Pamela Ingrahm - Bachelor Boss

Then he’d felt doubly foolish to hear his mother admonish him to not let his emotions interfere with his business sense. Since when had he needed his mother’s advice? Not that she was ever hesitant to give it, but Philip had drawn the line years ago to remind his mother that not only was he nearly forty years old, but he was more than capable of making decisions without his mama’s help.

He took responsibility for his actions, mistakes and all. Some lessons had been hard learned, such as losing his heart to Hannah Hollingsworth in college. That vivid lesson had made clear the fantasy of love conquering all. He hadn’t thought it mattered that the Ambercrofts couldn’t trace their roots to the Mayflawer. They’d been proud, self-made Americans... even if they glossed over the fact that Grandfather Ambercroft was the one who had really boosted the family fortune by bootlegging whiskey during Prohibition. As for himself, Philip thought his grandfather had been a hell of a guy, and he remembered listening intently to the stories the man had told about his youth. Philip suspected his grandfather had told the stories to irritate his mother as much as anything else.

But Hannah’s family had a decided lack of humor, and put exorbitant pride in their mostly blue-blood ancestry, but he’d foolishly believed that wasn’t enough to keep them apart. He’d begged her to run away with him, to marry him, and then they’d force her parents to accept him. But Hannah had been unable to defy her parents for a man they had considered well beneath them on the social register.

Philip was sure the day she’d refused him was the day his heart had frozen solid, as so many people believed to be true, and he’d vowed never again to let his emotions override his common sense.

Since then, he’d never let anything interfere with his goals. Now, all of a sudden, he’s about to give up a lucrative business deal just because his new secretary—his temporary secretary—gave him a hard-on? Not bloody likely. He was going to get his brain and his libido under control and remember what he’d planned. He had no intention of doing anything illegal, or even immoral. When the time was right, he was going to flat-out ask her about Price Manufacturing. That was hardly diabolical.

He smoothed out the papers he’d wrinkled and sat down to put his mind to work with a ruthlessness that had made him the success he was. His eyes lost focus as his mind began to whirl. Price Manufacturing wasn’t his pressing issue at the moment, so he set it aside. His present goal was McConnally Machinery.

He picked up the phone and punched out a number with quick, hard jabs.

When he’d finished his conversation, he felt a stiffness in his neck, but he ignored it as he hit the intercom. “Madalyn, would you come in here, please?”

“Yes, sir?” she asked a moment later from his doorway.

“Sit down.”

She did as ordered and he was impressed at how well she hid her curiosity. Her demeanor was relaxed, her hands folded in apparent calmness, her expression open with a proper amount of question in her eyes.

He was going to go with his gut on this, for more than one reason, but he was depending on her experience as a high-level assistant in assuming she could maintain the poker face she’d displayed. If he was wrong, he might just kill two plans with one foul-up.

“Once again I’m springing something on you suddenly, but the negotiations on the file you just gave me have been moved up to tomorrow. On long sessions, such as this one will be, I usually take Mrs. Montague with me, as her note-taking skills are superb. Would you be willing, on this short notice, to fill in? I’d like to leave this afternoon, as things will start early in the morning. We’ll be back late tomorrow.”

She hesitated. Normally she couldn’t have even considered his request as she wouldn’t leave Erin with anyone overnight, but her mother was going to be there for at least another week.

“Is there a problem?” he prompted in the ensuing silence.

“I need to tell you something that I failed to mention yesterday. I have a child, and I’m a single parent.”

“Oh,” he said, not quite hiding a moment of surprise. “Of course, I understand then—”

“But it so happens that my mother is in town visiting, and if we’ll only be gone one night, I don’t see that it will be a problem. Where will we be going?”

Her matter-of-factness must have short-circuited his objections, for his tone became completely businesslike again.

“Mobile, Alabama. McConnally Machinery is the company. They machine ship propellers and shafts. I’ve been playing cat-and-mouse with the owner for a year now.”

He opened the folder and handed her a black-and-white photograph of a man in his fifties, his silver hair combed back off his forehead. He had an open, engaging face, his skin slightly battered by years spent in the salty air and elements.

“His name is Connar McConnally. When you meet him, don’t let his Southern, good-ol’-boy manners fool you. He likes to play the dumb hick, but this guy’s sharp. His company is relatively small, but he’s managed to keep a big chunk of the business on Mobile Bay all to himself. People whose very livelihoods depend on their boats being in the water will wait until this man—” Philip nodded toward the picture “—can get to their repairs. He started making noises about selling a year ago, but he won’t play ball yet.”

Madalyn studied the photograph and then handed it back across the desk. “What will I be doing for you there?”

“Be my eyes and ears. Do more than take notes. Watch people. Give me your impressions of their body language as well as their words.”

“Do you think he’s hiding something?”

Philip smiled. “Businessmen always have something to hide, but my interest lies in how big that something is. I think he’s just smart enough not to appear too eager, but I want to make sure before we toss the first pitch. My goal is to talk him into letting Ambercroft take over, but get him to stay on and run things. I’m going to try and sell him on the idea that all he really wants is some of the burden taken off his shoulders, but this way he keeps the benefits of a company he’s so proud of without the day-to-day worries.”

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