Working It (7 page)

She sighed. Come to think of it, he wasn't like any other type of man she'd run into…in this business or any other.

She'd tried to talk to him in the car on the way back, but she'd still been trying to figure out her approach—how to convince him. And he had been sullen and unwilling to communicate, anyway. She had some suspicions there. He said that he'd talk to her later, but he needed food and rest.

She'd let him rest long enough for her to get some food. Then, he'd have to deal with her.

Forty-five minutes later she knocked on his hotel room door, a six pack of beer in one hand, a pizza balanced on the other. She finally kicked at his door when he didn't respond.

“All right, all right,” she heard the muffled reply from the inside of the room. “Just a minute.”

She was going to be calm. She was going to outline exactly what her problems with his methods were, and then discuss how they could work together. They'd eat pizza, drink beer, and hash this all out before they got back into that car tomorrow.

He opened the door. He was wearing jeans, no shirt, and he was rubbing a towel against his wet hair. “All right. Jeez. What?”

Lots of tanned torso. Little drops of water beading on smooth, toned muscle. You could iron on the guy's stomach.

For a minute Jade's mind went completely blank.

“Helloo-ooo?” Drew waved a hand in front of her face, completing her humiliation. “You wanted something?”

Well, not when he put it that way. Jade ignored the way her stomach jittered and her pulse elevated. It might help if her client weren't so damned gorgeous, that's all.

She cleared her throat. “Pizza delivery. Oh, and beer. Hope you like Corona.”

He sniffed the aroma of the pizza, and sent her a little half smile before obscuring his face with the towel as he rubbed at his hair vigorously. “That's nice of you.”

“I'm not nice,” she said. “In exchange, you have to listen to me. More to the point, we need to work on some communication issues.”

He paused, and she could hear the weary sigh muffled through the terry cloth. “Why am I not surprised?”

She put the pizza down on the dresser, then grabbed a slice and a bottle of beer for herself before settling into the room's solitary chair. She watched as he pulled the towel off, his hair damp and tousled. He hung the towel on the rack, and she could see the play of muscles across his back. She saw in the mirror that his jeans were unbuttoned, even though they were zipped. He'd obviously tugged them on in a hurry when he'd gone to get the door.

Wonder if he had time to put on underwear?

She was not a woman who blushed, but her temperature definitely rose. She sternly instructed herself to focus on his face when he turned around. She hated it when people had conversations with various parts of
her body instead of looking into her eyes. She imagined that even men felt the same way.

Drew, on the other hand, had obviously caught her quick visual audit of his body. She caught her breath. His smile was quick, sexy, and his eyes seemed to darken a little.

“See anything you like?”

She ignored the sudden tightening in her chest. When he put his mind to it, he could be downright mesmerizing. If she was any other woman, she'd probably be sitting on his bed and taking him up on the unspoken offer in his eyes.

She frowned. She wasn't any other woman. He was about to find that out.

She popped the top off of her beer and shrugged. “I see a man who bamboozled me out of being present at today's sales call, so no, I can't say I'm too fond of what I'm looking at right now.” She took a pull off of the beer, then stared into his eyes. “How did that go, by the way?”

He scowled, reached for a T-shirt and yanked it over his head. “I don't want to talk about today,” he said, reaching for a beer. “I don't even want to
think
about today.”

“You didn't get the sale.”

He glared at her, then grabbed some pizza. “No. I suppose that makes you happy.”

“Why would I be happy? If you don't get sales, I don't get paid. Neither of us win.” She ate some of her pizza, and he did the same, frowning at her over every slice. Finally she leaned back. “We've got to get on some kind of even ground, Drew. I know you don't think I can help you. And I have to agree—I can't help you if you won't let me.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, frowning. Then he put the beer down on one of the night tables, and stretched out.

She forced herself not to stare.

“I don't think this is going to work out,” he said. “I mean, I didn't think it was going to work out before, and I
know
it's not going to work out now.”

“You don't know that.”

“There wasn't anything you could have done today,” he said sharply, his eyes alight. “If this is the way things are going to go, I don't know that there's anything
I
can do. Can you understand that?”

She stood, looming over his reclined position. “I understand that you're punking out and giving up,” she said in an even voice. “After all of your talk about your factory and your town, I thought frankly that you had more in you than this.”

That got him. He was on his feet in two seconds, again surprising her with his catlike speed. “Don't you ever imply that I don't give a damn about my factory and my workers,” he said, his voice like ground glass.

“Then show me you give a damn,” she said, not backing down an inch. “If you think that nothing I do is going to make a difference, if you think you're screwed anyway, then let me try! I can't hurt anything else. I can only help.”

He was inches from her, and she could see his chest heaving. His fists clenched. “My father signed up with your firm to make himself feel important,” he said. “He was like that. I thought maybe you could make some suggestions to help me. I was grasping at straws—I must have been out of my mind.”

