What Lies Beneath

By Poppy Flynn

Love versus Career.

When there's a tug of war going on in your life, what's a girl supposed to do? 

Kate has strived her entire working life to get where she is today and with the possibility of a partnership dangling within reach, there's no way she's going to get into an ill advised relationship with the boss's son.

Especially not when there's an iron clad no fraternisation policy in place, because that would be career suicide.

The trouble is, some plans just don't play out the way you expect and Alex is the only man who's ever seen what lies beneath her curvy, controlled, large and in charge exterior.

If you're pulled in two opposing directions, can there be a winner? Or do you just get torn in two?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poppy Flynn
• Release date: Nov 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223907718

Book preview

Chapter One

M iss Hiscock? Miss Hiscock…

Kate rolled her eyes as the new intern’s voice reached her as she walked down the corridor and wondered which one of her adolescent-minded-old-enough-to-know-better employees had set the poor lad up. Set her up.

She took a deep breath, stopped, and swung around to wait for the red faced, fresh out of college, eighteen-year-old. There was a ruddy hue to his cheeks, but she wasn’t sure if it was the result of running, or her unfortunate surname.

Daniel, she said, firmly, when he almost tripped to a stop in front of her. I’m sure I told you to call me Kate.

In fact, she knew she had.

His head nodded like one of those out-of-control bobble headed figures drivers put in the rear windows of their cars. Umm… the guys said that was a test and I should be more formal, he stuttered.

Kate inclined her head and resumed her fast clip towards the general offices of Bowden and Son where she worked as the senior legal and data manager over an unruly bunch of (sometimes) loveable reprobates.

I see, Kate replied, drily as the corridor opened up into a large open plan workspace.

Err… Did you? Daniel asked. Uncertainty tinged his voice and his step faltered.

Did I? Did I what? She frowned as they moved deeper into the room with its individual cubicles which were positioned to provide privacy, when necessary, but didn’t cut the staff off from each other.

Umm, I don’t know. I was just told to say, ‘did you,’ Miss Hiscock.

An eruption of laughter exploded from a couple of the cubbies. Kate pressed her lips together and shook her head. It was the usual suspects, of course.

The intern looked around in endearing confusion, completely clueless to how he’d been set up to deliver the practical joke, but Ed and Tim jumped up from their desks, their heads popping over the tops of their screens, clearly refusing to let the punch line go to waste.

I really think you should answer Daniel, Tim quipped, trying to keep a straight face, and failing miserably.

His partner in crime nodded. Yes! So did you miss his cock? Ed asked, his voice ringing out clearly in the acoustic of the room before he collapsed into fits of hysterical laughter.

Kate just stood there, with her hands on her hips and shook her head.

I - I… Daniel stuttered. Poor kid looked like he was about to cry, and Kate addressed him first.

Like I said, call me Kate. She threw a scathing look at the two jokers, nodding towards them. And anything these two tell you, ask yourself, first, if they have an ulterior motive, she told him.

He did his nodding dog impression again and rushed off red-faced.

Kate turned on Tim and Ed. Really boys? That’s the best you can come up with these days? she asked scathingly, letting them see her disdain.

It was like a game, this back-and-forth banter. Ed and Tim did their best to show her up or get a few laughs at her expense. She fielded the shots, fired them back, and once they realized they weren’t going to get the better of her, they went back to work like good little boys.

There was actually an odd kind of respect underneath it all. But she didn’t doubt for one moment that the two would be a nightmare if she didn’t keep them in line.

As it was, they understood each other and once the tomfoolery was out of the way they were actually excellent workers. They just enjoyed a bit of a laugh. And who could blame them, really. Their jobs as compliance officers in the insurance industry were probably only marginally less dull than her own. While Kate was a legal analyst and specialized in carefully checking all their legal documentation to ensure every aspect of the law was upheld in their policies, they were in charge of making certain everyone actually followed those regulations. The rest of her department were made up of data entry specialists and database administration. As well paid as they all were, between them they probably cornered the market on the tedious jobs front. She wouldn’t begrudge them a little levity… even if it was most often at her expense and the awkward surname she’d been saddled with.

This job certainly wasn’t what Kate had dreamed of when she finished law school. When she’d taken it, it had just been meant as a stop gap while she found something better. But while she’d started at an entry level job, Kate had risen through the ranks quickly thanks to her take charge attitude and refusal to take any bullshit, while at the same time managing to run an engaged and happy department. There was a knack to knowing what to allow, where to draw the line, and how to deal with things without getting employees backs up; that was something Kate excelled in, and prided herself on.

And now the coveted prize of a partnership was within her reach and that was enough of an inducement to stay.

Oh, come on, Kate, you have to admit that was hilarious. Tim’s snicker sounded just like she remembered old reruns of the dog from the cartoon characters Dastardly and Muttley.

Kate raised a single eyebrow and looked at him scornfully. It might have been hilarious if you were a thirteen-year-old boy who dissolves into laughter just at the uttering of the word ‘cock’, but quite frankly I have my doubts about that too.

Cock! Ed repeated, digging Tim in the ribs.

Oh my god! Kate exclaimed. You two are so puerile it’s unbelievable. She shook her head in exasperation.

What was it with the men in this company that made them all so juvenile?

Or was it just that she had unrealistic expectations of the male species? She’d had to be strong her whole life, brought up, as she was, by a single father who was still trying to drink himself into an early grave after her mother ran off with another man when Kate was just fourteen. The roles had been reversed in those early years after her mother absconded. It was almost like Kate had become the parent. Making sure there was food in the house. Struggling to get her father sobered up in the morning for his job by pouring gallons of coffee and paracetamol into him. Feeding him a dense meal every evening in an attempt to absorb as much of the alcohol she knew he was going to drink, as possible. Arguing with him to part with his pay check so she could make sure the rent and the bills were paid before he pissed it all up the wall, because he sure as hell wouldn’t bother to do it himself.

It was like she’d become the adult in their relationship, and that experience had shaped the woman she had become.

For once in her life though, it might be nice for someone else to be in charge. To take all the burden of responsibility off her shoulders; at home, in the office, definitely in bed…

It was a pipe dream, of course. From everything Kate had ever experienced men were all pathetic creatures with a mummy complex. They needed a woman to do everything for them and treated their wives as no more than glorified nannies and maids.

Sure, she read about Alpha men in books, but she was pretty sure that was the only place they existed.

Chapter Two

Kate let out a long-suffering sigh. Come on, you two. Quit playing the fools and get some work done. It’s too early in the week for this!

Tim feigned a miserable pout. Damn, he sighed. Nothing ruins a Friday more than finding out it’s still only Tuesday. The line was delivered deadpan, and Ed solemnly nodded his agreement while a few others on the floor tried to keep the snickers to a minimum.

These two would be the death of her.

I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person, she replied smoothly. But don’t worry, they say the first forty years of childhood are always the hardest.

Tim and Ed eyed her in surprise. She rarely batted their repartee back at them like this and now she was on a roll.

But there is one thing I’ve always wanted to know…

The two guys looked at each other, then looked back at Kate as she delivered the punchline. "Does your ass