"Thank you for seeing me," Nicole said, the
words caught in her throat. Nothing about his expression or his
mannerisms implied that he would entertain her request. She wasn’t
about to turn tail and run, though, just because he was looking her
over like she'd tracked mud across his priceless rug.
"I am flying out of town in less than an
hour. What do you want, Nicole?" His voice implied that whatever it
was, the likelihood that she was going to get it was close to
zero.
Ever so carefully, Nicole sat on the
unforgiving, white chair before Stephan's desk. She smoothed the
knee of her navy pants suit and crossed her ankles to one side,
hoping she didn't look as anxious as she felt. "Can't you at least
try to be civil, Stephan?"
The jaded man who sized her up now bore
little resemblance to the young man who had visited his father's
company frequently over several months for no other reason than to
saunter through her office, looking like he'd just returned from
surfing, and ask her if she'd go out with him. She’d always said
no, and he’d always smiled as if her refusal had just made him like
her more.
He wasn't smiling now.
He stood and walked to the front of his glass
desk. "We both know this isn't a social visit. I'll admit I'm
surprised that your brother stooped to sending you. His deal must
be in worse shape than I thought."
Nicole clutched the purse on her lap.
"Dominic didn't send me."
Stephan leaned back, crossing his arms across
his wide chest. Despite his expensive tailored suit and silk tie,
he looked anything but tame. He had clawed his way from near
bankruptcy back to the front page of financial magazines and the
experience had hardened him. "Riiiiight," he drawled.
It doesn’t matter what he thinks of
me.
"I need your help," she said.
His eyes narrowed while he weighed her
statement. "You needed something and you thought of me? How
touching. Did you consider the time we haven't spoken and the
circumstances of our last conversation before you came here?"
"You know I had nothing to do with what
happened."
A careless shrug of his shoulder volleyed
that he knew no such thing.
"Stephan. I don't even talk to my brother. I
hate him. If I had known that he was going to buy..."
"Steal..." Stephan interjected.
"If I had known anything about what was going
to happen, I would have tried to stop him."
"Easy to say now."
"What do you want me to say, Stephan? I went
to him when it happened. He wouldn't listen to me. I tried to
apologize to your family. What more do you want from me?"
"I guess the real question is - What do
you
want from
me
?"
Nicole shut the door on the welling response
from within her. He wasn’t asking her what she had once wanted,
what she’d spent many lonely nights dreaming could happen between
them. He didn’t want to hear about that foolishness any more than
she wanted to resurrect it. No, today was about something much more
concrete, and the only thing she still allowed herself to care
about. "My father left me his company, but he named Dominic the
acting CEO for a year."
Stephan barked out a laugh. "Genius. Dominic
was the one sabotaging your father's company, it makes sense that
he's the one to turn it around."
"Do you know what Dominic will do with the
company as soon as he gets his hands on it? He's going to fire
everyone at the top and put his own people in there."
"And?"
"And I can't let that happen."
"Because you need to be in control."
Does it matter?
He wouldn't believe
her. He'd made up his mind about her a long time ago. "I just need
to know if you can put the past aside long enough to help me."
No
didn’t require vocalization; it
shone in his ice-cold eyes and the stiff set of his shoulders.
"I can make it worth your while," she added
quickly, playing her last card in this game.
He pushed off from the desk. Suddenly
interested. "Now this I have to hear."
It would slow the rebound of the company, but
if Stephan didn’t agree to help her, she was going to lose it all
anyway. "I own the patent to a new conversion software. I could
sign it over to you."
He leaned closer. Close enough that she could
smell the light scent of his aftershave. Close enough to block out
her view of everything but him.
"Disappointing," he said.
"What is?" She shifted uncomfortably in her
seat. Beneath her modest navy jacket and silk blouse, her body was
having some very immodest reactions to his nearness. She didn’t
want to remember how those lips, the ones that were so close that
she could lean forward and taste them, had felt on her neck, on
other parts that were now straining against lace - begging for his
attention.
She met his eyes and realized that he was
watching her reaction intently; testing something, something they
both knew was there, something that was better left unsaid.
She steeled herself against her need for him.
Hadn’t she learned years ago how giving in to a whim, even if only
for one evening, could have devastating emotional consequences?
Losing him would never have hurt as much if she hadn’t allowed
herself that one day of believing that she could actually have
someone like him in her life.
"Your offer. I thought you had something a
little more
personal
in mind..." he said. One corner of his
mouth curled at the thought..
Calm. Breathe.
Stephan would pounce on
any weakness. Not that she hadn't imagined that pouncing - in
glorious, tantalizing detail - but not here, not like this. "Trust
me, nothing personal is being offered."
"What a shame. I would have almost been
tempted." His suggestive smile was a flash from the past that
elicited an instant, completely unexpected playful response from
her.
She said, "Who are you kidding? You would
have been panting at my feet." And regretted the words as soon as
they were uttered.
His eyes lit with a spark of interest so
intense that Nicole had to look away before she completely forgot
all the reasons they could not give in to that attraction. He laid
a hand on either arm of her chair suggesting her escape relied on
revealing what she was trying very hard to deny. "See, that is what
always intrigued me. Which one is the real you? The cool bitch who
talks about her recently deceased father only in terms of his will
or the much more tempting tease who just threw down a challenge?
What would you do if I took you up on it?”
