Taming the Last St Claire (2 page)

‘Joey.’

His nostrils flared with obvious distaste. ‘Would you object if I were to call you Josephine?’

‘Not at all—as long as you don’t mind me reacting the same way I did the last time someone tried to do that,’ she came back breezily. ‘He ended up with a black eye,’ she supplied with a smile as Gideon raised questioning blond brows.

One of those brows remained raised. ‘You don’t like the name Josephine?’

‘Obviously not.’

This was not going well, Gideon accepted heavily. He had come to the conclusion, during the hours since Lucan had spoken to him on Saturday evening, that the only solution to this problem was for him to talk to Joey and calmly and logically explain why he didn’t feel they could work together, before waving her a cheery goodbye and getting on with his role of acting chairman of the St Claire Corporation. For heaven’s sake, she must be as aware as he was of their different approaches to—well,
everything!

A reasonable and well thought out plan, he had believed at the time. Until he had actually been faced with the abrasively outspoken woman in person. Just these few minutes of conversation with her was enough to show him that his conclusion had been entirely correct. However, he’d also swiftly realised that any suggestion on his part that she might care to rethink agreeing to work with him for a month would probably only result in the contrary Joey McKinley doing the exact opposite.

For once in Gideon’s well-ordered life he had no idea what to do or say to best achieve his objective. He just knew
he couldn’t tolerate working in close proximity with this forthright young woman for four weeks and stay sane!

Even if she did have the singing voice of an angel…

The fact that Lucan had announced he was taking a whole month off for his honeymoon, during which he intended to be completely incommunicado except for absolute emergencies, was extraordinary in itself.

Not that Gideon should have been surprised—both his brothers had been behaving in a completely unpredictable manner since they had met and as quickly married the two women they had fallen in love with. It wasn’t that he didn’t like both Stephanie and Lexie—he did. It was the change in his two brothers that he found… unsettling.

Jordan, an A-list actor who had enjoyed any number of relationships with beautiful actresses and models during the past ten years, had surprisingly fallen in love with his physiotherapist two months ago, and showed every appearance of continuing to be totally besotted with Stephanie now the two of them were married. To the extent that the filming of his current movie was completely scheduled around the hours Stephanie worked at the clinic she had opened since moving to LA.

And until Lucan had met and fallen in love with Lexie he had never taken more than a few days away from the company he had built up into one of the most diverse and successful in the world. In fact,
driven
was the word Gideon would most have associated with his older brother until the advent of Lexie into his life only a few short weeks ago.

It was a word that could have been associated with all three of the St Claire brothers since they’d reached adulthood and entered their chosen professions: Gideon in law, Jordan in acting, Lucan in the world of business.

All of that had changed in the past two months, and as a man who preferred order and continuity Gideon was still
trying to come to terms with it. Something he wasn’t likely to do with the annoying Joey McKinley haunting his every working moment!

‘Very well, then. Joey it is.’ He gave an almost imperceptible sigh. ‘I’m sure that Pickard, Pickard and Wright—Jason Pickard, in particular—was sorry to see you go.’

‘See me go where, exactly?’

Gideon eyed her impatiently. Really, nothing he had heard about this woman had ever given him reason to question her intelligence.
‘Here,
of course.’

Joey looked taken aback. ‘I’m sorry, but you’ll have to explain what you mean. Especially the “Jason Pickard, in particular” remark,’ she added coolly.

Gideon wasn’t enjoying having this personal conversation in the middle of a private car park, of all places, where any of the other company employees might arrive at any moment. Admittedly it was only a little after eight o’clock in the morning, and most St Claire Corporation employees didn’t arrive until nearly nine o’clock, but it would be most unprofessional for anyone to arrive early and see the acting chairman at loggerheads with an unknown woman in the car park.

Gideon closed the distance between them in three long strides, to stand only feet away from Joey, and instantly became uncomfortably aware of the light but heady perfume she wore. The choice of perfume was a surprise; Gideon would have thought, with her forceful personality, that she would wear one of those I’m-here-notice-me perfumes. The type of perfume that tended to give Gideon a headache the moment he inhaled. Instead, it was a delicate, subtly sensuous scent that made him react in an immediate way he intended to ignore.

