Scent of a Woman

by Joanne Rock

  “It’s a great idea.” He noticed she didn’t offer him a second glimpse, obviously uncomfortable with sharing any more details than necessary.

  It sucked being competitors like this.

  “You must be pitching something equally unique.”

  He recognized a subtle hint for more information and didn’t see the harm in telling her his plans, especially since he’d inadvertently glimpsed some of hers. Maybe the shared information would put her more at ease.

  “Prestige Scents is actually taking the direct opposite approach. Instead of catering to the roots of Arabic culture, we’re bringing in some of the tricks of the West and pitching a celebrity as the face of perfumes we’d sell there.”

  Danielle bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable talking business.

  “Perhaps Jessica? Hmm. Not that I begrudge the little box-office darling an ounce of her success or anything.”

  She said it with such a complete lack of sincerity, he couldn’t help but laugh.

  “No. We won’t firm up a face or an image until we progress in negotiations, and we haven’t ruled out a regional celebrity.” Adam was still working the deal. And he felt a twinge of guilt since he could see for himself that Danielle’s campaign had taken far more work. But no matter how inspired her scheme was, he still felt really good about the financial projections of his own plan.

  “Thank you for telling me.” She picked up her room key and added that to her bag, her movements clipped. Tense? “It’s been hard for me not to talk about my ideas for the Arabian Nights line since my work permeates my whole life. When I am creating something new, I tend to think about it waking and sleeping.”

  He saw a ticket out of this conversation and ended it, ready to move their relationship back on comfortable—hot—terrain.

  “I’ll bet I know a few times when you weren’t thinking about it.”

  He’d never been with a woman who committed herself so completely in the bedroom. He didn’t tend to romanticize relationships, but being with Danielle gave new meaning to the idea of being transported during sex.

  “I do, too, you wicked man, and now I’m feeling a bit frazzled walking into a meeting when I haven’t been going over my notes or—”

  “Don’t.” He cut her off with a finger gently pressed to her lips. “You’ve got more time and creativity invested in this pitch than I do and—I’m willing to bet—anyone else Ahmed is seeing this week. Your ideas are kick-ass. Go sell the hell out of them.”

  And he meant it. He could take a little competition. Hell, to hear his brother talk, Adam thrived on it. No way would he want Danielle to do anything less than her best.

  Her whole body seemed to relax at his words. When she nodded and smiled, he felt like a freaking hero.

  “I will. Thank you.” Pivoting on her heel, she walked away from him, pausing at the threshold of the door to her suite. “You’re going to love Villefranche and we can tour the city well into the evening since we have a late sailing. Why don’t you ask someone in guest relations to recommend an establishment with darts?”

  “I’m on it.” He didn’t bother telling her that anything guest relations would recommend in Portofino would undoubtedly be more upscale than the dive bars he frequented in his free time.

  Besides, he was already thinking about her nonstop when he had work to consider, and that wasn’t such a great thing. He knew his proposal could win this deal, but not if he was so rocked by a woman that he didn’t have all the details smoothed out by the time he went into that final meeting tomorrow. Danielle’s proposal was excellent, but she was a savvy enough businesswoman to know that Prestige had a lot more tools besides artistic creativity to bring to this deal.

  Adam’s phone showed two messages from Joe. No doubt his brother had projects Adam needed to start thinking about for next week when he rejoined the rat race.

  Yet if Adam discovered that Danielle was not only a sexy businesswoman who could match wits with him any day, but a born dart player…he might never get on the plane to fly home.

  DANIELLE MADE A DETOUR to the ship’s library before her meeting with Ahmed to return her copy of Tales From a Thousand and One Nights. She’d left her room early to drop off the book, but it had not been easy with Adam almost naked and lounging around her bedroom.

  Mon Dieu.

  The man was too delicious for words. No wonder women pursued him around the globe. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be the next woman to fall hopelessly under the spell of his easy charm and his American accent.

  The sound of raised voices from the library startled her as she neared the room. Ariana had said the reading area would be closed to passengers this morning, but that she would be there, so it unsettled Danielle to hear the raised masculine voice booming through the closed door.

  “—know how hard it is to find good quality copies? Even high quality reproduction pieces are—”

  Danielle rapped on the door, spying Ariana in the far corner of the library through a clear sidelight in the door.

  The male voice fell silent as Ariana hurried over to let Danielle inside. Danielle nodded her thanks and a greeting, but she didn’t turn in the book right away, wanting to make sure Ariana didn’t need help dealing with an angry patron or—

  Father Connelly?

  The normally affable priest was standing by his antiquities display, a piece of painted pottery shattered at his feet in a rainbow of colors.

  “Is everyone okay?” Danielle asked, hoping no one had been cut. “What happened?”

  Ariana pushed her dark hair behind her ear, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand.

  “Someone on the cleaning staff broke one of Father Connelly’s display pieces,” Ariana confided, keeping her voice low. A maid arrived just behind Danielle, but Father Connelly waved the woman away while he paced along the far wall outside the circle of scattered pottery.

  “It was the Olympian vase, no?” Danielle thought she recognized the piece from the lecture she’d attended.

