Текст книги "Crazy Ever After"

Автор книги: Kelly Jamieson

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Chapter Twelve

Well, it was done. She’d finally gotten what she’d wanted seven years ago. And all she could think was...wow. She hid her face against him, hoping he wasn’t going to be all moral and apologetic.

The last time he’d rejected her, he’d broken her teenage heart. Now, seven years later, it was clear to Samara that the feelings she’d had for him had not just been a girlish crush. Seven years later, those feelings were stronger and more intense than ever. She’d thought she’d gotten over him, but now she knew—she really hadn’t.

She’d gotten what she wanted. But maybe she wasn’t quite prepared for that. What happened next?

Although she’d mostly been reacting and hadn’t really thought about what they were doing, she had thought she could do it—have this one time with the man she’d always wanted, one night of no-strings-attached, scratch-an-itch sex. But she may have misjudged her own ability to do that without involving her emotions.

Her heart sank, heavy and full. Because if she hadn’t gotten over Travis in the last seven years, how on earth did she think she was going to get over him now? Now they’d actually had sex…

“Samara.” He lifted her chin to look at her, concern in his blue eyes. Then she shoved at his chest and pushed herself away from him. She scrambled to sit, glaring at him.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” she demanded.

His eyes widened, and his head lifted off the pillow. “What!” He gave his head a shake. “Jesus. Here I was worried that you’d think you seduced me against my will. And you ask why I didn’t stop you?” He closed his eyes and dropped his head back down.

Something inside her quivered, and she felt her heart tumble lower. She was taking out her worries and fears on him, and he didn’t deserve it. He’d been worried about her. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her again. But...had she seduced him against his will? Oh dear lord...“Did you really want me?”

He opened his eyes. They blazed with a blue flame. “You are the most irritating, frustrating female I have ever encountered!” He shoved himself up to sitting and they faced each other. “I can’t do anything right! When I try to do the right thing and resist you, I hurt your feelings. When I give into temptation, I piss you off. Then you ask that! How can you even ask? Did you not feel me inside you?”

Uh, right. Okay, that had been a stupid question. There was no doubt in her mind that Travis had wanted her with the same desperate hunger she’d wanted him. An aching joy, a wistful satisfaction filled her, along with budding hope. “I just wanted to make sure,” she whispered. And then she crumpled, remembering...remembering why she’d been so hurt, why they couldn’t ever be together. Why she should be hating him. She covered her face with her hands and bent her head, her hair falling around her.

“What? What’s wrong, Samara?” He reached over to try to push her hair back.

“I can’t get past it,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

“Get past what?”

She drew a long shaky breath into her lungs. “You and my mother.”

She felt him go utterly still. After a tight pause, he said, “What about me and your mother?”

“The affair you had with her.”

He made a choking noise. “What!”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “I know about your affair.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Seven years ago. I heard you and my mom talking. It was just after...after that night when I kissed you. I heard you two talking about Dad.”

His eyes narrowed, Travis shook his head. “Yeah. So? I have no idea what you’re talking about, Samara.”

She blew out a breath. “I don’t remember every word, but she said dad knew, and you said you were sorry, that you never meant to jeopardize their marriage, and she said it wasn’t all your fault and that she hadn’t handled things very well either, and then she said maybe it was best for all of you if you moved to L.A. even though she didn’t want you to go. And you sounded very...close.”

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.” Travis closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “And you thought we were having an affair? Me and your mother? Oh Jesus. Jesus Christ.”

“Was...were you...Travis...?” He looked like he was in pain but wanted to laugh. Doubts swirled inside her as she stared at his expression.

“It’s almost funny, except it’s so goddamn stupid and tragic,” he said roughly. “Please, Samara, please tell me that’s not why you ran away and barely spoke to your mother for seven fucking years.”

Her heart picked up a heavy sluggish beat, her body pulsing in time to it. She swallowed tightly. “Yes. That’s why. I was so...hurt. By both of you. You’d rejected me, and then I found out that was why, and I was furious with my mother. I felt like she’d...stolen you away from me.”

He made another sound like a low growl.

“And I was angry at her for cheating on my dad like that. Angry at both of you, for betraying him like that. He was your partner. I didn’t understand how you could do that to him.”