“You know I can help you,” she said. “You're just scared of letting me try.”

“Why? If I really thought you could save these sales, I'd let you run the whole damned thing!”

She felt like shaking him. He was stubborn, too stubborn.

“Fine. Let me have the next one.”

He blinked at her. “What?”

“You think I can only mess things up. You think you're already screwed. Let me have the next sales call.”

He laughed harshly. “You don't even know anything about steel.”

“That's what you're there for.”

He threw up his hands. “This is why I know you can't help me. You think that you can just stand there and mouth a bunch of sales platitudes and they're just going to roll over and give me money? You've got to be delusional!”

“Let me try, damn it.”
She was right up against him. If it were a Western, someone would be running to get the sheriff.

“Fine. You want a shot? In two days, I'm supposed to meet with Norinal Machines. And it'll be all yours.”

She narrowed her eyes. He was giving in—but there was a catch. She could tell. “Seriously?”

“And I won't help a bit,” he said.

“I still get the customer files?”

He motioned to his laptop case. “All yours.”

“Fine.”

“If you don't get it,” he said, crossing his arms. “You're out of here. Rent a car, get a map, and don't stop till you hit Los Angeles.”

She smiled fiercely. “And if I do get it…you listen to me. You start working with me, for real.”

He shrugged. “Deal.” He put his hand out.

She took it, feeling the grasp of his hand, warm and rough against her own. She was staring at him. The intensity of his gaze was overpowering. He looked so fierce, so determined.

“Good luck,” he said, his absence of confidence more than apparent.

“I don't need luck,” she whispered. She noticed he hadn't let go of her hand.

He leaned in, and for a moment she held her breath. She was still furious with him, anger pouring through her, making her heart race. But there was still, under all of it, that attraction—that dumb stupid chemistry that seemed to erupt every time she was near him. It took everything she had not to lean up, not to ravish that stern mouth of his. She didn't feel like this often—actually, she hadn't felt like this before in her life.

“You'll need luck now.” He whispered it, so close that she could feel his breath against her neck.

She stood on tiptoe, feeling her breasts brush inadvertently against his chest. “Just give me the customer files,” she whispered back, “and we'll see how it really goes.”

When she pulled back, he looked shocked. Dazed. Inches away from her.

Then he walked to his bag and pulled out the files. She accepted them silently, then left.

W
HAT THE HELL
were you thinking?

He'd been thinking that he didn't need her help, until her impassioned plea for a chance, and her quiet demand for respect, had triggered something in him. She was easily one of the sexiest women he'd ever met. But her personality kept continually surprising him. She obviously had integrity to go with that razor-sharp smile and savvy. She certainly deserved more than she was going to get out of this deal.

He sat next to her in the plush, obviously newly redecorated lobby. She looked cool, calm and collected, with a plum suit and a brilliant white shirt. She looked both professional and feminine, alluring and competent.

She looked back at him, caught him staring, smiled. “Remember…this one's all mine.”

He nodded. “Wouldn't have it any other way.”

Of course, he knew something she didn't. She didn't have a chance today. And after today, she'd be out of his hair, and more than likely out of his life.

Finally he'd be able to focus on saving his quickly failing business…rather than focusing on the brilliant, beautiful, gutsy woman, who was starting to haunt his dreams and fantasies with an intensity bordering on obsession.

Norinal Machines was only a client because his fa
ther and then his salesman made outrageous concessions to keep them. That would stop today. Of course, he could probably use the cash, but he couldn't afford all the free giveaways that went along with it.

Jade was smiling to herself as she looked over the customer file. If possible, it looked thicker than it had when he handed it over to her. Maybe he should have looked at it a little more closely…

He looked away. No, he knew better. This was a lost cause. If she could pull this one off, then she'd be a miracle worker.

You said you'd give her a chance.

He looked at her again. It wasn't his fault that her chance was the one customer he was guaranteed to lose.

“Mr. Robson? Drew?”

Both he and Jade stood. The purchasing manager at Norinal Machines, a middle-aged man dressed in business casual khakis and a buttoned-up light denim shirt, was walking up to them. “Hi, Skip,” Drew said, holding out his hand.

“Great to see you,” Skip enthused, shaking Drew's hand emphatically. “The annual Robson Road Trip… Just like your old man. Tradition, that's what makes your company great. Speaking of your dad, how is he doing these days, anyway?”

Drew winced. Before he could answer, Jade demurely cleared her throat, giving him an opportunity to change the subject. “Oh, Skip, I wanted to introduce you to a consultant who's working with Robson Steel—this is Jade Morrow. Jade, Skip Morganstern.”

