closed behind her, she faced her anxious-looking partners.
“What are you doing in there?” Tess said in a harsh whisper.
“Talking to a potential client.”
“Insulting a potential client, is more like it,” said Tess dryly, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Tess, you don’t know the situation—”
Ever the mediator, Mary took over, her tone calm and parental. “Whatever the situation is, Liv, we could hear you all the way from our offices, and it sounded like an attack. Can you tell us what’s going on?”
Olivia blew out a breath. “He’s not a normal client. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s going to be a client at all.”
“Not after what I just heard,” Tess grumbled.
“At ease, Tess.” Knowing her partners deserved an explanation, Olivia offered them the simplest one. “He and my father are in the same business, and a few of Mac Valentine’s clients have decided to leave him and hire my dad instead. Mac thinks my father went the unethical route and told the financial community that he was doling out preferential treatment and tips to his better-looking clients.”
“Wow,” Tess began. “And did your father do that?”
“I can’t imagine. My father’s always been at the top of his profession. But the point is, Mac Valentine believes it. He thinks my father is responsible for the loss of three of his best clients, and now he’s hiring me to get even.”
Tess frowned. “What?”
“How?” Mary said, perplexed.
“I don’t know yet, but I intend to find out.”
“I don’t like the sound of this,” Tess said, shooting Mary a warning glance.
“Does he have a legitimate request for us?” Mary asked.
“He’s out to bag a few new clients to replace the ones he’s lost, and he wants me to make his house homey and inviting on several levels to impress them.”
Mary put a hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “If you don’t feel you can handle him, Liv, Tess or I will—”
“No. First of all, he only wants me, and secondly, I’m not about to run from this man. I’m a professional, and I’ll get the job done without getting involved.”
Mary put a hand to her belly. “Sounds familiar.”
“If I don’t take the job, I’m willing to bet this guy would find a way of letting it be known around town that one of NRR’s partners isn’t a true professional. We don’t need that.”
Both Mary and Tess begrudgingly agreed.
“Just be careful, okay?” said Mary, squeezing Olivia’s arm.
“Always.” She gave them a bright smile and a wave and returned to the kitchen.
Mac was just finishing a call when Olivia eased back into her seat at the table, an NRR contract for him to sign in her hand. She took a deep breath. “Sorry about that.”
“For leaving the room or for the insults?”
“Look, I’m going to take this ‘job’ because I am a professional and have partners who are counting on me. I’m also more than a little curious as to what you’re going to try and pull. But know this, Mr. Valentine, lay one hand on me and we’re done, understand?”
Mac looked amused. “For someone who believes herself so unaffected by a guy like me, you’re acting worried.”
“Boundaries and rules—good things to have.”
After a beat, Mac agreed. “I understand. Now, can we get down to business?”
Olivia slid the one-page contract and a pen across the table. “When would you like me to start?”
“I’m having the DeBolds to my home this weekend.”
“The diamond family?” She was surprised. The DeBolds would be a huge score and, according to her father, incredibly hard to land as clients. Mac Valentine had guts and drive, she’d give him that.
“They don’t have children yet, but they are very into family, and the lifestyle that accompanies it. I need to make them feel at home with me.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
“I want home-cooked meals, family activities,” he continued. “I want them to see me as secure, a man who understands their needs and desires for the future.”
“Okay.”
“And I’d like you to stay at the house with us.”
She paused and stared at him, hoping her gaze was a cold as her tone. “No.”
“In a room upstairs, down the hall from the DeBolds.”
“And where will you be?”
“I sleep on the first floor.”
Out of patience, she stood from the table and shot him a hot look. “It’s not going to happen.”
He ignored her as if she’d never said a word, “I want you to be there with us from breakfast to evening.”
“Yes, I know. And I will.”
In his ever-present calm way, he studied her. “All right, we’ll discuss that particular detail at a later date. Now, on to something more important—this contract I’m about to sign, it guarantees confidentiality, is that right? You will not reveal anything about my business, and whom I do business with?”
“Of course.” She had loyalties to her father, but her loyalties to the business and her partners came first. “Do you have menus in mind or would you like me to plan something?”
“I’d like you to plan everything.”
After signing the contract and issuing a rather substantial check to NRR, Mac stood, towering over her like a statue. The soft scent of fading aftershave drifted into her nostrils and it annoyed her that just a small detail like his scent made her feel off balance. She found herself staring at his lips as he said, “I would like you to come by my house tomorrow, see what you have to work with and what you feel needs to be changed.”
She stepped away from him, trying to regain her cool composure. “How’s 10:00 a.m.?”
“You have my address?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him and grinned slightly. “And your number, as well.”
“Clever.” He held out his hand, and for just a moment Olivia felt this odd sensation to turn and run from him. But she knew how ridiculous and childish that thought was, and she confidently placed her hand in his.
There
