Page 2 of Her Forbidden Bargain

“Because I don’t want to lie to you.”

“Then do not lie to me.”

She shrugged again. The last thing she wanted to talk about was his personal life. Liar. “It was something she saw in Le Figaro.”

“About me and a woman?” he asked.

She nodded.

He didn’t say anything else, just stared down at her, and she started to feel really self-conscious. What if, somehow, he could read on her face that she was attracted to him? What if he picked up on that and it made working for him awkward? What if…?

“You have a conference call with Rene in fifteen minutes, and he just sent a lengthy e-mail that you should at least glance at before you talk to him,” she said, holding out a copy of the e-mail, which she’d printed out for him.

For a moment she didn’t think he was going to let her steer the conversation back to business.

“You are right, of course,” he said, taking the papers.

“I highlighted the topics for you and jotted down the information I had on each one.”

“Thank you, Ms. Donnelly. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

She flushed at the compliment. “You’re welcome.”

She watched until he walked into his office. She was going to kill Lucille. Not that the other woman could have known that Tristan would arrive while they were talking about him, but still….

She reached for the interoffice pouch and opened it. The magazine spilled out. The cover featured Tristan’s publicity shot but inset was another picture. The paparazzi hadn’t gotten a very good photo, but he looked very amorous, as did the woman wrapped around him. Sheri traced her finger over the line of his eyebrows, ignoring the headline and just concentrating on Tristan.

She was careful never to stare at him at work, that wouldn’t be appropriate, but⁠—

“Ms. Donnelly?”

“Yes.”

“Put that magazine away.”

She blanched and opened her bottom desk drawer, tossing the tabloid in there. “Was there something you wanted?”

“I need the book for the Global Traveler.”

“Yes, sir. I think that Maurice has it down the hall,” she said, standing and leaving the office before he could say anything else to her.

Oh, man, this was so not good. Twice in less than ten minutes, he’d caught her slacking on the clock. One of his big no-nos. To be honest, she didn’t do a lot of it. But she had a feeling that wasn’t going to matter. If she wanted to move up the managerial ladder, perhaps someday become an associate publisher, she’d better not get fired.

She grabbed the book, the big mock-up binder of the issue they were currently working on for their Global Traveler magazine, and hurried back to Tristan’s office. He was on the speakerphone with his brother, Rene. The conversation was in French and she understood only about every third word they said. Tristan gestured for the book and she handed it to him before leaving the room.

She got back to her desk and saw an instant message from Lucille.

[L.Dumont] Did T walk in while we were talking?

[S.Donnelly] Yes.

[L.Dumont] Did you tell him what we were talking about?

She thought about filling Lucille in but then decided better of it.

[S.Donnelly] I really can’t IM right now.

[L.Dumont] OK. Ping me when you can.