by Judy Teel
Across from him, she moved her thumb in a quick, angry rhythm over the screen of her iPhone. "What, chasing down the limo," she asked, absently, "or meeting the Captain?"
"Both." Ryan tugged his tie loose, hoping for air circulation. The Captain's palatial mansion faded into the background as the car glided smoothly out of the circular drive and onto the private road of the estate. He was glad when the trees blocked his view completely.
He glanced at CK and guilt chased around in his gut. Back in the garden, he'd grabbed her instinctively, afraid she was about to pass out. He hadn't expected his arm to slip around a small, slim waist, or to feel the press of a firm, curved bottom against his groin. Her unexpectedly feminine body had sent an equally surprising kick of lust through him that had hardened him instantly, making him feel like a world class jerk.
This was CK. His friend. One who obviously hadn't felt the same kick of awareness, judging from the way she'd scrambled to get away from him.
The whole thing had been a fluke, anyway, brought on by the trauma of her crazy grandfather's ultimatum. Could have happened to anyone.
What she needed now was his support. The girl didn't even have a boyfriend, for God's sake. How did her grandfather expect her to get married in a month?
He reached across the aisle, flipped open the cooler and grabbed a bottled water. "What's your next move?" he asked, keeping his tone casual.
"Find a dating service, I guess." She stared at her phone, then gave a long sigh and tossed it onto the seat beside her. "Who am I fooling? I don't have the slightest idea how to attract a man. All I know is how to be Kazners hard ass CEO."
"You're not a hard ass. Even with all the Palates."
"I know the reputation I have."
Her expression turned sad, reminding him of the look of hurt on her face when her grandfather told her his conditions. A twinge of sympathy poked him in the stomach.
He loosened his tie a little more, then gave up and untied it. "I do get sympathy cards now and then from concerned fellow-employees. 'Are you still alive? Has she cooked you for dinner?'" He winked at her and was rewarded by a small upward tug at the corner of her full mouth.
"Call his bluff," he said, stuffing his tie into his pants pocket.
Her smile evaporated. "I can't." She contemplated her hands, twining and untwining her fingers, endlessly.
He hadn't seen CK looking so lost since Freshman orientation when he'd noticed her sitting alone at the back of the auditorium. Her golden-red hair, glinting like a sunset in the glare of the artificial lights had caught his eye, but it was her forlorn little face that had brought out the big brother in him. The twitchy ache scuttled around in his gut, again, aggravating him. He had to fix this.
Ryan leaned forward. "Come on, CK, snap out of it. Remember what you told me when you called and asked if I'd come work for you? You said, 'I've finally gotten control of Kazners and things are going to change.'"
Her gaze shot to his and as he watched, the lost, hopeless expression in her violet-blue eyes shifted into glittering determination. That's my girl.
"I also said, 'Will you help me do it?'" she added.
"And I said, 'Yes.'" Smiling, he leaned back and stretched his arms across the top of the limo's wide seat. He'd agreed without hesitation, even though he'd been about to retire from the corporate world forever.
"I need you to say, 'yes,' again," she said, earnestly.
A warning bell went off in his head. "To what?"
"You must know at least one guy who'd be willing to marry me quickly. For a good settlement, of course." She grabbed her cellphone off the seat. "With a little coaxing, Steve Wayland might even consider merging our families as well as the companies. Farley claims he has some interest in me, but I'd still need some coaching, to be sure."
A nauseating feeling that felt uncomfortably close to jealousy rolled through him. "Are you kidding me? Stuffy, work twenty-four-seven Steve Wayland? You'd spend your honeymoon reworking profit margins."
He lowered his arms and scooted to the edge of his seat to give her a hard stare. "CK, you can't throw away your chance to find someone you really care about. You're not even thirty. Wait for the right guy. Someone you want to spend the rest of your life with."
She blinked. "This from the man who has a different woman in his bed every night?"
He sat back, annoyance scratching through him. "Not every night."
"Every other night?"
"That's not the point."
A smile bloomed across her face. "Actually it is." Hopping up, she plopped down in the space next to him. Then she grabbed his hand, surprising the hell out of him. Her palm was small and soft and warm where it lay across the top of his knuckles.
"Teach me what you know," she said.
He tore his gaze away from their hands and considered her for a moment, a chill of warning kicking up along the back of his neck, again. "Teach you? About what?"
"Teach me everything you know about how to attract a man."
He pulled his fingers out from under hers and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know anything about seducing men. What is it with your family?"
"I mean what you know about how it works. What makes a man want a woman? Want a woman so much, that he has to marry her."
"Manipulate people much?"
"I know, I know. And I hate it. But I can't lose Kazners. It's all the family I have left."
"A company isn't a family, CK"
"It is to me."
He gave her a steady look. "Absolutely not."
* * *
"Who else can I turn to?" CK said in a low voice as she and Ryan strode across the marble floor of the Kazners lobby. Across the front, a patchwork of light scattered out from the bank of windows, sporadically flaring over his cross expression like a warning signal.
"Turning you into a man trap is outside my job description. I'm not sure it's even ethical."
