The Seduction Plan (11 page)

“They’ve been very good to me now that I’m out of that other division,” he said with a sneer. Lana assumed he was talking about his previous boss, but didn’t want to raise the question, for fear that the litany of complaints would start once again. She didn’t have the time, nor the interest, to hear them all over again. “What are you up to? Working hard?” he asked, his eyes glancing down at her laptop computer case.

Lana shifted the somewhat heavy weight on her shoulder and smiled back at him. “Yes. I took my break. I have to get back to work.”

His face showed his lack of appreciation for her previous job, the sneer obvious as it moved across his soft, fleshy lips. “Receptionist work? Can’t be all that thrilling or challenging. Especially if they keep you on a tight string like this. I can come and go when I want and don’t have to answer to anyone. Why don’t you get a real job? Or are you not yet qualified for anything better?” he sneered.

Lana thought for a moment, staring at his contemptuous face and almost laughed. When she realized that he was miserable and trying to put her down, bring her down to his level of misery, she shook her head. “Drew, I’m sorry you have such an awful life but please don’t make others feel badly about their work, regardless of whether you think it is beneath you.”

He chuckled but it was a malicious sound. “So you are still a measly little receptionist.” He sat down in the seat she’d just vacated. “You know, you may want to talk to Andrea,” he said, referring to the woman he’d left her for. “She might be able to help you out and get you a better kind of job. Something that pays better. She’s doing pretty well for herself.” He named a figure that was less than half of what she’d pulled in last year.

Lana smiled politely but didn’t rise to the bait. “I’m glad she’s happy. Thank you for the offer but I’m doing okay on my own. Although I appreciate your concern,” she said, regardless that she knew his concern wasn’t sincere but simply another way to try and make her feel inferior.

He smirked and shrugged. “You never were very grateful for any of the advice I gave you. If you’d listened to me, maybe we’d still be together. I never would have looked outside of our marriage if you hadn’t been frigid.”

Lana took a deep breath and smiled. This time, her face was filled with joy but she didn’t tell him about Victor. Drew wasn’t worth the effort of conversation but she owed him the social niceties simply because she didn’t want to lower herself to his level of pettiness. Instead, she nodded as graciously as possible under the circumstances. “I’m sure I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I’d listened to you.”

Without another word, she pushed her computer into her carry-all bag and walked away, head held high and shoulders back, incredibly proud of what she’d accomplished with her life since he’d left her. There were no backwards glances and she felt confident, both inside and out and she owed it all to Victor.

She walked happily back to her apartment, thinking not about Drew but about Victor and her book’s plot, how she would work the difficult scene she’d just encountered and what the conversation should be between the two main characters. As she walked and thought, the impetus she’d been feeling earlier, before Victor’s call, started to return. As soon as she closed the door to her apartment, she sat back down at her desk and logged back onto her computer, pulling up the manuscript. Just as it had before, her fingers started flying over the keyboard. It was as if the magic were back and it was only because she’d been thinking about the man.

She worked happily until midnight, not even realizing that the time had been passing by. By the time she’d finished the scene, her back was sore from sitting up straight for so many hours and her stomach growled, protesting the lack of food.

Lana shut down her computer and smiled while she heated a bowl of soup in the microwave. Her last thought before she fell asleep was about Victor, wondering if he was getting enough sleep or if he was pushing himself too hard. She smiled but still cautioned herself to not become too connected with him. This relationship, whatever one might call it, was only temporary. She had to keep reminding herself of that fact and keep herself safe from the hurt that would inevitably come when they parted ways. Chapter 11

Victor called her first thing in the morning while she was making her coffee and pouring a bowl of cereal, her mind dreamily working through a funny conversation in her book. She was walking around in her pajamas when the call came through and she just assumed it was Nancy since her editor hadn’t called in several days to check in. Nancy wanted to know when Lana’s next book would be ready and was impatient for more details. Lana had been sending her chapters as she finished and Nancy was demanding the next chapter. It was flattering that Nancy was so eager and it helped drive Lana to finish the chapters as quickly as possible. She didn’t even bother to edit the manuscripts as she went, just getting the plot down on the paper, knowing she could edit them later on. The creativity was flowing too quickly right now to slow down and fix the nitty gritty details.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Victor’s deep, chocolaty voice came through the phone.

