ago to check out the factory. He’ll be heading over to your section soon, I’ll bet, so just as well you’re not late.’

‘What’s he like?’ Leah asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

‘Not too bad. I think my job’s safe. When he drove up to the gate just after seven and announced who he was, I still asked him for ID, and he seemed to like that.’

‘Good for you. What’s he driving? A flash car, I’ll bet.’

‘A dark blue sporty one.’

Leah’s top lip curled. Typical. Her father had declared yesterday that Jason Pollack wasn’t some kind of playboy—despite his living in a penthouse.

But men like that always ran true to form. Give a man money and he didn’t choose to putter around in anything small, or sedate. Rich people picked cars that supposedly reflected their personality, and power.

Leah had once zipped around Sydney in a red, top-of-the-range roadster, a present from her father on her twenty-first birthday. She’d traded it in for a white, second-hand hatchback when she got this job, not wanting anyone at work to think of her as a rich bitch. She wanted to be liked for herself, not her money.

‘Thanks for the warning, Ted,’ Leah said, and drove on, turning into the staff car park, which was surprisingly full. All the managers’ cars were there, an unusual occurrence for this hour on a Monday morning. They must have heard about the takeover, too, and decided to put their best feet forward.

The only empty car space in the row nearest the main office building was right next to a dark blue sports car.

Leah hesitated, then slid her vehicle in next to it, determined not to surrender to these silly nerves, which were currently turning her insides into a washing machine.

He was just a man, for pity’s sake. She’d met men just as attractive. And just as rich. Heck, she’d been married to one!

Okay, so she’d found Jason Pollack’s photo extremely attractive. So what?

Once she actually met the man, his undoubtedly up-himself personality would soon stop these ridiculous stomach flutters.

Admittedly, a dark blue sports car suggested that Jason Pollack wasn’t a total show pony, like her ex. Carl would have rocked up in something flashy and gold, or silver. That was exactly what she’d seen Carl sitting in the last time their paths crossed. Something flashy and silver.

Leah climbed out from behind the wheel and walked round to her passenger side, opening the door there to retrieve her handbag and peeping into the blue sports car at the same time.

Not a thing on the leather seats, or on the floor. Nothing to give her a glimpse of Jason Pollack’s character. Except that it looked like he was a neat freak. There wasn’t a single piece of rubbish anywhere. Or a spot of dirt. The car gleamed in the morning sun, both inside and outside.

People like that were usually very critical, and controlling.

‘Better get a move on then, girlie,’ she muttered to herself as she zapped the lock on her key and hurried up the path that led to the head office, a rectangular brick building built in the early sixties, but which had been totally renovated late last year.

You couldn’t tell by looking at the place that Beville Holdings hadn’t made a profit lately. You’d think everything was coming up roses.

Pushing through the front door, Leah headed across the deserted reception area straight for the nearby powder room. Her wristwatch said twenty-three minutes past eight. She only had five minutes to check her appearance before she was due to be sitting behind the semicircular reception desk, looking cool, calm and collected.

Despite her self-lecturing, Leah felt anything but.

Jason said good-bye to the factory foreman, thanking him for his help, but brushing aside the man’s offer to accompany him over to the head office.

Jason wanted to think. And he thought better when he was by himself.

He walked slowly along the well-signed path, wondering what he was doing, buying a company that made shower gels, shampoos, sunscreens and moisturisers. What in hell did he know about such products?

Nothing at all.

Still, he supposed retail was retail. Get the advertising right and good sales usually followed.

Judging by their performance over the last two years, Beville Holdings had not got their advertising right. Either that, or they were charging too much for their products. Or their management was less than efficient.

Jason wished he’d done some more market research before plunging in last Friday and buying a controlling share.

Never in his life before had he bought a company because of a dream. A dream, for pity’s sake!

It had happened last Saturday night, the night he’d broken up with Hilary. He’d been upset because she’d been upset, and the last thing he’d ever wanted to do was to hurt Hilary.

