An Executive Decision (8 page)

She shifted again, and mumbled something about Alan Marston. This time she settled still closer to his cock, which had most definitely noticed her nearness, though he tried not to think about how badly he wanted her, tried not to think about the Executive Sex Clause. But her lying there with her head in his lap in the dark of the limo made him feel all sorts of things, all sorts of desires that most of the time he just ignored. He mentally shook himself. How could he even think about sex when she was exhausted, and when that exhaustion was because of him? That she had called out his name in her sleep stirred him in places that weren’t just his trousers. With a jolt that was much less pleasant, he reminded himself he was probably in the starring role of her nightmare. That saddened him deeply. He found he really wanted her dreams of him to be good, warm, even sexy like his were of her.

Too soon the limo pulled into Dee’s driveway, and when several gentle shakes and the calling of her name didn’t wake her, Ellis reached into his pocket and handed Jefferies the keys he’d take from Dee.

‘One of those is her house key. Find it and unlock it for me, would you please, and let’s hope she doesn’t have an alarm.’

He undid his seatbelt and was able to half-coax, half-manhandle the sleeping woman out of the limo and into his arms. When he physically lifted her, she mumbled something about her computer, wrapped her arms around his neck, and nuzzled in close. Jesus, she wasn’t making this easy.

By the time he’d carried her up the sidewalk, Jeffries had the door open and the hall light switched on. ‘Shut the door behind me and wait in the car,’ he said. ‘I won’t be long.’

If the driver had any thoughts on the inappropriateness of the situation, he had the good graces not to show it.

The house was large for one person, well-decorated, with clean lines and open-planned living. He reminded himself Dee could afford it. She was not living beyond her means. He carried her up the free-standing stairs to the mezzanine that was her bedroom, managing the light switch with one elbow. There he found hard wood floors and more clean lines in shades of blue and earth tones, reminding him of the colours on the coast only a short drive away. On a king-sized bed that was more like a glorified futon on a raised platform, two very large tabby cats looked up at him through drowsy eyes, blinked, then went back to sleep.

He sat Dee carefully on the edge of the bed, holding her against his body with one arm to keep her from falling, while he awkwardly pulled back the comforter. Then, with her still leaning heavily on him, he slipped off her shoes and manoeuvred her out of her jacket, feeling the press of her warmth. For a second she roused. ‘Ellis?’ she mumbled. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Making sure you go to bed,’ he said, not certain if she’d even heard him before she was asleep again.

He tossed her jacket aside and eased her back onto the pillow, where she nestled down and sighed contentedly. He studied her for a minute, resisting the urge to remove any more clothing to make her more comfortable. The woman was asleep. That was the main thing. He pulled the comforter up over her shoulders, then, almost as an afterthought, bent and kissed her carefully on the cheek. ‘Sleep well, Dee. I’m sorry it’s been so hard. It will get better. I promise.’ Then he turned and left, switching off the light before he descended the stairs, fighting the overwhelming temptation to stay just a little longer and watch her sleep.

Chapter Eleven

In the morning, there was a message on her BlackBerry instructing her to meet Ellis in the Dungeon with Wade. She arrived to coffee and pastries from Wade’s favourite bakery and a huge glass of iced tea that he’d brewed up in the coffee maker. Ellis and Wade were already settled around the Formica table that looked like it came straight from a 1950s diner. When she joined them, and everyone was settled, Ellis spoke around a mouthful of maple bar.

‘Marston thinks you’ve been neglecting Scribal for another project, but Wade set me very straight on that little misunderstanding.’

Wade cleared his throat loudly, and Ellis glared at him. ‘I’m getting there, damn it.’ He turned his attention back to her. ‘Dee, I apologise for my bad behaviour yesterday. Clearly I didn’t understand the situation, nor did I bother to listen when you tried to tell me.’ He held her gaze. ‘Did you sleep?’

She found herself blushing, remembering him helping her into bed, remembering dreams in which he hadn’t been such a gentleman and leaving her to sleep, dreams in which he had crawled right in next to her and ravished her, dreams that had her reaching for her vibrator to ease the tension before she hopped in the shower this morning. ‘Yes, I did sleep,’ she managed.

He studied her for a long moment, almost as if he didn’t quite believe her, and just when she was about to get defensive, he took a deep breath and offered her a warm smile. ‘Good. Now then, tell me what’s so damned important about Trouvères that you’d risk my wrath and Marston’s tantrums?’

She smiled back, and for the first time in three weeks she didn’t feel like she was walking on eggshells.

Wade slid the files on Trouvères and Scribal across the table to her. She thanked him, then returned her attention to Ellis. ‘I’m sure you know that Trouvères specialise in paper recycling, Ellis, but what makes them so special is they’ve recently perfected a new technology that can take waste paper, almost any kind of waste paper, and recycle it into quality stationary.’

‘We’re not talking about the bumpy grey stuff you get in green shops,’ Wade added. ‘We’re talking about the kind of stationary you could use a fountain pen on. What Trouvères has to offer could very well change the face of the paper industry.’ He nodded to Dee, and she continued.

