Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(30)

“You’ll need a few things if you want to get into the pricey boutiques. They’re not going to be interested in what you have now.”

Something she already knew and was working toward, but how had he figured it out? “Did you do research on my company?”

“A little.” He grinned. “I do a mean internet search.”

So he was checking up on her. Why? To figure out how much she was worth? What if he hadn’t inherited money? What if he’d stolen it from unsuspecting women he slept with?

He studied her. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop.”

“How do you know I’m thinking anything?”

“You went from defensive to panicked. There’s no need. I’m not here to hurt you, Sophie.”

“You don’t know me well enough to hurt me. Besides, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“I have no doubt about that.” He looked around. “You need a marketing director. I might know someone.”

She wanted to roll her eyes. “Really? Is he a client?”

“A friend. Elliot Young. He was a senior vice president for Procter & Gamble, so I’m guessing he knows his stuff.”

P&G? A senior VP? Suddenly, her day was looking up. “Is he in the area?”

Dugan nodded. “He moved here about a year ago when his mom got sick. She passed away and he decided not to go back to what he’d been doing before. He’s been looking in Seattle, but hasn’t found the right job. I think he would be interested.” He lowered his voice. “Shall I give him your number?”

“And my card. I’d love to talk to him.” She thought of how she and Dugan had met. “He’s not going to do Tai Chi in his office, is he?”

“Probably not, but you’ll want to ask to be sure.” His lips twitched as she spoke, as if she’d amused him.

“It’s a genuine question.”

“If you say so.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t lecture me on anything Zen, I beg you. It’s not my thing.”

“What is your thing?”

“This. CK Industries. Work.”

“What about play?”

She looked at him. “Asking or inviting?”

“Which would you prefer?”

“I’m at work now.”

“Then asking.”

She considered her answer. “I suppose the whole work/life balance thing is important, but so is my company. I’m not afraid to say I’m ambitious. CK Industries doubled in sales every year for the first five years and since then our slowest year has been ten percent growth. There are so many markets to expand to and I’m more excited about what can happen here than about anything else.”

His dark blue gaze seemed to be trying to stare inside her. “What about when you go home? Don’t you want something more?”

“You mean like a man? I don’t know. I was married. It didn’t go well and once we were divorced, I never missed him. I don’t want to go through that again.”

“You don’t have to be married to be a part of something.”

“You’d be amazed at how many men don’t believe that.”

“What about kids?” he asked.

“I like children very much. From a distance. I’ve never wanted them for myself.” She waved her hand. “This is my child. This is my legacy, and please, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know what I’m missing.”

“Sophie, you’ve grown a successful multimillion-dollar corporation from nothing, pretty much by yourself. You’re old enough to know what matters. If you don’t want kids, that’s your decision.”

“I’m wary of your acceptance. Most guys want to convince me I won’t be fulfilled if I don’t have children.”

“I’m not out to do that. I just wonder if you’re happy. Jumbo sticky notes aside.”

“Who’s happy? What’s happy? This is you getting Zen, isn’t it? We talked about that.”

“We did. My bad. Okay, how about this? Meet me at my place at seven. We’ll have dinner, then I’ll rock your world in all the ways that matter.”

She liked the sound of that. “We’re talking sex, right? Because I’m not super-interested in looking at your shot glass collection.”

“I don’t have a shot glass collection and yes, sex.”

“It’s a fairly blunt invitation.”

“I thought you’d appreciate me getting right to it. Saving time and all.”

“I do. Will you tell me your last name?”

He smiled. “After the sex. It will be something you can look forward to.”

“I’d rather look forward to the orgasm. No offense.”

“None taken.”

  By her fifth day in the warehouse at CK Industries, Heather had been moved into inventory control where she’d learned how to confirm that what was delivered was, in fact, what had been ordered. She enjoyed the chance to learn something new and found all the CK products interesting. Now, as she reviewed the work she’d done combining the CK logo with stock art cat photos, she wondered if there was a way to expand what Sophie sold.

She chose an image and imported it into her quilt pattern program. Once that was done, she blew up the picture.