she didn’t seem to need an apology. She seemed strong and in control. No moodiness. No nerves.
He could have been insulted by the second, annoyed that she was denying the attraction he knew hummed between them, but he wasn’t that much of an idiot. He might be feeling the stirrings of being interested in a relationship, but it was clear she wasn’t. His divorce was two years in the past. Hers was one. He was incredibly physically attracted to her. She might not be incredibly attracted to him. He liked her. She… Well, he might not be as charming as he’d always thought.
Plus, they were together because of a business deal. Once the deal was done, she might feel differently. She could be standoffish right now because she wanted to get a fair price for her store. And if she did like him, if she was only pulling back because of their business deal, wouldn’t he be an idiot to push her?
Of course, he would.
When she reached the door marked Advertising, he hustled in front of her and grabbed the knob. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to start being a gentleman, and show her his charming, likable side, while they were doing business so that once their business was concluded he might be able to ask her out.
Even the thought sent a ripple of excitement through him. He couldn’t believe he’d spent two long years on his own. But he had. And that was probably for the best. But now, he was ready.
She smiled at him as he walked through the door and his heart swelled with ridiculous hope. She obviously wasn’t holding a grudge against him for kissing her. He had three or four days left for him to mend his reputation, show her he was a nice guy, and then, when the deal was done, he could pounce.
Good God, he liked having a plan!
John Wilder, obviously having been alerted by Wendy, stood in the center of the big room. “What would you like to see first?”
“Actually, I’d like to talk first.” He glanced around the room. “With everyone.”
John’s brows rose. “Individually?”
He laughed. “We have all day. And I’d like to get a good feel for what this division does to justify its existence.”
John straightened with affront. “You can’t have a department store without ads in the local paper.”
Rory laughed. “Relax.” He glanced at a red-haired woman who was the only one in the department still working. “I’d like to start with her.”
She glanced up, pointed at her chest. “Me?”
“Yes. You are…”
“I’m Rose.”
“And you do what?”
“Layout mostly.”
“Great. Where can we talk?”
John gestured toward a small conference room and Rory motioned for Rose to join him there.
Unusually comfortable with Shannon, Rory didn’t think twice about the fact that she was always with him when he made his visits, until she stepped into the conference room with him and Rose. It was only day two of his tour, but he suddenly realized that he’d never once been alone with anyone from her staff. Worse, he hadn’t once questioned the fact that Shannon stuck to him like glue. Normally, he’d ask for time on his own. Time to see the store. Time to get the real scoop from employees. Yet, with Shannon, he’d never even thought of it.
By eleven o’clock they’d interviewed everyone and were back in John’s office. At the end of that time he’d also concluded that he’d never questioned Shannon’s continuing presence because he liked her and he liked spending time with her. But even friends checked up on each other’s facts and figures in a business deal. He’d been so preoccupied with the personal side of their relationship that he’d fallen down on the job. He might not insist she back off from his department visits just yet, but before this week was out, he’d get some private time with everyone. He’d also spend the evening on the internet, checking things out even more. Then, in the morning, before he came to the store, he’d talk with some of her vendors.
“So are you ready to break for lunch?”
Jarred out of his reverie, Rory said, “Yeah. Sure.”
John rose from his seat. Papers of various and sundry kinds and sizes littered his desk. “Why don’t I come with you? We can continue our discussions over a hot roast beef sandwich?”
Rory was about to decline with an apology, but Shannon beat him to it. “That would be great, but Rory has his daughter with him. She’s been stuck in my office all morning. I don’t think we should bore her with business.”
John easily backed off. “I’ll see you after lunch then.”
Shannon said, “Great.”
But Rory kept himself a step or two behind her as they walked out of the advertising offices, concerned that she’d answered for him. Normally, he wouldn’t care, except the night before she’d been so quiet. And today she was all but bursting with confidence.
Of course, she was trying to sell him her company. And from what he’d seen of her dealings with staff, she was a take-charge person.
His libido instantly wondered how that would play out in bed and in his head he cursed himself. It was that kind of thinking that had gotten them to this place. He’d already promised himself that he wouldn’t make another move, wouldn’t say another inappropriate word until they had this deal done. And he wouldn’t.
When they entered Shannon’s office, Finley was deep in play. Striding over to the desk, he said, “Hey, aren’t you ready for French fries?”
She didn’t take her eyes off her computer screen. “Just one more minute.”
He glanced over at Shannon and the look of love on her face for his little girl nearly did him in. How could he not fall for the woman who loved his daughter? Especially when her own mom hadn’t?
He sucked in a breath, told himself to think about this later and said, “Come on, Finley. I have lots of work to do this afternoon. We need to go now.”
She sighed heavily, but got off the chair and scampered over to Shannon, who took her hand and led her out of the office.
A strange sensation invaded his chest. Four days ago, he thought he’d never see his normal daughter again. But a little bit of time with Shannon had changed everything.
And he wondered if that wasn’t a big part of why he liked her so much, why he was so ready suddenly to jump into another relationship.
Was he really seeing Shannon romantically or was he only falling for her because he wanted help with his daughter?
They walked through the cafeteria line, choosing their lunches, and when Finley picked whipped-cream-covered cherry gelatin and pie as her main course, Rory simply took those dishes off her plate and told her to choose again.
But Shannon smiled and said, “I’ll bet your dad would let you keep the gelatin as your dessert if you picked a better main course.”
Frowning,
