Blake sat back in a comfortable leather armchair in Haverton’s home office and studied the shine on the hardwood floors. In order to assume his usual calm demeanor, he couldn’t look at the stunning woman next to him. But after embarrassing himself with shock at her profession, calm would only be a facade.
He didn’t normally judge people based on appearance, but something about her had rattled him from the beginning. She was a manicured goddess with silky chestnut curls and model-perfect features, but he didn’t often strike up conversations with women. His interest in her beauty had been cursory, but her stinging wit and cheerful sass had rattled him. If he had known she was such a committed career woman though, he would have done himself a favor and avoided the temptress on the veranda.
He felt betrayed. Neither her youth nor the sultry undertones of her voice would have clued him in to her profession, much less the level to which she had risen. She barely looked old enough to be out of college, much less be employed at a prestigious consulting firm.
Her air of assurance had been obvious. He didn’t blame her for calling him out on his rudeness. He’d been too fascinated by her sharp mind and fiery brown eyes to even flinch at the sting of her scorn. Clearly, she hadn’t been in awe of his money or status—or anything else for that matter. The thought piqued his pride.
Her reasons for not having a boyfriend made more sense to him now. People who were as tied up in their work as she must be—as he was too—didn’t have the time or attention for demanding relationships. His parents certainly hadn’t. Somehow though, even with excellent reasons for avoiding romantic entanglements, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Jill. Such a simple, sweet name for such a poised firebrand. She sat in the chair next to him and crossed her slim, tanned legs. It was easy to pretend to still be looking at the floor while letting his eyes roam over her smooth skin. Her foot twitched, and he looked up to see her eyes on him, one eyebrow raised. He smiled, unrepentant. “Turnabout’s fair play, you know.”
She almost smiled. “Well, now that we’ve adequately looked each other over, what do you say we find out what Nate’s scheming?”
Haverton chuckled and sat in his chair on the other side of the desk. “Have you put the pieces together yet, McDaniel?”
“The picture is coming into focus,” Blake said.
Jill raised an eyebrow. “Not for me, it isn’t.”
Haverton leaned back in his desk chair, linking his hands behind his head, and directed his attention to Jill. “McDaniel and I have a very specific contract. Two of the companies that were part of our recent deal are especially important to me. One is Elysian Ice Cream; the other is Gourmand’s Fine Chocolate. McDaniel agreed to give me oversight on the integration process.”
Blake looked up at the ceiling. He had known that agreeing to that would come back to bite him, but at the time it had seemed worth it to make the deal. “I have several teams built to manage the process, and I’ve made sure you have access to review everything being done.”
“I know,” Haverton said. “And I appreciate it. Unfortunately, I’m finding that my time has a lot more demands on it than it used to.”
Jill laughed suddenly, and Blake’s eyes shot her way. What was so funny?
She cleared her throat. “I hear the honeymoon phase usually lasts about a year.”
Nate grinned. “I sure hope it does. Regardless, I would like to be free to focus my attention on my family. I want to hire you to be my deputy in over-seeing the integration from my leadership into McDaniel’s.”
“I was afraid that’s where this was headed.”
Blake rubbed his forehead. “No more than I was.”
“I say we let Jill do what she does best. She has the credentials and my wife’s recommendation. Give her full access to all the data, and she can formulate a recommendation for what you can do to make each business profitable. And of course, if she can’t figure out how to make them earn money for you, I expect her to report that as well. I trust her to balance both our interests in a fair way.”
Pink tinted Jill’s cheeks, but she still looked incredibly composed for someone who was blushing. “I haven’t said I’ll agree to it.”
Blake had been ready to protest, but now he wondered why she would refuse. It had to be a great opportunity for someone as young as she was. Because she had managed to strip away his caution, he asked, “How old are you? If you’re even twenty-five, I’ll shave my eyebrows.”
“Well go find a razor, because I’m actually twenty-six.”
“You don’t look it,” Blake said. “And it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve hardly had time to acquire the kind of experience and expertise needed for a job like this.”
