by Janice Sims
“Yes,” Ana said, pleased to know he knew of her grandmother who had died several years ago and was still sorely missed.
“I never saw her perform live,” Leo said regrettably. “But I’ve seen her in films. She was amazing.”
Ana couldn’t think of her grandmother without getting a little choked up. She swallowed a lump in her throat, and softly said, “She was happiest when she was performing.”
Leo continued, excitedly. “No wonder your brother is a composer, his mother and his grandmother—two world-renowned singers. It was in his blood. What about you, do you have musical talent?”
Ana laughed shortly. “Not a bit. Musical talent skipped me and my sister, Sophia. Neither of us can carry a tune. Or play an instrument with any proficiency. We went into fashion, like our father. Sophia works with him in his clothing business and I became a model.”
“You sound so modest,” Teresa said, smiling warmly. “You did more than just became a model. You’re very successful at it.”
“I’ve been lucky,” Ana admitted.
“And very hard-working,” Erik put in fondly.
“There’s no substitution for hard work,” Leo said. He gave his daughter a meaningful look. “That’s what I’ve been trying to drive home with our soccer fanatic here. You have to burn the midnight oil to get anywhere.”
“We were state champs this year,” Julianna said a bit defensively.
“Yes, but a girl can’t live by soccer alone,” her father countered. “In order to get into a good college, you’ll need more than just a good athletic record. You’re too single minded. What about academics and other extracurricular activities? You have to be well-rounded.”
“Ana was single-minded in her career,” Julianna pointed out. “If she hadn’t been focused on becoming the best model she could be, she wouldn’t be where she is today.”
“Ana?” Leo said, obviously looking for an ally in this argument. “Tell us, please, is that true?”
“My parents insisted I get a college degree,” Ana told Julianna. “I have a bachelor’s degree in business. And I’ve been taking art classes for years.”
“See?” cried Teresa. “Beauty and brains!”
“That is so cool,” said Julianna. “Don’t take this the wrong way but I always thought of models as self-absorbed airheads.”
“You can find self-absorbed airheads in any career,” Ana said, to which everyone laughed.
They all sat down and soon were enjoying a lunch of Teresa’s native southern Italian cuisine—a seafood soup with fresh tomatoes and savory herbs, hot crusty bread and peach gelato for dessert.
“You’re a great cook,” Ana said to Teresa. “This soup reminds me of my father’s seafood soup.”
“That’s why I married her,” Leo said cheerfully.
Teresa, who was sitting beside her husband, reached over and tousled his too-long dark hair. He was graying at the temples, which gave him a sexy, rugged appearance as far as she was concerned. She adored him and it was reflected in the way her eyes caressed his face. “One of the reasons, anyway,” she said, then winked at him.
“Behave,” their daughter said with a laugh. “We’ve got company.” Then she turned to Erik and said, “Mr. Whitaker, Dad says you want to buy the family business. I searched your company on Google and found out you’ve bought several companies that were having problems.”
“I don’t think this is the time to discuss business,” Leo said abruptly, obviously surprised by his daughter’s comment.
“Dad, isn’t that why you invited Mr. Whitaker and Ana here this weekend?”
“Please, call me Erik,” said Erik with a smile.
“What I wanted to say,” Julianna continued calmly, “is that if Dad is going to sell the family business, I hope it’s to a company like yours. You’re environmentally responsible. You have a good record when it comes to keeping the employees who’re dependent on the companies you acquire to make a living.” She regarded her father. “I know you’re worried about that, Dad. That’s why I decided to do a little research. Not that you haven’t already done that, but I wanted to reassure myself. I know you think I don’t have any interest in the business, but I do. I keep my ears and eyes open.”
Leo looked at her with such pride that, seeing his expression, Teresa got emotional and had to wipe a tear away. “My baby,” she said in a whisper.
“Dad, I’m sorry if it seems I’m being disrespectful, I don’t mean to. But if you remember, I’ve tried to talk to you about the business for weeks now and you always tell me not to worry about it.”