‘This technology would be even better than growing Marston a new supply of trees. It would be like growing him a new forest every day. And it would stop Jamison in his tracks.’

Dee opened the file and handed him two pristine sheets of paper the size of wedding invitations. ‘One of these is recycled by Trouvères. The other is virgin stock. I’m willing to bet you can’t tell which is which.’ She reached into her pocket and pulled out a fountain pen. ‘Go ahead. Test it.’ While Ellis doodled on the strips of paper, she went on, ‘Trouvères is a family operation started by the Rousseau twins, Claude and Yvette. The company’s always done well for itself, but with this new technology the sky’s the limit. The problem is they don’t have the capital for the scale up they need to make it work.’

Ellis held the two pieces of paper up to the light. ‘But Marston does.’

‘Exactly.’ She shoved aside the doughnut box, opened the Scribal folder, and flipped through the information. ‘Ah, here it is. Marston has a plant just outside Atlanta that’s facing a shutdown. The resulting loss of jobs would be devastating for the community. He has another plant, possibly two, that could go the same route if something doesn’t change. They’re all older plants, and amazingly enough, their outdated design makes them perfect for conversion and refitting to the Trouvères technology.’

‘And I’m sure we can engineer those conversions,’ Wade said. ‘I’ve designed a template for installing the Trouvères technology at the Scribal plants. It wouldn’t be difficult to do, and with only a moderate capital outlay on Marston’s part. Any of our engineering teams could adapt the technology for US use.’

‘It would be more expensive than Jamison’s slash and burn clear-cut, at least in the short term,’ Dee said. ‘But in the long term it would pay for itself in a few years. If Trouvères would allow Pneuma Inc. to licence the technology and Scribal to aid in its manufacture and be its sole distributor here in the States, everybody would win.

‘If my projections are right, and I’m pretty sure they are, Marston would recoup his costs and start turning a hefty profit within two years of the plant’s opening. Trouvères would get very nice licence fees, through us, which they would never be able to arrange on their own, with no negative impact on their home market. The trees would get a break, and Marston would get his renewable resource, plus a shining new reputation as a protector of the environment and local jobs. And Pneuma will do very well on the consulting, and licence and engineering fees.’

Ellis held her gaze for a long moment. ‘You do understand that even if we close the deal with Trouvères, there’s still no guarantee that Marston will talk turkey?’

‘He’d be crazy not to,’ Wade said.

Ellis pulled his BlackBerry from his pocket and called his secretary. ‘Lynn, would you reschedule my meetings this afternoon. I’ll be in the Dungeon with Dee and Wade.’ He hung up. ‘I’ve just freed up the rest of the afternoon. Dee, cancel what you need to, and let’s put the full weight of Pneuma Inc. behind this project.’

Once Ellis had given his approval, the Trouvères project moved along at high speed, and the mounting excitement reminded Dee again why she’d always wanted to work for the man. Two weeks later, the numbers were in, and the following week, she and Ellis were off to Paris to meet with Trouvères.

Chapter Twelve

In Paris, Ellis reserved a suite at a small hotel with a courtyard garden near the centre of the city. Sandra told Dee he didn’t like expensive hotel chains or the people who frequented them. The place felt less like a hotel than a comfortable apartment.

Trouvères Manufacturing was in Rouen, an hour’s train ride from the centre of Paris, but the company’s main office was a few blocks off the Champs-Élysées on a boulevard that was a prime example of the understated elegance of 19th-century architecture. The building stood out from its marble-façaded neighbours only in a small bronze plaque set to the left side of the entryway with “Trouvères” engraved in bold, Carolinian script.

Jason Daniels, the company’s chief operations officer, met them in a reception area which looked more like a Napoleonic sitting room than the vanguard of a thriving business. Ellis figured Daniels to be a few years older than he, with confidence bordering on arrogance, clearly a man used to getting what he wanted
.
What Ellis hadn’t counted on was that Daniels very obviously wanted Dee.

The man scooped her into a bear hug that was way too familiar for Ellis’s liking. ‘Dee! It’s good to see you again. You look fantastic.’ He gave her a sloppy kiss on each cheek, and said something in French that Ellis couldn’t quite make out.

Almost as an afterthought, he offered Ellis a stiff handshake. ‘Thorne. Good to finally meet you.’

‘You two know each other?’ Ellis asked, doing his best to sound matter-of-fact.

‘Didn’t Dee tell you?’ Daniels looked like butter wouldn’t melt. ‘She headhunted me for Trouvères.’

Ellis raked her with a hard glance. ‘She didn’t mention that.’

Daniels continued before Dee could say anything. ‘I don’t mind saying it created quite a stir when I joined Trouvères.’ He leaned closer to Ellis, as though he were imparting a secret. ‘Yvette Rousseau’s not noted for being fond of Americans, that’s why everyone was surprised when she hired me, and all thanks to the impressive work of Ms Henning here.’

Dee smiled, and fought back a blush. ‘That was one of my finer moments at Jasper and McDowell.’

