Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) by Sylvia McDaniel Page B

Shipping?” he asked again.
    She took a deep breath, sat down behind her
desk, and gazed at him with frosty coolness. “I told him that I
would personally oversee his shipments and make sure that as our
most important customer his shipments would have priority over our
other customers. Then I told him if I promised a date and didn’t
make it, we would refund three percent of the total shipping
cost”
    “You did what?” Louis shouted. “That’s
absurd.” She held up her hand.
    “In exchange, I also told him that he would
be required to pay his invoices within sixty days and if he were
late, he would be mandated to pay us an additional three percent of
the amount due.”
    Louis, who was ready to explode, felt like
someone had punched him in the stomach. “Why would you offer this?
Weather could delay the shipments.”
    “No. I put in a clause that we could not be
penalized for any weather-related delays.” She shrugged. “When I
looked in the journals, I saw he was usually ninety to one hundred
and twenty days late in paying us. So I thought if I offered more
incentive, just maybe we would get our money quicker. And for an
account his size, that could be a lot of money for us.”
    Louis stood there not knowing what to say.
How could he argue with her for generating more money for them and
saving their largest account? But by God, he felt so irritated he
wanted to yell in frustration.
    He’d lost some of the control of Cuvier
Shipping today to a woman!
    “Mrs. Cuvier, in the future all discussions
with customers on the terms of their shipments will be held when
both of us are present. Do you understand me?”
    She raised her brows, giving him a haughty
look and turned up her nose at him. “Certainly, Mr. Fournet I
understand completely. But of course, both partners must be in the
office.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, and walked
out the door, holding tight to his self-control.
    The woman was driving him crazy. Those
flashing gray eyes and that saucy mouth of hers beckoned to him
every time he saw her and he wanted to taste her before he yelled
at her. Hell, he wanted to yell at her just because he needed to
taste her again and was unable to.
     

Chapter Six
     
    L ouis hated losing.
Marian’s voice echoed in his head and he thought he could hear her
saying, “Checkmate!”
    In his office, he sat morosely staring at the
empty room across the hall, the waning light throwing shadows on
the wall. Marian had gone home for the evening along with everyone
else. Only Louis and Henry remained and Louis knew that Henry would
soon be leaving him alone with his pensive thoughts.
    No matter what he did, Marian thwarted his
every move or somehow managed to overcome whatever obstacle he
threw in her path, and generally frustrated him to no end.
    When he’d seen the other men congratulating
her like a conquering war hero, he’d known that no longer would she
be looking in from the outside. With her quick reaction in saving
their largest account, the men had accepted her, and now even
wanted to protect her.
    When had she become a dues-paying member in
the office?
    Though Louis had to admit she’d certainly
earned her way by digging through the old files, looking through
ledgers and finding the original shipping manifests. And he
couldn’t deny that her resolution of George Morgan’s problems this
afternoon had been a feat that not only would bring in their money
quicker, but also let the customer think he was getting a deal.
    But she was still a woman and her place
wasn’t here. In any case, he made the decisions, not her, so she
could pack up her optimism and take it home to the children. He
still intended to sell this business.
    But, what could he do now? He could continue
ignoring her, kissing her, and doing everything in his power to
send her packing, but what would it gain him besides a raging
erection?
    The widow is a beautiful woman, and he
respected and admired her, but nevertheless the sale of