Mac finally broke the silence by nonchalantly saying, “I think we’re done for today. Thank you for coming.” He saw the palpable relief, especially upon the worry-lined faces of his editors. However, as they started to rise from the boardroom table, he had one final trick left in his armory. “Dave?”
The guy looked worried and so he should. “I haven’t gotten around to your circulation figures today.”
“No, sir, Mr. Buchanan.”
“Be in my office first thing Monday morning. We’ll discuss your poor performance in more detail.”
“Yes, of course, Mr. Buchanan.”
“Along with your…future here at Buchanan Enterprises.”
“My…”
“You heard correctly. My office, Monday, seven a.m. sharp. Enjoy your day.” He wouldn’t fire the guy this month, but it didn’t hurt to keep him on his toes. There was always a raft of eager young editors ready and willing to take the place of guys like Dave Watson who’d become flabby and complacent. Like he always said, no one is indispensable.
As Kendall pushed her chair back from the boardroom table and stood, he realized she was taller, and therefore more achingly slender than he’d first imagined. With her heels he reckoned she stood about five ten. Nice. Although his initial one-hundred-and-twenty-pound estimate of her weight remained the same.
“Kendall?”
She turned and stared expectantly at him. “Yes, Mr. Buchanan?” Her voice had that slight husky quality that he’d always found sexy.
“I’d like you to stay behind, please.”
“Certainly, Mr. Buchanan.”
As his three disgraced editors scuttled from the boardroom as quickly as their legs and well-established paunches would allow, followed closely by Marcy, Mac savored Kendall’s stunning appearance once more. She stood about twelve feet from him, and at this distance, just the slightest hint of her expensive perfume remained.
Her elegantly manicured brows lifted slightly. Were those anxiety tells that fleetingly registered on her beautiful face?
“Has my work been unsatisfactory in any way, Mr. Buchanan?”
Mac liked the glimpse of vulnerability that briefly surfaced, but decided to put her at ease, for now. “No, no, honey, your work is just fine.” He gestured with an open hand, encouraging her to take the chair next to his. “I don’t bite. Sit down, relax. I’m not going to chew you out. I just thought we could take a little time to get to know one another better. That’s all.”
She smiled, and he saw her demeanor visibly lighten as she walked toward him, not once relinquishing eye contact. The closer she came, the more impressive her beauty. Her sheer elegance impressed him, walking, or should that be seeming to float across the boardroom floor without any apparent effort. As she glided toward him, her head remained perfectly still, her posture proud and upright. In the short time it took her willowy yet surprisingly womanly frame to occupy the chair next to his, he already knew he wanted to get to know this lady better, much better.
Her full, succulent lips were further enhanced by a sexy red lipstick, and he adored the way her tongue snaked out to apply moisture to their sensuous curves.
He briefly kidded himself that the reason he’d asked her to stay behind was a purely professional one. After all, as her employer he needed to discuss her new position within his company at greater length, right?
Wrong.
At this precise moment in time, he didn’t give a fuck about the world of dry statistics and financial figures that were part and parcel of Kendall’s work at Buchanan Enterprises. No. He’d asked her to stay behind because he needed to be close to her, closer than her seat at the boardroom table had allowed.
Of course, Mac had come across attractive women many, many times in his life, and he’d been more than happy to take advantage of any sexual opportunities that had presented themselves. And why the fuck shouldn’t he? He was a man in his prime—a man with red blood coursing through his veins. However, although he’d only laid eyes on Kendall a half hour ago, there was something about this woman that called to him. Like an irresistible siren luring ships to their doom, she was special, piquing his curiosity to such an extent that he felt compelled to find out more about the exquisite creature that now sat mere inches from him.
She placed an immaculately manicured hand over her mouth, and coughed discreetly. “My weekly reports, Mr. Buchanan. They’ve been acceptable to you?”
“Very.”
His mind was on other things though. Itemized figures and terminally boring profit-and-loss charts were the last things he wanted to waste his energy on. His thoughts inhabited a more carnal level altogether as he fantasized about what lay hidden beneath the practical gray business suit she wore.