“I didn’t do that to him.” He grabbed hold of her upper arms and gave her a little shake. “Are you insane? I never had an affair with your mother!”

“Shh. She’s just down the hall.”

“I don’t give a shit!” But he lowered his voice. “Samara, I swear to you, there has never been anything between me and your mother.” He gave her a hard stare. “Jesus, Samara. That is so fucked up.”

“Then...what...” She couldn’t even ask the questions because his words took her world and shook it up like she’d been pulled into a rip tide. Everything she’d known and believed for the last seven years shattered and rained down around her in tiny pieces.z

“Oh god.” She thought for a moment, remembering the tension between her parents, and how she’d attributed that to the affair. Her mind raced from one thought fragment to another. There’d been no affair. There’d been no affair. All those years when she’d been hurt and pissed off at her mother had been for nothing. A wrenching agony ripped through her at how stupid she’d been. Heavy regret washed over her, and her eyes stung. She lowered her head and stared at the pink, chocolate and taupe duvet, forcing back the tears.

She was an idiot. The biggest, stupidest idiot in the world. She’d not only trashed her own life, but her mother’s, and she knew her father’d been deeply hurt by the rift between them too. She wanted to die. She wanted to just curl up and hide her face in shame and never emerge.

“I should be so pissed off at you,” he murmured. “That you’d think I would do something like that.”

“Yes,” she sobbed. “You should. You should hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Samara,” he said wearily. “I know how pissed off at yourself you must be right now.”

She made a little noise of pain. “My mother...oh, god.”

“I know. I know. But you’ll talk. She’ll forgive you, Samara. She loves you.” He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve Travis’s comfort either. But he was giving it to her, and she wanted it, and she wanted him. So much. Gratitude for his forgiveness and understanding swelled inside her, hot and soft in her chest, feeling a lot like...love.

She couldn’t be in love with him. Not after all these years. After only her own stupidity and stubbornness had kept them from being together.

Well. That wasn’t entirely true. She didn’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t run away all those years ago. She’d have gone away to college anyway, and even if she hadn’t believed Travis had betrayed her father and rejected her for her mother, they probably never would have ended up together anyway. Because―he’d rejected her. That still stung, but now, with the distance of time, she could finally admit Travis had been right. There was no way a twenty-five-year-old man would have had anything to do with a seventeen-year-old girl.

She’d been so young and stupid and blind.

She lifted her head from his now-wet chest and gazed up at him. “I’m sorry, Travis. I am so, so sorry. I’ve made such a mess of everything.”

The corners of his mouth tipped up, and he smoothed his fingertips across her wet cheek. “Yes, you have.”

“I’ve been trying so hard to show you I’m mature and responsible and capable, and the truth is I’m just an idiot who has no idea what she’s doing.”

“You’re not an idiot, Sam.”

“Thank you. For being so nice about this.”

“Yeah. Well. I might’ve jumped to a wrong conclusion once or twice in my life.”

“Really?” She stared at him. He swallowed tightly, watching her. She tipped her head to one side and watched the expressions move across his face as he looked back at her. Watched his pupils dilate and his mouth soften. There was no denying the chemistry between them, the heat, the sparkle, the zing of challenge and the fun of sparring. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for them. Maybe they could be together.

* * *

Travis could have drowned in those amazing eyes, the green, gold and brown a sparkly kaleidoscope in her irises. Long lashes, wet and spiky, framed them, and her pretty mouth, swollen from his fierce kisses, parted softly. He rolled her onto her back and rose up on one elbow. He looked down at her, holding her gaze steadily.

“Samara, we still shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Why not?” She blinked.

Only a million fucking reasons. His heart thudded. Telling her she was too young for him seemed inane now. Telling her that her father would freak out was probably not a good idea at this moment, seeing as he’d just died. Reminding her that her mother was just down the hall? Jesus. “We have to work together,” he managed to choke out.

She blinked again but said nothing. So unlike her.

“Aw, fuck it.” He kissed her hard. Her small hands reached for him, digging into his shoulders as she pulled him closer, a little frantically. “No.” He muttered the words against her lips. “Not this time, baby. This time we go slow. This time we enjoy.”

“I enjoyed it.” Her breathless words made him laugh.

