“Yes. McDermit said he’s going to have to negotiate with someone else when his contract expires if we don’t improve our quality and timeliness of deliveries.”
Bryce stopped massaging for an instant, then continued. “I wasn’t aware there was a problem.”
“That’s because he spoke to Gran about it. They had to send back three Airflight Management Systems and two Airvoice Recorders last month. He said—Ow!”
“That the spot?” Bryce focused on a knot between her shoulder blades. “Take a deep breath and let it out while I work on this.” Her muscles were balled up like a fist. Finally he felt it release. “Better?”
“Mmm.” The satisfaction in the sound made him smile. “He said the deliveries improved initially, but got worse after Gran got sick. Quality has been declining over the past two years.”
“I wasn’t aware of any of this. Timothy never mentioned the returns.”
“Exactly why I want to start seeing monthly return reports.”
“What did you say to McDermit?”
“A little left.”
“What?”
“Can you move a little to your left?”
“Oh.” Bryce felt the knot right away. “Here?”
“Yeah.” When the lump started to dissipate, she continued. “I told him I would draft a contract to give him an extra ten percent of the products he orders as spares, and he can keep them if any of our units are defective.”
“And if they aren’t?”
“He pays for them.”
“Brilliant.” Her craftiness surprised him.
“Thanks, but it’s only a stopgap. We need to start improving our product quality and deliveries, or we won’t get a new contract.”
“At least we have six months. You bought us some time.”
“I just hope it’s enough.” Jade let her head fall back against his shoulder, leaving her neck exposed.
Her hair smelled of strawberries, the sweet fragrance mixing with the scent of the honey in her chamomile tea. It made him hungry—for her. The pulse in her neck, just below her left ear, was inviting him to taste her right there.
Not good.
She turned her face toward his. Their lips were a mere inch apart. When she exhaled, her breath warmed his skin. What would she taste like? He could find out so easily… He dropped his hands from her shoulders. “Feeling better?”
She lifted her head, her eyes betraying disappointment. But he didn’t dare touch her again. “Yes… thank you. I’m just going to lie down for a little while, and then I’ll be as good as new.” Jade reached for the decorative pillow.
“You know, you’re too young to have migraines. You should see a doctor.”
“I’m too young to be the CEO. Is there a doctor for that too?”
Bryce let out a nervous laugh, and hoped like hell she didn’t know him well enough to catch it. He pulled the door closed.
One thing he knew for sure: he should not be reacting to Jade like this. He needed to get his anger, his libido, or whatever the hell it was, under control.
FOR THE FIRST TIME since she’d been forced into her position, Jade actually felt like the CEO of Synergy Technologies. Pride spread through her as the migraine medicine took effect. She closed her eyes, remembering how she’d learned about quality control when she was six years old.
“I want that cookie, Gran.” Jade pointed to the one in the middle, being careful not to touch the hot pan.
“Why that one?”
“Because I don’t like them too thin and crunchy or too big and gooey. That one looks just right.”
“What if I want that one too?” Gran asked while she reached into the drawer for the spatula.
Jade pouted. “There are five others on the pan. You can have those. Are you sure you don’t want that big fat yummy one?”
“Nope. I want the one in the middle too.” Gran smiled.
“How come they aren’t all the same? If they were all the same we could each have three.” Jade crossed her arms and huffed.
“I guess we didn’t put in any quality-control measures.”
“We used those brown measuring cups. Were we supposed to use different ones?”
Gran laughed. “Quality-control measures are not measuring cups, my dear. They are tests and controls put into place to make sure the final product all comes out the same.”
“Oh.” Jade blushed. She hated being wrong. “So if we do this quality thing, all the cookies will be perfect?”
“Well that depends on whether we have the right controls and tests in place. What would happen if we turned the heat up too high?”
“We would burn the cookies.” Jade wrinkled her nose. Burnt cookies smelled awful.
“What would happen if we left out the chocolate chips?”
“That’s silly. They wouldn’t be chocolate chip cookies.”
“Exactly,” Gran touched her nose with the tip of her finger. Gran always did that when Jade was right.
“So,” Gran said, “we need to make sure the cookies have the right ingredients and that they’re baked at the right temperature. Those are the right controls. What about the size of the cookie? How do we solve that one?”
“Um,” Jade thought about it. “What if we put exactly the same amount on the pan for every single cookie?”
“That would do it. But what is the exact amount?”
“I don’t know.” Jade frowned.
“Why don’t we test it and see?”
“Okay!” She couldn’t wait to make the perfect cookie.
“So let’s measure out how much cookie dough we put on the new pan. Grab a pen and paper, and we’ll write it down.”
Jade ran to the den to get a pen and paper. She eagerly wrote down the measurements Gran told her, and then watched the cookies go into the oven at the right temperature.
Gran put the oven mitts down on the counter. “So how do we know which cookie will be the perfect one?”
“That’s easy. It will be just like that one.” Jade pointed to the cookie in the center of the pan that was cooling down.
“Well, how will I be able to tell if you aren’t here?”
“Um, I guess by how big it is?”