They’d met just over six months ago, at a dinner party that Jason had been persuaded to attend, and which had been cripplingly boring till Hilary winked at him from across the table. Later, he’d discovered that their hostess had been doing some matchmaking, Hilary having not long been divorced. She was his age, slim, dark, and very attractive, as well as intelligent and confident. Jason had ended up in bed with her that night, his first woman since Karen’s death four years earlier. His libido had finally bypassed his grief and come to life again, and, having come to life, wasn’t going to stay silent any more.

In hindsight, Jason was amazed that he’d stayed celibate for so long. Sex had always been very important to him.

He’d first discovered the pleasures of the flesh when he’d been sixteen, his partner an older girl of nineteen who knew a thing or two. She’d lived two doors down from him, and she’d spent many a Saturday afternoon during one long hot summer, showing Jason exactly how to please her, and vice versa. When her family moved, Jason had been devastated for a while. At sixteen, it had been impossible to separate lust and love.

Eventually, he’d recovered from his broken heart, and, after that, never been without a girlfriend. Though he’d never fallen in love again.

Till he met Karen.

Jason smiled softly to himself as he thought of his wife.

Another older woman, but this time fifteen years older. Forty-two to his twenty-seven. Yet they’d been perfect together. And so ecstatically happy.

Of course, everyone else thought he’d married his boss’s widow out of cold-blooded ambition. Hilary probably hadn’t believed him when he had said he’d loved his wife.

Jason supposed it was only reasonable that, after sleeping with Hilary every weekend for six months, she might expect him to propose.

In his defence, he’d made it clear right from the start of their relationship that he wasn’t interest in remarrying.

But last Saturday night, Hilary had started pressing for him to marry her and he knew he couldn’t. Because, as attractive as Hilary was, he just wasn’t in love with her, and once you’d been in love—really, deeply in love—you couldn’t settle for less.

After Hilary flounced out, saying she never wanted to see him again, he hadn’t been able to sleep. So he’d popped one of the sleeping pills that the doctor had prescribed for him after Karen died and which were hopelessly out of date. But at the time, he hadn’t cared. He just wanted oblivion.

But his sleep had been full of dreams, mostly of Karen, telling him—as she often had during that final awful week—that he wasn’t to grieve, that, one day, he’d meet someone else, someone more right for him than she’d been, someone who’d give him babies and a wonderful life.

Silly dreams, because Jason knew that wouldn’t happen.

And then, seemingly only seconds before he woke, had come this other odd, startlingly vivid dream.

He was driving out in the country and suddenly, in the middle of a mown paddock, he saw this massive billboard with a blonde on it. She’d been photographed from the back from her hips up, and was naked. The effect was incredibly sexual. She had a slender but curvy shape, porcelain-like skin and dead straight, glisteningly golden hair streaming halfway down her bare back. Her arms were stretched up in front of her, tossing a bottle of shampoo up into a bright blue sky, golden rays coming out from it as if it were the sun. Across the bottom of the billboard were the words: START EVERY DAY WITH SUNSHINE.

Jason had driven right off the road in the dream as he stared at the blonde, the accident jolting him awake. He’d been relieved to find it was only a dream, but the image on that billboard had stayed in his mind all day, tantalising him. Haunting him.

He knew he’d never seen such an ad before. He had heard of a brand name called Sunshine. Vaguely. But he thought it was attached to cleaning stuff, not shampoo.

That evening, he’d rung Harry Wilde—Harry ran an advertising agency he used occasionally—and asked him if he knew of Sunshine shampoo, or of such an ad.

He hadn’t.

Jason had then gone to an all-hours supermarket and found that there was indeed a range of products with the Sunshine label, all made by a company called Beville Holdings. Further investigation via his broker revealed Beville Holdings was a small but well-established manufacturing company, owned by a parent company in England. Their shares were quite low, due to their not making a profit and not declaring a decent dividend for the past two years.

‘And a week later, here I am,’ Jason muttered to himself. ‘The owner of said profitless company.’

Jason found himself standing outside the main door of the head office building, shaking his head wryly up at the Beville Holdings sign. He didn’t really believe in fate, or karma. In the main, he was a practical man.

