She tried to pull his lips away from her breast. When she couldn’t, she gripped his left hand and covered it with kisses, finger by finger. The more feverish his attention to her breast, the more frenetic her kisses. She kissed the palm of his hand, pressed it to her face, then started kissing it again. All the kisses she wanted to give to the rest of him she showered on this single hand.
Until she realized his other hand had moved down her side, under her skirt, and was proceeding up her thigh. Action preceded thought. She pushed his lips from her breast and sat bolt upright.
“Stop!”
Chapter Eleven
The limousine moved slowly through the heavy morning traffic. Geneva wasn’t any different from the rest of the world. It seemed everybody worked in the same part of the city and had to get to work at the same time.
Kathryn felt very much on edge. Ron had asked her to attend the first hour of his meeting with him. He wanted her to see what he did. He didn’t anticipate being through until six at the earliest, so he put the limousine at her disposal for the rest of the day. His discussion with his assistants hadn’t been encouraging. If Ron couldn’t come up with something today, the government representatives would probably walk out of the meeting. If that happened, the negotiations were effectively over.
But while Kathryn was acutely aware of the importance of this meeting, of the tension in Ron’s body, of the harried expressions of his two associates who sat directly across from her, her thoughts were centered almost entirely on the events of the previous evening. In a moment of unreasoning panic, she had stopped Ron in the midst of what could only be described as a passionate encounter. She knew enough of men to know what she’d done was taboo. No woman would encourage a man in such a fashion then, without warning, scream at him to stop.
She hadn’t actually screamed, but she might as well have. She thought Ron would have a heart attack.
She didn’t know what had gotten into her. Shock? Ron had said he wanted to climb into bed with her before he invited her on the trip. If she hadn’t wanted that to happen, she should have stayed home.
But despite her confusion, she was sure if she had it to do over again, she still would accept the invitation to come to Geneva, but she would have taken the time to figure out exactly what she wanted out of the trip. Then she could have made sure Ron didn’t believe she was promising more than she was willing to give. It was only fair.
Ron had been shocked at her response—even a man trained to keep his feelings from showing could only control so much—but he’d behaved admirably. He had every right to accuse her of being a tease, of leading him on. Instead, he apologized for letting his feelings get out of control. He said he’d never do anything to hurt her. Then he’d proceeded to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Putting his arm around her and cuddling up against her as he had just moments before he put the TV back on and they finished watching the movie.
Kathryn didn’t know how he did it. She was so mortified, so hugely embarrassed, she was practically tongue-tied for the rest of the evening. She would have given anything to be able to run into the bedroom, close the door and cry. But if he could behave with such class, then the least she could do was try to behave just as well.
By the time the movie was over and it was time to go to bed, she was too exhausted to spend the night, as she had intended, scrutinizing her actions and motives until she knew what had prompted her to behave so outrageously. She fell into bed, thankful for Ron’s tender kiss as he told her good-night and wished her sweet dreams.
Her nightmares were probably just reward for her behavior.
Next morning Ron had continued to behave as though nothing untoward had happened. The chef who came on board immediately after the plane landed had breakfast ready as soon as she was out of the shower and dressed. Ron had already showered, dressed and was conferring with his assistants. Kathryn could guess what the men thought when she came out of the bedroom, but they acted with punctilious decorum. And were so caught up in their work they soon seemed to forget her presence. Even when they’d all gotten into the limousine and headed into the city, they seemed unaware of her presence.
But when they finished discussing business, their sudden awareness of her caused them to fall silent. With the men occupied with their own thoughts, she was left to stare out the window at the city. But it looked like so many other European cities she’d visited her thoughts went back to Ron and the night before. She practically sighed with relief when Ron said they were close to the hotel where they held the meetings.
He looked at his watch. “If this traffic doesn’t ease up, we’ll be late.”
“Schmidt and Wasserman are never late,” Ted said. “They spend the night in a nearby hotel and walk over.”
Ted and Ben stayed in a similar hotel, but they had been waiting at the airport to talk with Ron when he landed. It hadn’t taken more than a few minutes to tell Ron the government representatives hadn’t responded to any of the information or poll results they’d provided. “It’s like they don’t mean to accept the merger, no matter how much information we provide,” Ted had said.
Ron had run through every offer they’d made, every compromise, every piece of information they’d provided—economic and well as political—to show the merger would be good for the country. He wanted to know their exact word-for-word response to each, even asking about inflection of speech, expression, body posture. Ron wanted to know what was happening in their homes and offices, whether things were going well or if they were under some kind of pressure. Kathryn had never realized negotiating a merger required such complete knowledge.
The limousine driver pulled the car to a stop in front of a modern, nondescript building.
