She was wrong.
“You don’t have to do this, Mary.”
She blinked at him, confused. “I don’t understand. I thought you needed me to help you.”
“You’re perfect for the job,” he agreed, “and we do need your help, but if it’s a choice between selling a million Pocket Planners this Christmas and getting the chance to be with you…?” Maybe it was out of line to reach up and stroke her cheek with the back of his hand, but he’d never been this drawn to a woman and he honestly didn’t know how to stop himself. “I’ll figure out some other way to get this product off the ground.”
When she put her hand over his where it rested against the incredibly soft skin of her cheek, he could have sworn his heart actually expanded inside his chest.
“I’ve never done anything I didn’t choose to do, Jack. Not when I was nineteen, and certainly not now at thirty-two. If I didn’t want to be here with you, Howie and Larry, I wouldn’t be. You’ve worked hard to create something great and you deserve this chance at the big time.” Slowly, she lowered his hand from her face and slipped her fingers from his. “I’m just asking you to be patient so that we can see the business through first.”
He had so many questions for her. What had happened in her past? Who had hurt her to make her so cautious, so wary of his motives? But before he had the right to ask for answers, he knew he needed her to trust him. Which meant he needed to be completely straightforward with her at all times, no matter what.
“I’m sure you have your reasons for wanting things to be that way, and I’m also sure they must be good ones, but I have to be honest with you, Mary.” He was blown away by her beauty all over again as she waited for him to explain himself. “I’ve never been a patient man.”
“You worked for ten years on your invention,” she said softly. “I’d say that shows more patience than most people will ever have.”
“It’s one thing to wait ten years for chips and wires and motherboards to fire correctly. But I knew ten seconds after we first met that I wanted to kiss you, Angel.”
Mary’s skin flushed, and her full lips opened on a soft gasp at his impulsive declaration just as the receptionist walked into the entryway and indicated it was time for them to head inside to the boardroom. The young woman’s eyes widened when she saw Mary.
“Oh my gosh, you’re Mary Ferrer! You’re even more beautiful in person.” The girl grabbed a notepad and pen from a nearby table. “Could you sign this for me?”
Mary’s cheeks remained flushed from what Jack had said to her as she took the pen and paper from the young woman. Jack couldn’t tell if she was upset about what he’d just admitted.
Usually he calculated, figured, assessed—and then, only then, made a strategic plan toward his goal. But with Mary, all of the rationale he’d lived by his whole life had flown out the window…leaving him with just his instincts.“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing,” Mary told the young woman. “The color is so flattering on you.”
Jack didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone as happy as the receptionist was at that moment. “Do you really think so? It’s new, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull off the hemline.”
“You definitely can,” Mary assured her. “I’d love to know your name so that I can personalize my autograph.”
“I’m Sarah, with an h.” Just like Jack, the young woman couldn’t take her eyes off Mary as she wrote a quick but charming note to Sarah.
“Here you go.” The young woman stood staring at Mary for a few more seconds before she remembered her job. “Please, follow me this way.”
When Jack’s partners stepped aside to let Mary precede them into the boardroom, she gave the three of them a wide smile. “Ready to knock their socks off?”
It was just the right thing to say to give them the jolt of confidence they needed to close the deal. Larry and Howie grinned back at her. “Ready!”
Jack held out his arm for her, and when she took it, he felt the sensation rock them both. He was a large man and, despite being a model, Mary wasn’t particularly tall. Yet, they fit together perfectly.
Jack had figured Allen would be impatiently waiting to send them on their way so that he could get on to other, bigger money meetings, and the way the gray-haired man was standing in the boardroom with his arms crossed over his chest confirmed that. But when he caught sight of Mary, his eyes went as wide with surprise—and pleasure—as his receptionist’s had.
Without so much as acknowledging Jack, Howie or Larry, he moved to greet her. “Hello. I’m Allen Walter. I’ve long been an admirer of yours from afar, Ms. Ferrer, but I must say that you are even more exquisite in person.”
“Mary, please,” she said as she let him draw her into the room and introduce her to the other members of the board.
Jack guessed she must have played this role dozens of times in her career, meeting strangers and making them feel as if they were already friends.
Once the introductions were made, Allen said, “I’d love to know to what we owe this pleasure?”
Mary took a seat beside Jack and nodded for him to deliver their news to the chairman. “Mary has agreed to be the face of the Pocket Planner.”
After three decades of running his large and powerful company, Jack doubted there was much that surprised Allen anymore. This news, however, clearly had. Despite being quite obviously impressed that Jack and his partners had managed to pull Mary into the project, he approached the situation as any good chairman of the board would: with questions.