Leo didn’t know what to say. He thought Julianna lived in her own world of soccer, her friends and the internet, in that order. That she had made an effort to find out what sort of company Whitaker Enterprises was made him wonder if perhaps he’d been too quick to call it a day where the company was concerned. Maybe there was a Barone who looked forward to running it one day. If he redoubled his efforts there was a possibility that with an infusion of new ideas, and investors, the Barone Shoe Company, whose slogan had always been Quality Italian Shoes Made in America, could remain in the family.
“I’m listening,” he said to his daughter.
“Before you sell the family business,” Julianna said, “I just want to make sure that’s what you really want to do, or is it because Leo, Jr.’s in heaven and you don’t think a woman could run the company after you retire?” She was all seriousness, her gaze unwavering. “Or maybe there’s something you’re not telling me—like you’re sick and that’s why you’re selling the company and retiring at sixty.”
Leo got up and pulled his daughter into his arms. “No, sweetheart, no to both of your questions,” he said. “I know that if you put your mind to it, you’re capable of anything. I just didn’t know you were interested in working with me. And I’m as healthy as a horse!”
Julianna laughed. “You know I don’t like horses.”
“Okay, I’m as healthy as David Beckham,” said Leo.
“That’s better,” said Julianna.
“Let’s sit,” said Leo. Once they were both seated, Leo turned to Erik. “It looks like we have a lot to talk about this weekend, after all. I was ready to sign, but now I’m having sudden misgivings.”
Erik had been listening with interest. This wasn’t the first time a deal had come this close to being finalized and had fallen through…if that’s where this was going. He had learned to roll with the punches. “I’m sure we can work something out that will be agreeable to both of us. We’re not in the business of trying to force anyone to sell. We only approached you because you had decided that selling might be an option out of your financial crunch. However we’re willing to work with you. If you want to remain the company’s CEO and train Julianna to eventually replace you with us as an investor, you can go that way. It’s your decision. We like Barone Shoes and we think you can once again be a major competitor in the shoe market.”
Leo regarded his wife. “Do you think we can postpone our months-long tour of Italy a few more years until Julianna’s ready to assume control of the business?”
Teresa in turn regarded Julianna. “Baby, you’re only sixteen. How can you be so sure you want to run the business one day?”
“Because it’s my family,” Julianna said firmly. “I’m a Barone. Like Grandpa and Dad before me. Plus, I feel a connection with Leo, Jr.—as if we’d be doing it together. I know I never knew him, but I love him anyway.”
Teresa had tears in her eyes when she told her husband, “Okay, I can wait a few years. Give her a chance.”
“Let’s talk about taking you all on as investors,” Leo said to Erik and offered him his hand across the table. Erik took it and firmly shook it.
“I’m sure we can work something out,” Erik agreed.
After lunch, Erik and Leo, went into the family
library and hammered out a deal that would give Whitaker Enterprises a quarter interest in Barone Shoes in exchange for a healthy loan. Erik felt confident that Whitaker Enterprises had made a good investment. And Leo felt he could trust Whitaker Enterprises to support them, but not interfere in the day-to-day running of Barone Shoes. However, Erik made one stipulation: Barone Shoes had to submit to Whitaker Enterprises’ efficiency experts and accountants in order to insure that the company was being run in the black from now on. Whitaker Enterprises didn’t invest in a losing proposition. They wouldn’t be the powerhouse they were today if they did. Leo wholeheartedly agreed.
The two men stood and shook on it. “Since that’s settled, Ana and I should be getting back on the road,” Erik said.
“No, please stay the night,” Leo said. He grinned. “We had planned a party for you tonight and invited some of the employees so they could meet you, the new owner. Now they can meet the new investor. Stay, won’t you?”