But he could not deny that he’d been less than practical this past week. That crazy dream had robbed him of his savvy approach to business. As soon as he’d found out there was a real company that made Sunshine products, he’d felt compelled to buy the place, without doing any solid market research, a process that normally took many weeks.

Bob had thought he’d lost his marbles.

Still, if he listened to Bob all the time, he’d never buy anything. Bob was a great PA, but not the most decisive of men. Not a risk taker in any way, shape or form.

Businessmen had to take risks, occasionally. In the main, however, they were informed risks. Jason had to admit that, this time, he’d gone out on a limb.

Still, it could be an interesting project, he told himself, turning Beville Holdings around. A real challenge. He’d been getting into a rut lately.

Success would depend on what he discovered in here, Jason decided as he pushed through the half-glass door. If serious problems lay in the sales and marketing departments, things could get tricky.

Golden handshakes were the only answer for getting rid of bad management, and that was very costly.

So was this décor, Jason realised as he set foot on the plush jade carpet that covered the spacious reception area. His eyebrows lifted as he glanced at the cream leather seating and the expensively framed watercolours that graced the cream walls, his thoughtful gaze finally resting on the very modern, but very unmanned reception desk.

He was glancing at the time on his watch—it was eight twenty-seven—when a movement caught the corner of his eye. Jason turned in time to see a young woman emerge from the ladies’ room across the way.

Jason’s heart skipped a beat.

She was blonde, and beautiful, wearing a pale green dress that clung to her perfect breasts and swished around her perfect legs. She seemed startled when she saw him, stopping in mid-stride. But then, with a toss of her lovely head, she headed in his direction, her hips swaying provocatively.

‘Good morning, Mr Pollack,’ she said crisply as she stretched out her hand towards him. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you when you came in, but I’m not due to start till eight thirty.’

So she knew who he was, did she? Probably saw his photo in the paper yesterday, Jason realised as he took her hand, holding it within both of his as he absorbed more of her incredible beauty at closer quarters.

‘That’s perfectly all right, Miss…er…’

‘Johannsen,’ she supplied. ‘Leah Johannsen. I…I’m the receptionist here at Beville Holdings.’

Jason knew lots of companies hired lookers to man their front desk, but this girl was totally wasted here. She could have been a model, she was so striking. Those eyes. That mouth. That stunning hair. So shiny and silky looking, with just the hint of a wave as it rippled down over her slender shoulders.

It made you want to touch it. Kiss it. Wrap it around your…

Jason gave himself a severe mental shake, hoping his face did not reflect his thoughts. Indulging in that type of sexual fantasy was not Jason’s usual bent.

But once the image filled his mind, it was joined by others. To his annoyance, his flesh soon followed and he found himself glancing down at her left hand to see if she was wearing any rings.

The shot of adrenalin that came when he saw that her fingers were bare startled Jason. It wasn’t like him to lose it over a pretty girl.

But of course this girl wasn’t just pretty. She was perfection.

And suddenly, he wanted her. Wanted her more than he’d ever wanted Hilary.

But then he hadn’t ever really wanted Hilary as such, had he? He’d just wanted regular sex. Any attractive woman would have done.

But you really want this girl, came a voice from inside that Jason didn’t recognise. It was dark and driven and utterly ruthless. You want her and you’re going to have her, come hell or high water!

CHAPTER THREE

IT FELT LIKE an eternity to Leah before Jason Pollack let her hand go.

But maybe that was just her imagination. Time seemed to have slowed down since she came out of the ladies’ room and found her new boss standing just inside the main door, looking over at her.

His photo hadn’t done him justice. But then, how could a two-dimensional head-and-shoulders shot capture the essence of such a man?

Yesterday, Leah had thought his dark, deeply set eyes had exuded magnate material. In the flesh, they exuded something else, a powerful magnetism that had pulled at her from across the room.

She’d been unable to breathe for a moment. Unable to move. But then her pride—and a measure of pique—had come to her rescue, snapping her out of her fatuous state and propelling her towards him with cool eyes and creditable composure. She even managed to observe—and ruefully admire—his taste in clothes.