“Victor?” she asked sleepily, her hand stilling in the process of scooping coffee into the filter. “Where are you?” she asked, instantly awake. Victor’s voice was definitely better than a caffeine jolt.

“I’m in London but I’ll be finished with my meetings by tomorrow night at the latest. Are you free for the weekend?”

 

Lana laughed. “When was the last time I wasn’t available?” she joked.

“I could say the same,” he rejoined. “You’re like a drug and I can’t get enough of you.” He sighed and Lana could hear the weariness in his voice. “Okay, since we’re both free and I’m thinking about your luscious, sexy body against mine, pack a bag. Jimmy will drive you to my office and we’ll leave from there. Bring your passport.”

Her hand stilled in mid-air, coffee grounds spilling slightly onto the counter. “Passport?” That was definitely not what she was thinking about. A date, perhaps. The opera or a nice restaurant but packing a bag? And leaving the country? This was a whole new level that she’d never even thought of approaching with Victor. “Where are we going?”

“Hmmm….some place where I can have you all to myself for several days without interruptions. I’m planning on having my wicked way with you so be prepared,” he chuckled. “Pack for hot weather.”

She smiled into the phone and sighed happily. “Sounds perfect.” She didn’t care where they were when he talked like that. Her mind was already sifting through her summer wardrobe, which had been packed away only a couple of months before, to figure out what should be brought on a weekend with one’s new lover. “I’ll be ready.”

Lana quickly finished making a pot of coffee and settled for toast for breakfast since it was faster. She didn’t even bother putting butter on it since that would only slow her down. She wanted to finish the chapter this morning because a shopping expedition was definitely in order.

She spent the morning writing, then wandered through shops, finding great bargains on several summer outfits since the season was long gone. She loved imagining Victor’s expressions when she stepped out in some of the outfits. It was exciting to shop when there was almost guaranteed approval, she thought, smiling as she picked up a bikini and moved off to the fitting rooms.

At five o’clock the next day, Lana was packed up, her passport ready and available in her purse. She’d looked at it earlier and, sadly, knew there weren’t any stamps in it. She’d gotten it in anticipation of her honeymoon since Drew had been talking about going to some tropical island and relaxing. He’d definitely surprised her when they ended up going to Vermont for a long weekend. Since she’d only packed bathing suits and shorts with short sleeved shirts, she’d had to quickly buy a pair of jeans and a jacket for the long weekend in the colder climate of a northern climate.

Jimmy knocked on her door and she happily followed him. The man was very sweet, not allowing her to carry her own bag even though it wasn’t very heavy. She brought her computer, not sure if Victor would have to work. But she was doing so well on her book she didn’t want to miss an opportunity to work on it, or lose any ideas that might pop up while being in Victor’s company for an extended period of time.

As soon as she arrived at the airport, she saw Victor. Jimmy didn’t take them Kennedy airport but instead, she noticed they were going to a smaller, private airstrip slightly outside of the city. Jimmy pulled to a stop and Victor started walking towards the car. Lana got out of the back and started walking towards him, trying to appear casual. But by the time she was halfway there, she felt her feet flying underneath her and she ran into his arms. The smile he gave her warmed her heart and Lana had to repeat what she’d been telling herself for the past several days; this was only temporary and don’t get too involved. Unfortunately, Victor’s mouth covered hers in a kiss that matched her passion and obliterated all the warnings her mind was trying to give her.

“You look beautiful,” he said softly, holding her against him as he looked down into her soft, blue eyes. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes!” Lana gasped and then thought better of it. “I mean…of course,” she faltered, knowing she’d probably revealed too much in that one word and tried to back track.

