“You know I care about you…like a sister, Nona,” he told her while pacing his kitchen floor. “But I don’t want to ever hear you mention Kacey’s name again.”
“Oh, don’t be so sensitive,” Nona poo-poohed. “Face it, Leon. She took my advice. She finally realized that you and I shared a past that was too strong to ignore.”
“Stop it! Your gossipy tongue and possessive attitude almost ruined my relationship with her. Leave it alone, okay?”
“Almost ruined your relationship? She’s gone isn’t she?” Nona mocked in delight.
“A temporary separation,” Leon clarified in a snap.
“Harrumph.” Nona braced one hand on her generous hip and cocked her head at Leon. “Temporary my ass. She won’t be back. If she loved you, she never would have left.”
“That’s enough, Nona. I don’t need your take on my love life. Whether or not Kacey comes back is not important. We’ll be together somehow, even if we have to fly back and forth. We’ll get married, I’ll rebuild the factory. We could even work together at Archer and create a good life here in Rockport, if that is what she wants.”
“You’re dreamin’, honey.” Nona laughed aloud. “That city gal would never work at the factory with you. Not like I did. She wouldn’t fit in.”
“And I guess you’d make sure of that, huh?” Leon challenged.
“Yeah, I’d do my best to open her eyes to the way things ought to be.”
“How?” Leon prodded, wanting to see just how far Nona would go to get between him and Kacey.
“Like this,” Nona said, sidling up to Leon to ease her arms around his waist. When she snuggled her head beneath his chin, Leon froze, determined to let Nona hang herself. Feeling her press herself up against his sex sent a spiral of disgust into his stomach and he knew he’d had enough.
“Kacey was right,” he told Nona, untangling himself from her tight embrace. He shoved her away. “You’ll never see things the way they really are. You’re living in the past and you’re pathetic. You know what, Nona? I want you to go away and leave me alone.”
“You know you need me here. We’ve still got a lot of records to process, a ton of work to do.”
“I don’t think so. As a matter of fact, you’re fired,” he stated, announcing his decision in a calm voice. Saying those words filled him with a sense of satisfaction he had not expected.
“You can’t fire me! Your father would never…”
“My father no longer calls the shots, remember? I own Archer Industries, and there’s no place for you in the business.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding. What will I do?” Nona whined.
“I have no idea, but I do know Kacey was right. You think you belong to my family, but you don’t. You need to get a life, and get out of mine. Go anywhere. I don’t care. Just get the hell outta here right now and leave my mother’s key on the counter.”
When Nona’s face crumbled and tears fell from her eyes, Leon grasped for a way to smooth over his decision. He knew his parents’ doting affection over the years had played a huge part in Nona’s misplaced affection, and he was at fault, too. He had let things slide too long. “Listen, Nona. Archer Industries is gonna be closed for months. Maybe for a year or more. I’ll make sure you draw unemployment and I’ll give you a hefty severance payment. You could go to Cleveland, live with your sister.”
Nona squinted in question at Leon, but let her shoulders drop in resignation. A tremble of a smile began to tease her lips. “How hefty?” she inquired slyly.
Without missing a beat, Leon told her, “Hefty enough to take care of you, and your sister for a long time.”
“Well…it’s your money,” Nona quipped as she dug into her purse and pulled out his key. She slammed it down on Leon’s kitchen counter. “All right. I’ll go, but you’ll be sorry,” she told Leon, and then she flounced out the door.
I doubt that, Leon thought, feeling a great sense of freedom. He had severed a troublesome link to his past and he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. His parents were no longer hovering in the shadows, judging his every move. He was in charge and had no one to answer to but himself. Suddenly, leaving Rockport seemed possible, even plausible. He could join Kacey in New York. But if he showed up on her turf, would he fit into her hectic, sophisticated world? And did he really want to live in New York City?
Kacey stared at Ariana, stunned. “What do you mean, Steve Hadley is out?”
