by Lucy Monroe
She really loved him and he’d screwed up. Badly.
He had to do something to make it right, something to show her how important she was to him and how much he trusted her.
“Eric, there’s something I need to do.”
When he had finished outlining his plan to Eric and explaining the reason it was necessary, his cousin’s expression was grim. “I think you’re right. Women in love are vulnerable. Thinking you don’t trust her is sure to be tearing her apart.”
Simon hated believing that, but he knew Eric was right. “You’re not worried I might be making a mistake?” Simon was sure of her, but Eric wasn’t the one in love.
“No. I trust you and you trust her. That’s all I need to know.”
“Okay. Let’s work out the details.”
Eric sat up and pulled out his PDA. “I’ll take notes and then get the legal documents drawn up this afternoon.”
Amanda curled into the warmth of Simon’s body. The last couple of days had been strange. She hadn’t told him she had resigned from her job, but instead of treating her like the enemy, he’d been gentle with her. He made no mention of the merger or the baby, but he treated her like spun glass, making love to her so tenderly she felt loved even though he never said the words.
Jill was convinced he did love her, or so she had said repeatedly during their daily phone chats. Amanda wasn’t so sure. Simon would never dismiss the mother of his child. He had too much integrity. If nothing else, he would make sure they remained friends.
He hadn’t felt like a mere friend last night though. He’d felt like a man who could never get enough of her. He’d woken her several times to make love throughout the night, doing little for her sleep but a great deal for her sense of value to him as a woman.
“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” Simon’s hand brushed over her stomach and came to rest just over her womb.
“You,” she said honestly.
“Good thoughts?”
She wiggled her bottom against him. “Yes.”
His hand moved to her hips to still her movement. “Stop that. We’ve got to get up. The shareholder meeting is at eleven and the crossing takes an hour.”
“I remember.” She rubbed her cheek against the arm under her head. “I think I’ll just stay here this time. There’s no reason for me to go.”
“I want you with me.”
Did he mean he wanted her support before and after the meeting? If so, he was showing her a certain level of trust, believing she would be there for him. Her heart desperately needed that small boost after his accusations the other day. He’d apologized, but later she’d wondered if he’d only done so because he felt guilty about upsetting her when she was pregnant with his baby.
“All right, I’ll come. I can stay on the yacht while you’re in the meeting.”
“I’ve made arrangements for you to be there.”
“I thought only family could be there.”
“Family or shareholders.”
“Well, since all the shareholders are family, that’s pretty much the same thing, isn’t it?”
“In a way.”
“So, how did you arrange for me to be there?”
“I worked it out with Eric. Don’t worry about it. It’s all set and I’m not claiming you as my legal representative, if that’s what’s worrying you.”
“No. You don’t lie. You wouldn’t do that.”
“But Lance Rogers would.”
“I’m sure he has.”
“You’re right. He’s the named legal counsel for Alana St. John, one of my second cousins.”
Darn Lance anyway. He was such a slimy toad. “I’m sorry, Simon.”
“Don’t be, baby.” He hugged her. “It’s going to be fine.”
“You mean Eric is going to stand with you?”
He kissed the sensitive hollow behind her ear. “Did you expect anything else after telling me Extant’s plans for the merged companies?”
She hadn’t, but since Simon had been so silent on the merger, she had wondered if Eric had decided to back the merger regardless of the deviousness of its management. “Not really.”
“That’s what Eric said. He said you’d gotten to know him pretty well.”
“I did. In the things that are important, you two are a lot alike.”
“That’s what I was counting on when I first started arguing with him about the merger. I figured given enough time, he’d come around to my point of view. It turns out your boss’s belief that my cousin is as unethical as he is made my further argument unnecessary.”
It was probably time to tell Simon the truth about that. “He’s not my boss anymore.”
She found herself flipped on her back with Simon looming above her, his eyes stormy with anger. “Are you telling me they fired you over this business?”
She shook her head against the pillow and smiled up at him. He cared. He might not know it yet, or trust her as much as she trusted him, but this was not mere relief that she was out of the enemy camp she was seeing here. “I resigned.”
“Oh, baby.”
The kiss was voracious and led to other things, forcing them to take the fastest shower on record and for her to board the yacht for crossing to the mainland with wet hair.
Chapter 20
Amanda walked into the boardroom behind Simon and Eric. As she had expected, Lance sat at one end of the table with some people she didn’t recognize. Simon’s second cousins, she surmised, the only other shareholders. No doubt Daniel was waiting somewhere close by for Lance to call with the outcome of the meeting.
Lance met her gaze with his own, his eyes reflecting both derision and a certain level of smugness.
She did not acknowledge him in any way and took her seat to Simon’s right. He squeezed her shoulder before sitting down himself and turning to confer briefly with Eric.
As both President of Brant Computers and Chairman of the Board, Eric called the meeting to order. “In the interests of saving time, would someone like to put forth a motion in regard to the current business on the agenda?”
