Caught on Camera with the CEO

Alex blinked, came out of the haze and watched, seeing now what he’d felt so gloriously at the time. His back was to the camera but you could see her face as he kissed her lips, her jaw, her neck. Her eyes were closed, her hands caressed his shoulders, his hair. Passionate. Beautiful. And then came the moment, her legs parted, wrapped around his waist and his body reacted now as it had then. Instantly hardening, instantly burning, insisting on getting closer.

And then the bloody lift moved. It had been over far too quickly.

‘You’re watching it again, aren’t you?’

Alex flinched. Hell, he’d forgotten Lorenzo was still on the phone. He’d forgotten he was sitting in an airport lounge. Fortunately it was a midweek red-eye flight and the other patrons were too busy slurping the rotten coffee to pay any attention to him.

‘It looks pretty good,’ Lorenzo added blandly. ‘You’re getting some star ratings.’

Alex scrolled down, read the first few comments and felt his face fire up like some mortified teen caught making out with his first girlfriend—by his grandma.

‘Who is she?’ Lorenzo might sound indifferent, but Alex knew his friend was as agog as he got.

‘I don’t know.’

‘What do you mean you don’t know?’

‘She’s a temp. Started last week. I don’t know her name.’

Lorenzo’s chuckle didn’t help. ‘Well, you better find out—this thing is doing the rounds of every inbox in the office.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘Wish I was, but I’ve been sent it three times already this morning—and once from a colleague in Hong Kong.’

Anger surged into Alex’s veins. He didn’t need this and she didn’t deserve it. It had been a whim—a crazy, lusty whim and one right on the edge of his code. Alex Carlisle never seduced temps or coworkers—too messy. Especially given he was the boss. But the irresistible force of her had felled him. And was still affecting him—wasn’t that why he was sitting here now doing nothing? Despite having been up for hours he hadn’t achieved a thing because he was too busy plotting how he could get close to her again as soon as he got back to Auckland. How did he do it without breaking his own rules?

‘What would your old man say?’ Lorenzo laughed again. ‘Screwing around in the office, Alex, bad you.’

Alex iced over and pressed pause on the playback. He hadn’t told Lorenzo what he’d found out. It was proved—the chance of the DNA results being wrong were so tiny no lawyer in the land would dare argue it. Samuel Carlisle wasn’t Alex’s father. Instead it was his best friend who’d supplied the necessary chromosomes. The friend who’d been on the periphery of Alex’s childhood—the honorary uncle, the godfather figure—hell, he’d even been the one to offer advice when Alex had doubted whether he’d wanted to go into the family business.

‘You’re a Carlisle—it’s in your blood.’

Patrick had lied so easily.

Alex had found out only a few years after that that Samuel couldn’t be his biological father. When illness had struck, Alex had offered his body, his blood. But it didn’t match Samuel’s—at all. His mother had begged him not to tell, but she’d refused to say who his real father was. She’d taken that secret to the grave with her.

Alex couldn’t then ask Samuel—couldn’t destroy his last years. But Alex had been burnt through from the inside out by the betrayal. Anger, resentment had festered, his trust severed. And in the quiet dark hours the unanswered question had tormented him.

But now he knew. Patrick had been her lover. Patrick had fathered her child. The pair of them had lied for years to the man she was married to. They’d lied to him, their son.

And Alex would never forgive either of them for it.

He needed time before he could speak of it—even to his best friend. But before he got to that, there was now this situation to be sorted.

He forced out a half-laugh as he looked at the image on screen. Caught out the one time he went base at work. Just the icing on the way the last week had gone.

‘I’m flying back shortly. Meet me at my place this afternoon.’ He hung up before Lorenzo could say more. Stared at the way her hands threaded through his hair and her legs clamped round his waist.

The anger simmering beneath his skin spiked through. He wished he could storm into Security, find the culprits and fire them on the spot. Every single one of them. But going on the hunt would only inflame the situation. He’d have to make do with a memo reminding them of the ‘Use of Internet’ policy. He couldn’t get rid of them—at least, not yet.

Damn.

The other person he couldn’t sack was her—straight to litigation that would be. But it was going to be pretty messy with everyone in the office watching this little number. How was he going to protect her?

