Boardroom Proposal Read online

  Eve swivelled in her chair, staring directly at her friend. “Listen, kiddo, the answer is no, no, no. I’m prepared to swear it on a stack of bibles.”

  “You’re not a bit of fun,” Lisa said cheerfully. “If I was smart enough to get that job I’d make it my number one priority. I won’t make the horrible mistake of opting for a career. I want to meet Mr. Right. But it has to be a man with a lot of clout.”

  “You’ll meet him eventually.” Eve smiled, thinking Lisa in the end would always follow her heart. “As for Drew Forsythe! I’m going to TCR to do a job.”

  “Even you mightn’t be able to keep your mind on it.” Lisa grinned. “Oh, this is fun.” She gave Raymond, busy mixing up some concoction, a bright wave. “I can’t wait to see the transformation.”

  Over an hour later the transformation was complete.

  “Boy, the guy who said gentleman prefer blondes got it right,” Lisa cried, startled. “Suddenly you’re Michelle Pfeiffer.”

  “That sounds okay to me.” Eve who had never spent so much time in a hairdresser’s chair, fluffed out her crushed collar. As amazing as the results were, she had found the whole process an ordeal.

  Lisa stood up, bent closer to the mirror, looking from Eve’s reflection to her own. “You really like it?”

  “It’s very nice. I have to get used to it.”

  “But you look terrific. The truth is I’m jealous.”

  “I don’t think so.” Eve smiled. “You look great every single day of your life.”

  “Yeah, I do. But don’t think it’s not difficult. Running to the gym!” The petite Lisa shook her cropped dark head. “Why can’t I be skinny like you?”

  “I think it has something to do with your mother being a really great cook,” Eve said, laughing.

  “Which reminds me. You and Ben are invited around to a barbie tomorrow evening. Nothing special. Just family and a few friends. I might even get to talk to Ben. I guess if I levelled, I’m really in love with him but he’s so young!”

  “And he’s got years of study to complete,” Eve said with just a flicker of severity.

  “I think you enjoy playing Mum,” Lisa teased her, then flushed in embarrassment. “You know what I mean, Evie,” she added quickly.

  “Sure I do,” Eve reassured her friend, not upset by her reference to Eve’s having adopted the mothering role. “When he’s Doctor Benjamin Copeland, M.D., you’re in the running.”

  At the counter Eve produced her credit card, thanking Raymond again.

  “Come to me in another fortnight,” he said. “We have to keep the length just as it is. I enjoy transforming ladies. It makes me feel powerful.”

  “It must also make him rich,” Eve muttered as they walked out into the mall. “He must need to hire an armoured car to get the takings to the bank. That cost me an arm and a leg.”

  Lisa let out a bark of a laugh. “My dear, you’ve no idea what it’s done for you. The difference is remarkable.”

  “The thing is I’m not really a Barbie doll,” Eve said a little warily as a complete stranger with several rings in his right ear, walked past her and said, “Hi!”

  “Heck, no.” Lisa nodded and took her friend’s arm. “You’ve got too much class.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  TWO weeks later Eve rode in the lift to her new office at TCR, trying quietly to gauge the effect her stylish new image was having on her fellow workers. The men were openly fascinated. The women’s critical eyes told her she had passed the test. Weeks later and she still wasn’t used to the shoulder-length swirl of dull gold hair around her face. She didn’t think she would have kept to the style, only Ben told her she looked like a billion dollars and she would be mad to change it. The slick two-piece suit she was wearing, one of three she and Lisa had chosen, courtesy of a small personal bank loan, had a single-breasted long line jacket over a short narrow skir with a white silk tank beneath. Her only jewellery was her mother’s good earrings, pearl domes surrounded by a halo of gold. Her smart leather court shoes and bag matched her suit in a shadowy kind of charcoal, which Lisa assured her was a stylish alternative to black. So she was dressed at least to storm the corridors of power the rest was up to herself.

  Sara Matheson, Drew Forsythe’s secretary, an elegant middle-aged lady with rather an elaborate makeup and cyclone-proof hairdo, was on hand to greet her and direct her to her corner office, waiting while she settled in.

