Her dark brows knit together in a fierce frown.“How are heavy weights related to your honey?”
He saw no harm in telling her since she’d signed a non-disclosure.“I’ve discovered if a training athlete eats my honey, they gain the benefits of increased speed, increased strength.My honey is a natural performance-enhancing drug.Taking the honey has no side effects or rule violations.”
“Wow!That has far-reaching implications.What if you tested your honey on a person with a physically demanding job?Would it make a difference?”
Hellfire!How had he missed that angle?“So far, I have worked with two athletes who are personal friends.Regular consumption of my honey has made me faster.I’ve cut several seconds off my best time on my daily runs.My runner friend regularly wins races when he’d be lucky to place before.The other friend specializes in decathlon, and his all-around improvement has thrilled his coaches.I’ve also approached a gym to use my honey in their drinks and monitor user performance.”
“That is all the testing you’ve done?”
“So far.I’ll do further testing before I market my product, but I need to find more trialists,” he muttered, more to himself than her.
“Perhaps I could find test subjects for you.How long until the honey works?”
“The effects are almost immediate.After eating a slice of toast and honey or adding a teaspoon to a cup of tea, my friends and I noticed increased energy.But I don’t want my honey to go to too many people because if competitors get wind of my creation, they’ll try to steal my formula.The honey world is cut-throat, and some of my competitors lack scruples.”
The woman laughed.What was her name, anyway?He hadn’t thought to ask.Something about her knocked him off-stride.No, perhaps it was best to focus on his goal.He didnotneed a woman interrupting his smooth forward progress.
“Why are you laughing?”he asked belatedly.
“I’m trying to imagine a group of guys in white suits with those special masks they use while collecting honey from the hives, and each of them engaged in fisticuffs.”
Niall’s mood went from perplexed to angry with one quick blink.“This is not a laughing matter.And there would be no fisticuffs involved.I suggest you search online for honey thefts and read the stories.That will stop your humorous flights of fancy.”
She gawked at him, her green eyes wide, and he could tell she didn’t believe him.
“I had a security man injured last year.He still can’t work because the thieves beat him so badly.All they wanted was honey to sell on the black market.They didn’t care who they hurt or what they needed to do to steal my product.”
She pressed her lush lips together, and everything inside him went still.His bear loosed a lusty sigh that, thankfully, remained inside his mind and not out in the open for her to hear.He cast his mind back and silently cursed.Why hadn’t he asked her for her name instead of merely ordering her to start work?
“Is honey that valuable then?”she asked.
“It’s liquid gold and very profitable if you hit the market right.Consumers are searching for natural products these days.They want to feel good about themselves and purchase the best they can afford.”
“A status thing,” she scoffed.
“Don’t knock it.Honey is paying your wages.”
A strange expression bolted over her face, lightning-fast and way too speedy for him to decipher.
“Should I try to work out a list of potential trialists for your honey?”she asked.
“Yes, I have to make more calls before I go through my correspondence.I’ll have letters for you to type, replies, and such.”
She returned to her desk.
A tap sounded at the door, and Angus appeared.“Your temporary secretary has arrived,” he said, standing aside to gesture at the petite woman behind him.
Niall’s gaze snapped to the green-eyed woman sitting at the desk.“What the hell?”
2
Please Explain
Oops!
“I can explain,” Suzie blurted.
Crap, she hadn’t thought this escapade through properly because, of course, the real temp would show up.She’d been intrigued, and curiosity was always her downfall.