He didn’t even know her name.

CHAPTER TWO

DANI wondered what it was she’d done wrong. She’d been temping here for over a week and until today they’d all been polite and friendly. All except Mr Alex Carlisle, that was. But she wasn’t thinking about him. Definitely not fixated on what had to have been the craziest few minutes of her life. She’d forget it. He obviously had, because she hadn’t seen him since—he’d disappeared from the floor, hadn’t been down loitering by the managers’ desks at all since The Lift. She refused to acknowledge the sting she felt over that. And she hadn’t been able to swap to a placement with another company; there were no other placements—none that lasted as long and paid the same kind of money. So, embarrassed or not, she was here to stay.

But the looks she was getting from everyone else today. The number of people that had filed past her desk…and they’d all been rubbernecking. There was no way they could know what had happened. He wouldn’t have told anyone, would he?

Maybe she had half her breakfast on her face. She ducked behind her computer screen and used a tissue. Surely they didn’t know. How could they? They’d been alone. It hadn’t been long—not nearly long enough for her starved hormones—only a few minutes. They’d been a metre apart when those lift doors opened because he’d been aware enough to move. She hadn’t. So, given that he’d moved, he hadn’t wanted them to be caught. Therefore, Dani reasoned, they couldn’t know and she was just feeling paranoid. Besides, it was days ago now. And she. Had. Forgotten. It.

But there was an unnatural awareness about the place. She could feel them all watching her. And she couldn’t help but think of him again. She’d been told he had a way with women, but she hadn’t realised he had more pulling power than the sun.

She couldn’t put all the responsibility on him, though, could she—hadn’t she deliberately lifted her chin at him? Hadn’t she deliberately looked him over as he had her? Hadn’t she widened her stance—preparing for battle but also preparing for contact?

She had. And she hadn’t exactly given him a cool, back-off response. She’d enjoyed every second of it, far more than she’d thought it was possible to enjoy a kiss. And that was terrifying. To want like that made you weak.

The office stirred, as if an invisible wave were working its way through. She glanced over her screen. Not invisible. This was a tidal wave and she was in its path—for that was the HR dragon, wasn’t it, heading straight for her?

‘Danielle? Could you come with me, please?’

For some reason a power-that-be like her could make Dani feel guilty just by the way she said her name. But Dani hadn’t done anything wrong. OK, she hadn’t been quite at her usual output level, but she hadn’t been bad. Something was definitely up. She was aware of the sudden stillness in the office—no one was talking, no one was moving. They were all, she realised, watching her. She lifted her head that little bit higher—don’t show weakness.

‘Shall we take the lift?’ The dragon seemed to have a gleam in her eyes.

No way could she know about the lift. Could she? ‘I’d prefer the stairs,’ Dani answered quietly.

That was definitely a smirk. Quickly covered, but it had flashed in her eyes and on the edges of her mouth. Then there was nothing—just chilly silence all the way up the stairs to the executive level, even heavier silence in the corridor, only when the door closed behind her as she entered the woman’s office was there the slightest noise. She wasn’t invited to sit down. The woman just turned and spoke.

‘I’m sorry but your recruitment agency has been in touch. Apparently there is a problem with your file.’

‘A problem?’ What kind of problem? Dani’s blood ran cold. Surely it wasn’t about her father. She’d passed bank security clearances in Australia despite his record. They’d investigated and known it was nothing to do with her—that she’d been a victim as much as the others he’d ripped off. But maybe in New Zealand they had different rules?

‘I’m not entirely sure—you’ll need to talk to your agent about that. However—’ the woman was robot-like ‘—it means we’re unable to have you working here any longer.’

‘What?’ She couldn’t lose this job. She just couldn’t. She was down to her last dollars. Literally—her last fifty or so. She’d come over too soon, hadn’t saved enough, but she’d been so lonely and so desperate to find him. She’d waited long enough—so had he.

‘The agency has the money for the days you’ve already worked this week. If you go and see them, you’ll be able to collect it.’ Her tone was utterly dismissive. Final.

‘I’m to go now?’ Dani gaped.

‘Yes. Gather your belongings and leave immediately.’

Dani clocked the woman’s impassivity. Wow—how could she ruin someone’s life and look so uncaring?

