Romantic Acquisition (11 page)

It was nearly
six o’clock
in the evening
when they finished going through the
Arlington
store.  He called Jeff on his cell phone and questioned him on his findings.  Kate couldn’t hear the replies but Carlo’s expression showed that he was not impressed. 

“Okay, meet me at my place in thirty minutes.  The four of us will go over our findings together over dinner.”

Kate was concerned.  “I guess Jeff found the same situation at the
Maryland
store?”

Carlo nodded.  “What’s up with your boss?” he asked, turning the
Porsche
to the left to head in the opposite direction from Jamison’s headquarters.

Kate sighed and nodded her head, understanding his question and ignoring her supposed loyalty to the company.  She didn’t feel disloyal though.  She loved the store and the company but what she’d heard about David’s management didn’t set well with her. 
“I’m not sure.  I didn’t realize that things were so bad.  My team only does the purchasing.  I don’t think David understands the impact his cost cutting measures have on the stores’ vitality.”

“Do you?” he
questioned sharply
.

Kate was a little taken aback by his question and the anger behind it.  “Of course.  I think all the employees should be treated well, whether they work in a corporate environment or any other.”

“What else do you see about David’s management style?”
he asked as he turned sharply to the right to get ahead of a minivan. 

Kate considered that question for a long moment.  “I can’t see any blatant trends but things are going a little sour even at the headquarters level.  The amount of office politics that seem to be floating around is getting a bit out of hand.  And it tends to be a little petty as well.”

Carlo nodded and Kate must have said the right thing.  His anger dissipated with her observations. 
“I’ve seen it too.  The people working for David complain about decisions in the kitchen while getting a cup of coffee or heating up their lunch.”

Kate
agreed
.  “I guess when it gets to that level, people are pretty unhappy.”

He glanced at her quickly before turning her attention back to navigating the rush hour traffic. 
“What would you do about it?”

“Oh, my.  You ask a lot of difficult questions.”  Carlo was pulling into an underground parking garage.  “The first thing I would do is give back all the benefits that have been taken away.  There’s no reason someone working forty hours a week should not have health insurance.  I think even part time people, maybe those working twenty hours or more should have benefits.”

“Good start.  What else,” he asked and shut down the engine but didn’t move to leave the car.

“Maybe talk to them more.  David doesn’t like to dirty his hands with the riffraff.  But from what I heard today, there are some great ideas from the workers.  Many of those ideas made a lot of sense.”

“And?”

They were getting out of the car and Carlo led her to the elevators.  He put in a key and the doors opened immediately.  “I’m not sure.  I’m guessing you have a suggestion but I’m not heading in the right direction.”

Carlo smiled, but it was a tight smile.  “No, you’re heading in the right direction with the comments suggestion, but expand it a little more.”

The elevator doors opened to an immaculate apartment.  But it was all decorated in white.  There was a white sofa, white carpeting, white curtains.  The only relief from the white was a long black coffee table in front of a black stone fireplace.  “
Wow!
  This place needs some color,” she said immediately.   She regretted her comment when Carlo turned and stared at her.  “Sorry, your decorating is none of my business,” she said and put her purse on a white, marble table. 

“Can Sarah be trusted?” he asked, not mentioning her color comment. 

“Absolutely.  She’s my personal assistant.”

“So she won’t go back and discuss anything she hears tonight with the management at Jamison’s?”

“No.  She’s not a huge fan of David’s so she keeps her distance.”

“Is there another possible reasons she stays away?” he called back as he headed into another room.

Kate followed him, curious to see the other areas of Carlo’s home.  She froze in the kitchen, sure she had just entered a sterile zone.  The cabinets were all white with frosted glass panels.  The countertops, stove, refrigerator and ovens were all stainless steel.  Even the toaster blended in.  There was some great lighting that was hidden in very precise and strategic places.  But in Kate’s opinion, this was not a room to make cookies or try out a new recipe as she liked to do occasionally.  This was a room a hospital would envy. 

“
Whoa
!” she
whispered
, still standing in the doorway.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, picking up the phone and dialing.

Kate regrouped and closed her mouth.  “Nothing,” she said, but he’d caught her shocked expression.

He chuckled at her attempt at tact. 
“I guess you don’t like my kitchen either.”

Kate shrugged her shoulders.  “It just isn’t my style,” she said diplomatically.

Carlo smiled at her
feeble attempt at being sensitive
.  “Translated, that means you hate it,” he said then spoke into the phone.  “I’ll need dinner for four,” he said to someone.  He nodded then covered the mouthpiece.  “Is beef okay with you?” he asked. 

“Sure,” she said, assuming he was ordering Chinese. 

“Beef is fine.  All the usuals.”

