Taming the Last St Claire by Carole Mortimer Read Free Book Online Page B

She gave a mocking salute before turning to go back to her own office.
    ‘Joey?’
    She looked back at him with guarded eyes. ‘Yes?’
    ‘Put some shoes on, hmm? It sets a bad example for the troops!’
    Joey’s husky laugh was completely spontaneous, and the shake of her head rueful as she sobered. ‘Be careful, Gideon—you might start to develop that sense of humour, after all!’
    His mouth twisted wryly. ‘I doubt it, when I have that I’m-so-superior stick up my backside.’
    She looked ashamed. ‘I shouldn’t have said that to you.’
    Gideon shrugged. ‘Why not? If it’s what you really think.’
    Joey was no longer sure
what
she thought of him. Maybe there were reasons why Gideon was always so emotionally shut-off? An impression that had been severely dented earlier, when he’d admitted that he missed his own twin as much as Joey missed hers, she had to acknowledge.
    The break-up of his parents’ marriage when Gideon was only ten years old couldn’t have been a pleasant experience. Stephanie had confided in her that Alexander St Claire’s abandonment of his wife and three sons twenty-five years ago had definitely affected Jordan’s opinion of long-term relationships. Perhaps Gideon had similar issues? Maybe that was the reason—
    Good Lord—she couldn’t actually be making
excuses
for this man’s coldness, could she?
    ‘Would you please leave, Joey, and allow me to get on with some work?’ he growled, and at the same time pointedly moved to sit behind his desk.
    No, Joey answered her own question. She certainly
wasn’t
about to make excuses for Gideon; he
was
cold and arrogant and superior, and every other uncomplimentary name she had ever called him—to his face or otherwise!
    Gideon watched through narrowed lids as Joey finally left his office, waiting until the door had clicked firmly closed behind her before leaning against the back of his chair to let out a deep sigh.
    He was acutely aware that the reason he had moved so quickly to sit behind Lucan’s desk was because he was once again aroused by thoughts of passionately kissing Joey McKinley—and he wanted to do more to her than just kiss her, damn it!
    Three weeks, six days, and one hour and thirty minutes of this torture left to get through…
    ‘Need any help? ‘
    Joey closed her eyes and wished herself anywhere but down on her knees in the underground car park of the St Claire Corporation, with Gideon looming over her as she attempted to replace the tyre that had gone flat since she’d left her car parked there that morning.
    She had left her office a little before six o’clock, convinced by the silence in the adjoining office that Gideon had already left for the day—until she’d arrived in the underground car park and seen their cars were the only two still parked there. Even so, she had still hoped to get away before Gideon came down in the lift.
    It was a hope that had been dashed once she had approached her car and found that the front tyre on the driver’s side was completely flat. Which was why, after trying to pump the thing up again with no success, Joey was now down on her knees on the blanket she had spread on the oil-spattered concrete, attempting to replace the wheelwith the spare from the boot of her car. She’d heard the lift descending and then Gideon walking over to her.
    ‘It’s nothing I can’t handle,’ she assured him as she continued to struggle with that last nut.
    ‘Would you like me to—?’
    ‘No!’
    Gideon bit back a smile at Joey’s vehemence, well aware of the reason for it, and knowing that she didn’t like appearing at a disadvantage any more than he did. ‘Perhaps I could—?’
    ‘Perhaps you could just get into your damned car, drive away and let me get on with this!’ she grated as she turned to glare up at him.
    Maybe he would have done just that if he’d thought she was ever going to be able to get that wheel off and replace it with the spare. Although perhaps not: one