“Yes, darling. Replaced by his younger brother, Paul. You know. The one who used to run the store in Los Angeles.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why or how, but Paul Hadley managed to push Steve out and take his place as head of the company,” Ariana finished, fluffing her blond hair with one hand.
“Damn, what does that mean for us?” Kacey wanted to know.
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon. Staff meeting at ten,” Ariana told Kacey, smiling secretively as she left Kacey’s office.
Kacey nervously watched the clock until it was time for the gathering in Leeman’s conference room. Sitting there, she recalled her pitch for the SunKissed line and how excited she’d been when Steve had green-lighted her project. Now she sat in the same room waiting for Paul Hadley to decide her fate.
It did not take long for her new boss to confirm Kacey’s worst fears. He was canceling all of Steve’s pending projects, including SunKissed by Kacey, and was reassigning the staff to new departments.
“Kacey, you’ll oversee promotions for the winter collection,” Paul Hadley informed her as he went down the list of changes he’d initiated at the company. “Here’s your portfolio. Look it over and we’ll get together to discuss the trade show schedule and the target audience for the High Mountain ski collection tomorrow.” He handed Kacey a thick binder and then turned his attention to Ariana.
Kacey did not hear anything Paul said to her colleagues. Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry and her insides boiled in resentment. How did this happen? she thought, mad as hell that her beautiful swimsuits would never make it to market. Leeman’s still owned the rights to her designs. She was left with nothing! Everything was gone because Steve Hadley’s brother had decided to pull the plug on Kacey’s future.
Kacey was tempted to throw the winterwear catalog at Paul Hadley and walk out. But she couldn’t. She needed her job and had no choice but to let go of her dream just as she’d had to do with Leon Archer.
Chapter 24
Kacey tried to be a team player, but her heart was not in her new assignment. Things did not go well between her and Paul; they did not see eye to eye on any of her concepts. Every meeting they had ended with her compromising her vision to please him, deepening her resentment and increasing the tension in the office.
When she presented him with ideas for a contest to be held at the winterwear trade show, he dismissed her idea as boring and made snide comments about her being out of touch. When she suggested a new retail floor layout, he picked it apart and eventually turned the project over to an intern who’d never designed a retail promotional booth before. And when she failed to turn in her weekly expense report by noon on a Friday, Paul erupted in a tirade, calling her irresponsible and reducing her to tears.
When she fired back with “You have no right to talk to me like that! I just need fifteen minutes to finish my report,” he simply told her, “I don’t give second chances.”
“I’m not asking for one,” Kacey boldly countered, sick and tired of Paul Hadley’s imperious attitude.
“Good. Because I hate to watch people grovel,” Paul snapped back.
“I’d never grovel to you!” Kacey spat out, glaring at him and wondering how far she dared to push her new boss.
“Fine. I hope you never do,” he huffed.
“I certainly won’t…because…I quit!” The words flew from Kacey’s lips before she could stop herself, but once they were out, she wasn’t sorry.
Paul’s face turned dark red and his green eyes bulg
ed as he stared at Kacey in disbelief. “Fine, then. Clean out your desk and turn in your keys.”
Without a word, Kacey did as Paul ordered, and within ten minutes she was walking like a zombie through the lobby of the building, as miserable as she’d ever been in her life.
On the train headed home to Harlem, she tried to convince herself that quitting her job at Leeman’s didn’t matter. But she was worried. Finding a comparable job in retail was going to be nearly impossible in this depressed economy. Since she’d quit, there’d be no unemployment checks or severance pay to fall back on. All she had was the nest egg she’d accumulated to buy her new apartment, which was now completely out of the picture.
When Leon called Kacey that evening, she acted as if everything was fine, determined to keep the truth from him about her impulsive decision to quit, though she did tell him that Paul Hadley had canceled the Leeman’s contract.
“Gee, I’m sorry, Kacey. I know how much you wanted to see your swimsuits in stores. Maybe you could approach another retailer?”
“No. It’s not gonna happen.”
