All He Really Needs(16)

Generally speaking, he was okay with people thinking he was an ass and a playboy. So why was he annoyed that Sydney believed that, too?

Did he honestly think she somehow looked past the image he’d carefully cultivated to the man beneath? Would he want her to if she could?

It was hardly a fair question.

And Sydney was still standing before him, waiting for his response. And also looking rather nervous. She kept rubbing the pad of her thumb across the edge of her iPad cover as she frowned down at it as if she couldn’t quite figure out where it had come from.

Finally, she straightened her shoulders and said, “If that’s all?”

He pushed himself to his feet and sighed. “You’re right. And I’m not annoyed.” Maybe if he said it often enough, he’d believe it. “I have no reason to be. If I act like a jerk, I have no one to blame but myself if that’s how people see me.”

Her expression was guarded, so he couldn’t tell whether or not he’d placated her when she said, “Fine. I’ll make that appointment for you with Merkins and have a draft of the letter to the officers.”

“And let’s see if we can get the board up here for a meeting by this evening. They’ve all seen that email from Dalton this morning. I don’t want to give them too much time to think about things.”

She had her iPad out again, making notes. After a second, she glanced up. “You might not realize this, but Dalton usually gives at least one week’s notice because several of the board members—”

“Are out of town? Yes, I know. We’ll video conference them in. Before we do anything else, we need to get me confirmed as interim CEO. Promise them it’ll be a short meeting. I don’t want to give them time to debate the alternatives.”

“Very good.”

“Also, I’ll need to meet with Marion this afternoon and let her know I’ve changed positions.”

“Will she expect to move up with you?”

“Probably not. She’s used to coasting by without doing too much work. Besides, we’ll need her to hold down the fort in the office of the VP of International Marketing until we can find someone else to fill that job.”

She nodded, then closed the iPad again.

“Sydney—” he coaxed before she could vanish for good.

But she ignored the tone he’d used.

“Shall I schedule the meeting with Merkins for first thing in the morning? Say, eight o’clock?”

He did a quick mental review of his personal schedule. “Make it nine-thirty.”

“Nine-thirty?” Sydney asked, frowning. “By then, everyone will have been at work for several hours. Gossip will already be spreading. You need to get her on your side straightaway.”

She was right, of course. Except he had a virtual meeting with a bank in Nairobi set up for eight in the morning. It had taken him two weeks to get the financial officer of the bank to even agree to the meeting. Rescheduling it would be a nightmare.

“I have another obligation at eight,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t argue with the note of finality in his voice.

He should have known better. Sydney set her jaw at a stubborn angle and flipped open her iPad again. “You don’t. I took the liberty of having your assistant, Marion, forward your schedule to me earlier. Your morning is free.”

“Marion doesn’t have my complete schedule. I have a phone call to make at eight.”

Sydney blew out a breath as though she was trying to muster her restraint. “Can you push it back?”

“No.” It would be four in that part of Africa as it was. This was the best he’d been able to do.

Sydney pinched her mouth shut but then seemed unable to contain her ire. “You really don’t want to blow this. DeValera will be looking for a way to shut you down. If he gets too much time with Merkins first—”

“Okay, eight-thirty. I’ll try to move my other meeting forward.” And he’d talk really fast.

She must have realized she’d gotten as much as she was going to because she gave a tight little nod. Then she added, “If you want to send me your personal schedule also, then I can put everything on a master schedule. Might make things easier for you.”

“No. Marion never had access to my personal schedule. You don’t need it, either.”

“How can I function as your assistant if I don’t know when or where you’ll be?” she asked, frowning.

“Just run everything by me before you firm things up. That’s how I did it with Marion.”

Her frown deepened and her jaw clenched even tighter. “But I can’t—”

“Marion made it work. So will you. It’s just how I like to do things.”