  “Yes,” Father Connelly replied tightly, not bothering to look her way. His Roman collar was askew, his hair sticking up in the back.

  “I have a few friends in the art business,” Danielle offered, hoping to defuse the tension. “I can ask one of them for the name of someone who does skilled reproductions in this time period.”

  That caught the priest’s attention. As he approached her, she noticed Ariana step back and quickly pick up a fragment of the vase. Did she hope to hide her action from the priest? Instinctively, Danielle trusted the librarian, who had been more than kind to her in her research efforts. Danielle had succeeded in drawing out the quieter woman after the library had closed to the public. She hadn’t realized until then how much she missed having a friendship that didn’t revolve around her work.

  “That’s very kind of you.” His smile was tight. “But it won’t be necessary. I will contact a few of my suppliers and find something appropriate to supplement the collection. I just regret the expense for a replacement. I’d much rather add something new to the collection instead.”

  Smoothing a hand over his hair, he seemed to recover himself.

  “I just wanted to return this book to you.” Turning to Ariana, who had come back to stand with them, Danielle passed her the book. “Now, if you both will excuse me, I have a meeting I must attend.”

  “Of course.” Father Connelly smiled. “Adieu, mademoiselle.”

  “Adieu. And thank you, Ariana. Your help has been invaluable to my project this week.”

  “It was my pleasure, Danielle. I appreciated your company.”

  Danielle left the mess in the library to meet with Ahmed. Her hopes were high even though she knew Adam’s pitch probably had as much chance of winning the contract as hers. And damn it, that worried her. She couldn’t afford to lose this deal. Her shop in Nice depended on it. Her whole company might depend on it if Les Rêves’s financial prospects were as bleak as her brother had been painting them lately.

  But at this
point, she could only work with what she had. Still, she was nervous. Her company would be devastated if she lost the bid to Adam. But after spending another incredible night with him, she recognized she would be the one who suffered if she lost her heart to him.

  ADAM’S CELL PHONE RANG in the middle of the afternoon. Since they’d docked in Villefranche, he’d already fielded two calls from his brother, who had arrived in Europe yesterday on business of his own.

  Now, Adam ducked into a window seat in the main lounge area where a piano player worked the keys of a baby grand. The lounge was relatively empty since most passengers had gone ashore for the day and many of the perfumers were attending afternoon workshops. Adam had enjoyed the speaker on neuroesthetics who looked at the scientific particulars of the brain’s response to scent.

  “Burns.” He didn’t recognize the number on the call window.

  “Why aren’t you still in my bed?” The sexy voice on the other end of the phone could only belong to one woman.

  His mouth watered within two seconds of thinking about Danielle. Too bad the workshop on neuroesthetics hadn’t included some explanation for the way his brain responded to Danielle. Now that would have been intriguing.

  “I didn’t know when you’d be back.” He had left her room moments after she did that morning, hoping to tweak his own presentation before returning his brother’s calls. “But if you’re not busy now, I can be there in five minutes.”

  He only had three days with her left, counting today. And really, today was half over. He planned to make the most of every moment remaining on this cruise.

  “Have I told you how much I love your American impatience?”

  “You might be the only one.” He stared out across the water at the coastline. “What’s your take on American football?”

  “I have a friend who always manages to secure World Cup tickets. You want to go next year?”

  So much for their compatibility.

  “That’s not American football.”

  “Football is football, no?”

  “No. Your football is soccer. Mine involves helmets. Hitting.” He waved away a waitress who paused at his table. “How did your meeting go this morning?”

  He’d meant to ask that as soon as he spoke to her again, but her sexy voice had distracted him.

  “It went better than I could have hoped.” She sounded pleased. Relaxed. Happy.

  “I’m glad for you.” And he meant it. “But what about getting together? Do you want company?”

  His second appointment with Ahmed was tomorrow so he had today free if he ignored Joe’s dictates.

  “How about we just go ashore early? I’ll dress now and—”

  “Dressing is optional if I come over there.” He nodded at Jonathan Nordham, the Brit with the brandy flask who’d given him excellent advice about trying to work things out with Danielle. The semi-retired perfumer was with his lady friend.

  “Maybe we should meet on deck then so you don’t miss Villefranche altogether. How about an hour from now in the Polaris Lounge?”

  The connection clicked and he guessed she must have another call coming in so he wrapped things up.

  “Done. See you then.” He pressed the button to finish the conversation before he picked up an incoming call of his own.

  “Breaking hearts on two continents now, I see,” Joe barked into his ear without preamble. “Why didn’t you tell me you were making the European papers with your love life?”

  Adam spat out a few choice words in reply, knowing Joe must have seen the photo of him with Danielle somewhere. Changing the subject, he watched the first mate and the antiquities lecturer exchange a few terse words before walking away from each other.

  “I thought you were too incapacitated to fly,” Adam accused. “What happened to all the broken ribs?” He couldn’t be too mad at Joe—if Adam hadn’t taken the cruise he would never have met Danielle.

