Barbara Dunlop - Beauty And The Billionaire

Hunter’s grandfather was, quite literally, forcing him to face the consequences of his actions.

“So please join me in welcoming Mr. Osland to Lush Beauty Products,” Roger finished to a polite round of applause. The managers seemed wary, as anyone would be when the corporate leadership suddenly shifted above them.

It was Hunter’s job to reassure them. And he now had the additional duty of explaining himself to Sinclair. God only knew what she was thinking. But, talking to her would have to wait. He refocused his gaze on the room in general and moved to the head of the table.

“Thank you very much,” he began, smoothly taking control of the meeting, like he’d done at a thousand meetings before. “First, you should all feel free to call me Hunter. Second, I’d like to assure you up front that Osland International has no plans to make staffing changes, nor to change the current direction of Lush Beauty Products.”

He’d mentally rehearsed this next part, although he now knew it was a lie. “My grandfather made the decision to invest in this company because he was excited about your product redevelopment-such as the Luscious Lavender line-and about your plans to expand the company’s target demographic.”

Hunter now doubted Cleveland had even heard of Lush Beauty Products before meeting Sinclair. And Cleveland would be a lot less excited about the product redevelopment than he was about yanking Hunter’s chain.

“Osland International has analyzed your success within the North American midprice market,” Hunter told the group. “And we believe there are a number of opportunities to go upscale and international. We’re open to your ideas. And, although Roger will continue to manage day-to-day operations, I’ll be hands-on with strategic direction. So I want to invite each of you to stop by and see me. I expect to be on site several days a month, and I believe I’ll have an office on the twentieth floor?”

He looked to Roger for confirmation.

“Yes,” said Roger. “But if any of you have questions or concerns, you should feel free to use me as a sounding board.”

The words surprised Hunter. Was Roger telling them not to go directly to Hunter?

“We’ll try to make this transition as smooth as possible,” Roger continued in a silky voice that set Hunter’s teeth on edge. “But we understand some of you may feel challenged and unsettled.”

Oh, great little pep talk. Thanks for that, Roger.

“There’s no need for anyone to feel unsettled,” Hunter cut in. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s business as usual. And my door is always open.” Then he looked directly at Sinclair. “Come and see me.”

An hour later, Sinclair took Hunter up on his invitation. On the twentieth floor, she propped herself against the doorjamb of his airy corner office. “This,” she said, taking in the big desk, the credenza piled with books and the meeting table that sat eight, “I have got to hear.”

He straightened in his high-backed chair and glanced up from his laptop, a flash of guilt in his eyes.

Ignoring the way her heart lifted at his reaction, she took two steps inside and closed the door behind her. He cared that he’d blindsided her. At least that was something.

Not that she cared about him in any fundamental way. She couldn’t. They were a brief flash of history, and nothing more.

“It was Gramps,” answered Hunter. “He bought the company and sent me here to run it.”

“And you didn’t know about me?” she guessed.

“I didn’t know,” he confirmed.

“So, you’re not stalking me?”

He hit a key on his computer. “Right. Like any reasonable stalker, I bought your company to get close to you.”

She shrugged. “Could happen.”

“Well, it didn’t. This is Gramps’ idea of a joke. I think he knows I slept with you,” said Hunter.

“Then there’s something wrong with that man.” And there was something frightening about a person with enough economic power to buy a four-hundred-person company as a joke. There was something even more frightening about a person who took the trouble to actually do it.

“I think he’s losing it in his old age.” Then Hunter paused for a moment to consider. “On the other hand, he was always crotchety and controlling.”

“Kristy likes him,” said Sinclair. Not that she was coming down on Cleveland Osland’s side. If Hunter was right, the man was seriously nuts.

“That’s because he’s batty over your sister.”

Sinclair supposed that was probably true. It was Cleveland Osland who had helped Kristy get started in the fashion business last month. And now her career was soaring.

A soaring career was what Sinclair wanted for herself. And what she really wanted was for Hunter not to be a complication in that. She had a huge opportunity here with the planned company expansion and with the development of the new Luscious Lavender line.

She advanced on his wide desk to make her point, forcing herself to ignore the persistent sexual tug that had settled in her abdomen. Whatever they’d had for that brief moment had ended. He was her past, now her boss.

Even if he might be willing to rekindle. And she had no reason to assume he was willing. She was not.

She dropped into one of his guest chairs, keeping her tone light and unconcerned. “So what do we do now?”

A wolfish grin grew on his face.

All right, so maybe there was a reason to assume he was willing.

“No,” she said, in a stern voice.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“You thought it. And the answer is no.”

“You’re a cold woman.”

“I’m an intelligent woman. I’m not about to sleep my way to the top.”

“There’s a lot to be said for being at the top.”

“I guess you would know.”

He leaned back in his chair, expression turning mischievous. “Yeah. I guess I would.”

She ignored the little-boy charm and leaned forward to prop her elbows on his desk. “Okay, let’s talk about how this works.”

“I thought we’d pretty much demonstrated how it worked last month.”

She wished he’d stop flirting. It was ridiculously tempting to engage. Their verbal foreplay that night had been almost as exciting as the physical stuff.

“Nobody here knows about us,” she began, keeping her tone even.

“I know about us,” he pointed out.

“But you’re going to forget it.”

“Not likely,” he scoffed.

She leaned farther forward, getting up into his face. “Listen carefully, Hunter. For the purposes of our professional relationship, you are going to forget that you’ve seen me naked.”

“You know, you’re very cute when you’re angry.”

“That’s the lamest line I’ve ever heard.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Can you be serious for a second?”

“What makes you think I’m not serious?”

“Hunter.”

“Lighten up, Sinclair.”

Lighten up? That was his answer?

But she drew back to think about it. Could it be that simple? “Am I making too much of this?”

He shrugged. “I’m not about to announce anything in the company newsletter. So, unless you spread the word around the water cooler, I think we’re good.”

She eyed him up. “That’s it? Business as usual?”

“Gramps may have bought Lush Beauty Products for his own bizarre reasons. But I’m here to run it, nothing more, nothing less. And you have a job to do.”

She came to her feet and gave a sharp nod, telling herself she was relieved, not disappointed, that it would be easy for him to ignore their past.

“See you around the water cooler, I guess,” she said in parting.

“Sure,” Hunter responded. “Whatever.”

Despite the casual goodbye, Hunter knew it would be hell trying to dismiss what they’d shared. As the office door closed behind her, he squeezed his eyes shut and raked a hand through his hair. Their past might have been short, but it was about as memorable as a past could get.