His mouth thinned. ‘I was merely trying to express my sympathy at how unreasonable it was of Lucan to ask you
to give up your place at Pickard, Pickard and Wright in order to work here for only four weeks.’

Joey found herself momentarily distracted as she watched Gideon move, with the lean and predatory grace of a jungle cat.

Once again she considered it a perfect waste of a gorgeous man that he was as tightly buttoned down as the points on the collar of his pristine white shirt. A little effort on Gideon’s part—and fewer disapproving looks!—and the man wouldn’t only be arrogantly handsome but also totally devastating to any female with a pulse and a heartbeat.

If he would just grow his hair a little longer he would look younger, and also rakishly sexy. Ditto as regards those conservative tailored suits he always wore. Put him in a pair of faded jeans and a figure-hugging black T-shirt, to show off his muscled chest and arms, and any woman with red blood in her veins was likely to have an orgasm just looking at him!

Joey smiled wickedly to herself, imagining the look of horror that would no doubt come over his arrogantly handsome face if he were even to
guess
at the inappropriateness of the thoughts she was having about him.

‘Do you find something amusing?’

It
was
amusing to imagine a more relaxed and sexy Gideon St Claire, as he attempted to fend off the attentions of all those panting women! But it was not so funny that Joey was actually aware of how much more dangerously attractive this man could be if he would just lighten up a little…

She gave herself a mental shake as she looked up into that darkly disapproving face; this man really wasn’t her type. She preferred men with the daring and energy to try anything new; Gideon gave the impression that the last
new thing he had tried was wearing black socks instead of grey!

She drew in a deep breath. ‘Oh, but I haven’t given up my place at Pickard, Pickard and Wright; the senior partners were only too happy to give me a month’s leave of absence so I can help Lucan out.’

Something, Gideon realised with rising impatience, that must have taken some time to arrange. ‘Exactly
when
did Lucan make all these arrangements?’

‘Three weeks ago—’ Joey broke off to look up at him with narrowed, assessing eyes. ‘When did Lucan break the bad news to
you?’

Gideon stiffened. ‘I don’t remember saying I regard it as bad news.’

‘You implied it,’ she dismissed shortly. ‘So—when? ‘

His jaw tightened. ‘I really don’t see—’

‘He only told you at the wedding on Saturday, didn’t he?’ she realised slowly.

Gideon had absolutely no idea why it was he always felt less in control of the situation around this particular woman. During his years in a courtroom he knew he’d acquired a reputation for being formidable. Now, as a corporate lawyer for Lucan’s vast companies worldwide, he knew he was regarded as being no less ruthless than his older brother. And yet just having a conversation with the unpredictable Joey McKinley was enough to set his teeth on edge. To set the
whole
of him on edge, in fact…

‘He did, didn’t he?’ Joey said with satisfaction, those green eyes now openly laughing at him. ‘It probably totally ruined the rest of your weekend, too!’

Gideon’s fingers tightened about the handle of his black briefcase. ‘My weekend was perfectly enjoyable, thank you,’ he lied stiffly. ‘In fact I had lunch with Stephanie
and Jordan yesterday, as they are flying back to LA early today.’

‘And I had breakfast with them this morning, before driving them to the airport, and neither of them mentioned you’d asked for my telephone number. Which I’d have thought you
would
have done if you had wanted to have this conversation with me earlier.’ Joey McKinley gave a taunting shake of her head.

It
had
crossed Gideon’s mind, in fact, to ask Stephanie for her sister’s private telephone number, but on consideration he had decided not to involve either of their families in what was, after all, a private clash of personalities.

‘Or maybe you just didn’t want either of them to jump to the wrong conclusions?’

He scowled his displeasure. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘By you asking for my home telephone number. I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to give Steph and Jordan the impression that you have a personal interest in me,’ she answered mockingly.

Gideon drew in yet another deep, controlling breath—a futile exercise, he thought wryly. He couldn’t remember feeling as rattled as this in a long time. ‘I believe that’s very unlikely.’

‘You do?’