  “I was too incapacitated to take a ten-day cruise and meet with a potential client I’d never dealt with before,” Joe clarified. “But I can hold meetings with some of our overseas management—people I don’t have to impress. Plus, it’s been a few days. I’m getting around better. Thanks for asking.”

  “I’ve got my second meeting tomorrow with the retail company. The presentation is solid.”

  “And judging by the picture I saw of you and the perfume heiress, I’d say you’re scouting the competition fairly well.”

  “Did you want anything business-related, or are you calling to gossip like a schoolgirl?”

  “I just found it surprising you’d be making the rounds with the pampered heiress type after Jessica caused you so much grief.”

  His temple ticked as tension threaded through him.

  “Danielle’s not like that.”

  She didn’t just shoot around the globe on a moment’s whim or change boyfriends as frequently as she changed hairstyles. Adam knew better than to get involved with a woman like that.

  “I don’t know, bro. Her dating bio in the paper reads like a who’s who of European big shots. Then there’s a polo player and some kind of D.J.—”

  “Enough.” His jaw tightened as he remembered her easy acceptance of his explanation about the kiss from Jessica in Corfu. Didn’t he owe Danielle as much benefit of the doubt? “Since when do we trust any b.s. that shows up in a newspaper? She’s as much a target as me.”

  Although it would have been nice if Danielle had spelled that out for him a little more thoroughly. He hadn’t realized she’d been linked to a string of high-profile men.

  “Whatever. I’ll meet you in Piraeus when the ship comes in and we can fly back together. Don’t forget what you’re there for.” The call disconnected before Adam could tell his brother off.

  Damn. He switched off his phone for the night, determined to enjoy his time with Danielle. They were sticking to their agreement. A shipboard fling. No strings. No expectations.

  Too bad it was all going to blow up in their faces when one of them lost the Dubai deal. Adam knew it. She knew it. But there wasn’t a chance he could back away from her or from the inevitable explosion before then.

  “HELLO?”

  Danielle took the call on her other line, her head still swamped with visions of what she’d do with Adam when she got him all to herself tonight. She needed to wear something spectacular. Something he’d never forget.

  Something to soothe her small feelings of guilt since she was almost certain she was going to win the contract they both wanted now that she’d had her meeting with Ahmed. The Dubai rep had loved the Arabian Nights ideas and thought it would be a big hit with International Markets.

  She hoped Adam would not be too disappointed.

  “Danielle.” Marcel’s voice burst her happy bubble, his serious tone calling her back to reality. “We need to talk. Are you alone?”

  The tension in his voice put her on guard. He did not just sound a little testy, as per usual. He sounded downright somber.

  “Is everything okay?” Her mind raced through a litany of possibilities and she wondered if something had happened to one of the long-time staffers, who were like family to her and Marcel by now.

  “No.” The word was so sharp she sank to the love seat in the sitting area of her suite, bracing herself for whatever might be wrong. If it had been just a magazine article about her escapades or another turn of the rumor mill, he would raise his voice and chew her out. This quiet tension meant something else.

  “You’re scaring me.” Suddenly her good news about her encouraging meeting with Ahmed and International Markets didn’t seem that important.

  “I’m vacating my post with Les Rêves, Dani.” His voice hitched oddly. “I cannot be the company’s financial officer anymore.”

  She relaxed marginally, grateful the news hadn’t been worse. As much as she appreciated Marcel’s contributions to the company, she would never want him to remain in a position he found unfulfilling.

  “I know you have been w
orried about money, but mon Dieu, Marcel. I thought you were terribly ill or—I don’t know. Please do not scare me so—”

  “There’s more.”

  She tensed once more, the Mediterranean sunshine outside her French doors feeling a million miles away.

  “Oui?”

  “I wanted to warn you about our financial situation before the cruise ends in case there is still time to fix the problem.”

  Her scalp tingled with foreboding and she had the feeling her date with Adam was going to have to wait.

  “What problem?”

  “I have made so many mistakes, Dani.” His words came out in a gasp like a man fighting for breath.

  “What mistakes, Marcel?” Anxiety was making her hoarse.

  “Our finances are strained. It is my fault. I have been struggling with guilt but I needed to tell you before you make any commitments that the company cannot fulfill.”

  Her stomach tightened into a solid knot of raw tension.

  “Our finances are strained?” What did he mean? And how was that different from the financial woes he always griped about?

  How could Les Rêves possibly be in a position where they wouldn’t be able to fulfill the contracts she secured?

  “Our accounts have dwindled. I made a couple of bad investments a few years ago and somehow those losses led to more until I needed a little help from the business.” His voice broke now. “We’re operating in the red now, Dani. I can’t fix this and I can’t hide it anymore.”

  Shock steamrolled her and her legs wobbled with the weight of it. Her brother had invested company money without consulting her? To the point of…what? Bankruptcy? A million thoughts bombarded her brain as she tried to process what he was telling her.

  Yet she couldn’t do anything until she got a better feel for what was happening. She needed to take action. Now. She didn’t need Marcel to give her the details—she knew that her beloved company was at risk.

  She wouldn’t be able to see Adam tonight. For that matter, she’d be lucky to even say goodbye to the man she’d been so eager to be with just a few moments ago.