“Nope,” he replied, shaking his head and grabbing her hand to guide her toward the waiting plane. “I’m not letting you take it back. I’ve been thinking of you almost constantly and missing important issues during meetings so it’s only fair that you’ve felt the same way.”

Lana laughed and relaxed, glad that he’d said something along the same lines as she was thinking. “Were your meetings successful?” she asked, not wanting to intrude on an area of his life that he might not want her to know about, but still curious about almost every aspect of this man.

He smiled and pulled her closer as they walked toward what she suspected was a private airplane. It was smaller than normal, but still had about ten windows on the outside. “Very. I just bought out Lovelan Cosmetics.”

Lana stumbled on the bottom step of the stairway. If he hadn’t been right behind her to catch her, she was pretty sure she’d have fallen down. “Excuse me?” she asked, turning to look up at him, her heart catching at his triumphant grin that spread across his face.

“I bought Lovelan Cosmetics. You know the line. I’ve seen that you wear some of their products.”

Lana blinked, unable to understand what he was really telling her. “You bought the whole company? All the factories and all the little bits and pieces of mascara and such? Or do you mean you bought some stock in the company?”

Victor laughed and pulled her against him. “I mean, I bought the whole company. At least controlling interest. It was a long shot, but they have some great products that are going to shoot the profits through the roof in the next year. It will be a great investment but I might need to clean out some of the upper management that’s been hurting the distribution centers.”

She continued to stare at him. “Huh,” was all she could get out of her stunned mind. She couldn’t wrap her mind around Victor being so wealthy that he could buy an international cosmetics company that was famous for so many different products. It was a little intimidating but she wasn’t sure why it was such a surprise. Victor’s penthouse alone was indicative of his vast wealth. She just didn’t like the idea that he was so out of her league.

Lana didn’t see the man in the dark blue suit until he was right next to them. “Excuse me, sir,” he said, one hand extending out an envelope. “I was told to hand this to you by Phil Mitchels,” he said, his voice apologizing for interrupting.

Victor looked down at the envelope and took it, barely glancing at the other man as he handed the envelope over to one of the flight attendants that was standing just inside the doorway to the plane. “Fax this to Barry at my office and tell him to put the numbers into the spreadsheet and send the file to me. I’ll look at the details later.”

Lana vaguely recognized the emblem of the publishing company Nancy worked for. “Don’t tell me you’re buying out Century Publishing as well, are you?” she gasped, looking into his eyes for confirmation.

Victor’s eyes snapped back to hers. “Why would you say that?” he asked, putting a hand to the small of her back and encouraging her to walk up the stairs to the plane.

Lana walked up the stairs, her mind swirling with the details of what he’d told her. Victor had bought out a company? No, surely she had misunderstood. He’d bought only the stock. But controlling interest? She wasn’t financially savvy enough to know what that meant but she suspected, from previous news reports, that different kinds of financial interests had switched hands; stocks, cash, other incentives.

And what kind of interest did he have in the publishing company? And if he did have an interest in the company, how much of one? Was the company still in trouble? Would there be additional changes required of accepted manuscripts? The idea was a little frightening.

She didn’t have time to ponder that question since she was asked to fasten her seatbelt for takeoff. Things were a little crazy for the next fifteen minutes until they became airborne. As soon as the pilot switched off the fasten seatbelt light, Victor stood up and walked to her seat, pulled her out of it, then sat back down, pulling her onto his lap. He immediately took her earlobe between his teeth and that was the last thought Lana had about any corporate takeovers.

They touched down on an island filled with tall hotels, long sandy beaches and palm tress, and immediately boarded a helicopter that took them to the coast. Thankfully she wasn’t afraid of heights but the speed by which the helicopter took them across the city was a little overwhelming. Lana’s mind was still reeling when they walked onto an extremely fast motor boat that zipped them along the water, skimming the aqua blue sea into an unknown world. She still didn’t know where they were going and since Victor had his own plane, actually a fleet of planes he used for business she found out later, she wasn’t able to look up their destination on the tally board when they entered any of the buildings as they moved from one conveyance to another.