Ellis couldn’t help wondering just how fine a moment it was. It was clear Daniels couldn’t take his eyes off Dee, but Dee wasn’t nearly so transparent.

‘Though, really, it wasn’t that difficult. You were perfect for Trouvères.’ She turned her attention to Ellis. ‘Jason was born in Metz. His mother’s Parisian, so he has dual citizenship. And his reputation was irresistible to a growing company like Trouvères.’

Ellis was fine with the concept of Daniels being irresistible to Trouvères. No problems there. What he wasn’t fine with was the idea that he might be irresistible to Ellis’s executive assistant.

Speaking through a translator, which Dee assured Ellis they really didn’t need, the Rousseau twins were politely remote. Claude talked with grandiose hand gestures and smiled a lot, but Yvette only listened. When she did speak, it was without emotion. For the most part, they both behaved exactly as Ellis would have expected, and the meeting preceded the same.

But Daniels was another matter entirely. All through the meeting, he never missed a chance to eyeball Dee, and at every break he hovered over her like a lovesick moose. Surely Ellis wasn’t the only one who noticed. The bastard never let her out of his sight. He should have been suspicious when, upon their arrival, they found the sitting room of their hotel suite adorned with an arrangement of flowers the size of a small French car. The card read
à Dee, de Jason avec l’amour
.

Ellis watched Dee for signs of mutual admiration, but she was completely unreadable. That only added to his frustration. He was more than a little relieved when the meeting broke for lunch. He grabbed Dee by the arm and whisked her away before Daniels could suggest an intimate lunch at some pretentious restaurant.

After an intense morning of meetings, a walk in the fresh air was infinitely more appealing. Along the Seine, they crossed the Pont Neuf to the Îsle de la Cité, and bought crêpes from a street vendor. The serpentine mirror of the river duplicated the sun as it baked its way through the heavy breath of July. Scantily clad Parisians, who had not managed to escape the heat of the city for someplace cooler, lounged on the embankment. Ellis couldn’t keep from noticing that, in spite of the heat, more than a few were locked in amorous embraces. Unfortunately the heat and the lust on the embankment only reminded him of Trouvères’ chief operations officer panting after Dee.

‘Why didn’t you tell me you headhunted Daniels for Trouvères?’ The question came out sounding a lot more like an accusation than he’d intended.

‘I’ve headhunted lots of people for lots of companies. I just didn’t think about it.’ Dee threw a bit of crêpe onto the sidewalk for a couple of squabbling pigeons.

‘Did the two of you know each other before?’

‘Never met the man before Jasper and McDowell.’

They set a leisurely pace along the river, weaving their way through eruptions of sunburnt tourists, sidestepping besotted lovers, and smiling politely at the occasional elderly Parisian walking an elderly dog.

‘The interview process is very revealing, I’d imagine.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Daniels. I suppose you know a lot about him after the interviews. How did that work anyway, a couple of meetings over coffee?’

‘A couple, yes’

‘Maybe dinner at a nice restaurant?’ Subterfuge in the business world was one thing, but Ellis had always been a bit simple when it came to interpersonal relations.

‘Yes, that was part of the screening. This was an important position.’ Dee lifted her face to the sun, which teased out bronze highlights in her dark hair and made Ellis even more certain he didn’t like Daniels panting after her.

‘And did the two of you do that often?’

She stopped in her tracks, almost causing a collision. ‘Ellis, what are you getting at?’

‘The man just seemed a bit too familiar with you today, that’s all.’

‘I got him the dream job of a lifetime. Believe me, he can afford to be nice to me.’

They found themselves moving upstream through a wave of Chinese tourists following a guide with a brightly painted sign. Ellis took her arm so neither of them would get swept away in the shutter-snapping deluge.

‘Nice to you, yes.’ He spoke between barely parted lips. ‘Nice to you’s fine, but he was all over you every chance he got. Is he married?’

‘Yes, with two kids.’ They shoved their way through the last of the tour group and resumed a slow meander along the cobbled embankment. ‘But even if he weren’t, I don’t date clients, surely you know that.’

He fell into step next to her. ‘Well he’s not your client now, is he?’ He took an angry bite of his crêpe and tossed the rest to the gathering pigeons. God, he was behaving like a sulky schoolboy. He absolutely was not jealous. He wouldn’t allow it! There was nothing to be jealous of. She was his employee, for chrissake!

A small group of boys whizzed by on skateboards, and he pulled her out of the way.

She caught her breath with a little yelp as he pulled her closer until they were practically nose to nose. Through her light linen suit, he could feel the rhythmic rise and fall of her breath and was suddenly aware of the shape of her insinuating itself against him, a shape his body responded to in a wave of muscle memory that nearly took his breath away. It left him feeling heavy and uncomfortable; it left him feeling desperate to rip the linen suit off and lose himself in the woman beneath.

‘Ellis.’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper. ‘Nothing happened between Jason and me at Jasper and McDowell, and there’s nothing between us now. What happened between you and me …’ Her voice drifted off, then she stepped out of his embrace. ‘What happened between us never happened to me before. Ever.’ Then she turned and kept walking.