They started singing. Tyler clinging to her hands. In between verses, he tipped the mic away and murmured in her ear, “This is easier when I think that we might lose the bid altogether. That’s way worse than my little fear.”
She nodded. “Perspective. You sound great.” Then she sang her part again.
But when he joined her, she couln’t enjoy it. Her gaze followed Rogerio around the room, watching the expressions on the various board members’ faces change, watched Marco’s turn to suspicion.
And didn’t she and Tyler deserve it? They’d played the whole thing off as if they’d never met. But was that really fair? It’s not as if they were old friends. Hadn’t they only just met twelve hours before seeing each other in the Antar office? Still, there was that wedding and their story of a long-term relationship. That didn’t help their case now.
When they finished singing to only sporadic clapping, they returned to an empty table and a quickly clearing room. She mumbled, “I guess dinner is over?”
“I guess so.”
The limo waited to pick them up, and both of their phones contained a message that Rogerio would be in touch. At the hotel, they made their way upstairs to their rooms in silence.
Stopping in front of her door, Tyler made an attempt to say something, but she cut him off. “It’s okay. Who knows what we should have done. Let’s just sleep it off and hear our fates in the morning.”
And for once, Tyler didn’t try to talk her into anything more.
The click of her door closing behind her echoed loudly. A silent room welcomed her, but refused to be comforting. She didn’t know what else to do to fix their situation.
Chapter 13
Completely deflated, Tyler opened his laptop to check on his company’s initial efforts to reach out to some Argentinian soft drink companies. Both letters were disheartening.
“We have local companies we would prefer.”
“We started up our own bottlers.”
The only remaining hope he had for a bottler partnership said, “If you can get a contract in Brazil, we will use you here in Argentina as well.”
He shook his head. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it was Brazil or nothing for his company’s efforts in South America. He ground his teeth. This was all Kayla’s fault. Or rather, not her fault, his fault, but none of this would have happened if he hadn’t met her. As he thought of her walking along the beach, wind blowing her hair, eyes shining with the sunset all around her, he couldn’t regret their meeting, not really, just the obscenely juvenile way he’d gone about it. What had seemed fun, carefree, and whimsical was now deceptive and irresponsible. And he had known better. It’s not like he was still in college.
There was nothing for it but to go in and talk to Antar. Alone.
His phone rang. Kayla. He groaned. Guilt overrode any pleasure at the thought of hearing her voice.
As soon as he picked up, she said, “Tyler. We messed up. I should have never followed along with your crazy spontaneous plans.”
He bristled. “Whoa, my crazy spontaneous plans? I seem to remember one thing I really loved about you was your own spontaneity.” She couldn’t blame all this on him, even though he himself already had. It was different coming from her.
“Whose idea was it? Look, I’m not really trying to place blame. I called…well, I don’t know why I called. I guess just wanted to feel better.”
“No one feels better when blame becomes part of the conversation. Look. We might have lost the biggest chance for either of our companies. I wasn’t super excited to think we’d be sharing the bid but that was better than not having it at all.”
“You wouldn’t have wanted to share? Who are you, Tyler?”
“Who am I? I’m a businessman. Sharing is half the profit, same amount of work. Surely you can understand that.”
The pause was long enough that he began to second guess his tone. Then she finally said, “Well, goodnight. Let me know if you hear anything.”
“Goodnight.”
He couldn’t talk to her right now. He had other things to do; mainly, orchestrate a plan that would keep Sperring bottlers in the picture even if Finley was out.
Kayla couldn’t sleep. She flipped around so much that she couldn’t straighten her sheet again without turning on the lights. This was not going to work.
She opened her laptop and began to research. She and Tyler had blown it. With a tiny opportunity to share the bids, they’d gone and blown it by being crazily immature the night before. Who’d have ever thought her dating habits would matter to a potential customer?
She flipped through all her previous research. The part she’d skipped in her presentation was how she excelled compared to all her competitors. She had specific statistics about Sperring bottlers that might be useful to share at this time. Perhaps she’d pre-empt a phone call and show up early at the office to apologize and further explain.
With those thoughts and new notes as arsenal, she tried to drift off to sleep. Once sleep at last found her, she was woken up by her alarm after what felt like five minutes.
“Okay, here we go.”
She took a taxi and rushed to the office, where she hurried up the elevator, barely smiling at the receptionist as she walked quickly toward Mr. de Santos’ office. She figured she’d have the most influence with him and that he’d been the most disillusioned by hers and Tyler’s story.
Everything was quiet, too early perhaps for anyone to be outside their offices. But Rogerio’s office was cracked open, and she recognized Tyler’s voice from within. Of course he had beat her here.
“And so after you look at all the options, you can easily see which bottler excels above the rest. I wish it could be differently, believe me. But what one bottler lacks in taste, the other has in spades.”
Anger simmered. Even though she’d been planning to come in with comparatives also, hearing from his own mouth how subpar he thought her company drove rational thought from her mind. Lacks in taste?
She stepped up to the door and tapped.