His black, single-breasted business suit was sleek and expensive, tailored to complement his tall, elegantly lean body. He’d matched it with a deep blue shirt that highlighted his olive skin. His silvery grey tie was classy, and nicely understated. So was his watch, also silver, with a black leather band.

By the time she reached him, Leah imagined—mistakenly, as it turned out—that she could shake his hand and come away unscathed.

But the moment his hands—both of them—enclosed hers, she’d been totally rattled, reduced to stammering when he asked her name.

Yet she never stammered. Or felt swamped by the kind of feelings that had overtaken her.

Within moments, she’d wanted to forget where she was and who he was. When he’d stared deep into her eyes, she’d dissolved inside. When he’d glanced down at her left hand—rather pointedly, she’d thought—she’d wanted to blurt out that, yes, she was free, free to do whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

The wanton submissiveness that overwhelmed her had been mind-blowing. And totally shocking. Leah had never experienced anything like it. Not even with Carl, whom she’d loved.

But this had nothing to do with love, Leah realised shakily after he released her hand.

His no longer touching her helped Leah gather herself a little. Now, if only he would stop looking at her the way he was looking at her, she might be able to pull herself totally together. But he continued to gobble her up with his eyes.

Leah knew men found her attractive. What was on show, that is. Jason Pollack might not be so interested if she revealed her left thigh to him.

Thinking about her scars did what it always did to Leah. Brought her sharply back to the real world, reminding her also that Jason Pollack had once married an older woman for money, a crime on a par with marrying a girl for her physical perfection alone. The last man on earth Leah would want to become involved with was another cold-blooded, conscienceless devil who had a computer chip for a heart.

Even if he was the sexiest man she’d ever met!

‘I must get to my desk, Mr Pollack,’ she said, her manner and tone suitably frosty. ‘It’s gone eight thirty.’ And, turning her back on him, she walked with stiffly held shoulders to her work station, not looking back at him as she settled herself at her desk.

But she could feel his eyes still on her, burning right through her clothes.

Jim Matheson charging down the hallway into the reception area was a godsend.

‘Mr Pollack! So there you are! They just rang from the factory to say you left some time ago. Leah, why didn’t you let us know Mr Pollack was here?’ Jim snapped at her.

‘I’ve only just walked in,’ came the new boss’s smooth reply before she could defend herself. ‘And, please, make it Jason. I don’t stand on ceremony. And you’d be?’

‘Jim. Jim Matheson. I’m the national sales manager here at Beville Holdings.’

And the biggest creep in the place, thought Leah. Matheson had made a pass at her on her very first day, but she’d soon put him in his place. Still, he hadn’t forgotten and was never nice to her.

‘Jim,’ the new boss said warmly, coming forward to shake his hand. ‘Nice to meet you. And you too, Leah,’ he added, throwing her a look and a small smile that carried several subtle messages which Leah understood only too well.

One—I’m interested.

Two—You don’t fool me for a minute with that cold-shoulder act.

And three—I’ll get back to you later.

A shiver ran down Leah’s spine as she watched the two men walk together down the corridor that led to the sales and marketing divisions. He was going to ask her out. She could feel it. He was going to ask her out and she wasn’t going to have the willpower to say no.

But by lunchtime that day, events hadn’t developed quite as Leah had expected. For one thing, she hadn’t set eyes on Jason Pollack again that morning. He’d stayed down in Jim’s office, having meetings with the various section managers. She’d been informed of this by the general office girl who relieved Leah at the reception desk at eleven every day so she could have her morning tea break.

Mandy hadn’t met the great man herself, but she’d already heard on the grapevine that he was a hunk of the first order. All good-looking men were hunks to Mandy, who was eighteen, a slightly plump, rosy-faced girl with an infectious smile and a happy manner.

Leah had spent her morning tea break in the canteen, listening to the gossip from the factory girls who were there, having their lunch break, as their hours were from seven till three. Leah got sick and tired of hearing how drop-dead gorgeous the new boss was.