“Yeah.” He brushed her mouth with his. “Me too. But this time...I want to actually know I’m enjoying it. You get me so hot I don’t know what I’m even doing.” The fucking weirdest thing was, when they’d been talking about coffee and coffee growers and co-ops and pricing structures, he’d been so hot for her he could have picked her up and done her right there on the restaurant table.

“Oh, god, me too.” Her tongue licked across his bottom lip as he kissed her again, and his blood surged. He slid a hand into her hair, cool and silky, and held her head against the pillow.

“Did I hurt you?” He nuzzled the side of her neck, tasting the tender flesh there with the tip of his tongue.

“Yes.”

He lifted his head and saw the smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “But I liked it. Oh Jesus.” Her eyes closed then opened. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

“Mmm. I can’t believe it either.” Maybe he’d just found the secret to controlling her. A little sexual domination apparently worked wonders. He’d have to keep that in mind.

More images of him taking her on the boardroom table at the office sizzled through his brain. Unusual working relationship, but hey, if it worked...

Yeah right.

He inhaled the exotic vanilla spice scent of her skin and hair as he sucked her flesh into his mouth in a love bite, releasing it before he left too much of a mark on her. Though he wanted to mark her.

He used teeth on her shoulder, making her shudder. This was crazy. She was so strong, so determined, so independent, who knew she would melt at a little rough play? Who knew he’d be so engorged he was going to burst?

Bah. He’d be that way no matter what if he was in bed with Samara. He knew it without a doubt. He’d always known it and had kicked his own ass over and over about it. He’d even thought he was a sicko pervert about it.

Maybe he still was.

He pushed those thoughts aside as he nibbled his way down to her breasts again, this time slowly, lusciously tasting her, sucking her, making her whimper and shift beneath him. This time he wanted to take his time with her and taste her everywhere.

But first he had to take his damn clothes off.

He sat up and stripped his shirt off over his head then shucked out of shorts and underwear. His cock was hard and throbbing and ready to go again. Already.

Kneeling between her legs, he gently pushed her thighs apart and studied her.

“Travis.” She inhaled his name on a long breath.

“Yeah.”

So pretty. So fucking hot. Bare and smooth, her pink folds glistened and pouted, her clit peeking out from between. His mouth watered, and he bent his head to press a kiss against one firm thigh, then the other.

Her fingers slid into his hair again. His scalp was sensitive, but the sensation of her tugging on his hair only added to the pleasure that sizzled over his body. He inhaled deeply, the warm feminine scent of her filling his head, making him almost dizzy. He kissed her mound, and she jerked against his mouth. Then he slowly licked and kissed his way down between her thighs, sucking the smooth flesh into his mouth gently, running his tongue up and down, up and down, around her quivering clit but not over it. Not yet.

Her hips lifted. Her fingers tugged. Her lips parted, and eyes closed, she made small mewling noises deep in her throat.

Then he kissed her clit, a firm kiss right over it, and she cried out.

Damn. They still had to be quiet. That was taking a lot of the fun out of the whole thing. He wanted her to let loose so he could hear her enjoyment.

He was going to have to get a place of his own, away from Dayna. Yeah.

In the meantime, Samara dragged a pillow over her face to muffle the cries and moans she couldn’t help but make as he dragged his tongue over her straining clit then sucked it into his mouth.

Her muffled scream almost made him come, and he sucked her climax into his mouth, pushing a finger inside her so he could feel her tighten and pulse. The snug ring at her entrance grabbed onto his finger so tightly that, again, he almost came.

When her small convulsions had stopped, he drew back and rolled her onto her tummy. She made murmur of protest, but her body was limp and boneless.

He just wanted to explore more. Sweeping his hands over the curve of her bottom, he leaned down to press damp kisses there. He spread her thighs again so he could still see all her girl parts, swollen and flushed dark pink, and the trickle of pale fluid easing from her center.

Christ. His balls tightened up to his body, and his skin crawled with an intense need for her. So much for his plan to take things slowly. At least he’d given her one orgasm first.

He took in a deep, slow breath, willed his body to slow down, and stroked his hands up and down the backs of her thighs to her knees, making her shiver, then back up over that sweet little ass.

He pressed a kiss to the small dimples at the base of her spine then licked his way up the furrow of her back, pushed her long hair aside to kiss the nape of her neck, soft and warm and fragrant.

“You’re killing me,” she moaned.

