for a day or so.”
“You want me to pretend we’re still completely together? That I’m still your husband in every way.” He’d done everything he could for the past three years to try to forget what that was like. “What kind of game are you playing?”
“It’s not a game, it’s a business proposition,” she said in a firm, official voice.
A what? He had to try to calm down. No one else could ever get him so riled up. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated his gaze on her face.
He wouldn’t have believed she could have become more attractive. The girlish, soft qualities had been replaced with the maturity of a beautiful woman. Breeding and class were etched in every inch of her. It had thrown him off so many years ago, the passion that lay beneath her proper demeanor. Just thinking about it now was throwing him off again. Three years hadn’t made enough of a difference, apparently.
“Maybe we better start from the beginning.”
“It shouldn’t take more than a day or so of your time,” she began, becoming animated.
He lifted his hand to stop her. “Before we get too far with this scheme, suppose you fill me in on the details. What happened? Last I heard, you’d grown the business tremendously since you started it.” She’d done an impressive job, too. Angeline had moved quickly on the sudden popularity of tea and had become a leading distributor in no time. She was one of the youngest successful CEOs in the United States. Like him.
“It all stemmed from such a terrific idea.”
Her tongue darted to lick her lips, and he lost his concentration for a moment. Her dark features were drawn tight. Slight dark circles shadowed her eyes. Even so, her regal grace never left her. It was that quality that had knocked him senseless when they’d met freshman year at university. He’d fallen hard for the contradictory mix of private school breeding and wanton boldness. Not to mention the drop-dead body that had turned his gut to fire every time he’d laid eyes on her.
“What idea?” he asked, turning back to the conversation.
“I thought there would be some opportunity for growth given the big wave in the herbal tea market. Lots of people swear by the healing benefits of some of the herbs and plants found in tisanes. I thought we’d stress that to set us apart from the competition.”
“What has that got to do with being married?”
“Well, I started doing some research. It led me to a variety of plants. It’s mainly grown along the Black Sea, on a small island nation called Mondolavia.”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“I traveled there with Shanna to check it out, and true enough, the stuff is invigorating. They’ve been drinking it in that part of the world for years. Anyone who’s tried it insists it’s like a magical potion. And it tastes great. Like nothing we can compare to in this hemisphere. If TeaLC was the first chain to bring it here, it would put us in a whole other category. This could be the start of a whole new product assimilation. And we’d be the one to start it all.”
“So far, so good.”
She nodded with excitement, clearly taken with the idea. “We were all ready to arrange for the supplier to start shipping. Even drew up a contract for exclusive distribution rights for the next several years.”
“That’s fantastic. I still don’t see why you’d have to be married.”
She shut her eyes tightly and let out a deep breath. “That area is a completely different part of the world. The plants are all grown and processed by a very traditional Mondol family. Mila and Tavov Bay have been married for decades. They’re very particular about how their product is being sold and positioned. And they don’t believe it’s good to do business with a single woman. They’d much rather deal with a so-called stable, family operation.”
Now he understood. “And you figured you had a way to accommodate them.” He didn’t care that his voice was thick with sarcasm. All this time had gone by without a word from her. But suddenly she was reaching out. And for what? A business deal.
She cleared her throat. “We didn’t start that way. Shanna and I initially tried to protest. But it didn’t look like they were willing to hear any arguments. Then things just seemed to spiral.” She leaned back on the edge of the desk. “Next thing we knew, I was talking about my ‘silent partner’ husband.”
“I see.”
“Except for the silent partner part, it’s not technically a lie.”
“Is that how you see it?”
“We didn’t mean to be deceptive or anything. You have to believe that. I just mentioned that I had gotten married young and was about to explain that it hadn’t made me a better businesswoman. But they just latched on to the married part and asked why I hadn’t said so before. I just found myself not denying it.”
He was having trouble coming up with an adequate response. This was the last thing he’d been expecting when he finally heard from her again.
“It started as a language issue,” she continued, near to pleading. “Though they’re fluent, their English is a bit broken. Then we just had to go with it.” She stepped toward him and touched his arm, her eyes imploring him to understand. “It’s just that we’d gotten so far. And then it just seemed to steamroll. I found myself telling them all about your accomplishments, that you’ve built your own computer security services company.”
Her gaze dropped to where she’d touched him, and R.J. expected to see sparks from the contact. She removed her hand and stepped back.
“And it almost worked,” she added. “They said they would be glad to do business with us. But not before they came to the States to check out the operation. And to meet the husband they’d heard so much about.”
He’d heard enough. For such a smart, savvy businesswoman, Angeline had somehow put herself in an utterly ridiculous position. And had managed to take him along with her. “What in heaven’s name were you thinking?” Perhaps he was being a bit too forceful, but what she’d just told him was so profoundly absurd. “I’ve heard of adapting to the global marketplace, but what you did is borderline slapstick.”
“Listen, I’m not proud of it, but I did what I thought I had to do.” A hard glint appeared in her eyes.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “That sounds like condemnation.”
“More like characterization.”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. I do know that I’ve done a darn good job with this company. Don’t you think I should fight for it if that’s what I have to do?”
He rubbed a palm over his face. She was a fighter. They both were. That part he understood. He’d fought hard for everything he’d wanted. Except once. But then he’d had no choice.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. This was getting them nowhere. “Angel, you don’t need to convince me on that score. Ever since I started hearing about your success I’ve known this was the perfect