Leah had returned to her desk, resenting Jason Pollack all the more because she knew he was being gushed over, mainly because for his looks. She’d learned to hate that kind of superficial attraction, yet there she was, suffering from it herself.

Trays of coffee and food had appeared from the canteen around twelve thirty, delivered to Jim’s office by two of the female kitchen hands who’d been literally swooning as they hurried back past reception.

‘He’s so hot!’ Leah heard one of them say. ‘And he smiled at me.’

‘He smiled at me too, honey,’ the older woman said. A bit more drily. ‘He’s a charmer all right. But don’t get your hopes up. Men like that don’t take out waitresses,’ she added as they both swept out the door.

Or receptionists, Leah realised with a perverse rush of disappointment.

What a fool she’d been, getting herself all het up over nothing. He hadn’t been coming on to her earlier. He was just being his so-called charming self. Hadn’t her father said Jason Pollack had originally been a top salesmen?

Since working here, Leah had met quite a few salesmen and most of them had the gift of the gab. Most of them were good-looking men, too. And outrageous flirts. There wasn’t a sales rep at Beville Holdings who hadn’t asked her out. And that included the married ones.

Except for Peter. The one with the sick wife. He’d never asked her out. That was why Leah liked him so much. He was a really decent guy. Honest and hard working, unlike some of the others around here. If Jason Pollack even thought about making Peter redundant, she would have something to say about it.

No, she would have a lot to say about it. After all, what was the worst that could happen to her? Okay, so she could lose her job. Not a total disaster, since she didn’t rely on her salary to survive. Unlike poor Peter.

But she wouldn’t go quietly. She’d take Prince Charming to the unfair dismissal board if he dared do that. She’d take him to the unfair dismissal board if he sacked Peter as well! She’d make him wish he’d never bought Beville Holdings before she was finished. That’s what she’d do!

‘Would you come and have lunch with me, Leah?’

Leah’s head snapped up to find Trish standing there, looking anxious. Trish was Jim’s secretary, an attractive redhead in her late twenties who deserved better, in Leah’s opinion, than to be sleeping with her married boss.

Of all the women who worked at Beville Holdings, Leah liked Trish the most. They often had lunch together out on the lawns, and Leah usually sat with Trish when they all trundled down to the local pub for drinks after work every Friday night.

Trish claimed she wanted a husband and children of her own, but wouldn’t listen to Leah’s advice to break it off with Jim and find herself someone who was free. The last time they’d had a woman-to-woman chat over lunch, Trish had confided to Leah that Jim promised to leave his wife when his kids were older.

Famous last words!

Leah didn’t really want to hear more of the same today, but Trish was Jim’s secretary, with whom Jason Pollack had been installed all morning. Much as Leah despised her own ongoing curiosity and breathless interest, she jumped at the chance of finding out more about the man.

‘Be right with you,’ she returned. ‘Just let me turn on the answering machine. I have to stop at the loo on the way as well.’

‘Me, too,’ Trish said.

Five minutes later, they were sitting at one of the wooden tables under the clump of willow trees behind their building, a lovely shady spot for eating outdoors on a summer’s day. The humidity of January had finally gone—as had the summer storms—February so far having the kind of beautiful weather that brought tourists to Sydney in droves.

Trish had her lunch with her—sandwiches and juice brought from home. Leah hadn’t quite got into that kind of budgeting as yet, and had a standard order with the canteen for a no-butter salad sandwich, low-fat muffin and black coffee, which she collected every day right on one.

‘The new boss keeping you busy?’ she said as soon as they sat down.

‘I’ll say,’ Trish told her as she unwrapped her ham and tomato sandwiches. ‘Under those disarming smiles of his, he’s a regular powerhouse, and very clued-up. He’s had Jim answering some sticky questions, I can tell you. I think Jim’s a bit worried.’

‘And so he should be,’ Leah said wryly.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know what I mean, Trish. There’s been a lot of money wasted around here. That very expensive Christmas party last year, for instance. Not to mention the sales conference at one of the most expensive resorts in Australia. Then there was the total refurbishing of the offices. To top it off, the whole sales fleet of company cars have just been replaced after only being on the road one year, with all the managers getting more expensive models.’

