A Perfect Strategy

by Anna Sugden

  Her arm brushed against his stomach. Apart from her touch searing him through the cotton of his shirt as if he were naked, he had a sudden urge to pull his already-flat stomach in. Damn it. She was keeping him off balance.

  What was the question again? Meeting...later. “Uh, yeah. Good idea.”

  “Great. How about at the end of the day, once I’ve been debriefed by Marty on his meeting with the mayor?”

  “I’m pretty sure that works, so come to my office when you’re done.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  He blamed his sharp intake of breath on the blast of heat and humidity that slapped them in the face as they pushed through the doors for the short walk to the arena. That husky note in her voice didn’t mean anything.

  How the hell was he supposed to get through the next few meetings, without making an ass of himself, with her words echoing in his head?

  * * *

  MORGAN RASK WAS as sharp and aggressive as she was beautiful. She also clearly had a major problem with consultants, which had made the meeting with the director of sales rather like being the sidekick on the bull’s-eye in a knife-throwing act from a Wild West show.

  Which was frustrating, given Sapphie had earmarked Morgan as a future prospect within minutes. The woman needed to chill.

  Although, if the skinny, green-eyed redhead stroked Scotty’s arm one more time, Sapphie might be tempted to toss a glass of water in her face to really cool her down.

  Sapphie wiped that thought from her head. It was none of her business who pawed Scotty. She ignored the cackling internal voice. She’d made her bed and she was fully prepared to lie in it.

  “How are season-ticket and package sales compared with this time last year?” she asked.

  Morgan’s lips twisted. “They’ve been flat, although it’s early days yet.”

  “Shouldn’t you be benefiting from the Cup win?”

  “We have, to a point. Renewals are strong and we’ll get some interest from new purchasers early in the season. But that will be at the low end. It will be tough to sell the more expensive seats. We’re in a market where the call on consumer pockets is dominated by the other major sports and the New York teams are all on a roll. We can only do so much without an innovative marketing package.”

  Sapphie arched an inquiring eyebrow. “You don’t feel you have that?”

  “Lyle has done his best in difficult circumstances, but we need a major overhaul if we’re to make decent growth figures this season. The team’s great performance helped produce strong sales in the second half of last season, as fans anticipated a play-off run. Matching those numbers will be challenging. People are doubtful of a repeat performance, especially since Scotty isn’t there anymore.”

  Sapphie clenched her fist under the table, although Scotty seemed oblivious to the other woman’s flirting.

  “I wasn’t playing last year when they won the Cup,” he said. “The team is pretty much unchanged and the major contracts have been signed, so as long as injuries don’t hammer us, chances are good that we’ll make a deep run in the play-offs.”

  Morgan’s smile was brittle. “That’s obvious to the keen sports fan, but not to the more casual one. That’s where the marketing package is crucial.”

  “Okay. So, what else would you like to see in terms of support for your team?” Sapphie smoothly shifted the onus back onto Sales.

  Interestingly, Morgan became all business, dropping her antagonism as she outlined her vision and strategy.

  Sapphie was pleased to note that Morgan’s ideas were sound and her proposals well researched. They were exactly what had been missing from the marketing presentation Lyle had made. She asked Morgan to formalize her ideas in a document.

  “Send it to me and I’ll make sure it’s seen at the highest level.”

  Scotty nodded. “Some great stuff in there, Morgan.”

  “Thanks. Our discussions over the weekend got me thinking.”

  Sapphie blinked. They’d spent the weekend together?

  That was none of her business. Still, she watched Morgan and Scotty’s behavior toward each other for the rest of the meeting. By the end of it, she was pretty sure that whatever they’d done together hadn’t been personal.

  Hiding her relief, she stood and shook Morgan’s hand. “That’s been really useful. I appreciate your time.”

  “No problem. Lovely shoes, by the way. Are they custom?”

  Sapphie was startled by the girl talk. “No, but they’re old. Like maybe five or six years.”

  “Darn it. Why is it every time I see something I like, it’s not this season?”

  “I know. It’s so frustrating. I saw a Kate Spade purse that was to die for and the lady told me it was almost ten years old.”

  They chatted for a few more minutes. Then Scotty shook Morgan’s hand and they left. Sapphie noted that he didn’t react when Morgan held his hand a little longer than necessary.

  That internal voice cackled again. Who was Sapphie kidding?

  After what had happened on Thursday, it had seemed sensible not to have too much to do with Scotty. She’d been careful to keep her distance whenever their paths had crossed. Even so, she’d noticed every time Scotty had been in the room. Over the weekend, she’d decided she needed a different approach and changed tactics based on the idea that familiarity would breed contempt. The more time she spent with him, the more they’d clash and the less appealing he’d be. The strong, quiet, brooding thing might be fun for a fling but on a daily basis would wear thin.

  So, Sapphie had gotten a copy of his schedule and deliberately inserted herself into his meetings. She’d figured by the end of the day, they’d be fed up with each other.

  How’s that working out for you?

  Not so good, she admitted. Not helped by the fact that every time those serious eyes looked at her, her pulse fluttered. No man had ever affected her this way.

