That she had the power to arouse him made her breathless.“I wrinkled your jacket earlier,” she said, smoothing out the material.
“Small price,” he said, “for that kind of response to my kiss.Now, about the contract?”
Of course he brought it up when her thoughts were filled with him.“Are you going to give me my panties back?”
“No chance.”His grin was smug.
So she was supposed to negotiate while her pussy was damp?Would her next few years be spent this way?
After tucking her skirt beneath her, she resumed her seat.
Instead of sitting behind his desk, he took the chair Nathan had vacated.He sat back, index fingers pressed together, an inch or so in front of his face.“I assume you have a copy of the agreement in your briefcase?”
It would be easier to look at the pages together, but his proximity was distracting.Calling on her years of professional experience, she pulled out the document and flipped to the pages in question.She decided to start with the small things.“I understand that you don’t want my father to know the details of our arrangement—”
“Or the press or the general public,” he clarified.
“And I understand that you need your family to know since, I assume, they’re also on your board of directors.”
He nodded.
“I didn’t realize you’d start telling people so early.”
“Just Nathan.”
“It’s important to me that my mother knows the truth.”
“Ah.”He tapped his fingers together.“Tell me why.”
“DNA.”
He looked at her over the tops of his hands.
“ESP is more like it,” she said wryly.“She knows everything about me.”
He laughed.
“It’s really not funny,” she insisted.“More than anything, it’s scary.What she doesn’t know, she guesses, and she’s right.I’m not sure, honestly, that I’ll be able to keep it secret.I’ve never really kept anything big from her.”
“I’d like to meet her first.”
“I had the impression you were anxious to get the contract signed.”
“We could see her this evening.Or over the weekend.”
His answer was more than she’d expected and less than she’d hoped.“She’ll be an ally.”
“If she agrees with the union.It could be that she wants her only child to be happy and to marry for love and not to sacrifice herself for the family business.Her ex-husband’s family business.”
That argument was probably valid, she conceded.Even Lara liked the idea of marrying for love.“I’d be willing to bet she’d support me.She’s also a member of the board.Hasn’t been to a meeting in over a year, but she retained her seat as part of the divorce settlement.If she’s on our side, she can be vocal as well as persuasive.The people my father appointed are also lifelong friends of hers.”
“I look forward to meeting her, then,” he reiterated.
She sighed.
“Next point?”
“Your addendum.Neither item A nor item B will hold up in court.”
