Julianna Morris - The Bachelor Boss

“That’s…nice,” she murmured.

“Yes, but what he hasn’t heard is that I’m appointing you as his vice president. I wanted you both to be here for the news.”

Libby’s heart lodged in her throat.

“What?” she demanded in unison with Neil. She looked at him and was glad to see he appeared as thunderstruck as she felt.

Kane lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “I realize you haven’t always gotten along, but you have skills that complement each other, and you managed to work together earlier this year.” He shot a look at his brother. “You’ll find Libby’s abilities are just what you need.”

She blinked, torn between shock and hysteria.

This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t possibly be Neil O’Rourke’s vice president. He was too…everything. The two brothers were nearly identical in appearance, though Neil had cool gray eyes in contrast to Kane’s blue. Both were high-powered and driven for success, but Kane managed to be kind and friendly, while Neil was distant and impatient.

Darn it all. She’d just gotten rid of the man and now he was back. Wasn’t a few weeks working with him enough punishment for one lifetime? It wasn’t that she didn’t want the new position. Being promoted so quickly might be a little unconventional, but Kane never did things in the usual way. And since he’d built O’Rourke Enterprises into a multibillion-dollar corporation, people usually had the good sense to agree with his wishes.

Still, how could she work with someone so impossible?

Libby sneaked a glance at the impossible man in question and saw he didn’t look any happier than she felt.

Well, fine.

Let him be the one to tell Kane it was out of the question.

“Libby?” Kane prompted.

“Uh…that’s wonderful,” she said, lying through her teeth.

“You’ve earned it. I’m still working out the final details, but I’ve decided to have each of my division presidents and vice presidents directly involved in a project together in order to build teamwork.”

Neil cleared his throat. “That’s an interesting idea, but we’ll be busy with our own duties.”

“And one of those duties will be cooperating on a project together.”

Libby recognized the expression on her boss’s face, even if his brother didn’t. Kane had mentioned his plans, but she hadn’t thought much about it other than sparing a moment of sympathy for the poor sap who ended up working with Neil O’Rourke. Before his short stint in the CEO’s office she’d avoided Neil for nebulous reasons she’d never really thought about. Now she actively disliked him.

“What project are you thinking about?” she asked.

“The bed-and-breakfast inn proposal.” Kane handed her the file. “You were particularly interested in it, so I thought it would be the perfect place to start your collaboration.”

Lord, Kane should never have picked something so homey and small scale if he hoped to get Neil excited. Neil loved glitz and glamour, the fast pace of international wheeling and dealing and high finance. He was a brilliant maverick. Developing a line of historic bed-and-breakfast inns was the last thing he’d want to do.

“B and B’s?” Neil sounded predictably appalled, as if he’d just been asked to work on a line of brothels. “I think that’s a project Libby could handle on her own.”

Kane shook his head. “I want both of you involved. This is Beth’s idea, and it goes at the top of the list.”

Beth.

Kane’s wife.

The magic word.

A warm smile crossed Neil’s face, so apparently he was fond of his new sister-in-law. “Beth does love old places. We’ll make it our first priority.”

“Good. The two of you can go over the proposal this afternoon. You’ll have until after Christmas to get things moving on it before we start the formal reorganization.”

Libby’s fingers tightened on the file. She’d worked on putting the proposal together and had hoped to be assigned to the project, but this wasn’t what she’d had in mind.

“Today?” Neil asked. He cast her a sideways glance that made her squirm.

What was it about him that made her so…aware?

“Today,” Kane said firmly.

Libby edged toward the door. “In that case, I’ve got a lot to do in the meantime. Thanks again, Kane.”

“No thanks are necessary. Your contract will be ready in a few days, along with a generous salary boost. You’ll always have a place with us, Libby.” From years of working with Kane, Libby knew he was reassuring her that no matter how things turned out with Neil, her place with the company was guaranteed.

“That’s nice to hear.” She forced herself to leave at a dignified pace, only to have Neil follow her.

“It isn’t afternoon yet,” she snapped. As a rule she tried to be calmly courteous with him, but Kane’s announcement had scrambled her brains worse than an eggbeater.

“Now is as good a time as any. Kane likes the teamwork approach, remember?”

Libby practically snorted. Neil O’Rourke wasn’t a team player. He enjoyed being in charge too much for that. Thankfully, except for his brief time as acting CEO, she’d hardly seen him over the years. He’d traveled all over the world for the company, earning a reputation as a tough and able negotiator.

Too bad he wasn’t better with people. She wasn’t the only employee who avoided him; his cool direct gaze could cut right through a person.

“A leopard can’t change his spots,” she muttered, not that he’d understand. Neil honestly didn’t seem to know he had the corporate persona of a runaway locomotive, mashing everyone in his path. Kane was indulging in wishful thinking if he thought his brother would listen to anyone on how to run the new division, much less to her.

Maybe Neil was different with his family.

Maybe.

She was acquainted with two of his sisters, Shannon and Kathleen, and thought his mother was a lovely woman, but Neil was a puzzle beyond words.

A small frown creased his forehead. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on. Teamwork? You?”

The note of amused disbelief in Libby’s voice irritated Neil. He knew it was his fault they didn’t get along—he’d acted like an oversexed jock on the one date they’d had years ago. A naive preacher’s daughter and a former college football star weren’t a good mix. People who thought that all preacher’s daughters were wild as sin didn’t know anything. Jeez, she was practically a nun.

Yet he didn’t dislike Libby, he just didn’t think she was vice president material. She was too softhearted, an innocent with the cutthroat business sense of a newborn kitten.

“You can’t know how I feel about teamwork,” he said slowly.

“I have a pretty good idea.”

His eyebrows shot upward. “I don’t think a single date gives you that much insight to my character. Especially since we’ve hardly said ‘boo’ to each other ever since.”

It was the first time since that disastrous night the subject had been directly raised, and relief crept through him. They should have cleared the air a long time ago instead of just going their own way and avoiding contact.

Hell, he probably wouldn’t have thought about it again if she hadn’t been so damned desirable…and so very prudish with her sexy little body. If he’d learned nothing else, it was that dating co-workers was a lousy idea.

“Maybe, but it was instructive,” she snapped. Her green eyes were stormy and Neil restrained a grin. This was an interesting side to Libby; he wanted to see more. It was like watching the kitten discover she had claws.

“That was a date, this is business,” he said.

“I’ve heard about the way you work. And I saw it for myself when you were in the CEO’s office. You obviously have to be in control, no matter what.”