Erik would like nothing better than to spend the rest of the day and the weekend with Ana. After last night, he was looking forward to some alone time with her. However, Ana had been promised a weekend in Connecticut and he hated disappointing her. Plus, it might be a good idea to meet some of Leo’s employees. “All right,” he said. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 3
“Are you disappointed things didn’t turn out as you thought they would?” Ana asked Erik when they were alone on the common balcony of the guestrooms Teresa had shown them to after Erik’s talk with Leo. Earlier Teresa had discreetly asked Ana if she and Erik wanted to share a room and Ana had told her their relationship hadn’t advanced that far yet, to which Teresa had smiled and said, “How refreshing.”
“It’s never wise to anticipate the outcome of a deal,” Erik said, his smile denoting he wasn’t that broken up about it. He closed the space between them and pulled her into his arms. Ana smiled up at him and said, “It’s cold out here.” She snuggled closer and breathed in the enticing male scent of him, which was like an aphrodisiac to her senses. Looking into his eyes, she said, “If I’ve appeared a bit distant all day, it’s because I can’t forget that kiss last night.”
He’d taken her home after dinner and had come in for coffee. Among the things they had in common was an addiction to caffeine. Neither was bothered by sleeplessness if they indulged before bed. Ana had gone into the kitchen of her loft to make the coffee and Erik, as he often did, followed her. While she was tiptoeing to reach the container of beans on the top shelf of the cabinet, he was admiring her backside. Ana turned around and caught him looking. “Is that something you do often or is it a new development?” she asked playfully.
“It’s pretty much a habit,” Erik confessed.
Ana set the container on the counter and faced him, her expression aghast. “You mean to tell me that for the last three years you’ve been looking at my bottom without my knowledge?”
“Oh, I think you knew,” Erik said as he slipped his arm about her waist and pressed her to his muscular chest, smiling all the while. He lowered his head and inhaled her unique fragrance. She’d noticed that he liked doing that, as though the smell of her skin gave him sensual pleasure. It turned her on, too.
Her body immediately reacted to his. Her nipples grew hard, and she became moist between her legs. It was a heady, all-too-erotic sensation that was so delicious she let out a soft sigh. She looked at his lips. He was smiling and his white teeth, coupled with those juicy lips, looked so inviting that she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Erik didn’t need any further provocation. Her lips were soft and her mouth so sweet that before he knew it he had lifted her body and her legs wrapped around him in a bid to get even closer. Their tongues danced gently at first and found the encounter so pleasing that the kiss deepened and soon they were both sounding as though they were consuming something extremely tasty as, no doubt, they were. Erik, as the one who had most of the physical strength between them, knew that he had to back off before things got out of hand. Ana wasn’t ready for things to go any further than a kiss but it was their first real kiss and, heaven help him, if her kisses were this good, what would sex be like with her?
It was Ana who came up for air first and looked him in the eyes. She pressed her cheek to his. “Why haven’t you kissed me before now?”
“I’ve been a fool,” Erik said, and kissed her again.
Ana pulled his shirt out of his waistband so that she could run her hands over his hot skin. Another new experience since friends didn’t routinely touch one another’s naked bodies. Her feverish mind thought back. Yes, she’d seen Erik in a swimsuit on a couple occasions. Once when they had flown to Barbados for the weekend with his sister, Belana, and her husband, Nick, and another time when they’d taken a dip in the pool at his parents’ house in Connecticut. He was in great shape. Cut from all the running and weightlifting he did on a daily basis. Ana was not nearly as disciplined. She liked running with Erik on Saturday mornings, but walking was more her taste. All this was going through her mind while the man of her dreams was kissing her, and she thought she must be neurotic to be thinking of anything other than the taste of his mouth and the warm, solid feel of his body touching hers. It was fear of change that stood in the way of her truly enjoying Erik.