A moment later, he hung up the phone and walked towards her.  “So you don’t like my living room, you don’t like my kitchen, and yet you shiver each time I get close to you.  Very curious.”

Kate was wary of the look in his eyes.  She turned and walked back into the living room, putting as much space as possible between them.  “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.  It just isn’t my style,” she clarified.

“What would you do differently?
” he asked, still stalking her with a small smile on his face.

Kate was walking backwards, not wanting to take her eyes off him.  “I don’t know, maybe just some flowers somewhere
,” she said, waiving her hand at the room in general.  “
Something that isn’t white.”

“Flowers are nice,” he said and looked around the room.  “Where would you put them?”

“Anywhere,” she laughed, glad that he wasn’t offended.  “
Just break up the whiteness.”

“The whiteness?  Is that even a word?” he
chuckled
. 

He’d gotten to about a foot away from her when her legs backed up to the end of the sofa.  She was trapped.  “I don’t know,” she said, her eyes moving to his mouth. 

“What else?” he said, his voice husky as he stopped, standing directly in front of her.  If she moved an inch, she’d be touching him. 

“Pillows,” she said, licking her lips. 

“Pillows?” he asked, his eyes looking at her facial features.  “Why would I want pillows?”

“Color.”

“Ah, just the simple color.  Shouldn’t everything in life be so simple?”

“Nothing is that simple.”

“Sure it is
,” he countered, his gaze not wavering from hers.  “
You look around, you say flowers and pillows.  How hard can that be?”

She thought frantically. 
“Well, there’s going out and shopping for pillows, the flowers die and have to be replaced
periodically
.  There are issues with everything,” she said, not really understanding what she was saying but muttering off the top of her head.  Her mind was on the smell of his aftershave, evident even this late in the day. 

“There aren’t any issues with me kissing you, are there?”

“Yes,” she said immediately.

“What are they?”

Kate tried to think, but her mind didn’t want to.  She wanted to be kissed.  She wanted to feel the passion bur
n
ing within him.  She had been wondering all day if he was still interested in her but he’d shown no reaction to their closeness in the car.  Now that she knew, now that he wanted to kiss her, she couldn’t think of any good reason to stop him.

“I don’t know,” she finally said.

With those words, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him, his mouth covering hers with his own, his lips moving sensuously over hers in an urgent need to taste and feel. 

Kate couldn’t hold back.  She understood now that she’d wanted this all day.  She never wanted him to stop kissing her.  Her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck, her mouth opening immediately to deepen the kiss. 

Carlo’s hands slid from her waist to her back, then lower, cupping her bottom with his hands, sliding down the back of her thigh and lifting her leg against his hip.  He moved closer, his body taking over the space hers had just occupied.  His body reacted immediately to her scent and her obvious need for him. 

Suddenly he stopped and
backed
up.  “Jeff and Sarah are here,” he said and stepped back, holding her steady while she regained a sense of awareness. 

The elevator doors opened up a few minutes later and Jeff smiled, entering the room while Sarah trailed behind him.  “I guessed you two would beat us here.  Interesting day, I’m
thinking
,” he said and dropped his notes onto the white marble coffee table. 

Sarah also sat down and put her purse beside the sofa.  “Kate, I’m not sure if you knew all this, but apparently, there are some pretty unhappy people in that store,” she said. 

Jeff nodded and Carlo came around the sofa to sit down.  Kate followed but it took her much longer to focus on the conversation. 

Fifteen minutes after Jeff and Sarah arrived, the elevator dinged again.  Kate didn’t know what it was initially until Carlo looked back at the elevator and announced that dinner had arrived.  A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened and a uniformed doorman appeared with several bags. 

“Thanks, Jim,” Carlo said as the man disappeared into the kitchen. 

“Let’s eat,” he said and everyone stood up and headed towards the kitchen. 

Kate was shocked when she entered and saw what had been ordered.  There was braised beef with au gratin potatoes, asparagus with creamy hollandaise sauce and three bottles of wine. 

Carlo handed everyone a white plate and the foursome loaded up their plates with the gourmet meal.  They ate and talked around the coffee table, sipping the excellent wine and throwing out the pros and cons for buying, and turning around the morale of Jamison employees. 

They brainstormed for
over an hour, coming up with a
plan of action.  By
ten o’clock
, Carlo looked at Jeff.  The two men sent a silent signal and nodded.

“Okay, the deal is still on, at least until we discover any other issues,” he said.

Kate looked astonished.  “You mean, you were about to call off the whole deal because of this issue?”

“Yep.  Taking on employee morale is not a small task.  Employees who are unproductive make a company unprofitable.”

“Yes, but…” Kate stammered.  She didn’t want
ATI
to buy out Jamison’s, did she?  She was against this sale.  Why had she just saved the deal?