  Beside her, Scotty let out a heavy breath. “Man, Morgan is a shark. I’m glad I won’t have to swim in her waters too often.”

  Ridiculously pleased, she teased, “Aw, did the big, bad sales lady scare you?”

  “Hell yes. I’d rather face a team of enforcers with a grudge than have to work for her.”

  “She’s very good at what she does. Sales have been stronger under her than for any of her predecessors.”

  “Don’t get me wrong—I have nothing but admiration for her ability. She leads by example and has earned her people’s respect. Still, she always makes me feel that I’m about to be trapped in her web and devoured for lunch.”

  Sapphie laughed. “You’re mixing your metaphors, but I know what you mean.”

  “What do you think of what you’ve seen so far?”

  “It’s been fascinating to see what’s behind all the facts and figures,” she said carefully. “Every business is different, and while you can have an idea about what it’s like on the inside, you can’t know for sure until you meet the people who make it tick.”

  “That’s a nice nothing answer. Kind of like the stuff they trained us to say when we were interviewed by the media.” He smiled wryly. “I’m not asking you to give away any secrets. I’m genuinely interested in your impressions. This organization is important to me and I want everyone to love it as much as I do.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not trying to find a polite way to say I think your baby’s ugly.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  She cursed herself for noticing how sexy he looked and the way his eyes crinkled as he laughed. “Honestly, at this point, it really is all about getting a feel for the people and processes.”

  “Okay.”

  He held the door open for her, then followed her into the main headquarters. Sapphie appreciated the cooler air as they got into a waiting elevat
or.

  Once the doors closed, he asked, “So are you getting a good vibe?”

  “I don’t like to make snap judgments. I prefer to let my impressions percolate for a bit. Something I learned early in my career, when I made a couple of naive mistakes.”

  “You made mistakes? I find that hard to believe.”

  Delighted by the comment, she smiled. “I like to think they helped me to learn that in business what you see isn’t always what you get.”

  “Yeah. Took me a while to learn that, too.”

  The edge to his voice intrigued her. But before she could ask him about it, the doors opened and a group of people piled in. As they were crowded closer together in the rear of the car, memories of Issy’s reception came flooding in.

  Heat filled Sapphie’s cheeks. She sneaked a peek at Scotty through her lashes and wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or disappointed by the rigid way he held himself so they didn’t touch. It was only when she saw a muscle tic in his jaw that she knew he wasn’t unaffected by her.

  Community Outreach was light relief compared with the previous meeting. Vern was on the ball and had the local area, if not the whole tristate region, on board. His program had the usual player visits to sick children and equipment donations to youth teams, but Vern had also built interesting partnerships with schools, libraries, animal shelters and other local charities. Sapphie picked up some ideas that could be translated to others of Marty’s businesses and made a point of telling Vern so.

  Unfortunately, there was nothing light about the meeting with Corporate Sponsorship. The snappily dressed director, Darren, was overly full of himself and his capabilities. Though he ran the poorest-performing department, he behaved as if it were the best. He smoothly brushed off every question about lack of growth and managed to blame everyone but himself for the gaps in their program.

  Darren’s patronizing attitude toward Sapphie grated on her nerves. Unlike in the Sales meeting, she didn’t hold back on her views. Her comments were pointed and direct, but he dismissed them. The few times he did respond, he directed his answers to Scotty, as if he were the only one who mattered.

  She’d dealt with sexism before, especially working in male-dominated environments like professional sports teams. But it had never aggravated her as much as Darren’s behavior did.

  It didn’t help that Scotty said little. When he did speak, it was to support elements of Darren’s program that she’d challenged or to expand on issues she’d raised that the director was unwilling to explain. While Scotty didn’t defend his colleague, he didn’t take him to task either.

  “If we’re done here...” Darren got to his feet. “I’m afraid I’ll have to skip lunch—a potential sponsor has invited me to be part of his four at Knickerbocker.” Darren tapped the side of his nose. “The things we have to do to bring in the big bucks.”

  Given how few new sponsors he’d brought in over the past year, she suspected that playing at the prestigious golf club was more important than getting the man’s money. Still, she was relieved to have the excuse to leave.

  “Not a problem,” she said coolly, gathering her things and rising.

  “Hey, man.” Darren slapped Scotty on the back. “We should talk about what we can do together. Some of my contacts would give their left nut to spend time with you. Might net us a few more deals.”

  “It’ll have to be after the start of the season. I’m going to be tied up for a few months. New job, new owner. You know how that goes.”

  Sapphie ground her teeth. Surely, Scotty wasn’t buying Darren’s spiel? He must have seen through the slick presentation and glib answers. She understood Scotty’s need to support the organization, but was he really prepared to accept incompetence for the sake of loyalty?

  Since the men were talking schedules as if she weren’t there, she made her escape and headed to the boardroom via the stairs. Might as well burn off her frustration with a few flights of cardio.

  She’d made it up two floors when she heard someone coming up behind her.

  “Sapphie, wait up.”

