Ellis was fine with the concept of Daniels being irresistible to Trouvères. No problems there. What he wasn’t fine with was the idea that he might be irresistible to Ellis’s executive assistant.
Speaking through a translator, which Dee assured Ellis they really didn’t need, the Rousseau twins were politely remote. Claude talked with grandiose hand gestures and smiled a lot, but Yvette only listened. When she did speak, it was without emotion. For the most part, they both behaved exactly as Ellis would have expected, and the meeting preceded the same.
But Daniels was another matter entirely. All through the meeting, he never missed a chance to eyeball Dee, and at every break he hovered over her like a lovesick moose. Surely Ellis wasn’t the only one who noticed. The bastard never let her out of his sight. He should have been suspicious when, upon their arrival, they found the sitting room of their hotel suite adorned with an arrangement of flowers the size of a small French car. The card read à Dee, de Jason avec l’amour.
Ellis watched Dee for signs of mutual admiration, but she was completely unreadable. That only added to his frustration. He was more than a little relieved when the meeting broke for lunch. He grabbed Dee by the arm and whisked her away before Daniels could suggest an intimate lunch at some pretentious restaurant.
After an intense morning of meetings, a walk in the fresh air was infinitely more appealing. Along the Seine, they crossed the Pont Neuf to the Îsle de la Cité, and bought crêpes from a street vendor. The serpentine mirror of the river duplicated the sun as it baked its way through the heavy breath of July. Scantily clad Parisians, who had not managed to escape the heat of the city for someplace cooler, lounged on the embankment. Ellis couldn’t keep from noticing that, in spite of the heat, more than a few were locked in amorous embraces. Unfortunately the heat and the lust on the embankment only reminded him of Trouvères’ chief operations officer panting after Dee.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you headhunted Daniels for Trouvères?’ The question came out sounding a lot more like an accusation than he’d intended.
‘I’ve headhunted lots of people for lots of companies. I just didn’t think about it.’ Dee threw a bit of crêpe onto the sidewalk for a couple of squabbling pigeons.
‘Did the two of you know each other before?’
‘Never met the man before Jasper and McDowell.’
They set a leisurely pace along the river, weaving their way through eruptions of sunburnt tourists, sidestepping besotted lovers, and smiling politely at the occasional elderly Parisian walking an elderly dog.
‘The interview process is very revealing, I’d imagine.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Daniels. I suppose you know a lot about him after the interviews. How did that work anyway, a couple of meetings over coffee?’
‘A couple, yes’
‘Maybe dinner at a nice restaurant?’ Subterfuge in the business world was one thing, but Ellis had always been a bit simple when it came to interpersonal relations.
‘Yes, that was part of the screening. This was an important position.’ Dee lifted her face to the sun, which teased out bronze highlights in her dark hair and made Ellis even more certain he didn’t like Daniels panting after her.
‘And did the two of you do that often?’
She stopped in her tracks, almost causing a collision. ‘Ellis, what are you getting at?’
‘The man just seemed a bit too familiar with you today, that’s all.’
‘I got him the dream job of a lifetime. Believe me, he can afford to be nice to me.’
They found themselves moving upstream through a wave of Chinese tourists following a guide with a brightly painted sign. Ellis took her arm so neither of them would get swept away in the shutter-snapping deluge.
‘Nice to you, yes.’ He spoke between barely parted lips. ‘Nice to you’s fine, but he was all over you every chance he got. Is he married?’
‘Yes, with two kids.’ They shoved their way through the last of the tour group and resumed a slow meander along the cobbled embankment. ‘But even if he weren’t, I don’t date clients, surely you know that.’
He fell into step next to her. ‘Well he’s not your client now, is he?’ He took an angry bite of his crêpe and tossed the rest to the gathering pigeons. God, he was behaving like a sulky schoolboy. He absolutely was not jealous. He wouldn’t allow it! There was nothing to be jealous of. She was his employee, for chrissake!
A small group of boys whizzed by on skateboards, and he pulled her out of the way.
