Unsettled, I switched on my computer, and sat down to scroll through the hundreds of e-mails that had accumulated while we’d been away. It was hard to focus, though, and my mind kept drifting back to Aduaba and Phin.

Phin stripped to the waist like the other men, his muscles bulging with effort as they lifted the heavy timbers into place.

Phin laughing with the children in the river.

Phin looking utterly at ease in the heat and the humidity and the wildness.

He strolled in some time after ten, and all the air evaporated from my lungs at the sight of him. I was annoyed to see that he seemed just the same as always, while I felt completely different.

I looked at him over the top of my glasses. ‘I see you didn’t invest in that alarm clock,’ I said crisply, to cover the fact that my heart was cantering around my chest in an alarmingly uncontrolled way.

‘No, but then I don’t need to turn up on time every day, do I?’ said Phin, not at all put out by the sharpness of my greeting. ‘I’m not the one who lost the bet.’

The mention of the bet silenced me, and I bit my lip. Nothing more had been said about it, and I’d convinced myself that Phin hadn’t really been serious. It had just been joke…hadn’t it?

Much to my relief, Phin didn’t say any more, but went into his office and threw himself into his chair. ‘So, what’s been happening?’ he asked. ‘Is there anything that needs to be dealt with right away?’

Grateful to him for behaving normally, I took in my notebook and ran through the most urgent issues. ‘Shall I make some coffee?’ I said, when I had finished scribbling notes.

‘Not just yet,’ said Phin. ‘There’s the small matter of the bet we made.’ He smiled at me as I stared at him in consternation. ‘I think you owe me.’

It was typical of him to let me relax and then catch me off guard. I should have known he’d do something like that.

I swallowed. ‘Now?’

‘I always think it’s best to pay debts straight away, don’t you? Do you remember the terms?’

Drawing a breath, I took off my glasses. ‘I think so,’ I said.

Now that it had come to it, I felt a flicker of excitement. I met Phin’s eyes and wondered if he was waiting for me to renegotiate, and I knew suddenly that I didn’t want to do that.

‘You were right,’ I said clearly. ‘I loved it.’

Calmly, I got to my feet and went round the desk to where Phin sat in a high-backed executive chair. He was silent, watching me as I leant back against the desk and very deliberately pulled the clip from my hair, so that I could shake it loose and let it tumble around my face.

How embarrassing, my sensible side was saying. How unbelievably inappropriate. How tacky.

It was bad enough making a bet like that with your boss, without playing up to his patriarchal male fantasies. How had I got myself into a situation where I was feeling a bit naughty, a bit dirty, a bit sexy in the office?

How could I possibly be turned on by it?

But I was. I can hardly bear to remember it without cringing, but at the time…oh, yes, I certainly was.

I smiled slowly at Phin. ‘How am I doing so far?’

‘Perfect,’ he said, but his voice was strained and I felt a spurt of triumph, even power that I could have that effect on him just by letting down my hair.

Levering myself away from the desk, I moved closer to him. One by one I undid the buttons of my jacket, even though I was having one of those out-of-body experiences again and screaming at myself, What are you doing? Stop it right now!

Phin said nothing, but his eyes were very dark as he watched me, and I could see him struggling to keep his breathing even. When my jacket was open to reveal the cream silk camisole I wore underneath, I leant down and pressed my mouth to the pulse that was beating frantically in his throat.

I heard Phin suck in his breath, and I smiled against his skin, slipping my arms around his neck and easing myself onto his lap so that I could kiss my way slowly, slowly, along his jaw to the edge of his mouth.

‘Am I doing it right?’ I whispered.

‘God, yes,’ he said raggedly, and his arms came up to fasten around me as I kissed him at last.

His lips parted beneath mine, drawing me in, and the chair spun round as his hand slid possessively under my skirt. It might have been tacky, it might have been deeply, deeply inappropriate, but it felt so good I didn’t care.

I have a hazy memory that I thought I should be in control, but if I ever was I soon lost it. It wasn’t as if Phin was in control either. That kiss was stronger than both of us. It ripped through our meagre defences, rampaging like wildfire in the blood, sucking us up like a twister to a place far from the office where there were only lips and tongues, only hands moving greedily, insistently, only the pounding of our hearts and the throb of our bodies and the sweet, dangerous intoxication of a kiss that went on and on and on.