He watched as Skip did a quick perusal, pausing on Jade's long legs and ample breasts. And for a brief
second he imagined himself giving Skip a nice right hook for his trouble.

“Ms. Morrow,” Skip said with a broad smile. “This is a welcome surprise.”

“I hope you don't mind me sitting in on your sales meeting,” Jade said, her voice light and…flirtatious? Drew stared at her. And what was up with her asking permission? She was about as tentative as a cannonball.

“Not at all,” Skip said magnanimously. “Come on in to my office.”

Drew followed as Jade kept up with Skip, asking questions the entire time. Skip was practically bursting the buttons on his chest as he pointed out every bell and whistle the company was famous for. “We've just got a really large contract from the government,” Skip said. “We're heavy players in this industry.”

Drew rolled his eyes surreptitiously behind the man's back. They were fairly large, when it came to Robson Steel. But in the industry? They were barely a blip on the radar screen. The man was obviously just trying to sound important to Jade. And from her corresponding remarks, it sounded as though she was impressed.

And what was going on with that, anyway? She was smart. Couldn't she see that the guy was full of it?

They stepped into Skip's office and sat down. Skip and Jade kept going for a few more minutes. Finally, when they stopped to take a breath, Drew broke in.

“I'm glad we were able to set up this meeting,” he said, bracing himself. Everything would pretty much be going downhill from here, he thought. “I know Norinal Machines has placed relatively small orders with Robson Steel in the past, and you were used to working with my father, but…”

“Drew, before we go into all that…about next year's order.” Skip's voice had grown sly, sort of a just-between-us-guys inflection. “I don't know about this year's order. I mean, things are a lot different than they were last year.”

You can say that again.
Drew gritted his teeth. “What, exactly, is the problem?”

“You've probably noticed the new lobby. Hell, even my office is redone,” Skip said with a smile. “We're moving up. We've got to be more careful than ever about who we use as vendors.”

“Oh, really?” Drew's voice was dangerously low. The guy didn't even notice, just kept going, leaning back in his squeaky-new, black-leather chair.

“We understand that there's some difficulty at your plant. Some
financial
difficulty,” Skip continued smoothly. “That's a bad sign, Drew. Think about it from our side. You have some trouble on the line, you run behind schedule, and that leaves us here at N.M. high and dry. I can't afford that with a big government contract coming. We're going to need somebody reliable.”

“Of course,” Jade said sympathetically.

Drew stared at her. This?
This
was how she thought about helping him?

“I see you understand our position,” Skip said, with only the faintest trace of a leer. “It's a tough business world out there. It's nothing personal.”

Drew felt his temperature rising steadily. “We've never missed a shipment,” he said, his tone turning curt. “We've always been more than reasonable…”

“Now, now! As I said, it's nothing personal,” Skip reiterated, looking nervously at Drew, then turning to
Jade. “We just need to review our options. We'll be talking to other vendors, as well.”

“That makes perfect sense,” Jade said.

Drew was ready to strangle them both.

Now, Skip, obviously feeling confident with Jade in his corner, turned back to Drew…and his smile grew sly. “Of course, we'd love to continue working with Robson Steel. You produce excellent quality merchandise. And you have been pretty timely, no question about that. Maybe, with the right inducements, we could work out a deal.”

Drew was just about to tell him what he could do with his inducements, but Jade leaned forward in her chair. “May I ask a few questions?”

“Of course,” Skip said, although his attention seemed more riveted on the open top button of Jade's blouse than on her queries.

Scum. Total scum.
Drew suddenly felt dirty about the way he'd looked at Jade. But it was different. He knew that Jade was more than just her looks—she'd yanked the rug out from under him enough times to know. What was the likelihood Big Smile Skip would be able to see further than her bra size?

He clenched his jaw, waited until his voice could remain even. “Listen, I think…”

Drew had been about to interrupt, but Jade's look surprised him into silence.

Respect.
She'd wanted respect, a chance to show what she could do. He leaned back in his chair, forcing himself to hold his tongue.

Unless the guy ogles her again. Then, I don't care what she says. I'm clocking him.

“I'm new to this industry, so I just wanted to ask a
few simple questions. First of all, you make airplane and tank parts, right?”

“Just a few of the smaller components for a variety of different machines,” Skip said with a tone of barely noticeable condescension. “I'll be sure to get you a product brochure.”

“That would be great,” Jade said with a sunny smile. Still, Drew couldn't help but notice a quick flash of her eyes.

About time,
he thought.

“Or maybe we could even talk about it at length later,” Skip said suggestively. “How about…”

She stopped him. “Sorry, you did just say you'd gotten a government contract?”

Skip smiled again—Drew used to call it a salesman's smile, but he got the feeling Jade would take offense. Well, Drew had warned her about this one. Still, she was trying.

