“Which is?”
She demurred. “I hope GSS can make them profitable, but—”
“But?” the old man prompted.
“But it will no doubt require a vast reorganization of the entire operation from management on down. Modernizing three plants will be expensive.” She shrugged, leaving him to draw his own conclusions.
“Will they be worth all that expense?”
“Coming up with an answer to that question would take months of evaluation, Mr. Stein. I’m hardly in a position to offer an opinion.”
r />
“I asked for one, didn’t I?”
Hank stifled a laugh behind the cocktail olive he popped into his mouth. Jade said, “I know the business from the looms to the invoices, Mr. Stein. I know a well-run plant when I see one. I recognize problems that should be corrected, and I’m confident in my ability to solve those problems. However, I don’t offer opinions with nothing except industry gossip to base them on. Isn’t there someone within your organization who could provide you a more educated opinion?” She knew before asking that there wasn’t. Otherwise Stein wouldn’t be soliciting hers.
Before leaving Hank’s loft, he asked her to send him her resumé. “I assume you’d be interested in working for us.”
“If the offer is attractive enough, Mr. Stein.”
Jade, recalling that bizarre interview, now smiled to herself as she left the hotel. The Los Angeles haze was even thicker due to the dust from the construction site across the street. The racket was deafening, but Jade didn’t mind it. It was only a two-block walk to the contractor’s trailer. She decided to walk.
Memories of her first meeting with George Stein conjured up memories that had nothing to do with business.
“You’re as good as hired,” Hank had said after Stein left. “Let’s party.”
He uncorked another bottle of chilled white wine. While they sat on the pile of cushions that served as furniture, he reached for her hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb. “I’ve met someone, Jade,” he began.
“You mean a woman?”
“Uh-huh. I met her in the Macy’s home interiors department. She was trying to sell the ugliest sofa I’ve ever seen to an equally ugly broad. We made eye contact as she pointed out the finer points of this upholstered atrocity. By the time the broad produced her charge card, I couldn’t stop laughing.”
Jade leaned forward, eager to know more. “What’s her name?”
“Deidre. She’s got a degree in interior design and only took the job at Macy’s until she could get something better.”
“So you’ve got a lot in common.”
“She comes from a small town in Nebraska, has a freckled nose, a cute ass, and an infectious giggle.”
“And you like her a lot.”
He probed Jade’s eyes, as though looking for something. “Yeah. What’s even more amazing, she likes me.”
“I don’t find that at all amazing. Do you have good sex?”
He gave a lazy grin. “Apparently they shuck more than corn in Nebraska.”
“I’m glad, Hank,” Jade said, pressing his hands between her own. “Very glad.”
“I’m thinking of marrying her.” He gave her a hesitant glance, then looked meaningfully into her eyes. “What do you think, Jade? Should I?”
He hadn’t been asking advice. He had been asking if he should give up his hopes for her and make plans with someone else. “Marry her, Hank,” she said huskily. “That would make me very happy.”
Before leaving for this business trip to L.A., Jade had dropped in on Hank and Deidre to see their twin daughters. They had just turned six weeks old. Hank was still her best friend. She had hired him as the designer for the offices at the TexTile plant in Palmetto.
Jade blinked the present into focus and realized that she had reached her destination. She experienced the rush of adrenaline that accompanies any professional undertaking, especially a surprise attack. David Seffrin had arranged for her to meet the contractor under consideration, but, at her request, he had kept the exact day and time of the appointment open.