“Come in.” Mr. de Santos must be in there with them.
They stood when they saw her. Tyler’s eyes opened wide as if caught red-handed, and she supposed he was. She narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing here, Mr. Sperring?”
“Just finishing up some additional reports.”
“I see. I think there is more information to share when considering which bottlers are par or subpar.”
“I think you’ll find I’ve been more than fair.”
She hardly noticed the other two men in the room. “I heard what you just said. You’re here, it’s not personal, I’m supposed to be okay with the fact that you’re trying to push me out. Even though you know how much I need this, even though my brother—” Her voice broke. “Look, I get it.” She turned to walk away.
He called after her. “Kayla. You don’t even know what you’re talking about. You’re just going to walk away angry?”
“Yes, Tyler. I’m done.”
Mr. de Santos called down the hallway to Tyler. “Come, Mr. Sperring. We have more to discuss. I find what you’ve disclosed most interesting.” He paused. “And Miss Finley?”
She turned.
“I’d like to have a conversation with you as well.”
She nodded, mortified that her emotions had gotten the better of her at a business meeting.
Tyler watched her a moment more, a strange sort of agony in his eyes, and then he shrugged and turned. “Of course.”
Kayla walked away as quickly as her legs would carry her. Tyler wasn’t doing any differently than she had been planning. She had thought about undercutting him. But waves of hurt washed through her anyway. She told herself she was not supposed to feel anything about this. But just as she had suspected all along, business was personal. Business with Tyler Sperring was the most personal of all, because the very man she’d just witnessed try to beat her out was the man who held her heart.
Her chest tightene
d where her heart should be, and she ached inside.
When she left the building, she determined to catch the first flight home. She told herself everything would be easier if she never saw or talked to Tyler Sperring again.
Chapter 14
When Kayla walked away, Tyler thought he’d never see her again.
The gentle voice of Mr. de Santos pulled him back into the office. There was work to be done and papers to sign, so he got back to it. Two hours later, he came out feeling better about some aspects of this week.
He’d left messages with Kayla, but she’d ignored all of them. He’d texted, but she’d not responded. Perhaps she had blocked him. He’d find her again. Even if he had to keep his hotel room door open and watch for her to return, he would speak to her. She just needed to understand what had really gone down in that meeting.
Perhaps once they cleared things up with Antar, she’d feel more kindly toward him. He could only hope.
He made his way back to his hotel room, hoping to see Kayla right then. But the maids were cleaning her room.
The sight sent alarm flaring through him. “Have you seen the woman who stays here?”
“She check out.”
Surprise twisted in unhappy knots. She’d left. He heard her message loud and clear. Not interested anymore. Not in him. If she ever had been in the beginning. Who was he kidding? They’d known each other for a week. Perhaps his feeling of connection, his inability to do anything without thinking about her truly was one-sided. But for him, he’d seen something special in the connection they shared, and it grew each time they were together. She was nothing like anyone he knew. He was fascinated with every bit of her, first her fun spontaneity, then her kindness in helping him overcome his fear, her tenderness, the softness of her lips...all of it drew him in like he had never felt before, but when he saw her at their first Antar meeting, his mouth had gone dry. He fell hard. She was a natural: charming, smart and creative. And he had decided right then that he wanted her in his life.
But she still left.
And she wouldn’t answer his calls or texts.
Kayla moved down to a first-floor room, away from Tyler. She needed space to think. Tyler kept trying to reach out, texting and calling, but she couldn’t talk to him, not until she figured out how she felt about him. Every time she saw him, she melted into soft, moldable clay. She couldn’t think or even see straight. He was too charming, too fun, too smart and capable; in truth, he was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, but she just couldn’t trust he was for real. And he’d been in the Antar offices, trying to make a deal. Cutting her out. Even that she could understand––it was just business, after all––but she couldn’t help the anger that rose inside at the thought of it. She’d been right. Of course he would do everything he could to win the bid. Of course, she should have too, and therefore they wouldn’t be able to finish the week still on good terms with each other.
Case in point: not on good terms.
Her treacherous heart ached for him. She missed him already and wanted to talk through her problems even though they dealt specifically with him. What a crazy situation to be in. Here she was hiding in a different hotel room, on her computer, trying to figure out a way for Finley bottlers to retain a portion of the business from Antar and to reach out to other, smaller, soft drink companies.
Unbidden, thoughts of Tyler crept so consistently into her thoughts that she had to pause and attempt to banish him from her conscious mind. No small feat.
She was having such a hard time of it that a call from her brother was a welcome interruption, even though his calls usually bore bad news.
“Kayla, it’s awful. You should come home. Leave Brazil. If we don’t intervene right now, we will lose North America as well.”
Her heart clenched as he explained a fire in their largest plant and the estimated cost to repair damages. When he hung up, she dropped her phone to the ground. Could anything be worse? Would she have to sit back and witness the fall of her company?