The only piece of business on the agenda that Amanda was aware of was the proposed merger.
Lance raised his pen in indication he wished to be recognized by the chair.
“Yes, Mr. Rogers?”
“It is my client’s understanding that Brant Computers’ bylaws stipulate no one outside the family and their legal representatives are allowed to attend shareholder meetings.”
Eric inclined his head. “In point of fact the bylaws stipulate that no one outside the shareholders or their legal representatives may attend such meetings.”
“If Ms. Zachary is attempting to pass herself off as legal representation for Simon Brant, I must point out she is neither a lawyer nor an attorney. She has no legal right to practice law in the state of Washington.”
“The same could be said of you, Mr. Rogers. You’ve passed the California bar, not that for our state, I believe.” Eric didn’t fidget or indicate nervousness in anyway. “However, neither point is relevant as our bylaws do not indicate whether or not the legal representation for shareholders needs to be practicing in the law profession.”
“I would like to go on record expressing my client’s dissatisfaction with this proceeding.”
“So noted. However, unless your client wishes to take legal issue with the ambiguity of our bylaws, I propose we move forward.”
Lance turned and conferred with a dark-haired woman, presumably Alana St. John.
He turned back to face Eric. “My client is willing to allow the proceedings to go forward.”
“How fortunate.” The sarcasm in Eric’s tone was barely perceptible.
Ms. St. John made a motion to merge Brant Computers with Extant Corporation.
In that moment, Amanda experienced an overwhelming sense of relief that Simon had convinced Eric to stand with him. He’d been right all along. Brant Computers was a family run company and the employees mattered, ethics matt
ered, and doing what was right mattered to the management.
Extant was interested in the bottom line only and Daniel’s most recent behavior had put the difference between the two companies in stark relief.
Another second cousin seconded the motion and Eric called for discussion.
“I move that discussion be waived and that we proceed directly to a vote.” Simon’s voice was even and firm, with no emotional inflection whatsoever.
Lance’s eyes narrowed in surprise and his gaze swung to Eric then back to Simon. “You don’t want to argue against the merger?” he asked.
Simon’s gray eyes were steady and unreadable. “No.”
Lance’s gaze swung to Amanda. She stared back. He was going to lose and in her mind it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving candidate. She couldn’t feel much one way or the other for the second cousins he had duped into playing as his patsies. None of them had contacted either Simon or Eric before going ahead and calling for the special shareholder meeting.
Brant Computers was an income producer for them, but they weren’t close to the company or the men who ran it.
Lance said, “I would like a moment to reiterate both the short and long-term benefits to Brant Computers that a merger with Extant Corporation would bring.”
Eric indicated Lance should proceed.
Which he did. After he had been talking for a while, the secretary recording the meeting said that five minutes had been reached.
“Your time is up, Mr. Rogers.”
Lance stopped talking, but looked annoyed.
“Is there any rebuttal?”
No one indicated they wished to speak.
“In that case, we will move directly to the vote.”
Once again, Lance’s pen was in the air.
“Yes, Mr. Rogers?”
“According to parliamentary procedure, if there is no one else wishing to take the floor, I should be allowed to continue.”
“If you had read the company bylaws more thoroughly, Mr. Rogers, you would have noted that our meetings are run with an adaptation of Robert’s Rules. This is one of Brant Computers’ adaptations.”
Eric referred to a section of the bylaws which Lance immediately looked up.
He read it, then lifted his head. “The adaptation is as you say.”
Eric didn’t bother to reply.
He called for a vote. Each of the second cousins voted in favor.
Eric turned to Amanda. “Which way do you vote?”
“What?” For some reason she flushed with heat. “I’m not a shareholder.”
“As of the day before yesterday you are. Simon Brant signed over thirty-seven percent of his stock in Brant Computers to you which constitutes eleven percent of the total company shares.”
Even in the deep state of shock that Eric’s words had thrown her into, she could do the math. Simon had given her the deciding vote. She turned to him. He was looking at her, a warmth and trust in his eyes she could not mistake.
Tears clogged the back of her throat.
He trusted her with the future of Brant Computers in her hands, with his future as well, and he had signed over those shares before she had told him about resigning from Extant.
“I vote nay.” Her voice shook with emotion, but she couldn’t help it.
“I also vote nay.” Simon didn’t look away from her as he said it and she could not look away from him.
“I vote nay as well.” Eric’s words were accompanied by a gasp from the other end of the table.
It was quickly followed by an eruption of gabbled voices. Evidently Lance had told the second cousins that Eric would be voting in favor of the merger. They weren’t happy.
Eric called the room to order again. “There is one more piece of business.”
Looking highly irritated, Ms. St. John asked, “What is it?”
“Simon and I are prepared to buy your stock and the stock of the other shareholders at fifteen percent above market value, but only if you all agree to sell.”
