Marrying the Boss

Her cat-like smirk reminded him of his “heir apparent” remark in the mausoleum. Heat crept from his neck to his cheeks, and he only hoped it didn’t show on his face. He allowed a smile to flirt with his lips, acknowledging her jab, but not bowing before it.

Her smile flashed, then disappeared. “I want to be assured you won’t run to the papers to cry foul or try to destroy CoCo once you no longer head it.”

“CoCo?”

Her cheeks appeared a shade pinker. “Our pet name for the Collins Company.”

“‘Our pet name?’ Yours and your mother’s?”

At the mention of her mother, Leanne’s face hardened. A sore spot. Good to know, although he doubted he’d use it against her in business. However, the knowledge might come in handy for their private jousts.

Leanne turned back to the table. “Mr. Benton, do you see anything in this document that would make you advise a client against signing?”

“No, it looks standard. However, I would advise you to seek your own counsel—”

“Very well,” Leanne cut in. “Thank you. Now, if we could make a copy of this please? I wouldn’t want Mr. Collins to be without his own copy to sign.”

She sat back and crossed her arms.

Mark nodded to Benton, who rose and called in the Lion’s secretary, Mrs. Pickett. While Benton handed her the paper and gave her instructions in a low voice, Leanne sat up and spoke to the board.

“I notice you obey the directives of Mr. Collins. He has merely to nod, and his wishes are fulfilled. I would hope that as we are competing for the same prize and I might be appointed the head of this company, you will award me the same honor.”

The board members shifted in their seats.

“What are you saying, Ms. Fairbanks?” Mark asked.

“If this is to be a fair game, so to speak, I will need the aid of the staff as well. I know you’ve worked for the loyalty you command. I don’t expect any. I’m sure I’m considered an interloper. Little Miss Nobody from Nowhere.”

Her arrow hit its target. Mark couldn’t let that pass without comment. “I’m sorry you overheard that, Leanne,” he said quietly. “My mother is very upset.”

She threw him a look that expressed her disinterest in his mother’s feelings.

“Please understand that her opinions are not necessarily mine,” he said.

“But then, to you, I’m just the ‘auntie’ you’re going to wipe the floor with.”

He turned away. He wouldn’t apologize for his determination to win control of the Collins Company or to prove himself worthy.

“Ms. Fairbanks,” Mr. Mulvany said, “I will oversee this farce, as Mark calls it. Rest assured you’ll be given every cooperation. I’ve been informed you’re the Lion’s natural child. Lionel Collins held my respect as a businessman and a friend. May I say welcome to you, and good luck.”

She tipped her head in acknowledgment. With queenly presence, Mark thought.

“Thank you,” she said. “Under those conditions and with your conscientious administration of the contest, I will agree to compete.”

Mulvany beamed.

Mark swore under his breath. With one show of vulnerability, Leanne had made Mulvany her champion. From the smiles on the faces of the other two board members, Mark knew favor had shifted to her. Now he was the big baddie, trying to trick this sweet young innocent out of her inheritance.

He set his shoulders. Fine. She’d won this round by getting them on her side. Mulvany would look out for her welfare. It wouldn’t be easy for him to overcome her personal victory, but he would. Just because they liked her didn’t make her a good businesswoman.

Mrs. Pickett returned with the papers, which he and Leanne both signed. Benton took possession of all the documents. “I’ll have copies made for your attorney.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I have no qualms about proceeding.”

“Then, here it is,” Mr. Mulvany said. “The first challenge is for each of you to make a proposal of something Collins Company—CoCo, if I may?” He smiled at Leanne, who nodded.

Mark simmered.

“Something CoCo needs,” he continued. “Whether this be a new product, a new client to sign, a company to take over, or something else will be up to you. I’m sorry to say this, Ms. Fairbanks, as it seems unfair to rush you, but the time limit is two weeks. We are to reconvene in this room to hear your proposals.”

Mark gritted his teeth. The man favored her, but did he have to fawn like that?

“At that time,” Mulvany continued, “we three will decide which of you developed the better proposal. We will then move on to phase two of the challenge.”

“I’m eager to begin,” Leanne said, her gaze fixed on Mark.

He admired her boldness and her courage. The challenge in her eyes had blood rushing to his groin. “I can hardly wait.”

Chapter Three

Leanne swallowed a sigh as she inspected the Collins financial reports. CoCo basically owned every kind of small firm imaginable. Everything one needed, CoCo had taken over a company that made it. They specialized in buying small-to medium-sized companies, revamping them with either an administrative clean sweep or a production overhaul, then selling the company again for a profit.

She would lose this challenge to Mark, and her lack of knowledge irked her. She didn’t know of any business in trouble. She couldn’t find any product CoCo needed to make at the companies it currently owned. Leanne tossed the report on her desk to rub her temples. Mark had found her a middle-management-sized office. She’d had no inclination, nor time, to decorate it, so it sat bare and uninspiring with its beige walls and carpet. It felt unused, unmoved-into, just a transitory space.

Leanne sighed. Pretty soon, she wouldn’t even have a temporary spot at Collins. She’d be back at school in her real office. Fortunately, she’d been scheduled to teach one night class on Monday and two day classes which met Tuesdays and Thursdays. She’d shown up at CoCo Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the last two weeks, sometimes in a catatonic state, but trying nevertheless. For all the good it would do her.

Mark, however, didn’t share that problem. He knew which companies CoCo had been looking at for takeover. He’d come up with ideas for products to manufacture. Glancing at her desk made her groan; she owned several Collins desk accessories, although, since they sported the brand name, Mark of Excellence, she hadn’t known that. All the Mark of Excellence products had begun as Mark Collins’s ideas. His little improvements on everyday items had made CoCo a fortune.

An idea for a new product line stumped her. She’d looked into their client list and drawn a blank there, too. She hated to admit defeat, but the challenge ended tomorrow.

“Something I can help you with?”

Leanne stiffened at the sound of Mark’s voice at her doorway. She gave him a small, tight smile. “No, I’m fine.”

They’d run into each other as she’d inspected different departments in the company. He exuded confidence and control. Mark ran the operations as acting head until the competition decided their futures. Never had she seen him so much as ruffle his hair in frustration over the double stresses of keeping CoCo going and vying for the right to do so.

“Have you had lunch?”

She eyed him. Every time she saw him, he wore a dark business suit. This one, a navy blue, showed off his wide shoulders, narrow waist and long legs. Mark always appeared professionally turned out. His hair lay in tidy near-black neatness. His tie always coordinated.

She felt underdressed. Her brown pantsuit had worked at the university but didn’t fit here. No doubt she looked harassed and wrinkled compared to his cool assurance. She’d never be able to think of an answer to the challenge. She had so much to learn—

“Leanne?”

Pulled from her panic over the project, Leanne couldn’t remember his question. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“Have you had lunch?”