She caught her breath with a little yelp as he pulled her closer until they were practically nose to nose. Through her light linen suit, he could feel the rhythmic rise and fall of her breath and was suddenly aware of the shape of her insinuating itself against him, a shape his body responded to in a wave of muscle memory that nearly took his breath away. It left him feeling heavy and uncomfortable; it left him feeling desperate to rip the linen suit off and lose himself in the woman beneath.
‘Ellis.’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper. ‘Nothing happened between Jason and me at Jasper and McDowell, and there’s nothing between us now. What happened between you and me …’ Her voice drifted off, then she stepped out of his embrace. ‘What happened between us never happened to me before. Ever.’ Then she turned and kept walking.
Chapter Thirteen
After the first day of meetings, things went downhill fast. The contract structure was the first of the obstacles Yvette Rousseau had in store for them. She wanted Pneuma Inc. to give Trouvères a much bigger percentage of the licence fees, and she demanded that Trouvères get a cut of engineering revenues as well. She wanted to exclude possible competitors, and she insisted that the contract be drafted under French law instead of US law. The list went on. By the end of the second day negotiations were at a deadlock, and the Paris heat was beginning to take its toll in more ways than one.
Ellis slammed the door to the hotel suite behind them and yanked off his tie. ‘I know the woman doesn’t like Americans, but the only one she’s hurting by not accepting our offer is Trouvères. She has to see this is the only way to move things forward.’
‘It’s got to be some sort of bluff.’ Dee threw her jacket across the couch and rotated her aching shoulders.
‘Can’t you talk to Daniels? Surely he can make her see reason.’
‘I have talked to him. He’s at his wits’ end as to why she’s behaving like this. Besides, he’s working for her, remember?’
‘True, but it’s pretty clear it’s you he’s most concerned about pleasing.’
She slammed her computer bag down on the couch. ‘I told you there’s nothing between Jason and me, and I –’
Ellis interrupted. ‘Look, I said up front that this deal was a long shot. Pulling it off may take a lot more time than either of us expected. Anyway, I should have known better than to get caught up in the excitement. Don’t take it personally. I’m only saying you may have bitten off more than you can chew this time. You’re not exactly working drive-through at McDonalds, you know?’
The pain returned to her shoulders with a vengeance. ‘At first it came as a real shock, Ellis, but I figured that one out fairly early in the game.’ Dee was about to excuse herself for a much-needed shower and time to cool her temper when Ellis’s BlackBerry rang.
After a terse exchange, he hung up and tossed it on the desk. ‘That was Yvette Rousseau’s secretary. Tomorrow’s meetings are cancelled. Apparently Yvette sees no reason for further negotiations.’
‘Shit.’ Dee turned on her heels and headed for her room. Maybe she’d have a good cry while she was in the shower. It certainly wouldn’t be her first since she’d started working at Pneuma Inc.
Ellis grabbed her by the arm. ‘Where are you going? We have a disaster here, Dee. We need to regroup and figure out what to do about it. Your pouting can wait.’
Anger joined frustration and became a seething boil. She jerked her arm away. ‘I’m sick and tired of your snide rem
arks about Jason and me, and your condescension about my lack of experience. Guess what, Ellis, I know I lack experience, and you knew it when you hired me, so fucking tell me something I don’t know! I’m gonna take a goddamn shower. Do you mind? Wade brainstorms in the bowling alley, I brainstorm in the shower. Then I’ll fix it.’
She didn’t wait for his response; she didn’t care at that moment if he fired her ass. If he did, she’d jump up and down with relief, then be on the next plane to anywhere but in this room with this man. She gave her bedroom door the hardest slam she could manage, feeling her efforts wrench her biceps. She ripped at the pearl buttons of her blouse, then tossed it on the chair. As her skirt dropped around her ankles, she literally kicked it across the room. ‘Goddamn it,’ she cursed when it caught on her shoe and nearly tripped her before it went sailing and landed by the door. Right at Ellis’s feet.
