heâd ever had the fortune to look forward to. Sheâd taken two weeks to come up with something for their next rendezvous. But an art museum? What in the hell does she have in mind?
He laughed as all sorts of ideas popped into his way-too-fertile-of-late mind, but he doubted they were what sheâd come up with. He sorted through a pile of folders on his makeshift hotel-room desk, trying hard not to think about what theyâd come up with the last time theyâd been together. One thing was for sure: he had a whole new respect for fruit as a major food group.
Still grinning, he tried like hell to get his mind back on the meeting he was to run in less than fifteen minutes. It really wasnât like him to let a woman distract him this way. But heâd never met a woman like Natalie Holcomb.
His gaze drifted briefly to his laptop. He knew they werenât supposed to talk about work or family or anything other than what they wanted to do with each other when they were together. But they hadnât ever actually said they couldnât explore a little when they werenât together. So, one night shortly after their last encounter, heâd given up on trying to sleep with a raging erection, taken a cold showerâ¦and booted up his lap top. If he couldnât satisfy himself physically with her, heâd thought maybe learning more about her personally would assuage the need sheâd so effortlessly roused in him.
He knew she came from a wealthy family with her talk of boarding school and family chefs. So heâd done a little digging into her family history and come across Holcomb Industries, which had started with Natalieâs great-grandfather as an investment firm. The young banker had cagily branched out just before the stock market crash. Now they were into a host of other things, all profitable and overseen by her father and brother. Many charitable works bore the Holcomb name, and the names of her two sisters popped up on a regular basis in all manner of social and charitable works attributed to the company. Their husbands, along with Natalieâs older brother, Chuck, also popped up regularly in the newspaper business news sections for one major deal or another.
None of those things struck him as unusual, as his own familyâs background was similar, even if the industry itself was wholly different. The glaring difference was that he, along with his two brothers and one sister, were all involved happily in the family business with his father, mother, several aunts and uncles. Even hisaging, retired grandfather still kept a hand in at board meetings.
Jake enjoyed his work, and loved working with his family, although his schedule kept him from seeing them every day. He smiled. Maybe distance was the key to family harmony in the workplace. He shook his head. Whatever the case, they each gave the business their all and took immense personal pride from its continued success. None of the Lannisters had ever felt like the world owed them anything, nor did they expect to get anything without working to achieve it.
Granted, it was a lot easier to work toward a goal when you had the bankroll to finance the education and whatnot to help get you there, but heâd never taken it for granted. His family was also heavily involved in philanthropic endeavors, one part of which heâd personally developedâgrants and college scholarships. His siblings and parents devoted their time to their pet charities in addition to their other work.
Which led him back to the glaring omission from Natalieâs family history. Sure, heâd found out where she worked as an up-and-coming attorney with Maxwell & Graham, a law firm in Manhattan that handled everything from corporate to family to entertainment law. She was involved in the corporate side, although sheâd been doing work for one of the new partners, who was their new entertainment specialist.
It had taken a little digging to
He laughed as all sorts of ideas popped into his way-too-fertile-of-late mind, but he doubted they were what sheâd come up with. He sorted through a pile of folders on his makeshift hotel-room desk, trying hard not to think about what theyâd come up with the last time theyâd been together. One thing was for sure: he had a whole new respect for fruit as a major food group.
Still grinning, he tried like hell to get his mind back on the meeting he was to run in less than fifteen minutes. It really wasnât like him to let a woman distract him this way. But heâd never met a woman like Natalie Holcomb.
His gaze drifted briefly to his laptop. He knew they werenât supposed to talk about work or family or anything other than what they wanted to do with each other when they were together. But they hadnât ever actually said they couldnât explore a little when they werenât together. So, one night shortly after their last encounter, heâd given up on trying to sleep with a raging erection, taken a cold showerâ¦and booted up his lap top. If he couldnât satisfy himself physically with her, heâd thought maybe learning more about her personally would assuage the need sheâd so effortlessly roused in him.
He knew she came from a wealthy family with her talk of boarding school and family chefs. So heâd done a little digging into her family history and come across Holcomb Industries, which had started with Natalieâs great-grandfather as an investment firm. The young banker had cagily branched out just before the stock market crash. Now they were into a host of other things, all profitable and overseen by her father and brother. Many charitable works bore the Holcomb name, and the names of her two sisters popped up on a regular basis in all manner of social and charitable works attributed to the company. Their husbands, along with Natalieâs older brother, Chuck, also popped up regularly in the newspaper business news sections for one major deal or another.
None of those things struck him as unusual, as his own familyâs background was similar, even if the industry itself was wholly different. The glaring difference was that he, along with his two brothers and one sister, were all involved happily in the family business with his father, mother, several aunts and uncles. Even hisaging, retired grandfather still kept a hand in at board meetings.
Jake enjoyed his work, and loved working with his family, although his schedule kept him from seeing them every day. He smiled. Maybe distance was the key to family harmony in the workplace. He shook his head. Whatever the case, they each gave the business their all and took immense personal pride from its continued success. None of the Lannisters had ever felt like the world owed them anything, nor did they expect to get anything without working to achieve it.
Granted, it was a lot easier to work toward a goal when you had the bankroll to finance the education and whatnot to help get you there, but heâd never taken it for granted. His family was also heavily involved in philanthropic endeavors, one part of which heâd personally developedâgrants and college scholarships. His siblings and parents devoted their time to their pet charities in addition to their other work.
Which led him back to the glaring omission from Natalieâs family history. Sure, heâd found out where she worked as an up-and-coming attorney with Maxwell & Graham, a law firm in Manhattan that handled everything from corporate to family to entertainment law. She was involved in the corporate side, although sheâd been doing work for one of the new partners, who was their new entertainment specialist.
It had taken a little digging to
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