Silk on the Skin: A Loveswept Classic Romance (18 page)

Ned said nothing. His face was red, and perspiration began to form on his balding forehead.

“Are you asking the company to pay for the damages to your store?” Sheila asked.

“No,” Cass said, looking at the other woman. “I’m asking Ned to. I don’t think he would like this discussed here.” She smiled sweetly. “Would you, Ned?”

“No!” he snapped. He went on more calmly, “We have an important meeting today, Ms. Lindley. I would suggest that
if
you are prepared to attend the meeting, you keep to the business at hand.”

“I believe Ms. Lindley just did,” Dallas said coolly.

Cass glared at him. Now he helps, she thought furiously. She turned back to the others. “My understanding is that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss, among other items, whether or not M & L should make a public stock offering in order to finance a chain of boutiques for the Lusty Lingerie line.”

“That’s correct,” Dallas said, smiling at her.

“I have also been informed that the banks have refused to loan the money for this project.”

“That’s right,” said one of the other stockholders, looking surprised. “And this company is not strong enough to make stock public at this time.”

“That’s only your opinion, James,” Ned began forcefully. “We will need to discuss this at length, so that Cassandra is fully informed—”

“I can attest that Ms. Lindley is well informed on the matter,” Dallas said, pointing to her folder. “Ms. Lindley and I have had several business meetings, and we reviewed the entire company structure at some length.”

Cass refused to allow a smile to crack her face. He had to know that she didn’t have anything in the folder. She also refused to blush at the thought of where those “business” meetings had taken place.

“I think Cassandra has proven that she understands the matter as well as the rest of us,” Sheila broke in, smiling at her.

Cass smiled back. Sheila was an unexpected ally. “Yes. Quite frankly, I believe that offering stock on the market at this time leaves us too much at risk of corporate raiding. M & L could not even begin to ward off a hostile take-over, and in our present financial state we’d be too costly for another company to be willing to bail us out by being a ‘white knight.’ ”

The others nodded in agreement. Dallas grinned. Ned was reddening by the instant.

Thank goodness Dallas had told her all this during their bathtub meeting, Cass thought. It sounded terrific. Like a chess player on the offensive, she pushed on.

“If the Lusty line had produced the expected profits during the last two business quarters, then maybe the boutiques could have been considered. But it hasn’t, and therefore doesn’t merit further expansion.”

“This is much more complicated than you are obviously capable of comprehending,” Ned broke in.

He stared at her. She stared back. She’d be damned before she looked away first.

“Unfortunately, I understand all too well,” she said in a cold voice. “This board would be irresponsible in its duties to this company if it passed the stock question.”

Ned jumped to his feet and slammed his palms down on the table. “You come in here and spout off about responsibilities, when you haven’t bothered with it for years? Just who the hell do you think you are, you scheming bitch? Let’s get this straight now: I run this company, and what I say goes! Everybody here knows that! This board meeting is adjourned!”

Ned glared at each stockholder, as if willing them all to get up out of their chairs in support of him. Nobody moved. Cass saw Dallas lift his eyebrows and smile the tiniest of smiles. She also noted his hands, curled into tight fists of anger.

“I think,” Sheila said in a shaken voice, “that our chairman has proven how little respect he has for this board and this company. I see no other option but to call for him to step down.”

“I second the motion,” said an older man next to her.

“Agreed,” said each of the others, including Dallas.

They looked at Cass.

“Agreed.”

Ned’s face turned sickly white.

Dallas got up from his chair and walked to the
head of the table. He took out a pen and laid it down next to the pad on the table in front of the other man.

“Write out your resignation, Ned, and sign it,” Dallas said. “You will also divest yourself of your stock in M & L.
That
is in your very best interest. Otherwise I’ll make sure the rest of it comes out.”

Ned stared at him.

“Be smart, Ned,” Dallas said in a dangerously low voice. “You’re getting off lightly, and you know it.”

Ned picked up the pen.