  “Add any little touches you like,” Mrs. Mathesor said, waving a manicured hand. “Photographs, personal mementos, flowers, that kind of thing. You’ll spend so much time here you’ll want to make it livable. The indoor plants are all supplied.” Another wave towards the lush white flowering anthuriums. “They’re changed regularly.”

  “This is wonderful. Thank you.” Eve sat at her desk, delighted by the whole arrangement. The space, when formerly she had been so cramped, the quality of natural light, the view, the large sectional leather sofa that filled one corner of the room with a long, low coffee table before it. She hoped it was for the use of colleagues when they dropped in to contribute ideas. Or steal them.

  “Mr. Forsythe has an early morning appointment but he’s due in around ten.” Sara Matheson busied herself rearranging trade magazines. “In the meantime I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team. Jamie Foster will be dropping by to bring you up to date. You’ll like him, Eve, and you’ll need him for a while. The boss sets a cracking pace, so you’ll have to keep up.”

  Introductions went off well except for one rather sharp-tongued young woman Eve suspected correctly had been after her job. Eve had encountered the type before. Ability not matching up to ambition. Ah, well...she couldn’t win ’em all. She was sequestered in her office making an intelligent effort to acquaint herself with some of the files in the cabinet when Drew Forsythe walked down the carpeted corridor to tap on her door.

  “Hello, Eve,” he said.

  She quietly laid down her pen, covering a sharp stab of emotion she refused to acknowledge.

  “Mr. Forsythe.” She came to her feet.

  A minute stretched into two. Three. An eternity.

  “Sit down. No need to stand up.” He came in, shut the door behind him. “You seem to have made the adjustment to high profile,” he observed, an intrigued, slightly amused look in his eyes.

  She shrugged it off lightly as if the transformation was of little consequence. “I was just trying to catch up on some files.”

  “Fine. Jamie will be able to give you a lot of help, but the project we need to work on is one I touched on lightly at your interview.”

  “You mean, the one dear to your father’s heart?”

  It was almost, not quite ironic and a poor choice of words because his teak brown gaze suddenly glinted. “Exactly. I can tell you aren’t going to be dull. But I don’t want to discuss it here. Come down to the conference room in about fifteen minutes. Jack Riordan, our environmentalist, will be sitting in with us. He’ll brief you on environmental complications.”

  Over the next couple of hours Eve learned about Sir David’s pet project, a science study research centre into rainforest plants combined with a small but world-class resort. The proposed offshore resort, to be located on the coast between the North Queensland rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef Islands, would fund the whole operation and make it commercially viable to the very tough businessmen on the TCR board.

  “And what do the rings on this map stand for?” Eve asked, turning it more towards her.

  “The large green one is the land we’ve acquired,” Drew Forsythe explained. “The two smaller ones represent acquisition targets. The area outlined in red belongs to a local grazier. Until now he’s held out, but we have reason to believe he’ll sell if we up our price. The area ringed in blue belongs to Elizabeth Garratt. She used to have quite a career as a stage actress. Pretty reclusive now. She’s refused to sell. To win her over is crucial. This is a science centre but it needs the resort to finance it. Once feared toxins are n
ow at the cutting edge of medical research and many of the toxins under investigation come from the trees and plants of our rainforest. Our policy is to conform strictly to the environmental ethic.”

  “Have you approached Mrs. Garratt with that?” Eve asked.

  He glanced down at her with a wry smile, pleased with her quickness and intelligence. “Jack tried, but so far no one has been able to get to her. As I say, she keeps very much to herself since her husband died.”

  “That’s sad,” Eve murmured spontaneously.” She must be assured no deterioration of the rainforest will take place.” Eve checked the map. “There are in-built safeguards to point out. It’s a very sensitive region. I can understand her concerns about a resort but she’s not really aware of our proposal until we talk to her. The research station is potentially of great benefit to mankind. Our tropical rainforest is the most luxuriant diverse and complex plant community on earth. We’ve only begun to touch on the medical wonders of the plant life.”