She turned and left the room, tightening every muscle hard to stop the trembling from being visible. She walked back down the empty corridor to the stairs. This just couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. Her paperwork was totally fine; she was sure of it. When she’d registered with the agency they’d been pleased with her qualifications and experience. So, there was no problem—unless someone had taken a dislike to her?

Someone important?

She stopped. Swallowed. Turned and walked back—all the way to the corner office and to the fiftysomething woman sitting guard-like outside the sanctum.

‘Is Mr Carlisle in?’ Despite her determination it was only a whisper that sounded.

‘He’s overseas,’ his PA answered crisply.

How convenient. Dani’s suspicions grew, edging out the anxiety. ‘When is he back?’

The PA lifted her head and looked at her. Behind the oldschool librarian glasses she seemed to be reading her for a long moment before her lashes dropped. ‘I believe he’s due back here early this afternoon.’

And she’d be gone by then. Doubly convenient.

No way was this a coincidence. He didn’t want to be embarrassed at work—was that it? Had she been so all over him he was trying to get rid an awkward situation before it got even more complicated? What was he afraid of—that she’d go psycho stalker on him?

She turned on the spot and marched back down the stairs to her floor. She’d go straight to the agency and clear it up. She needed the money more than he needed a clearconscience office.

‘Hi, Danielle.’ One of the young bankers gave her a leery grin when she walked past him. He hadn’t spoken to her before. She caught the grins then swapping between him and some of the others. It had probably been a bet. She knew about boys and their bets—ones made at her expense.

She didn’t have the time or capacity to deal him even a cool look. Too busy trying to stomach the sick feeling. She’d been in the country less than a fortnight, was on the bones of her butt in terms of funds and now she’d just lost her job. And she needed to know why.

It only took two minutes to get her jacket from the back of her seat and the bag she’d tucked under the table. She logged off her computer.

She turned. The office was so quiet she would have heard her now ex-colleagues blinking—if they weren’t all staring totally bug eyed at her. Wow, the ones down the far end had actually risen out of their chairs to get a better look. What on earth was going on?

She tossed her head, determined to hide the freak-out thudding of her heart. So what if her cheeks were purple with embarrassment—she could still walk, right? OK, it was a run/walk to the door and after that she basically threw herself down the stairs, letting the adrenalin fly to her feet.

The recruitment agency was only a ten-minute walk away. Dani did it in seven. Red cheeked, breathless, trying to suck up the desperation pouring out of her.

Then she had to wait ten extra-long, make-you-sweat minutes.

‘What’s the problem with my file?’ Dani asked as soon as she was shown in.

‘There are a couple of issues.’ The agent wouldn’t look her in the eye. ‘One is misconduct.’

Misconduct? Dani frowned, that she hadn’t expected. ‘What kind of misconduct?’

The woman smiled then—it wasn’t a kind smile. ‘Have you seen this?’ She angled her computer screen so Dani could see it.

Dani gripped her bag, pushing it hard on her lap as she waited for the clip to start playing. Why was she being shown a vid on YouTube? What was this all about?

She squinted at the black-and-white grainy images. Oh, no. It couldn’t be.

Not her.

Not him.

OMG—it was! Alex Carlisle and her, Dani Russo, locking lips in that damn lift. Oh, more than locking lips. There was neck kissing, and touching and moving.

Heat prickled all over her body. From every pore popped a painful drop of blood. How had this happened? This just had to be a joke. Was she in a reality TV show and she didn’t know it?

‘Where did you get that?’ she whispered, knowing she was damned.

‘It was emailed to us. I believe it’s been circulated around the company already.’

So that explained the staring, then. The embarrassment engulfed her, swamping the spark of anger she’d felt before.

The agent didn’t stop the clip playing, just sat blandly waiting. Three and a half minutes of absolute agony. Dani couldn’t look away from the screen. Had they been so passionate? Had she really jumped on him like that? Had she been so hungry? And what was that awful music?

Not going to cry. Not going to cry.

She hadn’t in years. And she wouldn’t, not ‘til she was alone.

Finally it ended. Dani couldn’t look at the woman.

‘But this isn’t why we’re unable to place you in another position.’

Dani didn’t understand. ‘Pardon?’ Still shocked.

