In spite of herself, Jennifer laughed and took up the drink. ‘I’ll make a note.’
‘Great,’ she said. ‘And while you’re doing that I’ll go and see if I can track down our elusive Mr Andrews.’
‘Thanks, Anna.’
Anna turned on her heel and headed for the door, pausing on the threshold just long enough to say, ‘You know, maybe you should take a leaf out of his book some time and take a break. Leave him to pick up the pieces for a change.’
Jennifer gave a non-committal snort. Anna meant well, but seriously, there was no way in hell she would leave the company in his hands. Not now.
She looked out to the buzzing office on the other side of the glass wall, to the employees she had a duty to protect, and decided she had to push for his signature on the Shareholders’ Agreement. She didn’t like to force it, but it was time.
Her solicitor would certainly be relieved. He’d made no bones about how stupid he thought she’d been to continue operating without one. But, hell, she’d been naïve and young, thinking some great gift had come her way when Tony had offered up the joint venture. She hadn’t thought for a second that he would change so much, that he would destroy her trust so spectacularly.
Her mind decided, she wiggled her mouse to wake up her computer screen and Marcus Wright stared right back at her, filling it up.
Yes, she’d looked him up. Yes, it had been the first thing she’d done when she’d hit the office at seven a.m.
It hadn’t taken her long to find out enough. It was surprising she hadn’t come across him, considering they worked in the same industry. But then she didn’t focus on the people, rather on the companies and what they were churning out. And she knew of his company plenty well enough.
As for him—he was big news. Well-regarded, highly esteemed—not only in the business world but for his charity work too. His name came with accolade after accolade. The perfect chocolate box mix. And now she’d sampled him how was she supposed to move on?
She groaned again. Her head landed on her palm as she sulked into his photo.
?
??Why couldn’t you come along in ten years’ time?’ she muttered, twirling the mouse pointer over his delectable mouth. He was perfect. Both sexually and on paper. Her absolute Mr Right. Only she wasn’t ready.
Her eyes slid to the family photo on her desk—Mum, Dad, her sister, her—all so happy. Especially her. She’d been leaving for university that day, buzzing with excitement over the future. No one could have known that twenty-four hours later her dad would no longer be with them. Taken too soon by a heart attack brought on by his determination to be everything to everyone.
And she’d made a promise—to herself and to him—that she would be the success he had dreamed of her being. That she would secure the future he had wanted for them all.
But she wouldn’t make the same mistake and pursue it all at once—a successful career and a family of her own.
She wanted both, but a relationship, her own family—that could wait. She was only twenty-eight. She had time to wait for her financial circumstances and the company structure to be such that she could strike the right balance.
At least that was what she’d thought before her mum had got sick. Now she wasn’t so sure of anything. Her tummy twisted painfully and she pressed her palms into the desk.
Get back to work...you’re safe with work.
She looked at the computer screen and promptly closed down Mr Distraction. It was for the best. Losing herself in spreadsheets would help and she had work to do: financing the new product stream, sorting out resources...
Her thoughts trailed away, her eyes trailing with them, and the sight of someone exiting the lift across the office caught her eye.
It wasn’t... It couldn’t... What the fuck?
She catapulted out of her seat, knocking over her coffee in the process. The steaming liquid seeped across her desk, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t care. Her entire being was set on the man striding with absolute confidence towards her office—Marcus!
Excitement surged, her pulse tripped, and alarm bells resounded through her head as her best-laid plans sensed jeopardy. But he’d tracked her down, sought her out, and her heart swelled even as her stance hardened.
You can’t have him.
The shrill ring of her phone jarred her. It was Anna. Blindly, she pressed the button. ‘Not now.’
‘But I have Tony on the line.’
Jennifer could sense the girl’s frown, could see her turn to look at her through the glass from her desk outside.
‘He says it’s urgent.’