  “You’ll have to speak to my father.” Drew Forsythe smiled at her enthusiasm. “I’ll introduce you when he gets back from Indonesia. Actually—” His expression became thoughtful. “You might be just the one to get through to Elizabeth Garratt.”

  “It’s certainly an idea.” Now Jack Riordan eyed Eve, his rather worn, clever face creased up with speculation. “She might take more kindly to an intelligent young woman who looks so utterly trustworthy.”

  “I can’t tell her anything that’s not true.” Eve’s expression was light but serious.

  “Hardly.” Drew Forsythe raised his black brows. “We operate up front. But you can’t tell everyone everything , Eve.”

  “I appreciate that,” Eve said quietly.

  “Anyway, you have my absolute assurance we’re not into abusing anyone’s trust. Think you could do it?” Drew queried.

  “Speak to Mrs. Garratt?”

  “In that nice calm style of yours.” His dark eyes both approved and mocked.

  “Certainly.

  Jack grinned across the broad mahogany table. “Sounds like you’ve got a top negotiator here.”

  “That’s one of the reasons she’ll get to talk to the lady. TCR is fully conscious we have to walk a very fine line, Eve. What we are planning with our resort is a very minimum of interference with the natural environment. Forests once lost can never be regained, but most of the abuses have been stopped. We’ve had to change direction with mineral exploration development ourselves. What we’re planning is a tourist retreat in one of the last remaining great wilderness areas in the world. The research centre, funded from this, we believe could have enormous potential for medical science. This has been my father’s dream and I’m going to see it realised.”

  “It wasn’t my intention to sound negative.” Eve looked up at him, feeling his determination and power.

  “Listen, I expect you to speak your mind. I also expect you to hear what I say. Jack, here, will have his department deliver a series of mini reports to you, which you’ll have to study in detail. It will need a whole lot of work to pull the thing together. Your job, Eve, will be in the area of co-ordination. Mine will be to sell the concept to the board. Not all of them are in favour of the science study center in case it drains off too much money. The resort has to be a winner. You may get a chance to use your charm on Mrs. Garratt early next month. That’s when Jack and I will be heading north. You might as well come along for the ride.”

  The weeks flew. Eve set her alarm for half an hour earlier, rising at six fixing breakfast for herself and Ben, dashing under the shower for a few minutes, dressing herself swiftly in her new clothes. She no longer felt strange with her new image. She didn’t have the time. Stunningly sexual as Drew Forsythe was, he didn’t look at her with anything but a friendly and at times sharply demanding eye. Here was a boss who kept his team on the boil. When he asked for something, he expected it to be delivered. In detail.

  Eve worked harder than she ever had in her life, but the excitement was always there. The challenge. It was exhilarating to be constantly tested. As a boss, Drew Forsythe gave her her best ever opportunity to use her talents. In fact some of his scintillating vitality was spinning off on her. She was finding out things all the time, learning from Jamie Foster, who turned out to be a very agreeable young man with a kind of sweetness to him that reminded her of Ben. She was vaguely aware he was attracted to her, but her head was so full of doing her job nothing much outside of delivering the goods to her boss seemed to click. In a way she treated Jamie very much as she treated Ben, with a gentle charm and a subtle touch of Big Sister.

  “It’s about time we had a meal together, isn’t it?” Jamie suggested one evening, closing his eyes and stretching his long arms. It had gone on seven and they still hadn’t left the office.

  “Just give me a couple more minutes,” Eve implored, busy working out costing on an interim report. Overtime was a regular part of the job but she could never complain about the pay. TCR took care of its own. And they took care of Ben. For the first time since their father had left them, the financial pressures were beginning to ease.

  “So, still sitting here, Jamie?” Drew Forsythe came out of his office further down the corridor stopping as he often did for a casual chat. He sat on the edge of Eve’s desk so damned handsome and vibrant it was hard for Eve to drag her eyes away. He had taken off his jacket, flipped up the cuffs of his pale blue shirt, loosened his dark red small-patterned tie. Fine curls of dark hair showed high on his chest. Fine dark hair on his arms. His gold watch glinted on his bronze wrist. He was intensely, intensely masculine with a potency that made the attractive Jamie with his fair good looks appear boyish and immature.

