Barbara Dunlop - Christmas Secrets

Suddenly, she pushed back. “We can’t.”

Cole sucked in a breath. Of course they couldn’t. What was he thinking? They were in her place of business.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

But she shook her head. “My fault, too.” Then she glanced at her watch. “I have to go. There’s a board meeting.” She stopped talking. Inhaled a deliberate breath and took a step back. “That was foolish. I don’t know what got into me.”

“Amber—”

“Goodbye, Cole.” She moved for the door.

“Can I call you later?”

“No.” She shook her head and pulled open the door.

From behind her desk, Sandra’s sharp gaze went to Amber, then to Cole. He tried to look casual, innocent, as if nothing more than a brief conversation had taken place between them.

But it was hard to put his finger on the exact expression and posture that would convey those things. So he simply left the room, bid a brief goodbye to Sandra and took the elevator back to the lobby.

Smoothing back her hair and mentally pulling herself together, Amber reached for the door handle to Coast Eagle’s main boardroom.

She couldn’t believe she’d kissed Cole again. She couldn’t believe she’d done it in the office. And she sure couldn’t believe she’d enjoyed it.

She tugged open the door.

“There you are,” said Max, rising from his seat at the head of the long boardroom table.

The other eight members of the board nodded politely, their gazes fixed on her. They were all men, fortysomething to sixtysomething, longtime members of the Atlanta business community and the aviation industry. She knew most of them by sight, but she’d shared little more than a passing greeting with any of them.

Max moved away from the head chair, gesturing for her to sit down in it. “Please, Ms. Welsley.”

She hesitated over the bold gesture, but Max gave her an encouraging smile.

She told herself she could do this. For Zachary, she could do this. She lifted her chin, walked forward and took the power chair.

Max took the chair to her right.

She stared down the center of the table, fixing her vision on the photograph of a red-and-white biplane at the far end of the room. She had no idea what to say.

Luckily, Max opened for her. “Per article 17.9 of the Coast Eagle Articles of Incorporation,” he said, “Ms. Welsley is exercising her right as majority shareholder—”

“She’s not the majority shareholder,” said Clint Mendes.

Max peered at Clint. “According to the State of Georgia, she represents the majority shareholder.”

“But that’s under appeal,” said Clint.

“And until that appeal is settled, Ms. Welsley represents the interests of Zachary Henderson. Now, as I was saying—”

The boardroom door swung abruptly open, revealing Roth in the threshold, his eyes wide, face ruddy, and his jaw clenched tight.

“Mr. Calvin,” said Max, a clear rebuke in his tone. “I’m afraid this is a private meeting.”

“Is this a coup? ” Roth demanded.

A hush came over the room as everyone waited to see what Amber would do.

She immediately realized she had to step up. She couldn’t let Max defend her against Roth. She was going to be a board member, and she had to stand her ground.

If she lost the court case, Roth would have her fired within seconds. He would have done that anyway. She had nothing left to lose.

She came to her feet, turning and squaring her shoulders. “Please leave the meeting, Roth.”

The silence boomed around her.

Roth’s jaw worked, his face growing redder. “Are you out of your—”

“Please leave,” she repeated. “This meeting is for board members only.”

“You’re not a board member,” Roth all but shouted.

“I’m the majority shareholder, Roth. That’s as much as you need to know. Now leave. ”

Nelson MacSweeny coughed, but said nothing.

Roth glared at the man.

Then he fixed a biting, narrow-eyed stare on Amber.

But he seemed to understand that he’d lost the round. He stepped back, banging the door shut.

Knees shaky, Amber sat down. Everyone was still looking down the table at her. But something in their expressions had changed.

It might have been her imagination, but there seemed to be a level of respect in their eyes. She gazed levelly back. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating, but she wasn’t about to let anyone know that Roth had rattled her.

“Ms. Welsley is exercising her right to appoint herself as a board member,” said Max. “As current majority shareholder, she will sit as chair. As chair, she will break any tie over the appointment of an interim president.”

“So not Roth,” said Clint.

“Then who are we talking about?” Nelson asked.

“Are we taking nominations?”

“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” said Amber. “I’d like to discuss Max Cutter as the interim president.”

Max drew back in his seat. “I can’t—”

“Turns out you can,” said Amber. “I spoke to a lawyer this morning.”

“You’ll have to leave the room for the discussion,” Nelson said to Max.

Max fixed his shrewd gaze on Amber. She didn’t flinch. If she could sit as chair of the board, then he could sit as president. There was no one else she’d trust.

“Very well,” said Max. He rose and gathered his briefcase.

As he passed, he paused behind her and leaned down. “I guess we’ll go down together.”

She turned her head to whisper. “Then I guess you’d better help me win.”

“I was always going to help you win.” He gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walked away.

The door closed behind him and another board member spoke up. He was Milos Mandell, a former commercial pilot and internet entrepreneur.

“Can we speak freely?” asked Milos.

“I would think we’d better,” said Amber.

“You seem like you understand what you just did.”

She couldn’t help flexing a small, resigned smile. “I believe I know what I just did.”

“He’s going to come after you,” said Nelson, clearly referring to Roth.

“He’s right to go after her,” said Clint, glancing around at his fellow board members. “This is a coup.”

Milos sat forward. “The coup would have been Roth taking over as president without the support of the major shareholder.”

Clint stared hard at Amber. “You’re jumping the gun, and it’s going to cost you.”

“While Roth will know you sided with him, so I guess you’re safe.” She let her words sink in for a moment.

Clint was smart enough to realize the opposite was also true. Amber now knew he was in opposition to her.

His jaw dropped a fraction of an inch. “I don’t mean… That is, I’m not…”

“Any discussion on Max?” Amber asked the group.

She didn’t have time to worry about Clint. She needed to get Max settled in as president, then she needed to focus on the court case, do justice to her day-to-day work and make sure Zachary stayed clean, fed and as happy as possible. The alliances, machinations and power plays at Coast Eagle were going to have to take a backseat.

On the staircase in front of Coast Eagle headquarters, Cole appeared and fell into step beside Amber. It was six o’clock. She was exhausted, and he was the last person she wanted to see.

Ironically, he was also the person she most wanted to see. The conflicting reactions were due to the kiss they’d shared in the meeting room.