After sitting for a moment and staring blankly at the wall, she pulled up their financials, spreadsheet after spreadsheet, all the files and reports in front of her, but she couldn’t think of a way to consolidate enough to save them. What she needed now was a savior. Someone to buy her out. And then what? She didn’t know, but while the company was still worth something, she must get as many assets out of it as she could.
She fell asleep with her laptop on her legs, going over statistics, numbers whirling in her brain and through her dreams.
When she awoke, she gasped with a new idea and called Tyler.
He answered immediately, “Kayla.” His voice sounded tired, relieved.
“Yes. Can we talk? I need some help.”
“Of course.”
It was three in the morning, but she didn’t want to wait another second. “I moved rooms.”
“I noticed.”
“Do you want to come down here?”
“Yes.” His immediate response made her smile.
“Just to talk.”
“Even so.”
“Okay, I’m in room one hundred four.” She hung up and crossed her fingers there was something of value in her company to Tyler.
In a few minutes, a knock on her door made her smile. Too bad they were not in a position to still enjoy their time together, to be spontaneous and watch a movie or something.
When she opened the door, she had to fight hard to remember why she couldn’t step into his arms. Tyler stood before her in sweats and a tight t-shirt, his chin scruffy and his eyes tired. His hair was mussed, his curls sticking out at odd angles.
He had never looked more appealing. She smiled before she could stop herself. “Tyler.”
He eyed her hesitantly and then his mouth lifted in an answering grin. “Kayla.” He cleared his throat. “Does this mean you’re speaking to me?”
She reached for his hand and tugged gently until he stepped into her room. Then she shut the door.
Chapter 15
Tyler wasn’t sure how to breathe for fear of chasing Kayla away. But that was ridiculous. They were standing together in her hotel room. She paused so close to him, the air between them magnetic. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course. I’m happy to discover where you went.” He didn’t say he was hurt. But he didn’t try to hide it either.
“It’s a complicated situation.”
He dipped his head, not sure what to say.
She led him into her room. “Tyler. Let’s sit. I need your help.”
He rested his arm along the back of the couch, remembering their first afternoon when he’d fallen asleep just like that.
But she wasn’t near enough to cuddle closer. She sat as stiff and straight as he’d ever seen her, hands folded in her lap. So he waited.
“We’ve had a fire at our largest facility in Texas. Brazil is not panning out, and even if it was, we don’t have enough liquidated assets to start a new venture right now. I don’t know if we can even come up with the money to rebuild. And I can give you the financials, will give them to you if you want, but if we don’t have that main plant up and running, I’ll have to close down…or sell out.” She raised her eyebrows.
He felt sick at the news. “I’m so sorry.” Then he switched into business mode. There were lots of options here besides closing down. He mentioned several. She nodded and with each suggestion told him why she had considered that and then discarded it. About to give up, he threw his hands up. “How else can I help?”
“Well, I was hoping, perhaps you’d be interested in buying us out?”
He watched her, not expecting this offer. “You’d lose it all? Give up?”
She stood and waved her hands around. “Stop. This is hard enough. I am not giving up. I’ve spent the whole night mulling this over. I don’t have another option.”
“I’ll have my guys look at your financials and see if we can make a suitable offer. But it’s business. I’ll only pay what it’s w
orth.”
Her eyebrows lowered. “Naturally, I’m not looking for that kind of charity, just that you consider it. You’re the first person I’ve asked.”
“Antar hasn’t gotten back with you?”
“No. But that’s yours. Don’t worry about that.” Her tone sounded a bit exasperated.
“I’m just surprised. I would have thought they’d have contacted you.” Especially after his talk with them yesterday. He gestured that she sit. “There is another option.”
Kayla and Tyler stood once again in front of Rogerio and Mr. de Santos at the main headquarters of Antar, hand in hand. Kayla felt lighter than ever. She leaned over to Tyler and whispered. “After this, we’re going to play tourist.”
He smiled, swinging her hand in his. “So, you were just using me for my company?”
She swatted him.
Mr. de Santos raised both eyebrows, looking from one to the other.
Kayla cleared her throat. “So, thank you for meeting with us. Again.”
Tyler cleared his throat. “Yes, we have news that might change previous plans discussed.”
Rogerio motioned that they sit. “Well, let’s hear it.”
Kayla held out a manila envelope. “Here are the new financials.”
Rogerio took them, waiting.
Tyler nodded. “Yes, of our conglomerate bottling company, Finley-Sperring Bottlers.”
Mr. de Santos’s smile started small but grew until it filled his face. “Is that so?”
Kayla nodded. “After an unfortunate fire in our main facility, I approached Tyler with a sellout option. But after we looked at the numbers, we thought—well, he convinced me that it would be better if we merged, maintaining mine and my vice president’s positions on the board. So now, we come to you with the best from both of us.”
She waited, but neither man spoke. Perhaps they wanted only Tyler. “I know you talked with Tyler yesterday and maybe had other plans with just him, but he can be your main point of contact, whatever you need. I hope the addition of the Finley people or our fire won’t turn you away…” They needed Brazil. They had both decided that spreading into South America was still the best option and would help jump start their new joint relationship with all its expenses.
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