‘This was obviously a mistake and an embarrassing one, but we can deal with it with a simple warning.’ The agent couldn’t be crisper. ‘Not on work time, not on work premises. Understand?’

Dani just nodded. Still unable to process what she’d just seen—they’d been filmed? How was that possible?

‘The reason we’ve had to pull you from the job is because we haven’t been able to get your school records verified.’

Dani jerked. Her school records? How were they relevant? She had banking qualifications that totally surpassed her achievements at school. Plus she had her security clearance from the Australian bank she’d worked at for the last three years—surely that was far more important than verifying her school-leaver’s certificate?

‘I can call the school,’ she said. ‘I can get them to fax whatever you need.’

‘No, that’s fine. We’ll keep trying.’ The woman smiled sharply. ‘But until we do get it, we can’t put you into another placement.’

It was then that Dani knew and understood. They weren’t trying to contact the school; even if they did there would be some other obstacle that would arise. This was about that video—her fooling with the boss and getting caught. The school-records thing was an excuse. The walls were up. Her anger surged then, pushing back the embarrassment. ‘I can go to other agencies?’

‘Of course.’ The woman smiled. ‘But you might encounter the same problem.’

Dani looked at the computer screen again. Yeah, that was the real problem. She could see how many hits the clip had had. Too many just to be the bank staff and this agency—even if they had watched it over and over as she was quite sure some of those sleazy bankers had. No, this one had been doing the rounds; it would be a source of great amusement for anyone in the industries—both finance and recruitment. Alex Carlisle proving his legendary swordsman status with a temp at work.

There was nothing for it but to make a dignified exit. No way could she win this battle here and now. She needed to withdraw and come up with some kind of strategy.

She stood, stuck a small smile on her numb face. ‘Thank you for letting me know. Please get in touch when you get my record confirmed. I’d like to get working as soon as I can.’

‘Of course.’ The agent stood and saw her to the door.

It was a complete fiction. They both knew they were never going to talk to each other again.

‘You can collect your wages for the last couple of days from Reception.’

Dani made for the nearest café and ordered the biggest blackest coffee they made. She closed her eyes. The money she had would last less than a week. Her whole aim had been to work while she hunted because she hadn’t wanted to wait any longer before trying to find him. But she had to be able to eat—to pay for her accommodation, and to pay for the search. How on earth was she going to find Eli now? How was she going to keep the promise she’d made to her mum?

It had been her final request—she’d given up that precious secret only in her last few days and it was the one last thing Dani could do for her. Dani wanted to honour that promise more than she wanted to do anything. And if she found him, it would be like having a part of her mother back.

She called a different agency. Then another. But once she’d told them the kind of work she wanted, then told them her name, the ‘our books are full’ line got handed to her. Was she going to have to move cities to get another job? She didn’t even have the bus fare, and the best finance jobs for her were here. Or they had been. Now she was screwed.

Her anger fired even higher. What about Alex Carlisle? What about his misconduct? Had he been given a ‘warning’—she bet there was no way he’d have got the sack. Oh, no—he’d just ensured he had a peaceful work environment again. She wasn’t around to embarrass him anymore.

There was one person responsible for this. One person who owed her. One person who was going to pay.

Alex Carlisle was getting the bill.

‘Kelly, I need you.’ Alex called his PA into his office. ‘The temp who was working on the Huntsman project last week—’ He broke off. His super-efficient PA had a touch more colour to her cheeks than usual. But her brows lifted as if she were vaguely mystified.

As if.

‘Temp?’

‘Yes. Short, brunette bob.’ Alex winced, hating to have to reveal that he didn’t know her name. He watched Kelly’s lips purse and sighed, frustrated. ‘You’ve seen the clip, haven’t you?’ Now he felt his cheeks heating.

Kelly dropped the ‘no idea’ look and nodded. ‘Yes. She no longer works here.’

‘How come she’s no longer working here? That project is months off completion.’ Alex found he couldn’t meet Kelly’s eyes. Hell, what a mess. He’d never compromised himself at work like this. Socially for sure—he liked to play. But not at work. Kelly had worked for this company for more years than he’d been alive. She’d worked with Samuel, and his father before him. A Carlisle loyalist. There was nothing in the business that she didn’t know. Alex remembered her giving him paper as a kid to entertain him while he waited for Samuel and him making darts to shoot at people walking past. The severe look she was giving him now wasn’t so different from the one she’d given him then.