“What if only one of us wants to sell?” asked a man who looked enough like the dark-haired woman to indicate he was her brother.
“We will pay market value and no more.”
“But you still want to buy the shares?”
“Yes. However, the additional fifteen percent is only on offer until we leave this room. Once the meeting is adjourned, the offer will be withdrawn.”
Amanda was still shaken from Eric’s revelation that she was a shareholder. This move of his and Simon’s went right over her head, as did the second eruption of voices from the other end of the table.
“If you sell, you’ll regret it. Simon Brant is working on the next generation of computer technology. If Brant Computers is the first to market with the concept, your shares will increase in value astronomically,” Lance was urging.
“The operative word here is if. I won’t confirm or deny the content of Simon’s current experiments. His work is and has always been confidential.” Eric’s blue eyes were colder than Amanda had ever seen them. “Which leads to the obvious question of how you came by the belief that Simon is working on next generation technology.”
Lance actually sneered. “Don’t be dense. Extant Corporation would be foolish not to keep an eye on its competitors.”
“Even more foolish to be slapped with an injunction and lawsuit for hacking into confidential information files.” Simon spoke, having turned away from her to face Lance. “You can bet I’ll know exactly who gained illegal entry into my supply records and how it was done, within the next week.”
Lance’s expression left no one in the room in any doubt that information had been obtained in just that way. “Go for it,” he said however, in a false show of bravado.
Or maybe not so false. It wasn’t his neck on the line.
In the end, some of the second cousins refused to sell their stock. The others were angry that they wouldn’t get the extra fifteen percent, but they did negotiate for an eight percent increase over market value with the stipulation that if Brant Computers was first to market with a fiber-optic processor, they would receive an additional seven percent.
“Are you sure you two won’t come for dinner? Elaine and I would love to have you over.”
Simon shook his head, his hand on Amanda’s shoulder. There was this irrational fear that if he didn’t hold onto her, she would disappear. Until he got things settled between them, that fear was not going to go away.
“Another time. Right now, I just want to head back to the island.” He turned to Amanda. “Is that all right, sweetheart?”
Her expression was sending him messages that made his knees go weak. “Yes.”
Eric laughed. “You two are better entertainment than a live performance at Cheney Stadium.” He squeezed Amanda’s arm. “Be kind to him, honey. I never thought I’d see the day when Simon was more interested in a woman than his experiments.”
She smiled, moving into Simon’s side and sliding her arm around his waist. “I’ll be as nice as he’ll let me be.”
Eric winked at Simon. “It looks like you’ve got it sewn up, buddy. I’ll let you get to it.”
He turned and walked back to his car in the pier parking lot.
Simon looked down at Amanda. She’d dressed in her buttoned-up business attire, but something was different. Maybe it was the twinkle of mischief in her eyes, or the fact that he knew the bra and panties she was wearing under the conservative gray suit was scandalous in design.
“Do I?”
She tilted her head in that adorable way she had. “Do you what?”
“Have you all sewn up?”
“Hmmm . . .” She thought about it and even though he knew she was teasing him, tension started to seep into his body.
“I guess it depends on what you mean by sewn up,” she finally said.
“Come on.” He took her hand. “I’ll explain it on board.” He wasn’t asking the most important question of his life on the gangplank to his yacht.
She let him lead her aboard.
He stopped once they were on deck. “Do you want to stay outside for a while?” The sun was shining and she had a marked preference for the outdoors.
She nodded, but pulled her hand from his. “Let me go in and change my clothes. Then we can relax together on the forward deck, okay?”
“Sounds good.” He let her go, knowing that if he went with her, the minute her clothes were off he would forget his noble intention to talk and do something far more physically active. While making love with Amanda was the most pleasurable thing he’d ever known, settling their future was more important at the moment.
He headed to the forward deck, removing his jacket and tie along the way. He undid the first few buttons on his white silk dress shirt and cuffed the sleeves, before sitting on one of the deck loungers.
Amanda was only gone a few minutes, enough time for Jacob to have been and gone, leaving a tray of chilled water and finger size sandwiches to tempt the little mother’s appetite. It wasn’t exactly wine and roses, but Simon didn’t want the superficial trappings of romance. He wanted the real deal and Amanda in any setting was it.
She’d taken off her shoes and thigh-highs and changed into a pair of mouth-watering, hip-hugging denim shorts. Her formfitting white singlet showed a tantalizing strip of skin and the top of her temporary tattoo above the waistband of her shorts as well as the shadows of two dark points that indicated she’d left her bra off.
She was beautiful.
She was pulling pins from her hair as she walked toward him, the magnificent mass of chestnut silk floating down in a cloud around her face just as she stopped in front of him. “Hi.”
He had to make an effort to breathe. “Nice outfit.”
“Jill brought it up with the other clothes she picked up at my apartment. I wasn’t going to wear it, but around you . . .” She shrugged, but her expression told him the rest. She trusted him not to criticize her like her ex-husband had done.
