The Real Deal

Excerpt

“What the hell is the matter with you, Eric?” The deeply masculine voice came out in even tones, but was laced with unmistakable anger. “This is a family held company. Merging with Extant would destroy everything our Grandfather and fathers built here.”

“Nonsense.” Eric’s voice sounded conciliatory, but louder than the other man’s. “Look, Simon, you promised to give her a fair hearing and I’m holding you to your word.”

“I would have promised anything to get Elaine to turn off the waterworks, including listening to some snake-oil salesman’s pitch.”

“Our arguing upset my wife and Amanda Zachary is no snake-oil salesman.”

Before the other man could respond, the executive assistant had knocked on the already opened door.

The voices ceased abruptly.

Fran pushed the door open. “Eric, Ms. Zachary is here.”

There were two men in the room. One stood in front of the windows so his face and expression were cast in shadow, but she could tell he was big, easily six-foot-two.

The other man wasn’t quite so massive. His sandy brown hair and engaging smile gave him a look of boyish charm, but his blue eyes glinted with unmistakable intelligence. “Thank you, Fran. We’ll take it from here.”

The other woman turned and left. For one completely insane moment, Amanda wanted to call her back. The brooding presence of the man by the window unnerved her.

Then Eric caught her attention by coming forward to take her hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Amanda.”

She shook his hand, being sure to grasp it firmly. “The pleasure is mine. I’m looking forward to our discussion.”

Or rather, she had been before this other man had entered the equation.

Eric released her hand and turned slightly. “Amanda, this is my cousin Simon Brant. He’s in charge of research and development for Brant Computers. Simon, this is Amanda Zachary, the representative from Extant Corporation.”

Simon stepped away from the window and she got her first clear view of the man. She knew her negotiators smile had slipped a little, but she couldn’t help it. Simon Brant was a force of nature. Dark exotic looks mixed with a smoldering presence in a Molotov cocktail that set something on fire inside her she was absolutely sure no longer even existed.

Desire. Hot. Molten. Unstoppable. And it washed through her body as if her receptors had forgotten, or never even known, she wasn’t a very sexual person. She felt betrayed by her body. Now was not the time for it to rediscover long dormant feminine hormones.

Everything important to her was on the line with this deal.

“M-Mr. Brant.” Great. She’d stuttered. She never tripped over her words, not since going through an endless series of speech therapy sessions as a child. However, she’d never met a man who looked like a cross between a Scottish warlord and Apache chief before either.

She put out her hand and wished to Heaven she’d ignored the urge for politeness when his big, warm fingers enclosed hers.

For the space of seconds, she didn’t speak. Couldn’t speak. Something elemental and downright terrifying passed from his hand to hers as he completed the shake.

“Ms. Zachary.”

“Call me Amanda.” The words slipped out, unbidden. She wouldn’t have taken them back if she could. It would be awkward to have his cousin calling her by her first name while Simon stuck with the more formal address.

He dropped her hand, his gray eyes roaming over her with tactile intensity. “Simon.”

That was it. Just his name, but she knew what he meant.

“Now that the introductions are over, why don’t we all sit down?” Eric’s voice sounded far away and Amanda had to force herself to decipher the words before nodding her agreement.

Despite the fact it was Eric’s office, Simon led the way. He waited for her to sit in an armchair across the room from Eric’s large executive desk. Eric and Simon sat at either end of the matching black leather sofa, with Simon taking the end furthest from her. She should have felt relief that his choice had given her a reprieve from his proximity, but the angle at which they sat gave him a clear view of her and vice versa.

It was an effort to turn her attention to Eric. “I didn’t realize your cousin would be joining us for the meeting.”

“It’s a family held company, Amanda.” Simon gave special inflection to her name. “I’m family and I happen to own a sizable chunk of the business.”

“I see.” She smiled tentatively. “But I had the impression from Eric that none of the other family played a principal role in management of the company.”

“That’s true.” Eric gave Simon a hard look. “I’m the president of the company and my cousin rarely shows interest in my day to day decision making.”

“I don’t call proposing a merger with one of our chief competitors your average day to day decision. Wouldn’t you agree, Amanda?”