‘I know,’ Kelly said quietly. ‘But there’s a new temp now.’

Alex looked at her then, hearing the soberness in her voice. He didn’t like the censure in her eyes, either. ‘I think you’d better send Jo to see me.’

Kelly disappeared and Jo, the head of HR, was knocking at his door in less than a minute. Alex walked over to meet her. ‘The temp that we had working on the Huntsman project last week—where is she?’

Jo looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘The temp?’

‘Yes,’ he growled. ‘You know the one I mean.’

‘Yes.’ Of course she did. ‘Her services were no longer required.’

‘But there’s a new temp out there now.’ He’d walked through the floor as soon as he’d got in, run the gauntlet of knowing looks and smiles only to be completely disappointed when it had been some blonde at the desk and not the little brunette who’d been haunting him for days. ‘So why did you get rid of the other one? On whose authority? For what reason?’ He rapped out the questions, the nasty feeling in his gut growing.

Jo looked even more uncomfortable. ‘It was the recruitment agency. They phoned and said they’d made a mistake with her file. They hadn’t been able to verify her school qualifications so they pulled her.’

Alex stared at her, anger churning. ‘So she’s no longer working for the agency?’

‘No. I don’t believe she is.’

It was his turn to take a deep breath—he had to force his jaw apart to do it. ‘They couldn’t verify her school qualifications?’ Alex shook his head. ‘But we had security clearance for her? And proof of her banking exams?’

‘Yes.’

So the records meant diddly, then. If she had her banking qualifications, then they didn’t need to verify any other records—she couldn’t have got the bank ones if she hadn’t had the school ones. It was a trumped up excuse to get rid of her.

‘So it wouldn’t have had anything to do with this?’ He strode to his desk and spun his computer screen round so the image he’d paused it on was viewable from her side of the room.

His head of HR went beet red.

Alex leaned back on his desk and folded his arms, hiding the fists. ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it. Everyone in the office has seen it. Haven’t they?’

Jo nodded.

‘And now you’re telling me she’s been removed for the most flimsy of reasons.’

‘We’re covered, Alex. It was the agency who removed her. Her dismissal had nothing to do with this…incident.’

Alex stared at her, unable to believe his ears. Like hell it didn’t. She’d done nothing wrong. She shouldn’t have lost her job. His fists bunched tighter.

‘Does she have another job?’ He could only hope she had a better one.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Then you better phone the agency and find out,’ he growled—he was not going to be able to rest until he knew. The job market was horrendous at the moment. That meant the temp market was even more vicious.

‘Excuse me, Alex.’ Kelly came back in, shutting the door fast behind her and stepping forward. ‘I have someone outside insisting on seeing you.’

‘Who is it?’ Alex asked crossly. ‘I don’t want interruptions now, Kelly.’

‘I know you don’t. But this one is different. It’s her.’

‘Who?’

‘That temp.’

Alex froze. ‘She’s here?’

Kelly nodded.

‘Now?’ The ripple that ran through his body was pure testosterone. ‘You. Out,’ he barked at Jo.

She was out of there faster than a condemned prisoner getting a last-minute reprieve. But Alex was the one feeling the edge of desperation. He turned to the woman who knew more about what went on in the building than anyone. ‘Kelly, please, what’s her name?’

Kelly looked up at him through her half-glasses, her face as impassive and composed as always. When she finally answered, it was with marked deliberation. ‘You really ought to know that already.’ Then she left.

Alex stared at the door and wondered how on earth he was going to get away with it.

Dani perched on the edge of the chair—the one nearest to the exit. She shouldn’t have come. What was she doing back here? Sweating for one thing and she was all shaky inside, as if it wouldn’t take much for tears to sting. She couldn’t let that happen—getting all emo was one sure way to come off the loser. She blinked and went rigid as the hideous HR dragon appeared from his office. She glanced at Dani but made no acknowledgement as she swept past. That was it—Dani was leaving. What had possessed her to attempt this? Oh, yeah, desperation.