For a horrifying second they both stood staring at each other, Ellis in white shirt and trousers and Dee in nothing but bra and panties and stockings and garter belt. He gave two fish gasps and found his voice. ‘I’m sorry. I went to knock, to apologise and it just came open. I guess it didn’t latch. Dee, I’m sorry. I’ll just leave now, and …’ He started to leave, froze like a statue for a split second, then turned back to her. ‘Dee, I can’t do this any more …’
Dee didn’t know who started it. She didn’t care, but the race to get to each other ended in a bone-crunching collision of an embrace that uprooted her completely out of her shoes as she catapulted into his arms and he lifted her off her feet, crushing her to him with a groan that sounded like agony incarnate. Then he took her mouth. Lips bruised and teeth clashed, tongues sparred, vertebrae crunched. When they came up for air, he gasped. ‘Jesus, Dee, I can’t take this any more. I need you now.’ This time he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him as he managed the few steps to her bed. He drove her into the mattress with the weight of his body, her clawing and shoving at his shirt. He pulled back enough to shrug it off his shoulders and undo his fly. She wriggled out of her panties, nailing him in the thigh with her heel in the process. This time he wasn’t awkward with the condom. This time he was ready. He stood above her, his trousers and boxers around his knees, his eyes raking over her like hungry fire. And when his gaze came to rest on the juncture between her legs, a hand joined the exploration, fingering her open, stroking the slippery path, thumbing the hard peak of her clit until her bottom juddered against the mattress with the intensity of her need, until she gaped and pressed and ground against his fingers.
The wet scent of lust overpowered the smell of Paris summer, still heavy on their bodies. What seemed like for ever could have only been seconds. It was only the time it took for him to make her wet, which was no time at all. Even with the stress of the last few months, the very sight of him still made her wet. It was only the time it took for him to open her, lift her hips so that she gaped for him. It was only the time it took to settle himself into position, which was no time at all. And yet the eternity of it was nearly unbearable. Then he pushed into her hard, making no accommodations for her tenderness. Nor did she want him to in her impatience to sheath him, to grip him, to clamp down on him. This time he didn’t wait to recover himself. He had waited four long months. That was fucking long enough. She could tolerate no more waiting. She had never wanted anything so badly in her life.
The thrusting was hard and deep, like he was fucking her whole body, not just her pussy. He cupped her ass in his hands, kneading, gripping, pulling her farther onto him until it surprised her that any of him was still left outside her.
When she came, her orgasm was hard-edged, raging, feeling as though it would break her and empty her. And Ellis; she thought Ellis would never stop coming. The look on his face was pain and pleasure and bliss and concentration. It was as though in his expression she could see what he was doing inside her body. His face, the face that was always opaque, the face that always kept everything secret, was suddenly open as she had never seen it before. When he was done coming, he shoved and pushed his way onto the bed next to her without breaking the connection, then moved slightly to one side so that his weight wasn’t on her. She ran a hand down to cup his ass, and whispered against his ear, ‘Apology accepted.’
The ringing of Dee’s BlackBerry caused them both to start. It was on the nightstand just within her reach from where she lay beneath him. ‘It’s Jason,’ she whispered, as she checked the screen. Then she answered, shoving Ellis off her and scrambling to the desk for a pen and paper. ‘Of course we’re disappointed, but that’s business, isn’t it?’ she said calmly.
Ellis was amazed that she could stand there nearly naked, still wet from sex, and manage to sound like the queen of Wall Street. But she was nearly naked, and all of her curviness glistened with the sweat of their rutting. At least for him, that pretty much negated anything she was saying on the phone, until she mentioned his name.
‘Ellis has been telling me from the beginning we should be offering this deal to Keller.’
He catapulted from the bed and was instantly at her side. What the hell was she up to? Who was Keller? He didn’t know any Keller. Was she crazy?
As she listened to whatever Daniels was saying on the other end of the phone, she looked up at Ellis and winked. ‘Oh, you’ve never heard of them? English firm, actually. They’re small, but they have some good ideas. Promising technology. They’re very anxious to work with Ellis, as you might imagine. Yes, I’m sorry too, Jason, but maybe Yvette is right. Maybe we really can’t work together.’