  Though her heart gave an extra thump at Scotty’s voice, she kept going.

  It didn’t take him long to catch up. “Since our lunch plans have changed, do you want to get together to compare notes on the meetings? We can grab something in the cafeteria.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll have a sandwich at my desk and use the time to catch up with my people.”

  Scotty came around in front of her, forcing her to stop. “Is there a problem?”

  Biting back a retort, she said carefully, “I’m busy and have a lot to do.”

  He frowned. “Not so busy that you couldn’t change your schedule to sit in on my meetings this morning.”

  “I appreciate you letting me tag along, but I should take advantage of the free hour and check off some things on my to-do list. I do have other clients to take care of.”

  “Yeah, I know how important your business is to you.”

  She ignored the sarcastic undertone. “As yours is to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me...”

  When she tried to move past him, he sidestepped to block her path. “Have I done something to tick you off?”

  She should deny it and carry on her way, but she suspected Scotty wouldn’t let it go. Besides, beating around the bush wasn’t her style. “I’m disappointed that you supported Darren, when it’s clear both he and his strategy are not delivering.”

  He crossed his arms. “Since I was there to fact-find, I didn’t see the point in slamming him before I got the full picture. Especially when you were hell-bent on tearing strips off him.”

  “You mean you didn’t want to upset the ‘boys together’ feeling.” Her lip curled.

  Understanding dawned in his expression. “I’d have thought you’d have plenty of experience of dealing with jerks like him.”

  “Of course I have. I just didn’t expect you to effectively condone his behavior by saying nothing.”

  His gaze narrowed. “I may have ignored what he did, but I sure as hell didn’t approve. I knew you were capable of handling him and I didn’t see the point in winding him up further by joining in. Guys like him get their backs up when challenged by another man.”

  “For a guy who is determined to take sides, you picked a strange time to be neutral.”

  “I know how to pick my battles. What mattered more to me was that you didn’t overlook the good points in the corporate sponsorship program because Darren was being a jackass.”

  He had a point, she allowed. Sapphie’s irritation cooled. “If I let people like him distract me, I’d be a useless consultant.”

  “True.”

  “Nonetheless,” she warned. “There will have to be some big changes in that area. Things can’t continue as they are.”

  He held up his hands. “You’ll get no argument from me. The only reason he’s lasted as long as he has is because he’s our previous owners’ nephew—their sister’s son.”

  “That explains a lot.” She jammed her hands on her hips. “Nepotism at its best.”

  “I doubt the brothers would have worried about Darren being fired, but they were probably scared of their mother’s reaction. Mama Scartelli is a small but fearsome lady.”

  She arched an eyebrow at him. “A Jersey Italian mama?”

  “Oh yeah. Tru Jelinek, Ike’s brother, had dealings with her a few years ago and told us about her.”

  “Well, family ties won’t protect Darren anymore.”

  “I’m with you.” Scotty grinned. “Now that we’ve got that settled, and since you’re busy for lunch, are we still getting together later?”

  Startled by the change of tack, she couldn’t think of a reason to say no without looking snippy. “Uh...sure.”

  “Good. How about we do it over a drink? There’s a
nice English-pub-style bar not far from here.”

  “Okay. Why not?”

  “Sounds like a plan. Call me when you’re done with Marty and we can head out together.” He touched two fingers to his temple in a salute. “Later.”

  Sapphie watched him disappear up the stairs before continuing to the boardroom.

  So much for keeping things on a professional footing. As she sat at the table and opened her laptop, she told herself to calm down. It was only drinks.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “I’M SORRY. MY MEETING is running over and it’ll be closer to seven thirty before we’re done. There’s no point in you hanging around waiting for me.”

  Scott had been half expecting this call from Sapphie all afternoon. She probably regretted accepting his impromptu invitation. When his office phone hadn’t rung by six o’clock, he’d thought his pessimism had been unjustified. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than his extension lit up.

  “No problem,” he said lightly. “Shi—Stuff happens. Another time.”

  “Oh, I don’t want to cancel.”

  He almost dropped the phone. She didn’t?

  “You should go ahead to the bar,” she said. “I’ll meet you there once the meeting’s finished.”

  “Sure. That’ll work.”

  “Great. Thanks for understanding.”

  “Same thing could have happened to me. We could—” He cut himself off before he suggested they turn drinks into dinner. “Do you know how to get there?”

  “If you give me the bar’s address, I can plug it into the GPS.”

  “It’s called Ye Olde Englishe Pubbe and it’s across the arena plaza. Because the plaza is pedestrian only, you’ll have to take the side streets around the arena.”

  “You’d better give me your cell number, in case I’m delayed further. Here’s mine.” She reeled off her number, which he scrambled to write down.

  “I already gave you mine, but clearly that weekend wasn’t memorable to you.” Then he took a deep breath and added, “No rush. I’ll see you when I see you.”

  After he’d hung up, Scott entered Sapphie’s details into his phone. He then swiveled back and forth in his chair, debating whether to head out now or hang around a little longer. He had plenty to do, but his head wasn’t in it. All he could think about was seeing Sapphie again.