Vanilla On Top(53)

Maybe Heather would like to see my place. I’ve never taken a woman there. I wonder if it’s too soon. Will she balk if I move faster than she’d like?

I roll over and punch my pillow, too keyed up to sleep and annoyed that I’m confused like a teenager on what to do regarding Heather. What is it about this woman that has me so tied up in knots?

Tomorrow will be a better day. We’ll eat, laugh, make love, and not talk about this merger that has her working like a dog.



The next morning there’s a pounding on my door before I finish dressing. It’s not even seven, way too early for a delivery or maintenance call. I open the door and see Marcus, dressed for work and holding two large to-go cups of coffee.

“We need to talk,” he says, pushing his way past me and heading toward the breakfast bar.

“What the hell, man? You couldn’t wait ‘til I showed up at eight?”

A snort sounds from my old friend while he settles onto a barstool. “Yeah, so you could blow me off all damn day like you did yesterday?” He shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

I close the front door and join him, taking a long sip of the purchased java before speaking. “What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

Marcus sputters on his hot coffee. “Seriously? Where should I start? How about with you ‘entertaining’ Heather in your office after our meeting with Parkerson? She’s smoking hot, by the way. Or with the sudden higher bid you put in yesterday—seven million more? What the fuck? Did you really think finance could sign off on that without approval from Nikko?”

I grimace and look away. I wondered if I’d have a problem with the higher negotiation bid. My hope was it would go unnoticed until next Friday when we’re scheduled to meet with the Parkerson executives again. “I looked over our bid again. Their assets warrant a higher offer if we don’t want them to fight the merger.”

An angry look crosses his face. “Well, your timing was shit. Brian happened to be in our department when it came in. He noticed the significant increase and questioned your methods to Nikko, telling him there’s no need.”

Panic and rage burn through me. If the higher number is turned down, we could very well lose this deal. I have no idea if Heather mentioned our private negotiation to her bosses. But if she did and the offer never comes through, they could hold out for more or become increasingly difficult to work with, making this a truly hostile takeover—which is never fun. “That’s a bad idea, man. It needs to be higher or they will create problems on the buyout.”

“Oh, yeah? And how do you know? Could you perhaps be talking business in the bedroom when you shouldn’t be? Has this woman got you so wrapped around her finger she talked you into more money?”

Heat scalds my skin and I turn to the sink to hide my reaction. “This is the livelihood of hundreds of people we’re talking about.”

“And most of them will keep their jobs when we take over. You’ve never done this last minute change of terms before, what gives?”

Tension tightens my shoulders. I put my coffee down and rinse some dishes to buy myself time. What the hell kind of answer can I give? My gut answer that the company will balk didn’t convince him. I sure as hell can’t say Heather wrung the number out of me during sex play. Even if the company deserves a higher offer, the truth of how the bid came about would nullify it.

I take a deep breath and turn back to my colleague. “Let’s just leave it for now. My instinct tells me if the number is higher we’ll have fewer problems closing this deal.”

His steady gaze unnerves me. “We’ve dealt with hostile takeovers before. Why should one more make any difference?”

I shrug, unwilling to admit that it matters because of Heather. No doubt her office will be looking for final paperwork on the offer soon. If the lower number comes through, she’ll know I didn’t honor our bargain. More importantly, had she told anyone higher up, and would they be expecting a larger deal?

“I’m going to stand by my offer of fifty-two million.”

Marcus looks shocked at my words.

I shrug, grabbing my to-go cup. “If it doesn’t close on the lower offer, I will be the one saying ‘I told you so.’”

“If I were you, I’d be more worried Brian uses this as leverage to shoe-horn himself into the prime negotiator spot and leave you on your ass.”

I’ve nothing to say to that. If my record doesn’t speak for itself at Apollo, then I don’t know what will. I finish getting ready while Marcus waits. We head into the office together and damned if my day doesn’t start off bad and progress steadily down hill. I’m called in for a private meeting with Nikko and Brian. By lunchtime, Brian has sweet-talked Nikko into thinking the offer is too high based on the company’s assets and the owner begrudgingly agrees, allowing Brian to take over the deal. The paperwork for forty-five million goes out to Parkerson.