Jill rose like a fury and stared down at him. “I’ll have you know that my father has been grooming me for this since I was a baby. In high school, while all my friends were in cheerleading or going to the mall on the weekends, I worked part-time at my dad’s office, being force-fed spreadsheets and trade jargon. I went to Columbia and graduated summa cum laude. During the summers between semesters, I did formal internships. I have been working as a consultant for three years now, and my success rate is the highest in my office. I speak three languages fluently and two others proficiently. I have worked all over the globe. Now tell me. What qualifies you to do what you do?”
Blake grinned, appreciating her point. “Nothing but my money.”
“Great,” Jill said. “So don’t underestimate me.”
She was amazing. He whistled long and low. “I swear I’ll never do so again.”
Her passionate attempt to put him in his place was nothing less than masterful. But how could he work so closely with such a dangerous woman? Since he’d first seen her looking vibrant and cool in the shade, he’d felt drawn to her. It only became worse the longer he was around her. He couldn’t allow this attraction to build into anything more.
It did not escape Blake’s notice that Haverton was hugely entertained by this situation. Focusing his attention on the man, Blake asked, “You want to hire her to take your place in the integration?”
“Precisely. She can report to me. What do you say, Jill? Will you do this for me? I wouldn’t trust anyone else nearly as much.”
Jill was profoundly quiet as she considered. Finally, she said, “Yes. I will. I know I’ll need to begin as soon as possible—”
“Yes. Tomorrow if possible.”
Blake raised his eyebrows, but Jill only nodded. “That’s fine. But I have a conference call with my previous client at ten o’clock in the morning so I need to work my travel schedule around that.”
“I’ll fly you to Dallas myself when your meeting is done,” Nate said.
But Blake’s interest had been caught by something else. “Is that who you were speaking to on the veranda?” Blake asked, surprised.
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Are you that flirtatious with all your clients?” Blake wasn’t sure if the possibility pleased him or not.
“Only the ones who act like gentlemen and treat me like an equal.”
Blake grinned and leaned back in his chair. “I’m looking forward to working with you then.”
Jill rolled her eyes. “So far, you don’t qualify. Besides, Nate is my client.”
Ignoring her jab, Blake said, “Yes, but by extension, so am I. I’m the one set to lose fantastic amounts of money if this merger goes down the toilet.”
After giving one huffing breath, Jill’s foot tapped on the floor in a restless staccato. “Yes, and a lot of people would also lose their livelihood. I’m much more concerned with that than adding another zero to your bank account.”
“It would take a lot to add another zero to my balance.”
Nate laughed. “I can see you two are going to get along well. Charlotte hoped you might.”
Jill’s eyes shot to Nate. “Why does Charlotte care if we get along?”
Nate looked panicked for a minute then shrugged, an obvious attempt to look innocent. “You’ll have to ask her.”
Standing, Jill said, “I believe I’ll go find her right now. Enjoy the rest of your meeting.”
Blake watched appreciatively as she walked to the door and flung it open. Jill had attitude, and he found it excessively amusing. When she was gone, the room felt flat. Restless, Blake stood and walked over to look out the long, mullioned windows facing the south lawn.
“From everything I’ve discovered,” Nate said, “She’s extremely competent and has a great portfolio of successes.”
Blake nodded. “Considering the firm she works for, I have no doubt. I know it by reputation.”
“Will you be willing work with her?”
Blake crossed his arms and turned. “Work with her? Sure.”
“So what are your reservations? I can tell you have them.”
“If there is, perhaps, a matchmaking scheme going on here, I’m warning you now, it won’t be successful. I don’t date women who are already married to their careers. Sounds like she has similar reservations.”
Nate stood and walked toward him. “You’ve already discussed dating, huh?”
Blake sent a level look his direction. “It came up randomly.”
“Sure. Don’t worry. Even if my wife has a few hopes, I’m only committed to success on the business end of things.”
Blake shook Nate’s hand. “Then we’re both focused on the right thing. I guess I’ll see you both in Dallas tomorrow. Thanks for the lunch.”
“Thank you for coming. I hope you were able to relax for a while. If you’re anything like I used to be, you could use a little more relaxation in your life.”
Walking to the door, Blake said, “I’ll relax when I get everything I want in life.”
“You know, there’s a flaw in that logic.”
“What’s that?”
“People tend to want things they can’t have.”