She refused to lose Kazners on a technicality. "One-hundred thousand in cash says you're the man for the job," she said, deciding to sweeten the deal.
Ryan slammed to a stop, forcing her to backtrack. The sunlight slanted over him, making his hair glow like gold and his eyes blaze with blue fire. "Are you insane?"
"Possibly."
"Legally, he can't do this. Call him on it. Or quit. With your credentials and experience the competition would snap you up before nightfall."
"I don't want to work anywhere else and he can do it, Anderson. This is a privately owned company. He has full control. Whatever he says goes."
"Essentially, he's forcing you to procreate. You know that, right?"
"Don't be crude. All I need is a legal marriage. That will slow things down until I can figure out a better way to deal with this."
A muscle ticked along his jaw. "In that case, get a mail-order groom and be done with it."
Her stomach gave a nauseous lurch. How had her life come to this? Deep in her most secret heart, she dreamed of finding love one day and nurtured the hope of connecting with someone she cared about. Someone who wanted her just as much. She could never completely let that go. Not even for Kazners.
"No complete strangers," she said, firmly. "Some small level of compatibility is important to me. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to go about getting a man to notice me, let alone like me."
The fear of failure bubbling deep in her gut surged up. She glanced away, struggling to get it under control. When she turned back, worry softened his eyes.
CK swallowed against her dry throat and met his gaze squarely. "Your gift, Anderson, your passion, is reinventing companies and making them more marketable. You've done it for Kazners. You could do it for me."
The sharp disapproval radiating off of him clicked back into place. "I don't like it, CK. You deserve better." He turned around and continued across the lobby, his back rigid.
Frustration thickened into a knot in her chest. Why did Ryan have to find a conscience now?
She caught up with
him at the elevator. "Please," she said in a low, tight voice.
"Companies are one thing," he answered quietly, "but people?"
The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival. They stepped aboard and the doors shut with a quiet swish of sound.
The silence of the empty compartment settled heavily over them. Ryan watched the numbers as they counted up. "I can't do it, CK. I'm sorry. I can't jeopardize our friendship."
"We'll keep it strictly business. I can write a contract."
"What's a little insanity among professionals, right?" He glanced at her and then back to the numbers as if he couldn't bear to look at her.
Disappointment sagged through CK. He was one of the few people she'd trust with something this sensitive. She could go to Farley, but she felt sure a man's opinion would be more valuable to her. Farley's ideas of what men liked would only be another woman assuming she knew how to decipher the strange landscape of the male brain.
No, she wanted to get her information straight from the horse's mouth, and for that, her best bet was Anderson. She couldn't take no for an answer.
"I need you," she said, hating the edge of desperation seeping into her voice.
He turned toward her. "What?"
"You have to help me. I'll pay you two-hundred thousand. Find a way to suppress your conscience and be my trainer."
A dark flush crept over his lean cheeks and his mouth pressed into a hard line. "You're an attractive woman under all the camouflage you put up. You don't need to do this. Let nature take its course and you'll find someone the way it's meant to happen. Then you'll fall in love, get married, and have the passel of great-grandkids The Captain's so hungry for. Happily ever after, end of story."
The elevator chimed and the door slid open. Ryan pushed past her and marched out into the luxuriously modern reception area and toward his office. CK stared after him, a drop of hope trickling through her chest. Did the infamous king of sex, Ryan Anderson, just admit she had potential?
The doors started to closed and CK jumped off, barely getting clear. She absorbed the sight of his broad shoulders and the pleasing way his pants cupped his tight backside. An intriguing warmth shimmered along her skin and she wondered....
Was it plausible...? Could she find someone she enjoyed being with as much as she enjoyed Anderson? If he taught her what he liked, she felt sure she could turn this fiasco into something tolerable. Maybe even...pleasant. Her imagination drifted along exciting lines. Was it possible she might actually, finally....
She quickly tamped down that thought and hurried across the reception room. It was too soon to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help wondering if she might actually stand a chance of success at last.
Giving Farley's lunch substitute a distracted greeting, she continued toward Anderson's office. She barged in with only a cursory knock and shut the door behind her, excitement buzzing through her chest.
He leaned against his desk, arms and ankles crossed, expression as dark as a thundercloud. She advanced on him, determined to change his mind.
"You have to do it," she said in a rush. "You said I could be attractive and you definitely know how a man's mind works and what they want in a girl. Plus, since our feelings are purely platonic, you'd be completely objective. You're perfect for the job."
"I'm not turning you into a player, CK. End of discussion." He pushed away from his desk and went around to his chair.
"If I could become a woman that you would want to go to bed with— Not you specifically," she added hastily when his disapproving frown deepened. "Someone a different guy would want...um, some suitable candidate. To go to bed with, I mean."
He braced his fists on the desk and his expression turned thunderous.
"Who would then want to marry me. Strictly on a business basis, of course."
"Stop talking before I have you committed. Which is what you should do with your grandfather." He dropped into his lavish office chair and pulled his laptop computer toward him.
"I can't do that. Besides, he's not crazy. Just incredibly stubborn."
