Chapter 4

"I 'm sorry I was thinking about Lemans. What did you say?" I ask, praying I don't sound as breathless to him as I do to myself.

"I said that was admirable," he repeated, "and I also wondered what you did or who you worked for."

"I worked in the accounting division. I was in charge of all vendor payments and reconciliation of customer accounts," I said giving him the description of my main tasks. I didn't add that I also was the person who audited all of the journals each month, or that I prepared most of the financial statements before I left, all for the same pay that I started at—not that I'm bitter about it or anything…I mean, not really.

"How long did you work there?" Rafe asked.

"I started after I graduated from Washington University two years ago and left about seven months ago when I moved here."

"Can I ask why you left?" he wanted to know.

"I had gotten a position with their sister company, Granter's, as a budget analyst and asset manager but when Diamonds discovered the…misappropriation of funds that had been occurring my position as well as several others were eliminated. Thanks to the economic instability finding another position hasn't been as easy as it might seem."

"Interesting phrasing in there," Rafe tells me with an approving grin. "So tell me how you can help us acquire Lemans."

"It simple. You buy out Charles and Gloria Farris' shares," I tell him.

"What good would that do?" he asks, his brows furling as his mouth tightens and I have to force my attention off it. "Diamonds still controls them."

"They manage them; they don't control them. Ten years ago when Lemans was in trouble the Farris' went to the bank for loans, help, some way to keep them in business. Unfortunately the banks weren't as kind as they'd hoped so they thought about selling," I explain to him as he sits glued to my every word, a very liberating thing, even if it's only because of what I can help his company acquire. "Diamonds saw it as an easy acquisition but when the Farris' heard that they wanted to gut the operation and essentially destroy everything their families had worked for they decided to let the business go under rather than have it be picked apart piece by piece."

"And this helps us how?" he asked when I paused for breath.

"Because Diamonds knew their products were excellent quality, something they could use to their advantage much like I believe you're interested in doing, but that's your call. Diamonds could have waited for them to go bankrupt and then purchase it at a steal, but then they'd also lose the employees who knew how to make the products, so they changed their minds about gutting the business. The Farris' weren't convinced and stipulated that in return for the investment Diamonds could employ a management team for the company to oversee the financials, but ownership would remain with them."

"Interesting, I'm surprised no one's found any of this out before now," Rafe says mostly to himself simply talking aloud.

"It's in the contract, which states that whoever owns the Farris' shares, owns Lemans. If you can convince Charles and Gloria to sell those shares to you, then you will own the company and can break the contract with a onetime payment of two hundred thousand dollars, the initial investment Diamonds made into the company. Interest accrued on the amount until Lemans was back in the black and the profits covered the new accrual, and they continued to take the Farris' share of profits until all interest was recouped, and only the main investment remained."

"How do you know this?" Rafe asks.

"As I said, I worked for Lemans for two years and I was privy to some very interesting information about both Lemans and Diamonds," I admit to him.

"Alright, say I can convince the Farris' to sell me their shares, why is the repayment to Diamonds so low? And if they honestly only had to payback two hundred thousand dollars, why didn't they do it before now and take Lemans back themselves?" Rafe wondered aloud to me.

"Because neither of them has a head for business. If they had taken control of the company back, they would have ended up in the same position over and over again and Diamonds knew it. Don't get me wrong they're great people, but when it comes to business, they're more the public image sort than the strategic action types."

"How difficult will it be to convince them to sell to me?" he asks point-blank.

"Nearly impossible, unless you're determined to keep it exactly the way it is now. If you can convince them that you want the company for the product and aren't going to let it dwindle or tear it apart then you might have a chance."

"Therein lays the problem," he says getting up to pace the room. "I do want the product but not the way it's currently being offered. I want to use the technology of it to improve and update what we offer."

"Would it be possible to make a separate division underneath Lemans? Keep a portion of the products as they are now, have them still be available to retailers and whatnot, but then open another unit to modify the items in the way you need?" I suggest hesitantly.

"You know the company better than I do," Rafe says turning around to stare at me, "what do you think?"

"Honestly…" I begin almost losing myself in his eyes before forcing myself back on point. "It would work. The guys in the factory are amazing at what they do and a slew of them are always tinkering with the products in their downtime. Ingenuity is everywhere down there and the staff in the offices could handle differentiating the costs of the two easily enough. You'd have more overhead with additional managers and equipment but in the long run you'd come out on top, and if it interests you at all…taking Lemans away from Diamonds could potentially crush them at this juncture."