“Very good. So let’s measure it.”
Jade once again ran to the den and grabbed the ruler from the top desk drawer. “Here you go. How big is it?”
“Write down two-and-a-quarter-inch wide. But look, this one is the same width.” Gran pointed to another cookie.
Jade looked at the cookie and grimaced. The brown edges meant it was crunchy. “Ick, it’s too thin.”
“Oh, so we need to measure the height too? Okay, so the perfect one is also a quarter-inch thick.”
When the timer went off, Jade ran to the oven. She stood on her tippy toes trying to look at the cookies when Gran took them out. “Ew, that one is almost burnt!”
“So which one looks like the perfect cookie?” Gran set the pan down on the counter.
“The third one.”
“Let’s measure it and see.” Gran measured it carefully, making sure she didn’t burn herself. “You’re right. It’s the perfect size. So how much cookie dough did we use on the third one?
Jade looked at her notes. “We used two tablespoons.”
“Good. Now let’s get another pan and put exactly two tablespoons to make six cookies.” While the cookies were in the oven, they each had one of the perfect cookies from the last two batches. “You’re right, Jade. These are the best. So what should we do with the defective ones?”
“We should throw them away?”
“How come?”
“Because I don’t want them, and you don’t want them, and we can’t fix them.”
“Should we ever give imperfect cookies to anyone else?”
“No, we should fix them or throw them away.”
“Exactly.” When the timer beeped again, Gran pulled out the third batch of cookies. “So how are we going to make sure they’re all perfect?”
<
br /> “We have to measure them!”
“Exactly.”
When Gran finished measuring, Jade clapped her hands. “They’re all perfect, Gran!”
“So they are. Now what if we made one thousand cookies? Could we measure them all?”
“That would take forever!”
“Yes, it would. So what would we do?”
Jade thought about it while watching the cookies cool. “Could we just measure some of them?”
“That’s right. Let’s say we measure every tenth one. Would that be enough to tell us if they were all perfect cookies?”
“Yes.” Jade nodded.
“What if every tenth one wasn’t perfect?”
“Um… we would need to look at all the, what did you call them?”
“Quality controls.”
“Yeah, quality controls. We would check to see if the stuff we put in them was right, if they were measured right, if the temperature was right, and if two tablespoons were used.”
“Perfect.” Gran beamed. “Now you know how to make a perfect cookie every time. And when something goes wrong, you know how to fix them so they’re perfect the next time. And you wrote down what to do to make a perfect cookie so that anyone can make one.”
“Neat.” Jade grinned. “Now can I have my three perfect cookies?”
“Dig in.” Gran reached for her three perfect cookies too.
Jade could almost smell a hint of chocolate chip cookies as her muscles melted into the couch from Bryce’s massage. That experience among many with Gran had prepared her to handle the situation today. The vise grip along her temples was slowly releasing. She could do this. She had what it took to run this company. Not only did she have a quality college education, but she’d been trained by the best mentor of them all: Gran.
JOSHUA GREENBERG RAISED an eyebrow when he stepped onto the forty-second floor of the classy high rise. Very nice. With the intellectual property this company held, he understood why Johansson Tek wanted to acquire Synergy Technologies. An acquisition this large would line his wallet rather nicely. The receptionist sent him up to the forty-second floor, where the executive secretary sat at a mahogany desk.
“May I help you?”
“Yes,”—he glanced down at the name plate—“Marge. I’m here to see Jade Buchanan.”
“Do you have an appointment, Mr…?”
“Greenberg, ma’am, and no I don’t. I was in the area and thought I’d see if Jade was available. The receptionist told me I should see you.”
“Let me check with Jade’s assistant.” She smiled graciously and picked up her phone. “Roz, Mr. Greenberg is here to see Miss Buchanan. He doesn’t have an appointment.” Marge’s forehead furrowed ever so slightly, but he caught it. “I see. Yes, he’s here at my desk now.”
“Mistah Greenberg.” A real looker in her early twenties walked up to him with one arm on her hip and smacking gum. Unlike Marge, who was dressed conventionally, this woman looked sexy as hell in a black miniskirt with mile-high heels and a low-cut emerald shirt. Flaming red curls haphazardly framed her freckled face. “I’m Roz, Jade’s assistant. Sorry, but Jade is busy and doesn’t have time to see ya. She said she’s not interested in your offah.”
Joshua’s eyebrows rose again. He reached for Roz’s hand and covered it in both of his. “Jade wouldn’t turn away someone who’s traveled across the country to see her, now would she?” He flashed his most charming of smiles, the one that disarmed women.
“She’s made it very cleah.” Roz left her hand in his. “She doesn’t want to—”
“I’ll make a call and get right back—” Jade stopped as she stepped out of an office. Her eyes grew wide. “Mr. Greenberg. What are you doing here?”
“Jade, it’s good to see you. I have something very important I need to discuss with you.”
“I’m sorry, I’m busy.” Jade glanced back into the office, then walked away.
Joshua followed. “You’ve offered me no alternative but to get on a plane and fly all the way out here. You’ve refused all my calls.”
