The Dating Mr Darcy Trilogy: Prada and Prejudice / Love and Liability / Mansfield Lark

When she caught sight of the man standing at the head of the conference table, Natalie’s voice trailed away. Her eyes widened in mingled dismay and horror.

Oh, blimey, no. It couldn’t be.

He had darkish blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a Thomas Pink shirt, obviously a different one today, because this one was striped, without a wine stain. And he most definitely didn’t reek of second-hand Pinot Noir or dog wee.

Natalie cringed inwardly. To think that only last night she’d twined her arms around his neck, pressed herself shamelessly against him, and begged him to have sex with her.

“Natalie,” Sir Richard said, “allow me to introduce our new Operations Manager, Rhys Gordon.”

Mortification swept over her as their eyes met. Rhys Gordon rescued companies from the brink of financial ruin and turned them back into the black. He was famously good at what he did. Photos and articles about him appeared regularly in the business pages of newspapers and magazines, and occasionally in the tabloids as well.

Natalie bit back a groan. She’d thrown herself at Mr. Gordon, grandfather’s newly hired Operations Manager, like a cheap slapper.

Just let me die now…

Gordon’s expression gave nothing away. “You’re late.” He levelled a dark blue gaze on her. “The meeting started half an hour ago.”

“Sorry.” She wasn’t, not really. She hated meetings and hated apologising, but needs must. Natalie glanced at him, noting distractedly that his eyes were a deep and penetrating blue, and shrugged. “I overslept. I had a—” she flushed “—a bit of a late night last night.”

The men at the conference table – Ian Clarkson, Alexa’s husband, actually winked at her, the cheeky bastard – pushed back their chairs and rose as Natalie rounded the table and kissed her grandfather, Sir Richard Dashwood, on his papery cheek.

“Next time, Miss Dashwood,” Rhys said sharply, “you’ll get here on time. Or you can bloody well stay home.”

Natalie bristled. So, the media stories about Mr. Gordon were true. He had a reputation for being abrasive, arrogant, and impatient…and those were his good qualities. Nor did his expertise come cheap. But he was said to be worth every penny.

If you didn’t stab him with the nearest letter-opener first, she reflected grimly.

“My granddaughter usually gives these board meetings a wide berth, Mr. Gordon,” Sir Richard informed him. He gave Natalie a look of mild reproof. “You’re lucky she showed up at all.”

“It’s no matter to me if she shows up or not,” Rhys responded. His gaze locked with Natalie’s. “But if she cares anything about saving the family business, I’d suggest she take a more active interest going forward.”

“This store is my birthright, Mr. Gordon,” she retorted. “It’s been in the Dashwood family for 150 years. Whilst you,” she added tartly, “are merely an employee.”

His eyes narrowed, but he turned away and said, “We’ve a lot of ground to cover, gentlemen. Sit down, Miss Dashwood, so we can get back to the matter at hand.”

Alastair James gestured Natalie into a seat. “Rhys was just about to discuss his findings as a mystery shopper.”

“Mystery shopper?” Natalie echoed. With a sense of impending doom, she sank down next to Alastair. “Do you mean to say Mr. Gordon pretended to be a store customer?”

“That’s exactly what he means.” Rhys looked at her the way the devil must eye a new arrival to Hell. “I’ve visited all of the store’s departments recently to assess our customer relations. You’re just in time for my report.”

Her heart sank into her Prada pumps. She remembered she’d been particularly rude to that bloke in the Barbour jacket on Saturday. She only hoped he hadn’t lodged a complaint. But even if he had, perhaps – she cast a sidewise glance at Rhys Gordon – perhaps the new Operations Manager wouldn’t mention it.

“First,” Gordon began, “I want to address the issues I encountered in the lingerie department. My treatment was abysmal,” he said as his hard blue gaze met Natalie’s, “in every respect.”

“Your treatment?” she squeaked. She sat up straighter as she realised with dawning horror that he was the customer she’d waited on. She hadn’t recognised him, dressed in his Barbour jacket and jeans. No wonder he’d worn those sunglasses! Her eyes widened and her lips parted, but no sound emerged.

“Not only was my sales clerk rude and unhelpful,” he went on, “she encouraged me to shop elsewhere; carried on a personal conversation on her mobile, which, by the way, is forbidden on the sales floor, refused to wrap my purchase, and—” he paused for the maximum effect “—when I left, told me she looked forward to my next visit, like the plague…or her next gyno exam.”

Several gasps went round the table, the loudest one being Natalie’s own.

“Who was this cheeky little madam?” Sir Richard demanded, outraged. “I shall have her sacked at once!”

“Oh, you don’t want to sack anyone, grandfather,” Natalie said hastily, before Rhys could respond. “It’s the holidays, after all! You know, good will to men. And women. And perhaps,” she added as she glared at the new OM, “the sales clerk was having a bad day. She might even have been a bit hung over.”

“If customers in this store are treated the way I was, Miss Dashwood,” Gordon retorted, “then it’s no wonder that Dashwood and James is losing its arse. And if nothing is done to remedy the situation, it bloody well deserves to lose its arse.”

Chapter 4 (#ulink_9e5cfb64-c901-5cc9-9ea2-005b69d0fb15)

Sir Richard slapped his age-spotted hand on the conference table and leaned forward to glare at Rhys, seated at the opposite end of the table.

“We’re all agreed that something must be done,” Sir Richard snapped. “But what, precisely? Can you tell us that?”

Rhys eyed him. “Not to put too fine a point on it, Sir Richard, but financially, your stores are in the crapper. Unless you take cost-cutting measures at once, doors will have to close. Jobs will be lost. Is that what you want?”

“Certainly not,” Alastair interjected. “That’s why we hired you.”

Sir Richard’s scowl deepened as he flipped through the pages of Rhys’s business plan. “You want to get rid of the children’s wear department.”

“Sell children’s clothing online,” Rhys said. “You’ll save on operating costs and better utilise your floor space.”

The assorted executives and board members ranged around the table gave cautious nods; a few of them shifted uneasily in their seats. Sir Richard was notoriously resistant to change. Would he listen to reason from the new OM?

Not bloody likely.

“We’ve got to increase the advertising budget,” Rhys went on. “Dashwood and James need more visibility on television and radio, and in the print media as well.”

“Bah!” Sir Richard snorted. “Waste of money.”

“At the very least,” Rhys continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “you’ll need to refurbish the flagship store and increase publicity…or you’ll never climb out of the red.”

“And where is all this money to come from?” Sir Richard demanded.

“From better use of the money you have.” Rhys threw his pen down. “Make maximum use of your retail floor space, offer a wider range of merchandise, make the departments more inviting, and dwell time will increase.”

Natalie frowned. “‘Dwell time?’” she echoed.

“The time a customer spends on the selling floor. Currently, it’s barely twenty minutes. That’s abysmal.”

Sir Richard gave a derisive snort. “What is it you want us to do, Mr. Gordon? Cut, or spend?”

“Both.” Rhys stood and swept a challenging glance around the table. “The flagship store needs an update.” Cautious nods all around. “To do so won’t come cheap. We’ll cut expenses elsewhere—” he lifted a folder filled with a thick sheaf of papers “—for example, shut down that antiquated lift—”

“What? You can’t do that!” Natalie gasped, horrified. “Henry’s operated that lift for fifty years!”

“Indeed?” Rhys said, and raised his brow. “Then that’s twenty years too long, Miss Dashwood. The man is nearing eighty. He should be retired.”

“And you plan to decide that for him, do you?” she shot back.