Was it his imagination, or was Joey suddenly standing closer than she had been a few seconds ago? So close that Gideon could actually see the full swell of her breasts and the top of the lacy cup of her bra, and the pulse beating smoothly, enticingly, at the base of her throat.

Dear Lord…

His gaze turned to ice. ‘Surely you recognise just from this conversation that we can’t possibly work together?’

She was suddenly all business again as she straightened. ‘My arrangement is with Lucan, Gideon—not you. And I
make a point of never letting people down once I’ve agreed to do something. A character trait I believe you share?’

It appeared that Joey was as aware of parts of Gideon’s nature as he was of hers! ‘I’m sure that Pickard, Pickard and Wright are more in need of your professional skills than I am,’ he pointed out smoothly.

‘On the contrary, they were only too happy to accommodate Lucan’s request,’ she assured him.

Of course they were, he thought derisively. No doubt Pickard, Pickard and Wright were perfectly aware of the prestige of allowing one of their associates to work at the St Claire Corporation for a month. Being asked for personally by a man of Lucan St Claire’s standing in the business world wouldn’t do Joey McKinley’s career any harm, either.

‘So, Gideon, Lucan’s happy with the arrangement, Pickard, Pickard and Wright are happy with the arrangement and I’m happy with the arrangement—it appears
you’re
the only one who isn’t.’ She looked him straight in the eye—an obvious challenge.

Gideon coldly returned that gaze. ‘I don’t recall saying I was unhappy with it.’

‘No?’

‘No.’

‘Then that little problem appears to have been settled to everyone’s satisfaction, doesn’t it,’ she dismissed lightly.

Like hell it was! As far as Gideon was concerned, having Joey in the St Claire building for the next four weeks was totally unacceptable.

She cut into his dire thoughts with another equally unwelcome sally. ‘Perhaps now you would care to explain exactly what you meant when you commented that “Jason Pickard, in particular” would have been sorry to see me go?’

Gideon realised she wasn’t being deliberately provocative
any more. Her emotions were now much more subtle. On the surface she sounded pleasantly interested, but he recognised the anger burning beneath that supposedly calm surface; it was there in the sparkling green of her eyes and the flush to those creamy cheeks. Although why she should feel that way Gideon had no idea; everyone in the close-knit law community knew that she had been involved with the junior Pickard for the past six months.

He shrugged broad shoulders. ‘It’s public knowledge that the two of you are friends.’

‘That’s exactly what we are—
friends
,’ she stated evenly. ‘Nothing more, nothing less.’

‘I apologise if I’ve stepped on your personal toes.’

‘I’ve just told you that you haven’t,’ she said.

Gideon’s mouth thinned. ‘I’m not prepared to get into an argument with you over a perfectly innocent remark which I have already apologised for.’

‘Does anyone ever dare to argue with you, Gideon?’ Joey McKinley eyed him with obvious frustration.

‘Obviously,’ he drawled, looking at her pointedly.

‘This isn’t an argument, Gideon, it’s a dialogue,’ she snapped.

He shook his head. ‘I really don’t have time for this, so if you wouldn’t mind—’

‘But I
do
mind, Gideon.’ She was suddenly standing much too close to him again as she interrupted him ruthlessly. So close that he could feel the warmth of her breath against his jaw as the three-inch stiletto heels on her shoes brought the top of her head to his eye level.

Gideon dearly wished he had never started this conversation. That he had just picked up one of the boxes from the boot of this woman’s bright red Mini and travelled up in the lift with her, before shutting himself away for the day in Lucan’s office.

He was thirty-four years old, successful in his chosen career, and the brief and businesslike affairs he occasionally indulged in rarely even registered on the scale of his emotions. Other than the affection Gideon felt for his two brothers and his mother, he preferred to keep a physical and emotional distance from the rest of humanity.

It was difficult to do that around the forceful Joey McKinley. Especially when she was now so close to him that he could smell the lemon of her shampoo, and see the auburn, gold and cinnamon highlights in that glossy red hair. An unusual colour that Gideon knew didn’t come out of a bottle, because her twin sister had hair with exactly the same beautiful autumn shades.