Midnight Under the Mistletoe Read Free Page A

nodded and headed over to her desk, feeling her back
prickle because she suspected Zach’s gaze was on her. She sat down and looked at
the piles of work in front of her, remembering the angry statements from Brenna
about Zach Delaney heaping mountains of work on her. It looked like a lot
now—hopefully, by the end of the day, she would have made a big enough dent in
the stacks to get to keep this job.
    Still conscious of him across the room, Emma reached for a
stack. As she began to read the first letter, she tried to keep from glancing
his way. She pushed the stack aside and picked up a tablet with a bold
handwriting. The writing to be typed looked the most time-consuming, so she
started with it. In minutes she managed to put Zach out of her thoughts.
    When she finished each task, she placed it in the proper pile.
Standing, she gathered the work she had completed and put papers for Zach into
his in-box. His back was turned as he worked at his computer and she looked at
the thick hair curling on the back of his head.
    She had not expected to be working in the same room with him.
Also, she hadn’t expected to work for someone who took her breath and set her
pulse racing just by a glance from his sky-blue eyes.
    With a deep sigh, she placed letters in the box for mail and
then she started to file.
    She looked across the room to see him setting papers in a pile.
He picked up the letters in his in-box, glanced at her to catch her watching him
again. She turned away to work on her computer, in seconds concentrating on what
she was doing for the next half hour. She finished another stack and picked them
up to take to his in-box and this time when she glanced his way, she met his
gaze.
    He seemed to be sitting and watching her. She picked up the
papers and carried them to his desk, all the time aware of his steady
observation.
    As she started to put the letters into the box, he took them
and riffled through them before looking at her. “You’re a fast worker. And an
accurate one.”
    “Thank you. I try to be.”
    “I figured with all the work I’ve piled on you this morning,
you’d be out of here as fast as the others.”
    “I intend to stay,” she said, amused, and realizing he might
have been testing to see how she worked. She went back to her desk, again having
that tingly feeling across her shoulders, certain he was watching her.
    When she glanced at him, he had settled back to read. In
seconds, he placed the letter in the stack beside him on his desk.
    What kind of man did she work for? When she had gone to work at
Z.A.D. Enterprises, she hadn’t given much thought to the head of the business
because she’d heard he was rarely in the Dallas office. The business comprised
primarily of demolition, but also had a trucking company, an architectural firm
and a concrete company. The international company had offices scattered
worldwide and she heard Zachary Delaney traveled constantly from site to site,
something she would detest. Other than that and the recent grumbling by Brenna,
she knew little about him. Not one of the secretaries who had preceded her had
said anything about his appeal, about his looks, about anything except he had
proven difficult to work for. Maya, as well as Brenna, had thought he was
unreceptive and uncommunicative. All had complained the workload was too heavy
and she had to agree it was a lot, but it made time fly. On the other hand,
around the office the word had always been that he was friendly. Perhaps part of
his surly reputation with some secretaries was caused by his being injured and
isolated on a ranch.
    She returned to the stack, until she heard the scrape of a
chair.
    He stood and stretched, flexing muscles in his arms. When he
glanced her way, she was embarrassed to be caught staring at him again.
    “Want some lunch?” Without waiting for her answer, he motioned.
“C’mon, we’ll get something to eat. Rosie will have something fixed.”
    “Thank you,” she said. “I still have