`I told her not to come back while I was still your secretary,' Kate confessed.

`I know. She told me. She was furious with you when she met me in the corridor and dropped the bombshell about who you were. I think she must have realised how much you meant to me, because she told me what she said to you about my previous secretaries-all nonsense, of course. There's only one secretary who's ever made me realise that all the attempts I'd made to stay cynical and detached were just a pretence.'

`What happened to her?' Kate asked innocently.

`Oh, I sacked her.'

`You what?' Kate sat up, indignant, but Luke pulled her back against him. `I decided she was just too distracting at the office. In any case, her talents could be put to better use elsewhere.'

She eyed him speculatively. `Where?’

'In my home and in my heart,' Luke said, and tightened his arms about her. `Marry me, Kate,' he demanded, suddenly urgent, and then, with a smile that sent shivers of anticipation down her spine, `please?'

Kate rested her face against his neck and sighed with happiness. `Since you ask so nicely… yes.' `Yes what?' said Luke, pretending to be shocked.

`Yes, please.'

Jessica Hart