"Is that what you'd do? Crush Diamonds?" he asks, and I can tell he's wondering if I'm seeking revenge on being let go.

"Not completely, I wouldn't be against using the opportunity to expand my holdings further if I were in a position to make it happen. Taking them when they're at their weakest would be far simpler than letting them regroup," I say with a shrug.

"Simultaneous takeovers?" he muses. "I'll have to put Stan on that line of possibilities. Well Amelia, how would you like to come to Missouri with me?"

"Sorry…what?" I ask wondering how he could go from thinking about suggesting takeovers to Stan and then asking me to come to Missouri within thirty seconds.

"I need someone who can help me get through to the Farris' and at the same time get more information on the finances of Lemans. You're perfect, you know the Farris' and people at Lemans, you're the link I've been looking for," he tells me.

"I…" is all I can manage, thoughts of the clubs passing through my mind coupled with going back to Missouri and what my mother would say if she knew I was that close and didn't come home. Then I wonder why I'm even helping them, it's not like I work here or anything, at least not permanently.

"Of course it would be completely paid for by the company as you will get moved into a position in our financial department," he adds taking away one of my arguments. "And if you'd like to visit your family on the weekends, I will have a car arranged for you," he adds taking away another.

"It sounds good and all but…" I state still resisting for some reason.

"The position here at the company will be a permanent one, if that's what's holding you back. I'm sure we can negotiate the salary but if your input helps us get Lemans there will be a sizeable bonus for you," Rafe tells me. "I believe in rewarding my employees for their hard work, but I can see you're still wavering, is it your husband…fiancé?"

I bite my lower lip, the one telltale sign that I'm worried or nervous about something. "No, nothing like that. I have another part-time job waitressing and I'm scheduled to work this week and weekend."

"It's Wednesday, right?" he says looking down at his date book full of meetings. "I don't see us leaving until Monday morning at the earliest so if you'd like to finish your shifts there this weekend I don't see a problem with it, but I will tell you that my salary packages don't leave you with the need for another job, not even here in the city."

He then named a starting figure, and I thought my hearing had gone out. It was absolutely enough to make working at Vivian's unnecessary but the thought of leaving the club that I tried so hard to stay away from in the first place strangely made me feel sad. I'd only been working there three and a half months, but it lit up my life and losing that light would be hard. Not wearing the five-inch heels every night…not so much.

"Okay, I'm in," I say with a grin and thus my life is in the hands of a man who makes my mouth water and my palms sweaty. If I were looking for a man to be with, he'd certainly fit the bill, but since I'm not and he is now my boss I have to find a way to distract myself from him, if it's the last thing I do.

∞∞∞

"Tired?" Rafe asks me two weeks later as we sit in traffic, a pile-up is blocking the entire road and we have nowhere to go. The accident is blocking the intersection in front of us, and the last one is back around the curve where another pile-up is. Yeah, there's one in front of us and one behind us. I have to hand it to Rafe, his reflexes when we came around the corner and saw what was going on kept us from getting involved in one like others behind us did but now, we're stuck and have been for nearly forty-five minutes.

"Somewhat," I tell him not admitting that I'm exhausted, completely and utterly exhausted. We've been working around the clock finding the numbers we need and schmoozing up to Charles and Gloria who are reluctant to let go of their family's heritage.

"You were great today," he says and my pulse races.

"Thank you," I say demurely, trying to get myself under control. The man is my boss for fuck sake. Okay, so I shouldn't swear but you'll have to forgive me, I've been cooped up with the man for almost two weeks and the closeness is driving my senses crazy. Crazy enough that I haven't even given a single thought to Vivian's or going to see my family all week.

"You were," he says as though he thought I didn't believe him, but I do because I know I was great today. Not bragging or anything, I'm simply telling the truth. I rocked.

"Thanks," I say bright enough for him to know I believe him. "I think we'll hear from them tomorrow—no make that, I know we'll hear from them tomorrow. Charles liked the ideas and Gloria is enamored with you enough to follow you anywhere," I end with a laugh.

"The woman was very…" he said searching for a polite way to put it.

"Hospitable?" I suggest with a grin.

"Quite," he states. "Looks like something down there's moving."