His words gained the reaction he’d likely
desired. Her head whipped back around, only to find that he was
closer, much closer than she was comfortable with. He might want
her, but he’d wanted many women over the past seven years. The
tabloids were full of pictures of him with some heiress or starlet
on his arm. No one held his interest for long, and Nicole couldn’t
risk the pain of losing him a second time.
He leaned in just a fraction closer.
"I don't know why I said that,” she said,
back peddling.
"You said it for the same reason I'm fighting
to keep my hands off you. There is something between us; something
we should have resolved years ago."
"I can't go there, Stephan." Her voice was
huskier than she’d intended.
"I can't either, so you're safe." He
straightened. "Go back and tell your brother that however tempting
the offer is, I'm not going to call off my plans - not even for a
romp with you."
And the truth rears its ugly head.
He didn’t want her.
He’d only wanted to see how far she’d let him
go.
Nicole said, her hands curling into angry
fists, "You know, I'll never understand why you and my brother
aren't the best of friends - you're both complete assholes."
"Tsk, tsk. Your mask is slipping. It'll be
hard to explain to Dominic how his plan involved slugging me."
Nicole stood, chest heaving, and said, "This
is all a game to you, isn't it? You just want to see if you can get
to me.” She hated that her eyes blurred with tears when she wanted
to show him how little his jabs affected her.
What’s the use? Why hide it?
In a
moment she was going to walk out that door and never see him again,
anyway. "Guess what? You won." One tear escaped down her cheek. "I
was an idiot to think that there was a shred of humanity in
you."
She turned to leave.
"Nicole..." he said softly.
She turned back, her composure returning with
icy calm. He wasn’t going to seriously pretend to care, was he? Or
had he just thought of another witty slam that he couldn’t resist
imparting before she left? "What, Stephan? Have you thought of
another insult? Do you think that after the week I've had I really
care what you think of me?"
Slowly, as if the words were wrung from him,
he said, "You shouldn't have come here."
"That much is obvious, thanks," she said,
turning away and walking toward the door only to stumble over
nothing.
Dammit, can’t I at least hold it together until I get
out of here?
He caught her by the arm near the door,
stepping in front of her and waiting until she looked up at him. If
she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was concerned.
"What did you think would happen when you
walked through the door? Did you think I'd be overcome by old
emotions and forget about everything else?"
She wasn’t surprised that his words held some
bite. Looking at him holding her arm, all of her anger left her.
Really, what
had
she expected? "No. It's pretty obvious that
whatever you felt for me is gone. I wouldn't have come if my
lawyers had been able to find any other way."
"A way to what?”
Nicole met his eyes."To break the will. A
year ago, you made a bid for Corisi Ltd. My father initiated, but
never completed, his acceptance of your offer so it still falls
under unfinished business and therefore provides the only loophole
my lawyers could find."
His hand tightened. "So, this is all about
money after all."
Nicole shrugged sadly. "Does it matter? You
won't help me."
His face tightened and his blue eyes raged
with emotion she hadn’t expected to see. No, she chastised herself.
Now was not the time to imagine that he was unwilling to let her
leave for the same reason she wished she could stay. Life didn’t
work that way. Not hers, anyway.
"What did your lawyers come up with?" he
asked.
What do I have to lose?
she thought.
She said, "If you bought Corisi Ltd and sold it back to me, the
company would be outside the control of the stipulations of the
will."
He shook his head as if he’d heard her wrong.
"Buy it? Buy a thirty million dollar company for you?"
If there was even the slightest glimmer of
hope that he would help her, she couldn’t leave yet. “It would just
be on paper. It wouldn't end up costing you anything.”
"Just my stock standing as my board and
investors begin to doubt my sanity."
He hadn’t said no — yet.
"I thought about that, too. No one would be
surprised if..."
"If?"
She spoke quickly, getting her plan out
before she had a chance to reconsider the wisdom of it. "If you and
I were engaged. This would all make sense. When families merge,
their companies do, too. It's natural. Then, when we call off the
engagement, you sign the company back to me for the same price and
you've lost nothing.”
His expression was unreadable. "You've
thought of everything except for why I would do it."
"That patent. Stephan, it shows real promise.
It could make you millions."
For a moment, he looked like he was tempted,
but then he said, "Even if I wanted to help you, no one would ever
believe it. No one would believe we're engaged."
"They would if you said we'd been secretly
dating."
"No."
"Engagements happen all the time. Tell people
I'm pregnant. I don't care."
He raised his voice, "My family would lose
their minds if they thought we'd been secretly dating — never mind
engaged because you're pregnant.
No
."
Did he have to sound disgusted?
A knock on the door. Maddy poked her head in.
"Stephan, my car is here so I'm leaving."
Stephan checked his watch and swore. "Maddy,
do me a favor and double check that mine is coming. It was supposed
to be here ten minutes ago. I'm on a tight timetable."
Maddy looked back and forth between Stephan
and Nicole. "Will do." She closed the door as if reluctant to do
so.
Lost in his thoughts for a moment, Stephan
stared after his departing secretary.
"Stephan," Nicole said.
"Hmm?"
"Let go of my arm."
He dropped it. "I don't hate you, Nicole. If
you were asking me for a reference or...hell, even a loan, I might
be able to help you, but this is too much."
"I understand," she said, composing herself
and stepping back from him.
His phone vibrated in his breast pocket. He
checked it quickly then said, "That's my car downstairs. I wish I
could help you, but I can't. You're going to have to live with your
father's will."