âAND how is my ever delightful and worthy Miss Worthington this morning?â
Lucy gritted her teeth against a seething wave of resentment, almost hating the man who clearly had no idea how such blithely tossed off words lacerated her heart.
The breezy greeting from her boss probably meant heâd spent a highly pleasurable night with his latest woman. His voice lilted with macho smugness, a sure sign of sexual satisfaction, and his playful play on her surname accentuated the fact that Lucy wasnât the type heâd toss in his bed, however delightful she might be to work with. Worthy women didnât excite him.
Though if her breasts were big enough to fill and overflow a D-cup bra, he might consider her more bed-worthy, Lucy thought caustically, ungritting her teeth and turning from the filing cabinet to direct a bland smile at the sexy wolf who employed her as his sensible secretary.
âGood morning, sir,â she piped sweetly.
James Hancock was the classic tall dark and handsome prototype, with the potent addition of a shrewd business brain and the kind of charm that won friends and influenced all the right people. He was thirty-four, in the prime of life, had the well-earned reputation of being a dynamic agent in the entertainment field, which helped make him an A-list bachelor in Sydney society, and he was definitely exuding an air of being on top of his world.
His rakish black eyebrows lifted. âSir?â
She cocked her head on one side, returning his quizzical look. âWerenât you cueing me to greet you formally with your Miss Worthington?â
He laughed, his blue eyes twinkling devilish delight. âThe comeback queen strikes again. What would I do without you to entertain me, Lucy?â
Resentment crawled down her spine and loosened her tongue. âI imagine youâd quickly find someone else to score off.â
âScore off?â he repeated incredulously. âMy dear Lucy, the scoring honours invariably go to you.â
âReally? I hadnât noticed.â
She picked up the files sheâd extracted from the cabinet and carried them to her desk, ready to hand them over to him.
âIt comes naturally to you,â he assured her, grinning from ear to ear. âOne of the joys of office hours, hearing your salty down-to-earth comments. They invariably reduce all the hype in this business to whatâs real and what isnât. An invaluable talent.â
âInvaluable enough to be worth a raise in salary?â
âOuch!â He mockingly slapped a hand against his forehead. âShe strikes again.â
âPure logic, James,â she pointed out with limpid innocence while savagely wanting him to pay for seeing her as nothing but a bottom line sounding board when it came to dealing with his high-flying clients. âYouâll need to check these files while answering this morningâs e-mails. Is there anything else you need from me right now?â she asked, pressing for him to enter his own office and leave her alone to get over the frustrations he aroused in her.
He ignored the files, shaking an admonishing finger at her. âYouâre a money-grubber, Lucy Worthington.â
She shrugged. âA woman has to look out for herself these days. I just donât believe in free meal-tickets.â Which was a neat little jibe at the women he favoured, women who traded on lush physical assets to get where they wanted.
âHa!â James crowed. âI gave you free tickets to tonightâs charity bash.â
âOh?â Lucy viewed him with sceptical eyes. âYouâre not expecting anything of me, like being conveniently on hand to fix up some last-minute hitch with the program?â
âCompletely free,â he insisted loftily.
âHow novel!â She smiled. âI might just keep you to that, James.â
âA reward for all the good work youâve done in putting the program together.â
Since the tickets were a thousand dollars each and her salary was already generous, Lucy couldnât, in all conscience, imply she wasnât well rewarded for the job she did. âThank you. I shall look forward to relaxing and enjoying myself tonight,â she said dismissively while still doubting the tickets were entirely free of obligation.