When he asked how things were going with her new position, she dodged the question, not able to tell him that she’d quit her job. What would he think if he knew she’d folded under pressure, after all her talk about holding on to her job and how much she valued her career? She’d left Leon to protect her career and now everything was gone. She had no man, no job, no swimsuit line in stores—absolutely nothing to show for all she’d given up to fulfill her dreams.
“You don’t sound very happy. I want to come to New York and see you,” Leon told Kacey in an urgent tone. “I can fly in tomorrow. Take you out to dinner, to a movie and, afterwards, make passionate love to you.”
“Oh, that sounds so good, but not now. I’m soooo busy, Leon. This is not a good time,” she protested, using a tone that she hoped would indicate how rushed she was.
“But you’re always busy. It’s never a good time with you. I need to see you, Kacey. I’ll only stay a day or two. If I fly in on…”
“Sorry, but I might be out of town. An assignment might come up,” she floundered, choosing her words very carefully, not wanting to flat-out lie.
“Oh, okay, if it’s like that. Well,” Leon stuttered, deflated. “Yeah, I understand. Call me when you’ve got some free time that you can spare, okay.” Then without saying goodbye, he hung up.
Sitting in the dark, Leon felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Kacey was pulling away from him, and he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t force himself on her. Yet, he refused to let this separation destroy what they’d created together. He had to reach her, convince her that their love was worth fighting for. He had to hold it all together and get through this rough patch without giving up. Walking away was not an option.
“We’ll work it out somehow,” he told himself, determined not to let Kacey go.
Leon’s parents’ arrival back in Rockport was not as joyous as Leon had expected it to be. He was happy to see his mom and dad and anxious to hear all about their trip, but the destruction of the factory and the arrest of Bob Truett cast a sad shadow over the family reunion.
Once Leon finished bringing his father up-to-date on where things stood with company matters, he told his dad all about Kacey—even confessing his feelings for her.
“I knew you two were in love when I first saw you together,” his father teased, laughing when Leon squinted at his dad in confusion.
“You saw us? How? When?”
Leon Sr. chuckled and tapped the screen of his handheld device. “This little thing kept me in touch with everything that was going on in Rockport while I was away. Do you really think you can hide anything as newsworthy as a love affair with a city girl in a town like Rockport?”
“You mean people here were spying on me? Sending you photos?”
“Yep, and I’m glad they did. Kacey Parker is a beauty, and she seems like a real smart woman, too. The kind of girl I’ve always hoped you’d settle down with. You can’t imagine how many emails and photos of her I got. Almost every day someone made sure to post a tidbit about her…and my son’s romantic adventure. Buddy was the worst. Every time you two entered his barbecue joint or walked down Main Street, he managed to snap a photo and email it to me.”
“You mean you’ve known about us all along?” Leon asked, shocked, yet glad that his father liked Kacey. If he planned to marry her, and he definitely did, he wanted his parents’ stamp of approval. “Then you must know about Nona. She left town,” he added.
“Yes. Maybe it was time for her to go. She wasn’t really happy here, and she was missing out on life. No use in hiding behind memories and sticking to the past. I think she’ll be happy in Cleveland. I know your mom will miss Nona, but sometimes we have to put the past where it belongs and move on.” Rising from his chair, he went to his safe and began to rotate the combination knob. “Now, about Kacey Parker’s swimwear line. You said Leeman’s canceled their plans to manufacture, and did not sign on at American Textile?”
“That’s right. It’s such a shame. And Kacey can’t take the line to another manufacturer because Leeman’s owns the rights,” Leon added, feeling a punch of failure hit his gut at the thought of how devastated Kacey must be.
“Hmmm, that’s not entirely true,” his father remarked as he removed a packet of papers from his safe. He zapped his son with a knowing expression, one eye squinted closed. “Son, your girlfriend needs to know something very important. Here, I want you to read this.”
“What is it?” Leon asked as he took the sealed envelope from his dad began to read.