“Mmm.” He drew in her scent again and moved over her, ready to take her from behind.

“No.” Her whisper and her hand on his cock stopped him.

He swallowed.

She moved beneath him, wriggling, slipping out from under him.

He rose up on his knees to stare down at her, skin prickling all over, his cock so rigid it hurt.

She twisted around, all gleaming pale gold skin, tight little nipples and long curtain of flaming hair. She reached for him. For his cock. He watched open-mouthed as she took him between her palms, and when she stroked down, the top of his head almost burst off.

Samara crouched on her knees, leaned down, and took him in her mouth. Sensation exploded through his nerves. Her tongue swirled around him, hot and silky, and then her lips closed over him and she sucked, hot and wet and clinging. His mind went blank, his head fell back, and his consciousness narrowed to the feel of her mouth on him, sublime ecstasy.

He reached for her head, twisted his hand into her long hair and held on as she slid up and down the length of him. Heat enveloped him, pulsing warmth, as she greedily licked and sucked him, voracious, enthusiastic and so goddamn good. When she drew back and gazed down at him, her fingers curled around him, the head of his cock pulsing and dripping, flushed and swollen, he had to fight hard to control the orgasm that built inside. He buzzed and ached, his thighs tense and belly tight, vibrating with the need to come.

He watched her—mouth parted and shiny wet, eyes avid, hand sliding up and down on him. Then she leaned forward again, opened her mouth, and let saliva trail down over his shaft, a silvery thread that she slicked up and down with her hand. The slippery lubrication intensified the pleasure slamming through him, and he let out a string of curses that he tried hard to keep quiet.

“You feel so good,” he moaned, fingers tightening in her hair.

“You taste so good.” She bent and took him in her mouth again. Pressure built, and sensation sizzled, and he plunged over the edge.

“No,” he said hoarsely. He wanted to come inside her again, not in her mouth. Too late. There was no stopping it. It consumed him like a huge wave breaking on the shore, unstoppable, crashing over him, swamping him with pleasure. A long groan tore from him as she sucked him, swallowed him, licked him, held him.

“Shh,” she reminded him long moments later when she lifted her head, a mischievous smile curving her wet lips.

“Sorry.” Had he made noise? He didn’t even know.

They collapsed onto the bed in a heap of tangled sweaty limbs, her long hair twirled and snared around him.

“Christ, woman, your mouth is incredible.”

For someone he still thought of as young, too young, he did not want to know how she’d become such an expert at giving head. Jesus. He was destroyed.

But it wasn’t just by the blow job. It was the whole mind-blowing, speech-defying, heart-stopping experience of having sex with her. And wanting to do it again.

Chapter Thirteen

Travis had left her bed around four o’clock, and despite feeling cold and alone, she’d drifted back to sleep until her alarm went off at seven. She didn’t see him as she grabbed a quick cup of coffee and a bagel, although every sense was on alert waiting for him to appear.

On the way to the office, her tummy quivered and fluttered whenever she thought of seeing him there. This wasn’t how she’d planned things to go. She’d been convinced she could keep her feelings for him separate, that they could work together at Cedar Mill Coffee and it would all be fine. She hadn’t planned on jumping into bed with him, but whoa... Now that she had, it was hard to regret it. Well, she would show him how mature and professional she could be, by maintaining separate relationships. At work, they were colleagues. Away from work they were...what? Lovers?

“Hooo.” She blew out a breath, the flutter down low inside turning into a warm ache as she thought about being Travis’s lover. Wow.

But that didn’t change anything at the office.

She straightened her shoulders. She was still determined to show them all she could lead the company and pick up where her father had left off. Her bottom lip quivered a little as she thought about making him proud of her. She and Travis might be sleeping together, but that meant nothing when it came to business.

She nibbled her bottom lip as she walked into the office. Paulette was already there as usual, dubiously studying a large cardboard carton on her desk.

“Morning, Paulette. What’s that?”

Paulette looked up at her and didn’t answer. Her mouth flattened then she said, “It’s your father’s things. From the hotel in Matagalpa.”

Samara’s heart flipped over in her chest. “Oh.” She stopped short. “Well. I’ll take it and go through it.”

“Are you sure?” Paulette’s brows slanted down. “I could ask Travis...”

