Текст книги "Compromising Her Position"
Автор книги: Samanthe Beck
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rafe held the door to the meeting room open for Arden and their father. From the corner of his eye he saw another figure come around the corridor and step into the hall. Chelsea. He turned to his father. “Call Vanessa on the Polycom. She’ll put us into the conference with the rest of the board.”
“May I prepare a cup of coffee for you as well?”
Luc’s dry remark barely registered. “Thanks,” he said, and started down the hall, his attention on Chelsea. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, but you know my vote. You have my proxy if you need to make the motion without me.”
Her steps slowed as he closed the distance between them. He read apprehension in her big brown eyes.
“Miss Wayne, a moment of your time before the meeting?”
She fiddled with the legal-sized manila envelope clasped in her hands. “Yes. Certainly, Mr. St. Sebastian.” She looked right, then left, then back at him. “Where did you have in mind?”
A door swung open to his left, and a maid stepped into the corridor holding an armful of table linens.
“Here.” He caught the door before it closed, and held it open for her. “Step into my office.”
She hesitated, and gave him an odd look. Did she want him to go in first? He walked in, and found himself in the supply closet where they’d first met. Fine by him. He considered their first meeting a screaming success, aside from the part when she’d called him Paul.
“Chelsea!”
Speak of the devil. Barrington’s voice sailed down the hall. She turned, paled, and dodged his attempt at a hug, but the evasive maneuver didn’t send any hints to the man. “You came back. I knew you would. We need to talk.” He took her arm, stepped into the closet, and pulled her in as well.
“Work brought me back to Las Ventanas, Paul. I’m not here for you.”
“But—” Barrington spotted him. “What are you doing here?”
Rafe drew in a breath to tell Barrington to get the hell out, but before he could speak Arden appeared at the door. She stuck out her hand. “You must be Chelsea. I’m Rafe’s sister, Arden. I’ve been dying to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.” Chelsea shook her hand, as if closet introductions occurred every day.
“Chelsea—” Barrington attempted to interrupt, but another voice broke in.
“What is going on?”
Arden grinned. “Hi Dad.”
Luc took the weight of the door from Arden and peered into the closet. “My memo did not arrive.”
“What memo?” Rafe asked.
“The one announcing you’d relocated our meeting to a closet.”
A beat of silence followed, and then people started speaking at once.
“Please give me another chance. I’m miserable with Cindy—”
“—Dad, this is Chelsea.”
“Ah, our deal liaison. Finally we meet—”
And there it went, the end of his patience. “Enough!” Rafe barked, loud enough to silence everyone. He pressed his thumb to the space between his eyes, where a headache drummed. “Barrington, you’re fired.”
“What? You can’t be serious.”
“Do I look like I’m joking?” He spared the man a glower, and then turned to Chelsea. “We’d like to offer you the job of general manager of Las Ventanas.”
“Her answer is no—”
“Shut up, Paul.” He and Chelsea said the words at the same time. Barrington frowned and snapped his mouth closed.
“We’ll double your current salary,” Luc tossed in.
“It’s a very attractive offer, but—”
“Before you answer, you should know there’s one string attached, and it’s non-negotiable.”
“Merde,” his father cursed and shook his head. “This is no strategy.”
He didn’t give a fuck. “The string is me. I won’t keep this thing between us in the closet anymore. I want—”
“Not what you want,” Arden whispered. “How you feel.”
“I feel like I want everybody out of here. You”—he pointed at Barrington—“empty your office. Now.”
Barrington sputtered for a moment, then turned and stormed out of the closet.
“Arden, Dad, please go get the board call started.”
Arden stood her ground. “The call won’t take long. There are only two agenda items.”
“Two? I count one—authorize the Tradewinds deal.”
“Two,” his father confirmed. “Approve the purchase and appoint my successor as chairman. You’re recused from the second vote, as you’re the nominee.”
“Our agreement was three acquisitions, closed and integrated.”
Luc’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Are you trying to talk me out of my decision? What is the problem? Are you not ready?”
Hell, no. “I’m ready.”
“Yes. I believe you are, which is why I scheduled the vote for today.”
What timing. His father was handing him the goal he’d been jumping through hoops for, but he could barely focus on the triumph. “I’m honored, Dad. Let me know how the vote turns out. Now, if you don’t mind…” He ushered Luc and Arden out of the closet. “I have other business to resolve.”
“Clearly, yes. I advise you to—”
“Private business,” he said firmly, and slammed the door in his father’s face.