Sadly, the office hadn’t forgotten us. The sound of a throat being loudly cleared gradually penetrated. We paused, our mouths still pressed together, our tongues still entwined, and then our eyes opened at exactly the same time.

The throat was cleared again. As if at a trigger, we jerked apart, and I would have leapt off Phin’s knee if he hadn’t held me tightly in place as he swung his chair back to face the door.

Lex Gibson was standing there, looking bored.

‘I did knock,’ he said. ‘Three times.’

I struggled to get up, but Phin held me tight. ‘We’re a bit busy here, Lex.’

‘So I saw. Good to see that work ethic kicking in at last,’ said Lex, who had his own line in sardonic humour when it suited him.

‘Did you want something?’ Phin countered. ‘Or are you just here to ruin a perfect morning?’

‘I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important,’ said Lex dryly.

That hardly needed saying. Lex rarely left his office. Staff were summoned to see him, and could often be seen quailing in Monique’s office while they waited their turn. It was unheard of for him to seek someone out himself.

Phin sighed as he released me. ‘It had better be,’ he said.

My cheeks were burning as I scrambled to my feet, desperately trying to smooth back my hair and rebutton my jacket as I went.

‘Um…can I get you some coffee?’ I asked Lex. I was mortified at having been caught in such a compromising position but, with that kiss still thrumming through me, probably not nearly as mortified as I should have been. ‘Then I can leave you two together.’

‘Actually, this concerns you,’ he said.

Oh, God, he was going to sack me for unprofessional behaviour!

‘Shall we sit down?’ said Lex, gesturing at the sofas.

Biting my lip, I sat obediently, and Phin came to join me. We glanced at each other like naughty children, then looked at Lex.

‘I believe Monique has already told you that she’s expecting a baby?’ he began, with a hint of disapproval.

I was so relieved that I wasn’t getting fired that I started to smile-before it occurred to me that something might be wrong.

‘Yes, she did. Is everything OK?’ I asked in concern.

‘No. At least, Monique is all right,’ he amended. ‘But she’s been ordered to rest until the baby is born. Something to do with high blood pressure.’

I could tell Lex wasn’t up on pregnancy talk. Not that I was much better.

‘Oh, dear. Poor Monique. She’ll have to be so careful.’

‘It’s very inconvenient,’ said Lex austerely. ‘It was bad enough that I was going to lose her in August, but she went home on Friday and now she’s not coming in again until after her maternity leave.’

‘So why are you here, Lex?’ asked Phin with a hint of impatience. ‘Or can we guess?’

‘I would imagine you could, yes. Obviously I need a PA immediately-and preferably one who’s familiar with my office.’

‘Summer, in fact.’ Phin’s voice was flat.

Lex looked at me. ‘Monique told me she’d mentioned the possibility of you replacing her during her maternity leave already. I’d like you to come and work for me now, even if it’s only to help me through this immediate period.’

I was finding it difficult to concentrate. I’d been jerked so rudely out of that kiss, and every cell in my body was still screaming with frustration.

‘Well…er…what about Phin? I mean…working for Phin,’ I stumbled, realising that my concern for Phin might be misinterpreted in view of what Lex had just seen us doing.

‘I’m here as a courtesy,’ said Lex, looking at his brother. ‘I appreciate that you’ve established a good working relationship with Summer-a little too good, some might say-but your office doesn’t generate nearly the same amount of work as yet. It seems to me that you could quite easily manage with another secretary, or share assistance with one of the other directors.’

Phin’s jaw tightened. ‘I’m not going to get into a discussion about how much work I do or don’t do here, Lex,’ he said grittily. ‘This is about Summer and where she wants to work. I’m sure she’s happy to help you over this crisis period…’ He looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.

‘Of course.’

‘But after that it’s up to her.’

‘That seems fair enough,’ said Lex, getting to his feet. ‘I’m grateful,’ he said to me, and I got up, too.

‘Er…would you like me to come now?’

‘If you would.’

That was Lex-straight back to work. It clearly didn’t occur to him that I might want to talk to Phin on my own.

I glanced at Phin, who was watching me with an unreadable expression. ‘I’ll…er…I’ll speak to you later,’ I said awkwardly.

‘Sure. Don’t let him work you too hard.’

So there I was, walking down the corridor with Lex to the best career opportunity of my life, and all I could think was that only minutes ago I had been in the middle of the best kiss of my life.