Indeed, it was; a wrecker was moving one of the cars down the side of the exit and another came up it to start moving others from the roadway. The police officers started directing traffic down the exit and we were able to move. Well, creep actually. Thirty minutes later we finally, yes finally , make it to the bottom of the exit ramp and he's about to go through it when I suggest, "Take a right actually, we'll get there faster."

"We will?" he asked skeptically.

"Trust me," I say, and he turns right. Fifteen minutes and several back roads later, we're standing outside the hotel and Rafe turns to me with an inquisitive expression on his face.

"How did you ever come up with that route?" he asks.

"Five years living here, going to school here, you learn your way around," I say with a shrug. It's true I learnt my way around, but some of the roads we took were ones girls from Sam's club lived on or other friends from college. In fact we drove right past my old apartment, but I wasn't going to mention that.

"A few of those roads had me worried. I would never have believed you knew how to get through some of those neighborhoods, they're a little on the rough side," he says leading.

"I'm a girl of mystery," I joke, "once you unravel one knot there's twenty more."

"I'd say," it sounded like he said but his back was to me, and I couldn't quite make it out. Louder he stated, "Would you like to have dinner at the restaurant?"

It sounds okay. We've been ordering room service almost every night except for the couple when we went out with this person or that one trying to ascertain the information needed. I really am tired, and for some reason what sounds the best to me is ordering in a pizza and vegging on the couch or alone in my room. Any more time spent with Rafe could prove deadly to my resolve.

"Don't tell me you're tired of my company…" Rafe joked when I stayed quiet.

"No, I just thought that after the day we've had a pizza and a glass of wine sounds much better than some stuffy restaurant that tries to act five star when it's only two," I say with a shrug of the shoulders.

"You know what," Rafe says surprising me, "that sounds just about perfect. Make it a beer and you've got yourself a deal."

"You're willingly going to have pizza for dinner?"

"As long as it's hot, gooey and cheesy, I'm all in. Anywhere in particular you'd like to suggest?"

I do but I'm not sure it's appropriate to say because I was so ready to call Tony, the bartender from Sam's place, have him make me one, and beg him to deliver it to the hotel. If Rafe wants to go out…not so sure how he'd feel about going to the club and since I've barely gotten my foot in the door, I'd prefer not to have it slammed shut on me.

"Come now surely you know where the best pizza in town is," he teases.

How did we get to this place? I mean really, he doesn't know anything about me but he's teasing, almost flirting with me here, all while I'm wearing a ring that he's already acknowledged. Suddenly, I find myself saying something I've never thought I'd say to anyone, "Well it depends on your sensibilities I guess."

"What does that mean?" he says entirely intrigued by the color in my cheeks, which is odd because I never blush.

"I do know where to find the best pizza in town but it's not exactly a place you'd expect," I say completely ruining my chances with the company.

"As long as it's not a sushi bar or some Chinese buffet I think I can handle pizza from just about anywhere," Rafe states.

"What about a…never mind, there's a good little mom and pop pizza place down from the university, it'll do just fine," I say losing my nerve. I mean really what was I thinking? I almost told this gorgeous hunk that I'm a cocktail waitress at a strip club, okay maybe an ex-cocktail waitress but still it's not exactly the image I'm trying to portray here.

Thankfully, his phone rings letting me off the hook and he answers it his laughter and lightheartedness disappearing instantly being replaced by a hard, no-nonsense scowl. Yeah, I definitely made the right decision just now. He looks ready to murder someone it seems as he moves further away from me and into the bedroom he'd been using.

Did I mention we were sharing a two-bedroom suite? No, well we are, he'd requested two adjoining suites but there were none and instead took this one. So it's easier to get work done without having to traipse down the hallway was his explanation, and I'm not worried he's going to jump on me or anything like that. I'm not a prude as is evident by my former career, but I am only human and he's a male specimen above male specimens if you know what I mean.

And let me tell you this, him without a shirt on, heart stopping, drop dead on the spot, unbelievable. He is the ideal fantasy that every woman has, and if he ever lost his money, he'd make a fortune as a male stripper. Now there's an image I won't be able to get rid of soon.

My musings are interrupted by his return. The scowl gone, a light smile back on his face, and he stops in front of where I'm sitting in the chair, flipping through the file I know backwards and forwards.

"This unexpected place to find pizza," he says, "it can't be that bad. I mean it's not a strip joint or anything, right?"