“That’s an addendum to the original contract for the SunKissed by Kacey swimwear line that I signed with Steve Hadley. Read it over carefully and you’ll see what I mean.”
Shrugging, as if the legal document were nothing out of the ordinary, Leon scanned it while his father watched. When he finished, a huge smile spread over Leon’s face. “Dad. You shrewd old dog. You sneaked that into the contract?”
Leon Sr. beamed in amusement and nodded at his son. “I sure did. And aren’t you glad I did?”
Leon let out a whistle of a breath, grabbed his car keys off his father’s desk and stood. “I’ve gotta go,” he mumbled, hurrying toward the door.
“To New York, I hope,” his father called out, but Leon didn’t answer. He was already in his car.
Chapter 25
The taxi ride from JFK to Kacey’s apartment in Harlem seemed to take forever. As Leon watched the gritty urban landscape slide by, he knew he would never be happy living in a crowded high-rise building, and worried that he might be wasting his time by trying to get Kacey to leave the lifestyle she loved so much. He desperately wanted to see her, deliver his news and bridge the gap that was keeping them from forging a life together, but he was nervous as hell about her reaction.
After paying the taxi driver, Leon shifted his flight bag onto this shoulder and entered the outer lobby of her building. He scanned the address labels on the buzzers, found hers and pressed—his heart throbbing as he waited to hear her voice.
“Yes?” Kacey’s sweet voice drifted through the intercom, sending a jolt of hope into Leon, who took a calming breath and then plunged ahead. “It’s me. Leon. I have to talk to you.”
A short silence before Kacey acknowledged her visitor. “Leon!” A long hush followed her remark. “Why are you here? I asked you not to come.”
“I know, but please I have to see you. I have some very important news.”
Without a reply, she buzzed him in.
Leon raced through the lobby, into the elevator, and stood with his shoulder pressed against the elevator wall as it ascended to her floor. Once there, he took long strides down the hall to her apartment, where he impatiently pressed her bell.
When Kacey opened the door, he stopped in his tracks and simply looked at her, wanting to drink in the sight of her and refresh his memories of her beautiful face. She was wearing tight stretch capri pan
ts and a loose pink T-shirt, looking as if she’d just finished a yoga class. Leon tightened his lips as silence hung between them, giving Kacey time to adjust to his unexpected arrival. When she stepped aside, he entered, shutting the door with a backhand push. Without waiting for a word of hello, he took her in his arms, leaned in and teased her with a brush of his lips over hers, testing her resistance and measuring his chances of accomplishing his mission. When she melted under his touch and arched into him, Leon devoured her with a kiss that let her know how much he’d missed her.
As she sank more deeply into his embrace, Leon felt reassured. He had done the right thing, coming to New York unannounced. She did miss him. She desired his touch as much as he desired hers. Why had she buried her true feelings beneath a lot of words that meant nothing?
Kacey opened her mouth and accepted the sweep of Leon’s tongue as it caressed hers. Pressing her breasts to his chest, her arms tightened around him until she was breathlessly fused to him, feeling as close as two people could get.
Kacey was stunned, but thrilled that Leon had disregarded her request to stay away. She’d missed him terribly, and having him back in her arms was exactly what she needed. With her world spinning out of control, having him at her side was all that mattered. She wasn’t alone. She didn’t have to face an uncertain future by herself. He’d proven that he would never abandon her or take their love for granted. At this critical time, he was giving her what she needed most: steadfast devotion and love that would last.
When their kiss broke off, Kacey guided Leon over to her black leather sofa. They sank down together, remaining entwined in each other’s arms.
“Leon, I’ve been miserable without you,” she started. “Things have gotten so complicated since I came back. There’s a lot that I need to tell you.”
Leon placed a finger to her lips and shushed her, shaking his head. “I’ve been crazy without you, Kacey. I know you didn’t want me to come and that you’re busy with your job, but I couldn’t stay away any longer.”
Boardroom Seduction Page 16
