Christmas with her Boss Read Online Free Page B

only stops here once.’
    â€˜Once,’ he said faintly. ‘It stops once, eight miles away from a place that has no mobile phone reception, with a grandmother who even her granddaughter appears to be feeling homicidal about.’
    Uh-oh. She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to regroup.
    â€˜Not that it’s not a very kind invitation,’ he added and she choked. She was so close to the edge…
    â€˜I thought it was kind,’ she managed.
    â€˜Kind?’
    â€˜I could have left you in the office.’
    â€˜Or not. It was you,’ he reminded her, ‘who got me into this mess.’
    â€˜You could have listened to the news on the radio this morning as well as me,’ she snapped and then thought—had she really said that? What little hope she had of keeping her job had finally gone.
    â€˜That’s what I pay you for,’ he snapped back.
    Well, if she’d gone this far… ‘I left the office at eleven last night. I was at your hotel just after six. I don’t get eight hours off?’
    â€˜I pay you for twenty-four hours on call.’
    â€˜I’m not fussed about what you pay me,’ she snapped. The tension of the last few hours was suddenly erupting, and therewas no way she could keep a lid on her emotions. ‘I’m fussed about the ten minutes I spent washing my hair this morning when I should have been listening to the radio and hearing about the airline strike. I’m fussed about being stuck with my boss, who doesn’t seem the least bit grateful that I’m doing the best I can. And now I’m stuck with someone who has the capacity to mess with my family Christmas if he doesn’t stop making me feel guilty and if he spends the rest of Christmas playing Manhattan Millionaire stuck here, and it’s All My Fault.’
    She stopped. Out of breath. Out of emotion. Out of words. And it seemed he was the same.
    Well, what could he say? Should he agree? He could hardly sack her here, right now, Meg thought. If he did…she and Letty really could be axe-murderers.
    Or they could just leave him here, sitting on the Tandaroit station until the next train came through late tomorrow.
    â€˜Don’t do it,’ he growled, and she remembered too late he had an uncanny ability to read her mind. He hesitated and then obviously decided he had no choice but to be a little bit conciliatory. ‘It’s very…clean hair,’ he ventured.
    â€˜Thank you.’ What else was there to say?
    â€˜This…grandmother…’
    â€˜Letty.’
    â€˜She’s backed up by other family members? With other cars?’ He was obviously moving on from her outburst, deciding the wisest thing was to ignore it.
    â€˜Just Letty.’
    â€˜And…who else?’
    â€˜Scotty. My kid brother.’
    â€˜You said no children,’ he said, alarmed.
    â€˜Fifteen’s not a child.’
    â€˜Okay,’ he conceded. ‘Who else?’
    â€˜No one.’
    â€˜Where are your parents?’
    â€˜They died,’ she said. ‘Four years ago. Car crash.’
    He was quick. He had it sorted straight away. ‘Which is why you took the job with me?’
    â€˜So I could get home more,’ she said. ‘Ironic, isn’t it?’
    But he was no longer listening. Had he been listening, anyway? ‘Could this be Letty?’ he demanded.
    Oh, please… She stared into the darkness, and there it was, two pinpricks of light in the distance, growing bigger. Headlights.
    â€˜ Deliverance ,’ she muttered and her boss almost visibly flinched.
    â€˜Just joking,’ she said.
    â€˜Don’t joke.’
    â€˜No jokes,’ she agreed and took a deep breath and picked up her holdall. ‘Okay, here’s Letty and, while you may not appreciate it, we really are safe. We’ve organised you a nice private bedroom with Internet. You can use our telephone if there are people you