Jade stopped outside another office. “There’s a reason for that. I told you. I’m not interested in selling.”
“I have new information that may make you re-evaluate.”
“And what new information is that?” She stepped into the office and sat down behind a large executive desk. This must be her office. He glanced around at the classy cherry furnishings and old books. Must have been her grandmother’s. He wasn’t fooled by Jade’s pantsuit, pearl necklace, and hair tied in a tight bun. The girl he’d seen in California wearing jean shorts, sandals, and four studs in her ears wouldn’t normally wear this ensemble.
Joshua sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “It’s come to my attention that your company is in financial trouble.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?”
“I don’t divulge my sources.” He had an inside board member of Synergy Technologies already working the other board members to get a consensus to sell.
She clamped her hands on her desk and pursed her lips. “I can assure you, it’s none of your business.”
“Perhaps it is, and perhaps it isn’t. I’ve been approved to extend our original offer for your company. If you wait too long and the company goes into distress, you’ll only be able to sell it for pennies on the dollar.”
“I’ve told you before. I’m not interested in selling.”
“Please be reasonable, Jade. This is a huge offer.”
“And you stand to make a huge commission. This conversation is over.” Jade stood and pointed out the doorway.
“The offer is worth millions, Jade.”
“She said get out.” A man’s voice, one he recognized, came from behind him.
Joshua stood. “Mr. Radisson, it’s good to see you.” He held his hand out to Synergy’s COO.
Bryce didn’t remove his hands from his pockets. “It’s time for you to leave.”
“If you would let me explain.”
“I’ve heard enough.”
Heat flashed in Joshua’s gut. So Bryce thought he could just dismiss him? “Well, I’ll see myself out. If either of you change your mind, you do know how to reach me.” Joshua inclined his head to Jade and left the room. Roz wasn’t at her desk, so he stopped to listen.
“He knows we’re having financial trouble.” Jade said.
“He must have an inside source. You planning on selling?” Bryce actually sounded concerned.
“No… you?”
“No.”
We’ll see about that. Joshua peeked around the doorway.
“You okay?” Bryce walked to Jade and put one hand on her waist and a finger under her chin. “You look pale. Feeling lightheaded again?”
“No, Greenberg just creeps me out. I thought he was a stalker the first time I met him. He followed me to all of my classes just so he could make me an offer before anyone else could.”
“He’s a slimeball. Just ignore him.” Bryce tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear.
Jade didn’t pull away. “It’s hard to ignore him when he just shows up like that.”
“Next time he does—”
“Need somethin’?” Roz stood behind Joshua with one hand on her hip and the fingers of the other drumming against her leg.
“I was just waiting for you.” Joshua flashed an innocent smile. “I fly out tomorrow. Why don’t you have dinner with me tonight?”
Roz smacked her gum. “I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”
“You have my number if you change your mind.” He finished the conversation with one of his disarming smiles, then headed to the elevator.
Roz had picked a damn bad time to show up. He’d like to know what Bryce had been about to say to Jade. Bryce had played the part he’d expected, but there seemed to be something going on between the two of them. That could derail everything he’d been working on. Bryce couldn’t sell his shares without giving Jade right of first r
efusal. What better way for Bryce to gain control of the company than to develop a relationship with Jade, and then convince her to step down so he could take controlling interest?
Perhaps it was time to play hardball.
CHAPTER 10
JADE WAITED ANXIOUSLY for the laptop she’d be dropping off with her old finance professor in the morning. Finally, she was going to get some answers.
The hot-pink sticky note at the top of her monitor reminded her not to be late for her pickup. Roz had stuck it on with extra tape to make sure it didn’t fall off. Jade looked up just as her buddy Zach from IT walked in with the laptop.
“Sorry it took so long. The software just finished encrypting the hard drive.”
“Good timing, I’m just about to leave.” She fished her purse out of the bottom drawer of her desk.
Zach handed Jade the laptop bag. “I set up a local account to give Professor Murti read access to the entire financial database. Here’s the password.” He handed Jade the sealed envelope. “Keep it in your purse until you deliver it to him. For security, you don’t want the password with the laptop. You know, in case it’s lost or stolen. It will prompt him to change the password after the first time he logs in.”
“Thanks. I hope he can analyze our finances and make recommendations for improvement.”
“Yeah, Stan wasn’t very happy about it.”
Tough.
She’d always thought of Stan as a sort of secondary grandfather. Now he was starting to remind her of Gran, never allowing her to make her own decisions or learn from her mistakes. She got that he was just trying to protect her in his own way, but there were better ways to do it than constantly putting up roadblocks and undermining her authority.
Roz poked her head in the door. “You betta get goin’, boss. I don’t wanna have your mom givin’ me the third degree ’cause you were late.”
“Thanks, I’m leaving.” Jade sent an apologetic smile to Zach. “Sorry. It’s my dad’s birthday. I have to pick up his favorite cake, and they close in twenty minutes.” With rush-hour traffic, she would barely make it in time. Jade shoved the pink sticky note in her purse along with the envelope Zach had given her. She grabbed the laptop bag and headed out.
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