IT was quite a long way from the canteen to the office of the Editor of the Daily Globe, especially when one was carrying a tray holding two tea cups, a pot of tea, milk and sugar, but Briony Winters was used to it. Her small, slight frame belied her strength just as her soft, feminine features belied her nature.
She pushed open the door of the outer office, which was hers, noticing with a frown the heavy masculine topcoat flung carelessly over the spare chair. Doug Simons, her boss, often had visitors, but very few of them wore coats like that. It was wool, and expensive, meticulously tailored and lined in silk. Briony put down the tray, wondering about whether to give up her own cup for the visitor, when she realised that the inner door was not quite closed.
âWell, youâll have no problems with the job, of course,â Doug was saying. âNot after working on the Telegraph.â
âWhich, I take it, means I could have in other areas.â
Although the manâs voice was faintly muffled, there was no mistaking its hard inflexibility, and Briony frowned, her lips drawing together in a cold line.
âWell, itâs just Brionyâ¦â
The very mention of her own name should have been sufficient to send her out of earshot, but despite allegations among the male staff of the paper to the contrary, Briony was only human.
âBriony?â
Again that note of sharp query.
âBriony Winters, my secretary,â Doug supplied. âWell, your secretary now. She might give you a hard time at first⦠until she gets used to you.â
âShe mightâ¦? My God, no wonder your sales are slipping if you allow your secretary to dictate to you, Doug!â
The coolly insolent words made Brionyâs fingers curl angrily into her palms. For two pins sheâd march right into Dougâs office and demand to know exactly why he thought it necessary to explain to his replacement that he might have âproblemsâ. Didnât she fulfil her secretarial duties with a good deal more efficiency and effectiveness than any of the other secretaries?
She had been away on a fortnightâs holiday when the news of Dougâs promotion broke and had come back to find the paper in an uproar, with Doug due to leave for New York only three days after his replacement arrived. Since the Globe had been taken over by an American newspaper group, such transatlantic moves had become commonplace, and Briony hadnât been unduly surprised to hear that Dougâs replacement was from the States. She herself didnât particularly like American men. They were inclined to be brash and noisy. And worse, they didnât know when to take ânoâ for an answer. She stared angrily at the door. Doug had no right⦠no right at all to discuss her like this.
âWhat is she?â she heard the other man say sardonically. âSome sort of female dragon? A Womenâs Libber with her hair in a bun and thick ankles?â
âNo way,â Doug said dryly. âAs it happens, sheâs got one of the sexiest bodies Iâve ever seen.â
Outside the door Briony writhed in furious resentment. Doug had never given the slightest inkling that he had even noticed her body, and if he had she wouldnât have continued to work for him.
âWoe betide you if you try to touch it, though,â Doug was warning his companion. âBriony has a hang-up where men are concerned. She canât stand them, and it isnât a sham. Something to do with something that happened in her teens.â
âA teenage romance goes wrong and turns her into a man-hater? Come on, Doug. These are the nineteen-eighties!â
âWell, some people take things harder than others. Iâm just warning you to take things easy. Sheâs the best secretary Iâve ever hadâworks hard and is meticulously efficient.â
âMaybe so,â the hard voice said curtly. âBut if she wants the kid glove treatment she shouldnât be working on a paper. Secretaries are expendable, Doug,â the man added in a bored voice, âeven the best of them.â
Briony gripped her desk, her voice white with fear and shock. There had been redundancies on the paper the summer before and she had been terrified, then, that she might lose her job. It was something she darenât even contemplate. She depended on it too heavily. It paid well, and Doug had always been flexible about hours, which had been an added bonus. But now Doug was leaving and she would be working for a man she had already decided she hated, without even meeting him. He was still talking to Doug, and she moved away from the door on legs suddenly weak and trembling. Whoever he was, he was no American. His accent was English. She could tell that even though his voice was muffled by the door.
The intercom buzzed and she flicked it down, her voice coolly remote as she answered Doug.
âCome into my office for a moment, would you, Briony?â he requested. âThereâs someone here Iâd like you to meet.â