“We sure did,” Skip bragged. “Our biggest contract to date. It's been a banner year for Norinal Machines.”

She smiled in return.

I think I'm going to gag,
Drew thought sullenly. It was bad enough that they weren't going to get a sale from this. Did he have to sit through this rigmarole?

“Would this be the contract that was reported in the most recent
International Steel News
article?”

Now both Skip and Drew were staring at Jade. Skip's wanna-be seductive grin fell a few notches. “Um, yes. I suppose it was.”

“I'm new at this, as I mentioned.” Jade's face was the picture of innocence—damned woman was all but batting her eyes at Skip. “But didn't that article say this is the first big contract that Norinal ever landed?”

Drew couldn't help it. He grinned as Skip spluttered
and tried to redeem himself in Jade's eyes. “Now, you have to understand, we're moving up now and…”

“I'm not trying to cast aspersions,” Jade said in a comforting voice. “The report was pretty complimentary otherwise. But it did mention that it's a delicate time for Norinal Machines. Any problems with the contract and it could wipe you out completely. It also mentioned that you'd leveraged everything to get the contract, and now…well, I suppose that would suggest you're in some financial straits.”

Skip looked at her, obviously shocked.

I guess your newly redecorated office isn't enough to win the lady over, Skip.
Drew grinned broadly.

“I'd hardly call it financial straits,” Skip said, crossing his arms. A little vein was sticking out on his forehead, Drew noticed.

“I imagine financial reports can be deceiving. And those sorts of articles are designed to put a bad face on things, especially for smaller companies trying to get bigger.”

Drew felt less triumphant. She was being nice to the guy—too nice. Skip was, let's face it, a jerk who was just about to try to hamstring Robson Steel for preferential treatment. What was she getting at?

“I'm glad you understand, Ms. Morrow,” Skip said, his voice grateful.

“Of course. Robson Steel has been getting some bad press lately, as well,” she said neatly. “And you, of all people, should know that they've lived up to their commitments of timely orders, rush orders, all with that same quality.”

“Ah, yes, of course,” Skip agreed.

“And if you changed over to a bigger supplier,” she said, and Drew saw her eyes go a little lower-lidded,
“you might be ignored, and your shipments might be put in jeopardy because you weren't…shall we say, the biggest fish in the pond?”

Skip's eyes widened as the truth of her words hit. “I…hmm. You might have a point there.”

“I'm just saying…smaller companies ought to stick together.” Her lips curved into a friendly smile. “That way, the growth of one helps the growth of the other. It's in both Robson Steel's and Norinal Machines' best interest to continue working together.”

Skip stared at her, then straightened. “And of course, Robson Steel has always had a great working relationship with us. We'd hope to continue with that tradition…”

“We won't be able to give you all the discounts and freebies you've been promised in the past,” Drew said in a flat voice.

Jade shot him a quick glare. He ignored it. This was just a waste of time. Skip would just insist on the usual kickbacks, and Drew wasn't about to give in on that one.

Skip's eyes turned mutinous, and his mouth pulled into a small line. “Well, I still think…”

“The advantages of the working relationship are more than just a few discounts, though, don't you think?” Jade's smile was ingenuous, and Drew watched as Skip was temporarily derailed. “You've bought only relatively small shipments from Robson Steel in the past. Now, you've got a big contract…and you're going to want the best products in the most reliable and quick timeframe. So why would you want to press for a few concessions that really don't mean much, now that Norinal Machines is in the big leagues?”

Skip seemed to mull it over. Then, to Drew's surprise, he started nodding.

“I think,” Skip said, still looking at Jade and almost ignoring Drew completely, “that we'll be able to work something out.”

 

J
ADE SANG
“We are the Champions” in the shower, loud and proudly off-key. The Nevada heat had practically wilted her in her power suit, but in the air-conditioned cold of the conference room at Norinal, she'd scored her first big win for the Robson account. Drew had walked away with a two-year contract to continue providing for Norinal Machines, with no discounts or freebies…and it was a larger order than Robson had ever received. Thank God that steel magazine had a Web site. She'd managed to do a fair amount of research in a short amount of time. She doubted the rest of their clients would be that easy, but the point was, her methods
worked.
Now she had proof.

Drew had certainly been floored. He had barely said a word to her the whole way back from Norinal Machines to their hotel. He'd said he needed a shower, even though he'd looked a lot cooler than she'd felt. He was also a lot more subdued than she was. Of course, he wasn't the one who had just landed the sale.

She'd forgotten how juiced up she got after a win.

So she'd agreed that they both clean up, but insisted that they meet for dinner and get back to work…his next customer was small, but it was probably the perfect testing ground for him to try out a few techniques. Nothing drastic. Still, she was really looking forward to seeing what he could do once he got a few basic sales skills down.