‘When you put it like that, things could look bad.’

Leah could have also added that the new field sales manager hadn’t gotten her job because of her experience in the position. The only positions Shelley had experience in were those in the Kama Sutra.

Trish wasn’t the only little dolly bird Jim had on the side. How Trish didn’t know about Shelley constantly amazed her. All the reps knew. Heck, just about everyone here knew. Except Trish.

Leah didn’t have the heart to tell the girl herself. She’d find out what a rat Jim was soon enough.

‘A man like Jason Pollack is going to put it all together like that in no time flat,’ Leah said, snapping her fingers.

Trish looked worried. ‘Jim might get the sack.’

Now there was a satisfying thought. Leah believed in bastards getting their comeuppances.

The trouble was, they rarely did. From what she’d heard, Carl was as happy as Larry with a new fiancée, some stunning, up-and-coming actress who no doubt didn’t have a single physical flaw.

As for Jim… He was a clever and consummate liar. He’d probably worm his way out of things. Or end up with a golden handshake, plus another top sales job somewhere else. Jim was only in his early forties, a good-looking man who could be very impressive when he wanted to be.

His silly wife adored him.

No, bastards didn’t always get their comeuppances in life, came Leah’s cynical thought. Take the new boss himself. He’d have to be a right bastard, marrying a much older woman for her money like that. And what happens? She conveniently died after no time at all, leaving him scads of money, plus the freedom to do exactly what he liked for the rest of his life.

How convenient!

‘It’s all very worrying,’ Trish said, having not yet touched a bite of her lunch.

A wave of sympathy pushed aside Leah’s sarcastic thoughts.

‘You don’t have to worry,’ Leah said, reaching across to touch Trish gently on her arm. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong.’

‘Haven’t I?’ Trish’s eyes suddenly filled. ‘I’ve been sleeping with a married man, Leah. Trying to take him away from his wife and family. That’s not right. I know she loves him. And so do his kids. My mother would be utterly ashamed of me, if she knew…’

Leah handed over the paper napkin that came with her lunch, shaking her head as Trish made a right mess of her makeup with her tears.

‘Break it off with him, Trish,’ she advised. ‘Give yourself a chance to find someone else.’

‘It’s all very well for you to say that, Leah,’ Trish said with a flash of envious eyes as she mopped up her tears. ‘You could get any man you want. Just look at you. You’re utterly gorgeous, and you’re not even wearing much makeup.’

‘Skin-deep beauty is not all it’s cracked up to be, Trish. Or a recipe for success with men. My first husband dumped me.’

Trish blinked her surprise. ‘What? I didn’t even know you’d been married!’

Leah had carefully avoided mentioning Carl. When she’d filled in her application form she’d put single as her status. And when she chatted with the girls at work, she always carefully steered the conversations round to their lives, not hers.

When they occasionally asked her about her love life, she always said she was between boyfriends. When any of her coworkers asked her on a Monday morning what she’d done that weekend, she say she’d gone home to visit her widowed father. She had admitted she’d lost her mother in a car accident not long back, but had never mentioned her marriage. Or her hated scars.

‘How long were you married for?’ Trish asked.

‘Six months.’

‘He left you after six months!’

Leah smiled a dry smile at Trish’s bug-eyed surprise. ‘Why do you think I’m a bit cynical at times?’

‘I don’t think you’re cynical. I think you’re very nice.’

Leah laughed. ‘Scratch the surface and you’ll find a bitter divorcée.’

‘Really? Well, at least that explains why you don’t have a boyfriend. I was beginning to think you were having an affair with a married man too, and didn’t want to admit it. But I can see now that that’s not your style.’

‘Certainly not,’ Leah said. ‘And, Trish, please don’t mention my marriage to anyone.’

‘Why not? People wonder about you, you know.’

‘What? Why?’

‘Because you’re clearly too good for this job, Leah. It’s not just the way you look, but the way you talk, and walk. You went to one of those schools, didn’t you? The kind that does deportment and stuff. I’ll bet you were an aspiring model at one stage. Or an actress.’