Once out of the car, he ushered Kathryn through an impersonal lobby, up a utilitarian escalator, down a hall decorated with modern art in stainless steel frames, and into a conference room that looked like the set of a futuristic movie. Everything—walls, furniture, curtains—were shades of grey, the room made up of straight lines and sharp angles. She found the visual image jarring.
“What a ghastly room,” she said in a soft voice.
“Imagine spending every day for the last three weeks in it,” Ted said.
“I’m surprised no one’s been murdered.”
She had never seen a more grimly sober, depressing, austere group of men in her life.
“I see you are back,” one man spoke in heavily accented English.
Kathryn didn’t have to be told this man was one of the government representatives. No one else would have spoken with such disdain.
“You are late as well,” a man on his left said. “I can guess the reason for your tardiness.”
Kathryn didn’t need to be told she was the reason the man referred to, but she was more aware of Ron’s reaction. He stiffened, and his expression hardened.
“I’m late because the flight took longer than expected and the traffic was worse than usual.” He remained standing behind his chair, his hand at Kathryn’s elbow.
One of the men opened his mouth to speak, but Ron cut him off. “But despite my tardiness, I have had time to confer with my assistants. They’ve assured me they’ve provided you with all the information we’ve been able to gather, both by research and by conducting opinion polls. They’ve also assured me they’ve explained in great detail how to interpret this information and how it applies to the merger we’re discussing.”
The man opened his mouth. Again Ron cut him off. “They’ve informed me that despite all the evidence our research can provide, you still hold to your original positions. Is that true?”
“Yes. We—”
“Even though the data we’ve presented has shown the situation has changed substantially in the last half year?”
“We do not believe—”
“Yes, or no.”
The man looked slightly startled, then miffed. “I had started to explain—”
“We’ve heard enough of your
explanations. I want a straight answer. Yes or no.”
“Yes.” The man’s tone and expression indicated he was mortally offended by such abrupt and ungentlemanly behavior.
“In that case I see no reason to waste mine or my assistants’ time in further discussion. As of this moment, these negotiations are over.”
The two government representatives, coldly impassive up until now, couldn’t hide their surprise. The other twenty men in the room stared at Ron in disbelief.
“I have instructed my assistants that as soon as we leave this building, they are to make available to the news media all the data we have gathered and presented to you during these past weeks. As for your comments on the reason for my tardiness, you do your government a great disservice by the tastelessness of your remarks.”
With that Ron turned and escorted Kathryn out of the conference room. Ted and Ben followed. No one spoke as they left the building nor as they walked the short distance to the hotel where Ron’s team stayed.
“Did you really mean that?” Ted asked after they got in the elevator.
“I thought Wasserman was going to have a coronary,” Ben said. “I hate to think what losing this deal will mean to the firm, but it was worth it to see his face.”
“The data will crucify him,” Ted said.
“It might even bring down the government,” Ben said.
“That’s what I hope they’ll realize,” Ron said.
The elevator opened into the foyer of a suite that occupied a whole floor of the hotel. Kathryn saw several people at work, heard conversations from others coming through open doors. Ron had turned the suite into an office away from home.
“Then you don’t want us to turn everything over to the media?”
“Give them twenty-four hours.”
“You think they’ll come around?”
“If they don’t now, they will afterward.”
Kathryn had expected Ron to send her off to the limousine and settle down to work, but he remained standing in the foyer.
“It may take a little longer than twenty-four hours. Play it by ear but have everything ready. This isn’t a bluff.”
“What are you going to do?” Ted asked.
“I’m going home. Make it clear to Schmidt and Wasserman I have no intention of coming back. If they want to negotiate, they have to negotiate with you. I can’t be wasting my time on those two.”
Kathryn felt as stunned as the two assistants looked.
“Don’t you think you can handle it?” Ron asked.
“Sure, but you always handled everything yourself.”
“I’ve decided to change management style. I’m going to delegate more. If you two bring this off, you’re in for one hell of a bonus.”
“And if we don’t?”
Both men were tense.
“You’re still the best two merger negotiators around, after me, of course. We’ll have other deals to work on. Now Miss Roper has never been to Geneva. I’m going to show her around before we head back to Charlotte.”
“When did you decide to do that?” Kathryn asked when they were once again in the limousine.
Ron put his arm around her and drew her close. “I said inviting you was the first spontaneous thing I’d done in years and it felt wonderful. Well, that was the second and it felt just as good.”
“But what made you do it?”
“When I walked in and saw their faces set in the same implacable mold, I knew there was no point in talking. I also knew I’d rather spend the day with you. So I said to hell with it. I’d given it my best shot. You can’t win every time.”
“But this is important to your career. Shamus said losing this deal could break you.”
“It won’t break me, but it will delay my being able to take a less active role in the company.”
“But you don’t mind losing the deal?”
