“You know what, Mr. Knight? You’re probably right. I’m not cut out for this.” She swung her bag over her shoulder and ignored the spark of amusement in his eyes. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

Lucien got to his feet too and crossed to open the door. “On the contrary, Sophie. It’s been my pleasure.”

He’d placed himself between Sophie and the exit, leaving her no choice but to brush close to him as she left. He was a good head and shoulders taller than she was even in her high heels, and she caught the scent of him as she drew level. Delicious. He smelled of warm spice and citrus, and something else. Something dark and sexy, so uniquely Lucien Knight that it kicked her senses into overdrive. She wanted to leave, and yet at the same time she wanted him to say something to stop her.

She turned to him, and found him leaning on the doorjamb with a lazy smile on his face.

“Goodbye, Mr. Knight.”

“Ms. Black.” He inclined his head, but made no further move, leaving her no option but to walk away.

Except for one.

Sophie turned away, and then swung back around and said something that she never imagined she’d say as part of a job interview.

“Clitoris.” She took pleasure in watching the predatory spark re-ignite in his cool blue eyes, and she licked her lips before she spoke again. “Masturbation.”

Sophie met his gaze head on, dizzy with exhilaration.

“Cock rings. Anal beads. Vibrators, dildos and…” she cast around desperately in her limited imagination for a big finish, “and blow up dolls!”

The amused heat in Lucien eyes scorched her. In that moment she wasn’t ordinary Sophie Black, builder’s PA and invisible wife. She was sexy and sophisticated Ms. Black, able to stop Viking sex-gods in their tracks with just a few little words. She noticed the way Lucien’s throat worked as he swallowed before he spoke.

“You start in the morning. Nine o’ clock sharp. Don’t be late, Ms. Black.”

Later that evening, curled up on the sofa eating Chinese from plates balanced on their knees, Kara stared at Sophie, agog. “You aren’t actually going to take the job though, right?”

Sophie tucked her feet underneath her and nodded. “Kara, I am. I have to.” She took a sip of her wine and searched for the words to explain her feelings. “If I don’t, then I’m accepting that this is as exciting as my life is ever going to get.” She gestured round her lounge. “A dead-end job, a husband who’s barely here and doesn’t notice me when he is…”

“Soph, if you’ve got problems with Dan, this job is only going to make them a million times worse, you know?”

“It won’t. Maybe I’ll learn stuff to spice things up for us.”

“Can’t you just talk to him?”

“Kara, I’m not taking this job because of what’s going on with me and Dan. I’m taking it because for a while back there today I glimpsed a different version of myself, and I liked her better.”

Kara shook her head and laughed in resignation. “You’d better hang onto those other clothes then. Something tells me you’re going to need them.”

Sophie locked all the doors and went to bed with her mobile in her hand to call Dan. She listened to the clicks as it made the long distance connection, and it rang out once or twice before it diverted to his answer phone. She glanced at her watch. It was just after ten thirty for her, so a little after midnight for him. Who was he with that he should need to reject her call at that time? He wasn’t due to start his meetings until tomorrow. Sophie sighed and slid into bed, her mobile still clutched in her hand in case he called back.

He didn’t.

CHAPTER THREE

At eight fifty the next morning, Sophie passed through the black, gleaming doors of Knight Inc. with her heart in her mouth.

Poor old Derek had never sounded so lost for words as when she’d called him last night out of the blue to resign, and thankfully he’d been too flustered to argue with her request to use holiday days owed in lieu of the company’s one week notice policy.

Her old boss was a letch of the highest order; Sophie pitied the next girl who would have to put up with his wandering hands.

Was her new boss a letch? Lucien Knight loomed large in her mind, a bronzed, muscled warrior with sparkling blue eyes and a killer way with words. No. He wasn’t a letch. His job just demanded that the usual veil of decency be removed. Even though Sophie had only met Lucien once, she already sensed she could trust him not to cross the line. Derek hadn’t been able to keep his grubby old hands off her, but Sophie felt pretty certain that Lucien Knight wouldn’t lay an untoward finger on her.

Unless he thought she wanted him to.

Sophie shook her head to dislodge the unbidden thought, and stepped out of the elevator onto the plush carpet of the top floor.

The same immaculate woman as yesterday inhabited reception, but her smile was a fraction warmer today as Sophie approached the desk.

“Mr. Knight is expecting you, Sophie. Welcome aboard.”

Sophie smiled, disconcerted that the woman knew her name already. “Thank you.” The receptionist tapped the keyboard and made no move to get up. “Shall I just go on through?”

In answer the woman nodded and extended an arm behind her towards the corridor.

That was that, then. She was now officially an employee at Knight Inc.

Nerves swirled low in Sophie’s stomach as she approached Lucien’s door at the end of the swathe of carpet. Yesterday already felt as if she’d dreamed it – things like that didn’t happen in real life, did they? In books maybe, or films, but not to ordinary girls leading ordinary lives. Except it had happened, and as Sophie tapped twice on Lucien’s door, she felt like anything but an ordinary girl.

“Come in.” His quiet command filtered through the door, and she turned the handle and stepped inside.

“Sophie.” A lazy smile crossed his mouth when he looked up. “You came.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Did you expect me not to?”

He shrugged. “How could you resist?”

Sophie smiled despite her nerves. She couldn’t help it. Lucien Knight was just about the most self-assured - no, in fact, cocky - man she’d ever met.

“This way.” Lucien stood and opened a door to a second room to one side of his desk. Sophie hadn’t noticed the doorway until now, and she crossed behind his desk to stand alongside him. The adjoining office was smaller, with the same lush decoration and picture window views of London as Lucien enjoyed.