“No. That’s fine. I’ll do it.”

She hefted the box off Paulette’s desk and carried it into her father’s office. Her office. They still had to fight...er...discuss...that small issue.

She closed the door and then turned to the box. Taking a pair of scissors from the drawer, she slit the tape and lifted the flaps of the box open.

She pulled out a small carry-on size bag, which must have been all he traveled with. Not a lot, but then it was supposed to be a short trip, only a few days. Beneath it sat a briefcase. She gazed down at it. That was likely what she was most interested in, but just to make sure, she set the carry-on on the floor and unzipped it around three sides. She flipped it open, lifted out some of his clothes, feeling strangely like she was snooping through someone else’s things. But he was gone.

A few shirts, a couple of pairs of pants, underwear, a small black leather toiletry bag that held his shaver, a small bottle of shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrush. Just the usual things you’d expect to see. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes at the thought that he’d never use these things again.

She sniffled and bent her head for a moment, hugging one of his shirts, then rose and returned to the briefcase. She lifted it out. It was heavy, and she realized it held his laptop. It was amazing that it had been returned. Something like that would have been so easy to steal. She had to admire the hotel staff who’d packed his things and sent them home.

Was there more information on the laptop than had been on his desk computer? Although she’d found some details, she didn’t have enough to finish whatever he’d started there. Nor had she seen any mention of the amazing coffee bean her mother had mentioned.

There was also a day planner, and she flipped through it, looking at the notes in his illegible scribble, half printed, half cursive. She smiled. A note to meet Javier. The fiesta. Nothing odd there.

She opened the laptop, but of course the battery was dead, so she dug into the bottom of the bag for the cord and plugged it in. When she’d powered it up, she awaited a prompt for a password, but there was none. “Dad,” she muttered. “That’s not smart.” But it worked out well for her, and she began searching through directories, folders and files, and immediately zeroed in on the folder labeled “Matagalpa”.

She heard voices in the office outside her closed door and froze.

Travis?

She didn’t know exactly why, but she didn’t want him to know she had her father’s things. She wanted to do this on her own. She was determined that if there was something her father had being doing there that was worth finishing, she was going to find out, and she was going to finish it.

She quickly lowered the lid of the computer and set it on the floor behind her desk, packed up the box and shoved it into a cupboard in case Travis– or anyone—walked in. She would wait and take it home, study it at leisure there in the privacy of her bedroom.

Curiosity burned inside her and she bit her lip. Better safe. It was the weekend, and she could take her time exploring the contents of the laptop without jumping every time she heard a noise.

When Travis did appear at her door, it was with a soft knock. She looked up from the spreadsheet she was studying on the computer screen to see him leaning against the door frame, all big and gorgeous, arms crossed over his chest.

“Busy?” he asked.

She couldn’t read his face.

“Yes,” she said. “But...” She bit her lip.

One corner of his mouth kicked up, and he moved into the office, closing the door behind him. “You okay this morning?”

“Yes. Of course.” She held his gaze, but heat swept from her hairline to her toes. “You?”

“Great.” He kept coming toward the desk, and she blinked when he moved around behind it, bent and kissed her mouth.

She leaned into the kiss, loving the warmth of his mouth, the brush of his tongue on her bottom lip as he drew back. She stared up at him. “You shouldn’t do that here,” she said, her voice a little breathless.

“The door is closed.”

She nodded. “But seriously, Travis. I don’t know...” She got lost. Godfrey, she was usually so confident, so assertive, and she wasn’t sure what to say or how to deal with this mind-blowing situation. She licked her lips. “I want you to know that this...” She waved a hand between them. “What happened between us doesn’t change anything here at work.”

He arched an eyebrow, the warmth in his eyes cooling. “Really.”

She gave a sharp nod. “Yes. I still think I’m the best one to take over the company. I’m still going to get caught up and prepared for that meeting next week. This won’t change anything.”

He straightened and folded his arms across his chest, his face once again impassive. “Of course.”

She squinted at him. “You don’t think I...that I slept with you to...” Her words trailed off. “Oh my damn, Travis.”

His mouth tightened, and his eyes grew flinty. “You didn’t?”

He thought she’d slept with him to try to soften him up or something when it came to deciding the new leader of the company! “Of course not!” She jumped to her feet and reached for him. She slid her hands around the back of his neck. “That’s not what last night was about! Not at all.”

