The laid-back approach was also impressive.
He glanced over at her with a quizzical light in his dark eyes. ‘How long have you worked at Goldstein?’
‘Three months.’
‘First job since leaving university?’ He pretended to hazard a guess.
‘First full-time job. I’ve worked evenings and holidays all the way through university.’
Why had she done that, he wondered, when her grandfather had set aside more than enough money to fund her education? He took a sip of his coffee. Maybe she had just preferred to speculate with that money on her brother’s dirty schemes.
‘If you are thinking that I am not capable of handling an account of your company’s size then you’re wrong,’ she said quietly.
‘Really.’ His lips twitched. Not so blasé now, he thought sardonically.
She sat back in her seat and as their eyes met she found herself having to be honest. ‘Actually, the truth is they are confining me to quite small accounts at the mo
ment but I’ve got lots of fresh new ideas and I could do so much more.’ Her eyes sparkled earnestly. ‘The fact that I’ve got so much to prove and you are looking for something different could work in both our favour.’
She had just hooked him back in with a gold star; those big green eyes were very enticing and so was her zesty attitude.
He had to hand it to her; she was a witch of the highest class. Nicholas hesitated and then reached into the pile of papers next to him and passed her a file that Mondellio had sent him. They had set out a few proposals for amendments to the original ad. ‘See what you think,’ he invited lazily.
Nicholas watched as she leafed through the pages and read selected areas carefully.
Silence stretched between them. He noticed little things about her—the long sooty darkness of her eyelashes and the natural blush of colour along her high cheekbones. She bit down against the softness of her lips with pearly white teeth as she concentrated.
‘Well, it’s perfectly obvious that this isn’t the way to go,’ she said at last as she put the file down.
He had expected her to say that, but what he hadn’t expected was for her to continue swiftly and identify exactly what the problem was. He was surprised by how insightful she was, but he was stunned when she started to come up with some very novel ideas of her own.
‘If you go with this deal it will be modestly successful, but that’s all. What you really need is to grab the public’s attention all over again.’ She flicked the folder closed. ‘Obviously I could come up with some ideas if I was given time to work out the details.’
She glanced over at him when he made no reply.
‘I may be fresh in at Goldstein but they are an excellent company. With their experience and my new approach you could have a very exciting and successful promotion. Think about it.’
Goldstein was lucky to have her—the grudging light of respect lingered inside him for a moment. She was intelligent, sharp and creative. Pity she was also insincere and corrupt like the rest of her family, he reminded himself quickly.
‘But don’t think about it too long,’ she added with a smile.
He was aware that she had turned the tables on him slightly. When he had set out to get her attention with business this morning, he’d had no real intention of switching accounts. That had just been a piece of bait to cast out before he went back to Mondellio to ask for changes.
Now—well, now he was undecided. He really didn’t like Mondellio’s proposals. Maybe he would think about Cat’s ideas. She was right—Goldstein did have a first-rate reputation and business had to come first after all. Also it had occurred to him that this might be just the excuse he needed to break through those barriers of hers and draw her closer into the net and into his bed.
‘You have made some interesting suggestions,’ he said. ‘Maybe I will want to delve deeper, hear more.’
She tried to draw her eyes away from his, but somehow she couldn’t; he held her locked into that powerful gaze. And suddenly her mind was veering away from business towards altogether more risky terrain. Delving deeper had a tantalizing ring about it.
From nowhere she found herself remembering a snatch of their conversation from last night.
I don’t sleep with strangers.
Then maybe we should get to know each other … and fast.
She was very glad when the waitress returned to the table. She didn’t know why she was thinking again about that conversation; it was embarrassing.
‘Can I get you anything else, sir?’ the woman interrupted quietly.