She wasn’t the woman they thought they’d hired. She wasn’t the womanshethought they’d hired, either.
“I’m Jackson McAllister, to see the board,”she announced to the receptionist.
The woman gave her a once-over and raised her eyebrows. “Right this way, Ms. McAllister.”
Jackson followed the receptionist down the hall, ignoring the top-floor view of New York City. It was hard to believe that she had walked down this same hall less than three weeks ago. The person she was the last time she met the board felt far, far away. Her flingwith Cameron was stupid and unprofessional. She had known it at the time, and she had still gone back to him, again and again. It was exactly the kind of mistake Jackson thought she wasn’t capable of making. The board must have thought the same, since they’d sent her over there, despite Cameron’s reputation.
Now she had to hope that none of them happened to scan the front page of the Sydneynewspaper two days ago. If she could just get through this meeting and close the file with Blackmore Inc., she could catch her breath. And try to figure out what the hell she was doing.
The receptionist opened the door to a large conference room at the end of the hall. The first slide of her presentation was already displayed on the wide screen across the room. Harlan Blackmore sat at thehead of a long table, and the board members took up the seats along the two sides. The only empty seat was at the other end, nearest the door. She walked to her place, pulled out the chair and froze. On the table in front of her was theSydney Morning Heraldfrom two days before. Her own little black dress was no less recognizable, nor were Cameron’s strategically placed hands.
Cameron. Justthis little glimpse of him brought on a wash of want and longing she had tried so hard to put behind her these last forty-eight hours.
Don’t go. Stay here in Sydney with me.He had held her face and kissed her until all doubts were gone. But the next morning she had left. And now she was here in New York, across the conference table from his father, about to discuss the specifics of her lasttwo weeks. Shit.
Jackson swallowed hard and straightened up. At least her first question was answered. They knew. She had played out this scenario in her head, but how did she decide to spin it? Her mind had gone blank.
So she sat down, folded the paper back up and set it aside.
“You have my report, but—” she gestured to the newspaper next to her “—it seems you want to discuss somethingelse.”
A smile formed on Harlan Blackmore’s hard countenance, but it held no warmth. “I already knew my son would go to all lengths to tell me to fuck off. I just assumed you were too smart for that. Apparently, I was wrong. But who knows how a woman’s mind works.”
Jackson pressed her lips together, shutting down various hotheaded responses that came to mind. She didn’t even know whereto start being offended. At the insult to her intelligence? At the insult to women in general? Or should she be offended that not one of the board members spoke up?
“What can I say?” Blackmore’s voice held a hint of admiration. “He’s my son. He’s good at what he does.”
He took a single sheet of paper from in front of him and passed it down the table. Each man glanced down at it beforepassing it on. Harlan Blackmore was putting on a show, reminding her of who ran this meeting.
The paper landed in front of her. Jackson clenched her jaw and forced herself to look down. It was a printout of an email from Cameron to the other three members on his team, written on the first day she had been at the Blackmore Inc. office. It was short, and one of the sentences was highlightedin yellow, doubtlessly by Blackmore himself, just to make sure no one missed the message:Figure out Jackson McAllister’s weak spots at dinner tonight. Tomorrow we’ll discuss how to exploit them.
Jackson could feel the heat creeping up her neck as she reread the sentence. No. This couldn’t have come from the man who’d asked her to stay yesterday. It just couldn’t.
Except that everythingelse about it looked real. Surely it was below even Harlan Blackmore to fake something like this. And what would he gain by doing it? But if it wasn’t faked, then Cameron took her back to his apartment just to discredit her.
He wouldn’t do that, would he?
“Ms. McAllister?” Harlan Blackmore’s voice boomed from the other end of the table.
Shit. She was still at the beginning of thismeeting from hell, with no escape in sight. Yes, she could get through this. She had been through worse. But what this meant about her last two weeks with Cameron stung more than she wanted it to.
Jackson took a deep breath and met Harlan Blackmore’s cool gaze. “You have an email that says your son will discredit me, and you have a news photo of him fondling me. It’s my job to worry aboutwhat these items say about your son, not about me. We can start that discussion by looking over my report.”
The board members were watching this discussion play out, tennis-match style. Their heads turned together for Blackmore’s response. Except nothing came. His expression didn’t falter, but the hesitation itself was all the answer she needed.
The corners of his mouth turned up in whatcould have been amusement. “I can see why he went for you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” said Jackson with a tight smile. “Shall we begin?”
Jackson settled into her seat and leaned over to pull her files out of her bag. But as she reached in, the conference room door handle clicked, and the receptionist’s clipped tones came through the doorway.
“...in the middle of a meeting,but—”
“Thank you for escorting me. I’m here for the board meeting, too.”
His voice. No. Impossible.
She sat up straight and slowly turned toward the door. Cameron was taking up most of the doorway, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, carrying a leather jacket. He had grown a beard again or forgotten to shave. More likely the latter, considering the messy hair and dark circles underhis eyes. Those deep blue eyes were a little glazed over, but they were alive with emotion. And he was staring right at her.