He gave a short nod, his mouth softening a little. “Then what was it about?”

She dropped her gaze, a flustered feeling overtaking her. She wasn’t about to tell him she was falling in love with him all over again. Or that maybe she’d been in love with him all along. Not yet anyway. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again. She swallowed, her throat tight and dry. “You know there’s always been something between us.”

“Yeah.” His hands settled on her hips, and she screwed up her courage and looked up to meet his eyes.

“I...I...want to explore that.” There, that sounded good.

His eyes darkened. “Oh, Sam. It’s such a bad idea.”

“Yeah. I know it is.” In all honesty she had to agree with him. “But I really think we can keep things separate. Here, it’s just business.”

“And at home it’s just...”

“Hot sex?” she said hopefully.

His lips twitched. “No doubt about that.” Then he looked up at the ceiling. “I’d like to be the responsible, mature one here and say that should never happen again. The truth is I seriously don’t think I can keep my hands off you. God knows I’ve tried.”

She kissed his chin. “It’s okay, Travis. I’m all grown up now. Remember?”

He groaned. “Oh man, are you ever.”

She grinned, feminine satisfaction swelling inside her. She gave him a fast, hard hug then stepped away. “Did you come here on business? Or just to talk?”

He sighed and rubbed his face. “Mostly just to talk. To see how you’re doing. To see if you have any questions.”

“Not so far,” she said cheerfully, returning to her chair. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“Uh-huh. Okay, let me know if you need anything.”

She couldn’t resist, a new flirtatiousness unfurling inside her. “Oh, I will,” she said, catching his gaze and winking. “But it won’t be until later when we’re at home.”

She saw him trying to repress his smile. “I’ll be late getting home,” he said. “I have an appointment with Wade Burnell this afternoon.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “What about?”

“I’m the executor of your father’s will,” he reminded her. “Apparently I have to sign some documents to get started on probating the will.”

“Oh. Of course.” Her mood dipped a little at that.

“I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Okay.”

He left with a smile, and it took a few minutes of floaty distraction before she could refocus on work. But she had to. Business. Focus.

It was less than an hour later that she was puzzling over the company’s traceability system. She knew how important it was for a company who offered fair trade products to be able to verify their fair trade status, but the system they were using was sadly lacking. She had to be missing something.

It was Daniel she needed to talk to but when she went to his office, he was out. She had no idea who else to ask about that, so she traced her way back to Travis’s office. Damn, she hated to have to ask him questions, but he was the one who knew the most about the company.

More than her? Maybe.

She knocked on his open door and poked her head in. “Hi. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” He leaned back in his chair, his hair tousled, his shirt sleeves rolled up on his strong forearms. She gulped. Business. She took a few more steps into the room, and he waved at a chair.

Perched on the chair, she said, “I was just looking at our traceability system.” She grimaced. “Such as it is.”

“Traceability?” He lifted one eyebrow. “Why?”

“Why what? Why am I looking at it? I’m looking for ways to cut costs.”

His eyebrows drew together. “Traceability?”

“Yes.” Impatience edged her tone.

“I thought you were looking at the financials I gave you.”

“I already did.” She shrugged. “I get it. Now I’m looking for ways to cut costs.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I think we have bigger things to worry about than our traceability system, Sam.”

Her jaw tightened. “I’m well aware there are problems,” she said tersely. “Our system seems sadly inadequate. Is that really all we use?”

“Yes.” He shrugged.

“It’s so important these days,” she said. “And not just for process credence attributes. Yes, many buyers now require their suppliers to prove credence, including restaurants and some grocery stores. But there are other reasons for having a solid traceability system.” She asked him a few other technical questions, which he answered but only confirmed to her that what they were using was outdated and inadequate. She took it in then rose from her chair and said, “Okay, thanks.”

Back in her office, she leaned her head back against her chair and stared at the white paneled ceiling. She wished she hadn’t asked him about that because now he thought she was focusing on the wrong things. Was she?

He was the one who knew most about the business. She had to admit it. But she could show him she knew things too. The best way to do that was with a well thought-out business case. Numbers talked, for most people.

She glanced at her watch. She’d get right on that, but first she was going to call Duane Scanlon back and invite him for lunch.