Ellis shoved closer in an attempt to listen in, but she elbowed him away. ‘Well, I don’t know. I really can’t think there’d be much to discuss when it’s clear Yvette’s not interested.’ She looked down at her watch. ‘Besides, I’ve got a teleconference this afternoon, and I …’ She listened intently and nodded. ‘All right, then. If you insist. Maybe I can squeeze you in.’ She scribbled an address on the hotel notepad. ‘I’ll meet you there in an hour.’ She hung up and turned to face Ellis, her gaze lingering on places below his face.
He suddenly remembered she wasn’t the only one who was nearly naked and folded his arms around himself, as if that would help. ‘What the hell are you doing, Dee?’
‘We have a mess. You told me to fix it. What have we got to lose?’
‘Me? Nothing. You? Possibly your job.’
‘Then nothing has really changed, has it?’ Her eyes were wandering again, and he gave up. It was damn near impossible to sound threatening standing there in front of her with his pole at full attention. ‘Does this Keller of yours even exist?’
‘Oh they exist all right. Cousins of my mother. They run a small printing business in Sheffield. I’m guessing if Yvette is at all typical of the French, she may dislike Americans, but she absolutely can’t abide the English. I told Jason I’d meet him in an hour. He doesn’t sound so prepared to give up. Can I have my shower now?’
In 15 minutes she was ready to leave the suite, looking like she could conquer the world. ‘I told him that my schedule’s really busy, that I don’t have much time, so I won’t be there long, just long enough to feel things out.’
Ellis didn’t much care for her choice of words. He held her gaze over the top of his glasses. ‘An hour. That’s all the time you give him, do you understand?’
She nodded, straightened her jacket and was gone.
* * *
Jason had chosen a cosy restaurant on Montmartre, just behind the Sacré-Coeur. A strange place for a meeting, Dee thought, but it was only for a drink and it was possible he wanted to make sure Yvette didn’t know what he was up to. She paid the taxi driver, and he met her at the door.
‘Thanks for coming, Dee.’ He laid a warm kiss on her cheek, then took her by the arm and guided her inside. ‘It’s amazing what a man has to go through to get you away from Thorne so he can have you to himself for a few minutes.’
She ignored his attempt at humour. ‘Have you talked to Yvette? Does she know yo
u’re here with me?’
‘She knows. I called her right after I got off the phone with you.’
Dee ordered a glass of wine and Jason did the same, then he guided her to a table in a quiet corner of the café where they could have a little more privacy. Once they were seated, he sat his drink down in front of him and studied her as she sipped her wine. ‘This is a bluff, isn’t it, Dee?’
Jason was a good businessman, but he didn’t frighten her. She knew she was up for anything he could dish out. ‘And why would you think that?’
‘Because it’s you. No one else I know would be bold enough to pull something like this. Beverly Neumann might have, but I doubt Thorne would. He’s innovative, but he’s also gotten more conservative lately. You –well you’re always full of surprises. I haven’t forgotten how you manoeuvred and schemed to get Yvette to hire me. She didn’t know what had hit her until it was all over. Now I’m her golden boy, her idea from the beginning, of course. And all because you were willing to take risks.’
He offered her an admiring smile that made her blush for some reason. ‘I bet Thorne’s wearing a hole in the carpet pacing, wondering how you’ll handle this. I’m a bit surprised he didn’t come with you, actually. He doesn’t seem very anxious to let you out of his sight.’ He leaned over the table, closer to her. ‘Did you lock him in his room before you left?’
‘Trouvères is not the only thing on Ellis’s mind, Jason. I think he’s ready to walk on this one. He’s a busy man, and I’m just his assistant.’
He grunted. ‘Like Beverly Neumann was?’
That he compared her to Beverly caught her by surprise. Did he really see her that way? For the past few months, if she had been compared to Beverly it was always in a negative light, to the point that she almost cringed at the mention of her friend’s name. It was clear Jason meant it as a compliment, and she didn’t try to fight back the resulting smile.
Jason heaved a sigh and toyed with his drink. ‘Look, Dee, I don’t care whether the whole thing with Keller is a bluff or not. You and I both know this alliance with Pneuma Inc. is by far the best prospect for Trouvères. And if I have my company’s best interest at heart, then that’s got to be what I want too, no matter how stubborn Yvette is.’
An Executive Decision Page 9