“Rafe, you need to join your call,” Chelsea said softly from behind him. “You’re in the middle of important matters. We can talk later.”
“No.” He took her arms and pulled her close, until he could feel her breath against his lips. “You are my most urgent priority. We talk now. The rest is going to barrel on without me anyway.”
“But…it’s everything you worked for. Everything you want.”
“Not everything. It just so happens the thing I want most is in this closet.”
She froze. “You want a stack of folding tables?”
“You, Chelsea. I want you. I want us. I want commitments, and promises that end with words like forever.”
“You don’t believe in forever.”
“I didn’t.” He caught her face in his hands. “But I do now. I believe in forever with you. Because I love you, and that’s never going to change. I know you have your rule against sleeping with your boss, but I have a solution—”
“You’d give up the chairmanship for me?”
Shit. Not the response he’d hoped for. His mind scrambled for the right reply to keep her from ending the conversation right then and there. “That wasn’t the solution I envisioned.” He traced her mouth with his thumb and realized she was smiling, possibly even holding back a laugh. She was teasing. “I’m baring my soul and negotiating my ass off here. Do you find it amusing, Miss Wayne?”
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist. But Rafe…” Her smile faded and her voice turned serious. “I trust you, and as for my rule—”
“I was going to suggest you make an exception to your rule, for your husband. Marry me.”
She sucked in a quick breath, and then covered her face with her hands.
“Chelsea—”
“Hold on. Give me a minute so I can do this right.”
“Do what right?” Sue his ass for offering her a job with strings attached?
“Say yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I love you. Yes, I want forever. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
His lips found hers before she finished speaking, and he absorbed her words the same way he absorbed the touch of her hands on his jaw and the heat of her tears on his cheeks. After a long moment, he drew back and looked at her in the dim light. “And the job? Or do you not care about the job?”
She laughed and smacked his chest. “I didn’t say that. I’ve dreamt of being the general manager of Las Ventanas since I was a little girl. No way am I walking away from the career opportunity of my life. Don’t ever tell your father he could have had me at half my current salary, especially since I gave notice at Tradewinds this morning.”
“My lips are sealed.” He proved it by sealing them to hers, for another quick kiss. “If we keep quiet, and move fast, I can give you your Valentine’s surprise.”
“You think?” She kissed him back, more slowly, then broke away, leaned back against the stack of tables, and reached for him. “I’m ready for my surprise.”
“Tempting, but I have another surprise in mind.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” He opened the door and tugged her out of the closet. “Seems to me, I booked a week for two at the House of Sun villa, starting today.”
She blinked at him. “You did, but I didn’t realize you intended to use that reservation. I canceled it.”
He pulled her against him, so she could feel something else he intended to use. “That’s okay. I know the outgoing manager. I’ll ask her to pull some strings as a final favor.”
Chelsea went onto her tiptoes, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sure she’d be delighted to accommodate you, Mr. St. Sebastian.”
“I’m counting on it, Miss Wayne.”
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Acknowledgments
Is it wrong that this is my favorite part of every book I write? I gotta give shout-outs to:
Liz, Heather, Curtis, Jessica, Katie, Kari and all the other members of the Entangled team, for your patience, talent, and professionalism…except you, Kari. I appreciate you most when you’re NSFW!
My secret sisters, Robin Bielman, Maggie Kelley & Hayson Manning. Someday we’re all going to be together in one place, (probably prison or a mental hospital), and then everybody better watch out.
Dani Gorman for being awesome, and requiring only three or four hours of sleep per night.
The Los Angeles Romance Writers, for creating a forum full of unconditional love and absolute support.
My husband and son, for creating a forum full of unconditional love, absolute support, and endless loads of dirty laundry.
My friends and family, (holla to the Kentucky crew), for ensuring I never run out of story ideas.
The readers, for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and the pictures of hard-bodied men.
About the Author
Wine lover, sleep fanatic, and USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy contemporary romance novels, Samanthe Beck lives in Malibu, California, with her long-suffering but extremely adorable husband and their turbo-son. Throw in a furry ninja named Kitty and Bebe the trash talking Chihuahua and you get the whole, chaotic picture.
When not dreaming up fun, fan-your-cheeks sexy ways to get her characters to happily-ever-after, she searches for the perfect cabernet to pair with Ambien.
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Also by Samanthe Beck…
Private Practice
Light Her Fire
Falling for the Enemy
Lover Undercover
Falling for the Marine
Wicked Games
Best Man with Benefits
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