What would she do if he made love to her and lost interest, just as that actor who would remain nameless had done? It would kill her—she realized at that instant in her kitchen, she adored this man. She loved him in a way she had never thought to love a man, completely. Until Erik she thought of men as enigmas whom women were doomed to never fully understand. However Erik had proved that theory a lie. She understood him. She knew, for example, that even though he denied it he had an abandonment issue with his mother. It’s true that his mother had come back into his life briefly last year, but by that time the damage had been done. And she wasn’t in his life long before she revealed she had a terminal illness. Only weeks later she had died with all her children holding her hands, the very children she had walked away from. No one came away from that without emotional scarring.
Erik had never let himself get close to anyone before Ana. He jokingly said it was because he’d just never found the right woman. Ana believed it was because he was afraid of being abandoned yet again by a woman he loved. This, Ana, thought last night in her kitchen, put a great deal of pressure on her. She would never dream of hurting him, but what if she did hurt him in spite of every effort not to? She was only human.
It was soon after this thought ran through her mind that Erik had tipped her chin toward him and said, “Let’s not waste any more time than we already have. I love you, Ana. I believe I’ve loved you since the first time we met.”
Tears instantly sprang to Ana’s eyes. “I love you, too!” She hugged him tightly. “I love you so much that I’m afraid of my feelings for you.”
He kissed her forehead. “Afraid? What do you mean?”
“What we have is perfect in a sense. You’re my best friend, the person I confide in, aside from my own family. What if that changes? What if becoming lovers changes us?”
Erik laughed. “If anything it’ll enhance how we already feel about each other.” He became somber. “It’s that actor, isn’t it? The one who broke your heart after you’d slept with him? Ana, you’re not guilty of doing anything to warrant his behavior. Some men are bastards and will always be bastards. He’s one of them. I’m sure you’re not the only woman he’s treated that way.”
“Maybe I’m not good in bed,” Ana said miserably.
Erik held her by the shoulders and looked deeply in her eyes. “That’s the most ludicrous statement I’ve ever heard.” He smiled as he pulled her into his arms. “One day, my sweet Ana, you and I are going to make love, and you’re going to know without a doubt that you are very, very good in bed and maybe the couch, the kitchen table and the shower, too.”
&nbs
p; Ana laughed and cried. “Someday? Why not this day, this night?”
“Because sex for the first time is an event,” Erik said. “It’ll be remembered forever and you don’t want to mess with forever. We’ve waited this long, we can wait awhile longer.”
Now, as they stood in each other’s arms on the Barone’s balcony, Ana gazed up at him and said, “It’s just as well we didn’t make love last night because I would want you again tonight and it would be awkward making love under the Barones’ roof.”
“We’d be very quiet,” Erik joked.
“I doubt it,” Ana countered.
* * *
Later, at the party, Erik spent most of the time fielding questions from Leo Barone’s employees who wanted to know more about Whitaker Enterprises. It was apparent to him that they were grateful to be retaining their jobs in these hard economic times. So many people were out of jobs and finding it difficult to find another. They almost made him feel like some kind of hero for offering assistance to Barone Shoes, a feeling he fervently declined.
“I should be thanking you,” he told them. “Leo has built a wonderful business and you’ve contributed to the quality of the product he produces. Without loyal, hardworking employees, no business would survive. Or be able to build a reputation investors like myself notice when we’re looking to invest in someone.”
Leo had stepped up and said, “That’s a long way of saying he wouldn’t have been interested if we didn’t make a quality product.”
Everyone laughed, but Erik was happy he’d gotten his point across and from that moment on during the evening, business was not discussed. The topics stayed on golf and sports teams.
Meanwhile in another section of the great room, the women and children were gathered around Ana who was quickly making sketches of the children in charcoal. She didn’t go anywhere without her sketch pad and the children were taking great delight in her swift manner of drawing their likenesses. Since it was only a few days from Halloween, Teresa had suggested that the children come in costumes and, now, Ana was drawing the image of a six-year-old African-American girl dressed as a fairy princess. The mother of the little girl stood behind Ana on one side, and Julianna stood on the other.