As he wrote, Cass heaved a sigh of relief and sank back in her chair. The worst was over. Still, she couldn’t help pitying the defeated man. If only he had acknowledged that his business decisions had been poor, and had taken measures to rectify them, even if it meant stepping down. But he hadn’t. Instead he’d ruined himself through greed and ego. Now he was losing the thing he wanted most. Resigning from the board and divesting himself from M & L was a harsh punishment. But a just one.

When Ned was finished, he threw the pen down on the table, and, with a foul curse to all of them, left the room. Cass knew it was his last attempt at bluster.

Dallas picked up the resignation and folded it in thirds before slipping it into the inside breast pocket of his suit. He excused himself and followed Ned out of the room.

“I hated to do that,” Sheila said, shaking her head. “But we’ve been in trouble here for a long
time.” She looked at Cass. “He did something to you, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Nobody said anything more until Dallas returned. Cass realized that he had made sure Ned left the building. She also realized that everyone was now looking at her expectantly. She swallowed, suddenly nervous. Hell, she thought. It was all over, and now she got butterflies.

“I suppose,” she said slowly, “that we ought to call for a vote on the stock’s going public. All in favor?”

Silence.

“Nay?”

Every hand went up.

Cass smiled. This wasn’t too bad, she thought. “Since we’re voting, I’d like to bring up the question of Lusty Lingerie. I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but I don’t think it’s the right thing for M & L. This company has built its reputation on quality lingerie for the discerning woman. With the more vulgar line, we’ve gotten away from the allure of French lace, the elegance of satin, and the splendor of Chinese silks—”

“Lord,” Sheila said in an awed voice. “What an advertising campaign we could make of that.”

Immediately everyone chattered excitedly.

“Lusty was all wrong for us, and we knew it. But there wasn’t much we could do before, with Ned outvoting us.”

“Phase it out. Sales have been lousy anyway.”

“And BasicWear has always stunk.”

“It has to go too.”

“Definitely. We should concentrate on making
the original line something every woman would pay a fortune to have.”

“Designer originals! A Rudolfo negligee! A Valentino teddy! We license the best names in the business …”

Cass let them talk for a little longer, before she said, “I think we’re all agreed here. Dallas? How long before we can discontinue the other lines?”

“Production can stop at any time, and we can move the cutters and seamstresses over to the original line,” he replied, grinning at her. She found herself grinning back. “But we’ve got a lot of stock still in the warehouses. I’ll need to offer the buyers a huge discount to move the lines.”

“Do it,” she said briskly, then realized she had overstepped herself. She looked at the others. “I’m sorry—”

“You’re doing just fine,” Sheila said, chuckling.

“We could take Lusty to the European market,” Dallas added. “It’s very possible we could sell the rights to the line to another company there.”

“Maybe we should try BasicWear with the military,” said the man next to Dallas. “The damn stuff looks just like army issue anyway.”

Everybody burst into laughter.

Cass felt the enthusiasm in the room surround her, and sensed something awake and alive inside. Lord, she thought. She was enjoying herself—and deeply satisfied at helping to make a company successful. She knew M & L would be successful now. She could actually see the ad campaign Sheila had mentioned. It would be chic, just like the lingerie it promoted.…

She laughed to herself, remembering her thoughts
of a few short weeks ago. It looked like she was in the respectable sex business, after all. Well, she thought, women did like lingerie. Dallas had been right. Business was business, and she enjoyed it.

“We do have one more item of business,” Dallas said as the laughter subsided.

Cass turned her attention to him. She wasn’t quite so angry with him now. But he had been wrong about her coming to the meeting alone. It had been the final decision, made without pressure from him, that had been important.

“This board needs to elect a new chairman,” he went on. “I nominate Cass Lindley.”

“Seconded,” Sheila said promptly.

Cass swallowed back the sudden threat of tears. She wanted the best for the company, but her business heart was with her own store. She had built up WinterLand from nothing to a thriving business, and she desperately wanted to build it again.

“I decline,” she said with a sad smile. “I have a business back home. But I promise not to miss another board meeting.”

Everybody laughed. Except Dallas.