"Runs in the family." He leaned back and plowed his fingers through his hair, making it stand up in spikes along his forehead. "How do you propose I implement this crazy scheme of yours, exactly? What am I supposed to teach you?"
"How to flirt. What to wear. How to act. Everything you can about what gets a man's attention."
"Take off all your clothes, wear a sign announcing you're available, and walk up and down Broadway," he said, angrily. "That'll get several men's attention."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "This isn't funny, Anderson. The Captain's fully capable of taking everything away from me. That means your job, too."
A shadow of guilt flashed through his eyes and was gone so fast she wasn't sure she'd even seen it. He let out a long breath and his expression softened. "Don't do this. Don't change."
"I have to, Ry. I won't let him beat me."
He closed his eyes for a moment and then shook his head. Pinning her with his blue gaze, he got up and came around the desk in three long strides. Before she had time to realize his intentions, he'd gathered her up against him in a tight hug.
Her heart skipped a beat as his comforting strength wrapped around her. The warmth from the hard plane of his chest and stomach and his wonderful scent, like a breeze off a mountain lake, filled her senses. She started to melt and then he dropped his arms and stepped back. "You pulled the 'Ry' card. No fair."
CK blinked and cleared her throat. "I don't have time for fair," she said as firmly as she could manage. "Sorry."
She could count on one hand the number of hugs she'd had from male non-family members her own age. She'd forgotten how exquisite if felt. To be able to indulge in that kind of luxury every day, she'd even consider wearing that sign on Broadway.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this," he said. "Understand that there's no guarantee you'll get married. Or even engaged."
Her breath caught in her throat, all daydreams of male hugs forgotten. "Just agree to coach me. I'll pay you two-hundred and fifty thousand." She wasn't going to give him any reason to change his mind. "You could retire early, buy that vineyard in France like you've always wanted."
The smudge of guilt in his gaze was unmistakable this time.
"I want this," she assured him quickly. "You're the only one I trust to do it."
"Still doesn't feel right."
"I can draw up a contract before the Wayland meeting."
He gave her a stern look. "I have carte blanche. Whatever I say goes, understand?"
"Within reason," she said, cautiously.
They sized each other up.
"Draw up the contract," he said.
A warm glow of triumph surged through her.
"And don't look so happy. This is a very bad idea."
"Winning is never a bad idea, Anderson," she said, brightly. "Especially among friends."
CHAPTER THREE
This situation with CK was a disaster.
What had possessed him to agree to turn her into the kind of woman he dated? Women he hooked up with were as shallow as he was, their only interest being short-term gratification. They didn't care about him and he didn't care much about them.
He didn't want CK to be like that. And he sure as hell didn't want her with a man like him.
Ryan watched her trot out of his office, happy as a lark and his gut churned. What had he gotten himself into?
As tough and brilliant as she was, CK had always maintained a unique clueless air about her. He treasured that. It's why she was his friend. Why he'd been comfortable all these years being her friend.
What if he succeeded in changing that? What if he was about to destroy her innocence? Could he live with that responsibility?
He braced his forearm on the window that comprised his back wall and glowered at lower Manhattan twenty stories below him. Maybe CK would miraculously find love. You never knew, right? His parents had a whirlwind courtship and they'd been mar
ried nearly forty years, now.
Between seeing CK settled and the Wayland merger, he could say goodbye to Kazners with a clear conscience and finally pursue his own dreams. Dreams he'd put off when CK had asked him for help two years ago. The thought gave him a surge of pleasure he couldn't deny.
But at what price? Turning innocent CK into a woman so hot no man could resist her?
Shaking his head, Ryan prowled back to his desk. He wasn't sure he could bring himself to do it, despite the promise he'd made her. And what if it couldn't be done? What if the best she could manage in a month was a clueless twerp like Steve?
A dark feeling of dissatisfaction settled heavily across his chest. She was setting herself up for a world of hurt with this plan of hers. He had to stop her. The choice was as simple as that.
Once she got over being mad at him, she'd realized that there were other possibilities out there for her—nice guys who'd treat her with the care she deserved.
Clenching his fists he paced back to the window. Unfortunately, CK was an endlessly stubborn woman. Convincing her wouldn't be easy.
A picture of her all buttoned up in one of her shapeless colorless suits flashed into his mind. The irony of the whole thing was beyond surreal. How could she think for a moment that she'd have the nerve to doll herself up and prance around until men fell all over themselves drooling for her. She was too painfully modest to ever go through with it, always had been.
An idea unexpectedly fired up in his mind and his pulse quickened.
She wouldn't have the nerve.
If he came on strong enough with this, he'd bet the whole quarter mil she'd offered him that he could scare her off in a matter of days. Ryan smiled.
After that, they could come up with a sound approach to the problem. One that didn't involve CK throwing her life and innocence away on a man who didn't love her.
* * *
CK typed energetically on her laptop. The contract was almost done and was some of her best work. Ryan would deliver exactly what she needed and she would beat her meddling, miserable grandfather at his own game. As a bonus, she'd finally get a chance to find out what all the fuss was about.
