Not Strictly Business!: Prodigal Son / The Boss and Miss Baxter / The Baby Deal

Finally he settled in the stool next to hers. “You’ve done well,” he said in a low voice. “You have good people working for you.”

“Thanks.”

Despite the easy conversation around them, she was aware of being watched. Some of her team were mildly interested while a few—the single women—were trying to figure out the score.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“About as expected. They’re more interested in protecting themselves than what really happened. We’re making an announcement first thing in the morning. I have two phone calls scheduled with investors. The first is to tell them what happened, the second will come later when I announce our specific plan to rectify the situation.”

“Do you have a plan?”

He sipped his drink. “Not yet, but I’m hopeful.” He glanced around. “They’re all working their butts off. I want to make sure it’s not for nothing.”

“It won’t be. There will be some bad press, but we’ll get through it.”

“Until the next crisis.”

“The company is in transition,” she said. “There are always adjustments.”

“I know. What I don’t understand is why my father never had a successor picked out. He had to know he wasn’t going to live forever.”

“Maybe he was waiting for one of his sons to get interested in the company.”

Jack took another drink. “Probably. I don’t see Evan and Andrew making a beeline to Chicago and, honestly, I can’t see either of them being willing to take things over.”

She touched his arm. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I’m aware I can walk away at any point.”

But he wouldn’t. Jack had a sense of responsibility. She respected that about him.

Once again her body reminded her that he was nothing like Vance, but her head wasn’t so sure. On the surface her ex had been a great guy, too. Successful, a caring father. He’d said and done all the right things—right up until the wedding. Then overnight he’d changed.

Her father had done the same thing. In a matter of weeks, he’d gone from a loving, supportive man to someone who’d walked out and had done his best not to have to support his only child.

Powerful men often hid dark, guilty secrets. As much as she was attracted to Jack, she was determined to keep their relationship strictly professional. She couldn’t afford to take another emotional hit right now.

“I should go,” she said, collecting her purse.

“I’m heading out, too,” he told her. “Want a ride home?”

Ah, the close confines of a car. So tempting and so dangerous.

“No, thanks. I have a few errands to run on my way home. I’ll walk.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

She smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine on my own.”

She’d learned it was the only safe way to be.

Chapter Five

Roger Arnet was a tall, thin blond man in his mid-fifties. He shook Jack’s hand, then sat in the visitor’s chair on the other side of the desk.

“How are you settling in?” Roger asked pleasantly. “Your father was a great man. A great man. You won’t find filling his shoes easy.”

Jack didn’t know how to answer the question. News of the second set of books had been released to the public. The response in the press had been relatively mild since Hanson Media Group wasn’t a major player in the city, but there had been plenty of uproar in the office. He wondered if Roger had any way of reconciling his insistence that George had been a great man with the reality of a company president who lied to his entire staff.

“I’m finding my way,” he said, going for a neutral response.

“Good. Good.” Roger smiled. “I understand you’re a lawyer.”

“Yes. I attended law school, then went on to business school. It was my deal with my father. I would study both and then pick.”

“You chose the law. George was very disappointed.”

Had his father spoken about him with everyone in the firm? “I’m here now,” Jack said. “Which is why I wanted to talk with you. We’re making some changes.”

“I heard about them,” Roger said. “I’ve been on vacation and when I got back, everyone was buzzing. The Internet, eh? Are you sure about that?”

“Very sure.”

Roger took off his glasses and pulled out a handkerchief. “Arnie’s been filling me in on your plans. Very ambitious. Very ambitious. A bit too much, if you ask me.”

Jack leaned back in his chair. “Are you saying we’re not capable of expanding our Web sites?”

“Expansion is one thing, but what you’re proposing is something else. But then it’s not you, is it? It’s that new girl. Samantha something.”

“Edwards. And she has my full support.”

“Of course. She’s very energetic, but in my experience, it’s better if we take things slowly. Sort of feel our way. Technology is all fine and good, but this company was founded on print media.”

“Magazines are expensive and change slowly,” Jack said. “We don’t have any publication that has circulation over a million. We’re barely breaking even on thirty percent of our magazines and we’re losing money on the rest. The Internet is a significant part of our culture. It’s not going away. Changes can be made there relatively inexpensively.”

Roger nodded. Jack felt as if he’d just stepped into an alternative universe. If Roger was the head of IT in the company, shouldn’t he be pushing for more technology, not less?

“Arnie mentioned all of this to me,” Roger admitted. “But he’s young and he tends to get ahead of himself. I hope he wasn’t filling your head with a lot of nonsense.”

Jack was willing to respect those older than him and he was certainly willing to listen to qualified opinions; however, he wasn’t willing to be treated like an idiot.

He straightened and stared directly at Roger. “Let me be as clear as possible,” he said. “This company is on the brink of financial ruin. I’m sure you’ve read about our recent problems. The announcement that my father kept a second set of books wasn’t happy news. Doing business the old way isn’t going to keep this company going. We need change and we need it quickly. I believe that technology is our best solution. Now you can get onboard with that program or you can find another company that is more to your liking.”

Roger blinked. “That’s very blunt.”

“Yes, it is. I’ve heard good things about you and I hope you’ll decide to stay, but if you do, be aware that we have a new direction and I expect everyone to be excited about it.”

“All right. I’ll consider what you said. As far as the Internet expansion, I’m concerned about the safeguards. Your target market is children and there are many predators out there.”