“This company needs a working chairman,” she said more slowly, keeping her gaze steady on him. Something had told her all along that there would be a price for this, and now she knew it was he. “Dallas Carter was hired to turn this company around. I think he ought to do it from the top position. I’d like to nominate him for the chairmanship.”

Dallas stared at her, and the others murmured agreement.

“You’ve had your hands tied long enough here, Dallas,” she said softly as the pain shattered through her. “You were the one who knew exactly what had to be done to stop this company from folding. You brought this meeting off today, not I. We both know that. You would be the best. You’d make M & L the best.”

He was silent for the longest time.

“Not without you, Cass. Marry me.”

“Oh, hell,” she muttered, flopping back in the chair. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Hell.”

Dallas winked at her. “I think I’d be terrified if I heard anything else from you.”

“But I don’t want to give up WinterLand,” she said, wiping the moisture from her cheeks.

“I don’t want you to,” he said. “There’s no reason why I can’t commute. Or, better still, we can split our time between here and your place. Besides, what would you do for crab bait without me?”

“Now, there’s a question,” Cass said, laughing and crying at the same time. The man made perfect sense, she thought happily.

“We can have it all, Cass,” he said, smiling at her. “Marriage, children, M & L, WinterLand. All we have to do is compromise a little.”

She rolled her eyes heavenward. “A little!”

Suddenly she remembered the others in the room. She’d been so caught up with Dallas that she’d momentarily forgotten them. She looked up to discover everyone grinning at her.

“Well?” Sheila prompted. “Are you going to leave our new chairman hanging?”

“I think,” she said, “that I’d be a fool to pass up such a sweet deal.”

Dallas laughed.

“Proposing in front of all those people,” Cass chided much later as she lay with him on his bed. She had instantly liked his coop apartment, and knew she could easily adjust to it as a second home. “It would have served you right if I turned you down.”

“I believe in putting people in a position where they can’t refuse.” He rolled her over until his hips were nestled in the cradle of her thighs. “See? The best of positions.”

Cass pushed against him until he rolled onto his back. She straddled him. “This, Dallas Carter, is the best of positions.”

“I think we have a problem here.”

“I don’t.” She rested her head on his chest. His arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. “We’ll always compromise.”

They had done very well so far, she admitted. Dallas would commute through the summer, when WinterLand was at its busiest, and she would do the commuting during the winter season. She didn’t doubt that there would be compromises within compromises, but she knew they could do it. They were making a lifetime investment in love.

“I was so proud of you today, Cass,” he said, gently stroking her hair. “You were the confident businesswoman all the way through.”

She raised her head. “I was ready for the funny farm by the time I walked into that room. I got caught in traffic, couldn’t find a parking spot for
the Jeep, and security almost didn’t let me into the board meeting. You could at least have told them I was coming.”

Suddenly she was bouncing up and down, and Dallas burst into laughter.

“I’m sorry,” he said, gasping. “I forgot about security. It must have been something for the major stockholder to talk her way past them.”

“Talk!” she exclaimed. “I had to show them my driver’s license, Dallas!”

His laughter doubled, and she eyed him sourly. Oh, hell, she thought, and stretched up to smother his amusement with a deep kiss.

“Dallas,” she said softly when she finally raised her head. “I didn’t need to come to the meeting on my own. I needed to make the decision to come on my own. You were right about my having to do this for myself. My shares in M & L were my responsibility, and I had to face the fact that I had left them too long in someone else’s care. The wrong person’s care. But the responsibility always seemed so overwhelming that I was afraid of doing something wrong. And by not doing anything I did do something very wrong. I plan to make up for that.”

He laughed. “Cass, you completely turned that company around in less than an hour. I don’t think you can top that one. Giving Ned the bill for your store must have scared him half to death that you had some kind of proof against him.”

“It just seemed to me that he ought to pay for the damages to the store,” she murmured, tracing the muscles of his shoulder with a forefinger. She knew getting the money would be a miracle,
but the point had been made, and in front of witnesses.