He didn’t take it. “What’s that?”
“I’m a representative from Harrington Media,” she said, repeating the speech she’d written down and practiced for the past two days.
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed slightly. “In Atlanta?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been there all this time? Since you left Arkansas?”
She shook her head. “I worked for another company prior to PU—I mean Harrington.” Wow, Harrington hadn’t been PU for years. Where did that come from?
His brow raised and his mouth formed a slight smile. “PU?”
“Preston Ustace... Never mind.” She held the folder out to him. “I’m here to discuss the possibility of you discussing a possible deal...” Uh-oh, that wasn’t part of the script. She grimaced, her words disappearing. What was she supposed to say again? “I, um— just take this, will you?”
He put it on his desk without a second glance. “Is this about selling my paper?”
Jade nodded.
Sebastian leaned forward. “The answer is no.”
“But you didn’t even look at the folder. Or listen to my pitch.” If only she could remember the pitch.
He scowled and sat back. “Your company has been hounding me to talk to them.”
“Hounding is a little harsh,” she said. “They’re just eager to saveThe Times.”
His expression turned stony. “The Timesis just fine.”
“Not according to your financials.”
“What do you know about them? Have you been spying on me?”
“Of course not. All the information Miles has gathered about the paper is public knowledge.”
“Is he your boss? Or your... Never mind, it doesn’t matter. The answer is no. It will always be no.”
She tried to regroup, although it was difficult, considering Sebastian’s irritated expression was beyond unnerving. “If you’ll look at the information I provided—”
Suddenly the faint ring of a cell phone came from inside the briefcase that held her small pocketbook. She ignored it. “If you’ll look at the folder, you’ll see our offer is generous.”
“I don’t have to.” He crossed his arms, exposing his very nice, well-defined forearms. “Better yet, I don’t want to.”
“You’re being unreasonable, Sebastian—”
“So now I’m Sebastian. What happened to Mr. Hudson?”
The phone kept ringing.
“Do you need to get that?” he asked.
“No.” She set the case on the floor again. How could he just shut her down like this, without giving her a chance? At least the phone had stopped. Sometimes she hated cell phones. They were convenient, except when they weren’t. Maybe she should start at the beginning again. “Mr. Hudson,” she said, clasping her near-trembling hands. “I’m a representative of—”
Brrrrring!
Her teeth clenched. Why, oh why didn’t she think about turning off her cell before the meeting?
“Just get the phone, Jade.”