“Of course I mind. I’ve worked toward something like this for twenty years. Maybe I could pull it off by staying here and giving in, but I’d be selling my clients short. I also realized I wanted to be in Charlotte with Cynthia more than I wanted to be here, that I wanted to spend the day with you more than with them.” He pulled back so he could face her. “I looked down the road and saw myself missing the chance to do so much—all for the glory of convincing big companies to become still bigger companies. I decided it wasn’t worth it.”
Kathryn realized she hadn’t breathed. She gulped down air and forced herself to relax. It wasn’t business as usual. Ron had really looked at his life and decided what he wanted most couldn’t be had through his career. She didn’t know exactly how that would translate in real life—she was certain he didn’t, either—but the change in him made their relationship take on a whole new meaning.
But she refused to let her mind go that far. She’d let things progress beyond what she was ready to handle once already. She wouldn’t do that again. For the time being they were just two very good friends who really enjoyed each other’s company.
“What do you want to do today?” Ron asked. “The limousine and I are at your disposal.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to fly back by yourself? I can lease another plane.”
Ron had asked the same question several times, and each time she’d tried to assure him she didn’t want to return alone. They were taxiing down the runway, both strapped in until the pilot felt it was safe for them to get up and move around. Ron had offered to bring the chef and a couple of flight attendants, but she had refused. They’d eaten dinner at a wonderful restaurant with a view of the mountains. She wasn’t hungry, and she didn’t need anyone to wait on her.
“I’ve apologized for my behavior last night every way I know how. I don’t know what got into me.”
“I shouldn’t have forced you.”
“You didn’t do anything I didn’t enjoy.” The plane was in the steep climb that comes immediately after takeoff. She felt glued to her seat. “Letting you make love to me seemed like a very big step when I wasn’t sure what you wanted.”
“What do you want?”
“Lifelong commitment. A husband and a family.”
“Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”
“Yes, but for a while I thought I might be willing to settle for something less.” She hooked his gaze with her own. “I’m not any longer.”
“I get the feeling it’s my turn to say what I want.”
“It’s the only way I’ll know what kind of future our relationship has.”
She didn’t know what she’d do if he said he only wanted a temporary relationship, something he could conveniently slip into and out of when he happened to be in town and had a free evening. Well, she did know what she’d do. She just didn’t know how she’d survive doing it. She was gradually falling in love with him, might be in love with him already. It was stupid, but there was little point in denying her feelings were very strongly engaged.
“My wants are more complicated,” Ron began. “Regardless of what I might want for myself, I have to consider Cynthia, the baby and their future first. I can’t let anything I want interfere with that.”
“What would you want if you didn’t have them to consider?” Kathryn asked.
“Nothing extravagant. Just a woman who could love me.”
“Why would that be so difficult to find?”
“Because she’d have to love me for who I am, not for my money or the power and position she thinks I could give her. I told you before I was after social success, that I needed to have people accept me because I’d been denied acceptance before and because their acceptance signified my success.
“Looking back, it seems ironic that for you and Cynthia it was my success that got in the way. When I walked into that boardroom today and faced those two men, I realized I felt successful. I could turn my back on them and survive. Once I knew that, I could see what I really needed.”
Kathryn was glad he didn’t have that pressure on him any longer. She’d seen the struggles
and anguish of people who felt they couldn’t be happy unless they achieved social acceptance.
“I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding a woman who can love you for yourself if you’ll just give her a chance,” Kathryn said. “Though you don’t seem to realize it, you’re quite a catch. And I’m not referring to your money or prestige. You’re caring and sensitive. I know, men don’t like it when you say things like that about them, but it’s important to women.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I’m just surprised. You didn’t used to feel like that.”
“I made assumptions based on other men I’d known, but I know better now. You wouldn’t have arranged the weekend in the mountains if you didn’t care about people. And you wouldn’t have understood Kerry just needed somebody to believe in him, to be willing to support him, before he could stand up to his Dad. I’ve known him ever since Lisette came to the shelter, and I didn’t figure that out.”
“It’s hard for women to understand men. We don’t think like they do.”
“And when did you have that earthshaking realization? The news media are going to want to know.”
“You know, you’ve got a sharp tongue when you want to use it.”
Those words struck deep. Her father had said pretty much the same thing the last time they’d attempted to talk. “So I’ve been told. Getting back to telling you how wonderful you are—”
“Don’t let me stop you. It doesn’t happen all that often.”
She ignored his smile. It was messing up her concentration. “I believe you’re loyal and supportive once you’ve committed yourself. You don’t always understand women very well, but a wife could help you there.”
“If she could put up with my not understanding her long enough to help me understand her.”
“If you found this paragon, what would she have to do to fit into your life?”
“She’d have to love my daughter and her baby as much as she loved me. She’d have to become an integral part of our family. That wouldn’t be easy.”
“It’s being done every day.”
Family Merger Page 17