energies into. Anything hot right now?”
David walked around behind his desk and sat down. “If you’d asked me yesterday, that’s exactly what I’d have talked to you about. But this morning I happened to get a call from one of the men on Rio’s board of directors. I wouldn’t say anything to anyone outside this office about how I know this, but it looks like you’re not off the hook just yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” David said, “I got the impression that this particular Rio board member was none too pleased with the Stevens fax. There have been a lot of inconsistencies in this process, so they’ve scheduled a pre-presentation meeting—sort of a last chance for all the competitors to ask questions and get equal treatment.”
Equal treatment , she thought. What a joke . “So Falconer and I need to go as a team?”
David nodded. “He also indicated they’re issuing a follow-up fax today. They don’t want to publicly step on Mac Steven’s toes by inviting the full team to speak again, so they’re instead asking for everyone to be available outside the room in case of questions.”
“Just what I’ve always wanted to do—sit out in the hall and wait for someone else to present my work.”
“Try not to take it personally, Alex. Looks like you and Scott are stuck with each other for a few more days. At least we know Rio is keeping a close watch on the whole situation.”
Alexandra’s heels clicked along the tile floor more slowly than usual on her way back to the office. The sound used to seem filled with a sense of purpose, but now each step only carried her closer to an office cluttered with the corpse of her project.
•
Scott saw Alexandra walking down the hall without that sense of lovely determination she always carried so lightly. He cursed Mackenzie under his breath, and then cursed himself. If he hadn’t accepted David’s offer, if David hadn’t heard through the grapevine that he knew Mac personally, then he could have spared Alexandra the anguish she was going through. He should have said no. How stupid had he been to think Mac might be professional, or that the rest of the Board might keep her in line.
He knew what Alexandra must think of him. Everything he’d promised her would never happen, had happened. Scott also knew what he would have to do. First, he had to find a way to convince Alexandra his professional intentions were honorable, and then he had to find a way to make her fall in love with him. Then he had an idea—a brilliant one he thought.
Alexandra looked as though her thoughts were far away, so it had to come as even more of a shock when he grabbed her by the arm and pulled. The next thing he knew, she was seated awkwardly beside him atop several boxes of paper inside a small supply closet.
Scott snapped the door shut and locked it from the inside. He hoped his idea was as brilliant as it first seemed.
“Are you crazy?” she yelled.
A single stripe of light from under the door made it hard to see him in the dark. “ Shh ,” he cautioned. “What do you think people will do if we make noise and they discover us locked together in a supply closet? Could start some pretty nasty rumors.”
Alexandra imagined the faces of her coworkers and rolled her eyes. “Isn’t this illegal imprisonment or something?” she whispered.
“Probably. I don’t care. You haven’t exactly been willing to talk to me since that stupid fax arrived.”
“You mean since you stole my project. Or to use your colorful expression, ‘horned in’ on it.”
Scott put his hands on her shoulders. “You have to listen to me, Alex. Really hear me. I had nothing to do with that decision. It’s ludicrous, but when Mackenzie saw you walk in that room looking the beautiful, stunning way you did, her claws came out.”
Alexandra probably had a hard time imagining Mac Stevens feeling threatened by anyone. “I saw you together in the corner conspiring.”
“Conspiring?”
David walked around behind his desk and sat down. “If you’d asked me yesterday, that’s exactly what I’d have talked to you about. But this morning I happened to get a call from one of the men on Rio’s board of directors. I wouldn’t say anything to anyone outside this office about how I know this, but it looks like you’re not off the hook just yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” David said, “I got the impression that this particular Rio board member was none too pleased with the Stevens fax. There have been a lot of inconsistencies in this process, so they’ve scheduled a pre-presentation meeting—sort of a last chance for all the competitors to ask questions and get equal treatment.”
Equal treatment , she thought. What a joke . “So Falconer and I need to go as a team?”
David nodded. “He also indicated they’re issuing a follow-up fax today. They don’t want to publicly step on Mac Steven’s toes by inviting the full team to speak again, so they’re instead asking for everyone to be available outside the room in case of questions.”
“Just what I’ve always wanted to do—sit out in the hall and wait for someone else to present my work.”
“Try not to take it personally, Alex. Looks like you and Scott are stuck with each other for a few more days. At least we know Rio is keeping a close watch on the whole situation.”
Alexandra’s heels clicked along the tile floor more slowly than usual on her way back to the office. The sound used to seem filled with a sense of purpose, but now each step only carried her closer to an office cluttered with the corpse of her project.
•
Scott saw Alexandra walking down the hall without that sense of lovely determination she always carried so lightly. He cursed Mackenzie under his breath, and then cursed himself. If he hadn’t accepted David’s offer, if David hadn’t heard through the grapevine that he knew Mac personally, then he could have spared Alexandra the anguish she was going through. He should have said no. How stupid had he been to think Mac might be professional, or that the rest of the Board might keep her in line.
He knew what Alexandra must think of him. Everything he’d promised her would never happen, had happened. Scott also knew what he would have to do. First, he had to find a way to convince Alexandra his professional intentions were honorable, and then he had to find a way to make her fall in love with him. Then he had an idea—a brilliant one he thought.
Alexandra looked as though her thoughts were far away, so it had to come as even more of a shock when he grabbed her by the arm and pulled. The next thing he knew, she was seated awkwardly beside him atop several boxes of paper inside a small supply closet.
Scott snapped the door shut and locked it from the inside. He hoped his idea was as brilliant as it first seemed.
“Are you crazy?” she yelled.
A single stripe of light from under the door made it hard to see him in the dark. “ Shh ,” he cautioned. “What do you think people will do if we make noise and they discover us locked together in a supply closet? Could start some pretty nasty rumors.”
Alexandra imagined the faces of her coworkers and rolled her eyes. “Isn’t this illegal imprisonment or something?” she whispered.
“Probably. I don’t care. You haven’t exactly been willing to talk to me since that stupid fax arrived.”
“You mean since you stole my project. Or to use your colorful expression, ‘horned in’ on it.”
Scott put his hands on her shoulders. “You have to listen to me, Alex. Really hear me. I had nothing to do with that decision. It’s ludicrous, but when Mackenzie saw you walk in that room looking the beautiful, stunning way you did, her claws came out.”
Alexandra probably had a hard time imagining Mac Stevens feeling threatened by anyone. “I saw you together in the corner conspiring.”
“Conspiring?”
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