Chapter 4

She looked up and caught him watching her.

-Why is that party so important?

He ate a piece of the meat sandwich and thought about her response as he chewed.

By inadvertently objecting to the contract Lily had provided him with a weapon, but it was only a contract and he needed much more or his clever cousin would find a way to blame others as usual.

Lily's list of complaints was worthy of consideration, though insignificant compared to the hefty bill Alan had submitted to the board of directors earlier that morning.

At the meeting, her cousin reported that he had agreed to pay Lily's business thousands of dollars more than the amount stipulated in the contract she had brought. Were there more dirty contracts?

If so, how could she access Alan's file to find them? What would his father say if the news leaked that Alan was pocketing company money? His father insisted on keeping up appearances, damn the only way to put his cousin between a rock and a hard place was a confession but that was as unlikely as a July snowfall in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

-My father is supposed to name his successor during the party.

-And you want to be the chosen one? He asked as he wiped a bit of honey from her lips with the tip of his tongue.

Rick's erection grew, to Rick's surprise that the sight of his pink, wet tongue sent his hormones rampaging. He had never had lustful thoughts related to an associate, damn truth, no woman had provoked them in many months.

This woman has gotten into my pores and it will be very difficult for her to get out of it.

After a sip of iced tea, he shifted in his seat.

-Yes, I want to replace my father as CEO of the company.

-And isn't that safe?

-No, fifty years ago neither grandfather founded the company, upon his death the company was divided between my aunt and my father, four years ago my uncles retired to live on the coast, leaving my cousin and me on equal terms for a promotion.

Alan was not the right man for the job. Rick his was, his grandfather had started preparing it when he was just a teenager and sooner dead than letting Alan take office, ruining the business and ending grandfather's dream.

-Surely you have the favor of your father, right?

Rick let out a loud, acid laugh.

"My father puts money before everything," he commented. It was a bad lesson that he had learned during his childhood.

-He would choose anyone who he thinks he will bring more benefit to the company or who believes that it is more stable.

What do you understand by stable? She asked as he removed a piece of candy from a finger.

Seeing the gesture, Rick felt a twinge in his crotch.

<< Come on Faulkner shut up. You have never indulged in the hunt for a woman against her will and neither do you usually mix business with pleasure >>. Although Lily tempted him to do both.

-Being married.

-Well, it's bad enough having your mother sing that song for your father to do the chorus.

-Yes, although with different concepts, my mother believes in love while her father believed in suitable alliances.

<< Choose with your head and not with your heart, love has no place in a contract as important as marriage >>. That was what her father always told him.

As far as the knowledge of him went, his father loved no one, and as the years passed and no woman had captivated his heart, Rick thought he could be as insensitive as Broderick. All the sentimental failures of his past reinforced the argument, he had not regretted any of them.

-Is your cousin married?

-No, but he has maintained a stable relationship.

-And you do not?

-No. Repondio had grown weary of women who wanted to marry the Faulkner fortune more than him.

-That he led you to form a partnership with your brother?

Sadness darkened Lily's eyes.

-My family owns a farm in Orange County, a year and a half ago my stepfather's tractor overturned, killing him instantly. My mother did not want to leave the home they shared, Trent and I became Horticulturists (Horticulture is the technique of growing plants that grow in orchards) and we paid for our university studies by working for local landscape companies. After Walt's death, we quit our respective jobs and, pooling our financial resources, formed a business on the family farm.

-And how does business work?

-Well, although with many difficulties, the first year of a company is always difficult. He commented him as he lifted his chin. Rick couldn't help but look at the smooth and graceful line of the neck, Lily was tall, the loose cotton shirt and the jeans hinted at some curves but he wasn't sure.

If anything, his answer clarified to Rick what he needed to know, after all he did resemble the women he had known. He needed money and the only lesson from his father had hammered his brain was that everyone has their price, if that was the case it would all be reduced to discovering how much he would have to invest to convince Lily West to join in being his girlfriend and help him unmask his cousin.

Rick leaned across the table and looked deep into her eyes.

-What does it take to convince you to be my partner at the party? Lily, tell me what is your price?.

Lily blinked as she savored the last piece of onion ring.

-Are you trying to bribe me?

Rick stiffened and shifted in the seat.

Not exactly, as I told you this is a business matter, I need help and I am willing to pay for your services (or that I was a whore! Bah, ignore me, continue) not in money, but in clothes and jewelry that you are going to need.

-Why should I help you lie to your parents?

Considered that way the idea did not seem so good. Rick thought.

-Because you've seen the kind of business my cousin does, if you help me get a confession out of him, he won't be able to end the company.

-A confession? And as a reward for confronting your cousin, and maybe provoking a nasty dinner, you get a promotion and I get a new dress? he asked in a tone loaded with sarcasm.

-I take care of everything related to your personal grooming, clothing, hairdressing, makeup in short, the work that has to be done.

-Do I need work done for me? I ask with a hard expression.

With a grimace, Rick cursed his clumsiness.

-The retirement party is a formal dance, it would only take a veneer to make you a credible companion.

-Polish what Lily the landscaper does not have.

-You are an attractive woman and as I have told you it would not take much to become a convincing partner in the eyes of my father.

-Thanks Rick, I don't remember getting a better insult. He said at the same time as he got up from the seat and threw the iced tea into her pants. -You pay the bill