nodded, but he noticed that her cheeks had gone even paler. The saleswoman scurried off, returning with a mountain of clothing. “We’ll make her irresistible,” she promised.
Carson’s last thought before Beth disappeared into the dressing room was, Oh, no, don’t do that.
He didn’t want to desire her. That would interfere with all his plans, and it would ultimately hurt her. Carson had already hurt too many people, and he did not want to see Beth’s brown eyes fill with pain.
After numerous changes, Beth finally emerged from the dressing room and heard Carson say, “Perfect. That’s the one you’ll wear today.”
She was dressed in a jade suit with a jacket that nipped in at her waist and a skirt that brushed her knees. A rich cream camisole peeked out from the lapels and beneath that she wore bits of ivory satin and lace. It was the most luscious, luxurious clothing she had ever owned, which bothered her. There was now a sense of obligation attached to this business relationship.
And there was something more. Longing. She hated that feeling. Over the years, she’d trained herself not to envy what other girls had. Her brothers had done their best. Neighbors had often donated bags of ill-fitting clothing their children had outgrown, and she’d always known that people judged her by what she was wearing. Pretending she didn’t care had been a badge of honor. Now…Beth glanced down at the skirt that hung just the way a skirt was meant to hang. She felt as if she were playing dress-up. She would eventually have to put the things back in the box and don her old clothes. But for now…she stroked her hand over the silky cloth.
The movement must have caught Carson’s eyes. He glanced at her, and she quickly slipped her hand behind her back, unwilling to let him see her as pathetic or needy or even more untutored than she had admitted to. His gaze never left hers as he told the saleswoman to send the rest of the things he had chosen to the office.
“Ready?” he asked Beth as they left the store.
“Yes.” She followed him out into the sunlight. “Thank you,” she added. “I doubt anyone would have known if you had spent less money.”
He shrugged and smiled. “I would have. This suits you. Think of it as your uniform.”
She liked that. It lessened her sense of obligation. “Thank you for the uniform, then,” she conceded. “It’s much nicer than the red apron I wore over my jeans at the auto parts store. Not as many pockets, but a lot more silk,” she said, trying to lighten the mood. “And you were very good at operating within a limited time frame.”
Carson chuckled. “Well, those evil glances you were giving your watch helped.”
She lifted one shoulder in acquiescence and smiled. “What will help with the planning commission?”
“Not sure. I’ve never done this before.”
Beth yelped. “You haven’t? Why not? My landlady said that your family—”
Carson looked grim. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
He shook his head. “Don’t apologize for asking questions. The Banicks are well-known around here, and people talk. Gossip is not a sin. Yes, my family has been in the luxury hotel business for years. My father, my mother and my brother, that is. I was never interested, but I’m needed now. My job—our job,” he amended, “is to hold the fort, to do our best to bring this hotel on line and to maintain the reputation and the solvency of Banick Enterprises.”
“Is that all?” Beth tried to joke, but there really wasn’t anything amusing about the situation. She clenched her fists, hiding them behind her back.
There was so much riding on her performance, and for a few seconds she considered the fact that she might not have the skills to do this job, after all. In truth, Beth felt as if she were going to hyperventilate. A paper bag would have been nice, but she didn’t have that luxury. “All right, I understand. So, what do you think you want me to do?”
He turned those exquisite silver eyes on her. “Take copious notes. Not just about what’s being said, but about your impressions of the people on the commission, how they react. What they like, what they don’t like, how they conduct themselves. This meeting today is just a formality to ensure that we can begin working again, but in the weeks that follow we may have to go back to them if we make any changes to the structure.”
“Will we do that?”
Those silver eyes connected with her in a way that was deeply disturbing, primal, male. “Undoubtedly. There’s always competition to be the best. My brother has been out of commission for a while, but the hotel world has kept moving. We’ll need to make improvements, to hunt for the next trend, to discover what it is that will bring guests to our hotel rather than to another one.” His voice was deep, dark, ragged, earnest.
“I thought you didn’t have experience with this,” she said softly.
“I don’t have much, but I’ve sat in on plenty of discussions between my brother and my father. I’ve run my own firms and been a lifelong consumer of luxury products. As fickle as any customer, I’ve moved from one thing to the next.”
For a moment, Beth had the discomfiting feeling that when Carson said “thing” he meant women, his voice was so low and seductive. It was terribly easy to believe that women would parade their wares before him, each trying to outdo the other.
She swallowed hard. “I’ll take detailed notes,” she promised.
It seemed a simple task when she thought of it that way. Taking notes? What could be so difficult? She would be a great assistant and make Carson glad that he had chosen her. Maybe she could even turn this into a career that would grant her the independence and the future that she needed.
A sense of confidence and well-being filled her soul…until she walked into the office where the meeting was being held.
A row of eyes met her entrance. A wall of men were seated at the table. In other years, Beth was sure, there had been women present, either as members of the commission or as architects or attorneys, but not today. Today she was the lone female, and, she was well aware, the only inexperienced person in sight, no matter what Carson had said.
The minute he entered the room, he seemed to fill it. He was taller, more powerful-looking, more confident than any man present—even though every person in the room looked important. This was no small potatoes meeting.
Everything that happened here mattered. That meant that everything she did mattered.
She could help Carson, or she could prove her brothers right and be a helpless female who needed assistance.
Beth swallowed hard and sat down, pen poised. She cast one look at Carson and found him studying her. He smiled slightly, and she knew instantly that he had loved and left many beautiful ladies.
He might need her help today, but she must never make the mistake of thinking he needed anything else from her. She’d erred that way before. No more.
Dredging up a look of confidence from some hidden place inside, Beth managed to give Carson a flippant smile. She began to scribble, and she knew that this man could help her free herself from the prison she had inhabited.
Or