  Jamie unaware of Eve’s thoughts laughed. “I’m trying to get Eve to join me in a meal. But she won’t come until she finishes off everything for you.”

  “Here, what are you working on?” Drew reached out a hand, his fingers touching Eve’s as she passed it to him, sending out the now predictable little shock. She didn’t know what it was but it felt exactly like an electrical current.

  He looked down, read for a moment. “This is good, Evie. You’re an ideas woman.”

  When had he started calling her Evie? It sounded so lazy and seductive, she swallowed. How the hell did anyone get to be like that?

  She glanced up, a trace of hostility mixed up with the gratification in her green eyes. “I really wanted to finish it before you saw it.”

  “No, this is fine.” He watched her for a moment. He held the sheafed pages of Eve’s report, seeing the flicker of reaction but remaining tolerant. Even curious. “There’s probably enough here already.”

  “She’s a very willing worker.” Jamie spoke out in friendship and admiration.

  “You’ve been an enormous help.” Eve wrenched her gaze from Drew Forsythe to tell him.

  “You’ve checked all these figures,” Drew interrupted them, his voice crisp and businesslike.

  “Down to the last cent,” Eve confirmed. “I’m sure the costing can be tightened.”

  She lay down her pen and, like Jamie, stretched like a cat.

  Dark eyes travelled all over her for a few seconds, placing tremendous tension on Eve. What she desperately needed of him was to play it straight, the brilliant businessman and boss, not the man who could seduce a woman with a single look.

  “You’ve been cooped up too long,” he said gently, feeling a kind of fear in her. Of what? He wanted to know.

  He could see the outline of her small high breasts beneath her sleeveless crossover silk vest. It was a sherry colour that went beautifully with the cream of her skin and the dull gold of her hair. The long delicate bones seemed sharper, more fragile. It crossed his mind he’d been working her too hard. And it was getting late.

  “Why don’t I take you both out?” he suggested casually, shifting his gaze to Jamie. “We can go to Leo’s.”

  “I say, that’s very decent of you, Drew.” Jamie grinned with pleasure.

&nb
sp; “You don’t have to.” Eve had caught the indefinable but somehow gentling look in his eyes. Was he sorry for her? If so, she had to be more careful.

  “Why not? I need to snatch a bite to eat myself.” He began to walk back to his office to collect his jacket.

  The phone on Eve’s desk suddenly rang and she picked it up, listening for a moment, then holding her hand over the receiver. “It’s your mother. I’m afraid she’s furious with you.”

  “Hell, hell, she should be!” Jamie sat forward abruptly, groaning and holding his head. “I was supposed to call her. Maggie must have arrived. That’s my illustrious godmother, and Mum’s best friend.” He took the phone from Eve, talking briefly with his mother.

  Jamie waited for Drew to return to explain why he couldn’t join them. “I’m really sorry. But Maggie...”

  “I don’t think you’re averse to the idea of being her heir,” Drew laughed.

  “For God’s sake, Drew, who else could she leave it to?” Jamie joked. “I’ll have to fly. Mum has been waiting dinner.”

  They watched him go, taking the elevator to the underground car park.

  “I really don’t want to take up your time.” Eve turned to Drew Forsythe, a kind of panic riding high in her chest. The workplace was one scene. A trendy restaurant was another.

  He looked down into her very clear green eyes, so limpid despite all her secrets and what would seem to be hang-ups. “Aren’t you hungry, then?” he pressed her, reading the message clearly.

  “Of course I am. Starved.”

  “And you’re starting to look it.” His gaze flickered over her delicate breasts and shoulders. “I expect my team to work hard but it seems to me you can’t have much time to relax.”

  Eve turned away, desperate for a distancing, shouldering into her short-sleeved linen jacket. “Perhaps I don’t need too much relaxation.”