Paradise (Second Opportunities 1)

"For one thing, because we couldn't afford to fight off an attempt right now—we don't have the money to put up a long, serious battle."

Meredith already knew that, but she still shook her head and said, "It wouldn't make sense to go after us now. All they'd get by acquiring us is a lot of debts they'd have to pay off." But she and Sam both knew that as a long-range investment, Bancroft & Company could be a very attractive acquisition. "How long before you'll know the names of whoever is buying our stock?"

"Another few weeks before we get notification from all the stockbrokers who handle the individual transactions, but we're only notified if the new shareholder actually takes custody of the stock certificates. If the certificates stay in the brokers' custody, we're never notified of the shareholder's identity."

"Can you put together an updated list of new shareholders whose names we do know?"

"Sure thing," he said, and turned, leaving Meredith alone in the office with Mark Braden. Since what she needed to discuss with the director of security was very confidential, Meredith got up to close her office door and glanced at her watch to see how much time she had until Matt arrived. Her gaze ricocheted from her watch, which showed 6:20, to the tall figure in her doorway, and her heart gave an inexplicable lurch at the sight of him. "How long have you been waiting?" she asked Matt, starting forward.

"Not long." Unwilling to rush her when she obviously had something more to do, he added, "I'll wait out here until you finish."

Meredith paused to consider if there was any reason to close Matt out of the discussion she needed to have with Mark about Gordon Mitchell. Deciding there wasn't, she smiled at him and said, "You can come in, but will you close the door?" Matt did as she asked, and Meredith quickly introduced Mark Braden to him, then she turned to Mark. "You heard Gordon's explanations and you witnessed his attitude for yourself. It's a complete departure from everything he used to say and do. What do you think?"

Mark shot a speculative glance at Matt, but when Meredith nodded for him to go on, he said bluntly, "I think he's on the take."

"You keep saying that, but can you show me one piece of evidence to prove he's getting kickbacks from anyone?"

"No," he said, looking frustrated. "He hasn't acquired any expensive new toys like boats and planes, and he hasn't bought any new real estate that I can trace. He has a mistress, but she's been around for years. He and his wife and kids still live pretty much like they always have. In short, there's no evidence he's living any higher than before, and there's no motive either—he doesn't have expensive habits like drugs or gambling."

"Maybe he's innocent," Meredith said, but she didn't believe it.

"He's not innocent, he's cautious and he's smart,"

Mark argued. "He's been in retailing long enough to know how closely we watch merchandisers and buyers for any sign they're taking kickbacks. He's covering his tracks. I'll keep digging around," Mark promised, and with a curt nod he walked past Matt.

"I'm sorry," Meredith told Matt as she loaded her briefcase with work she needed to do tonight. "I didn't realize how long that other meeting went"

"I enjoyed listening to it," he said, and she shot a stunned look at him as she snapped the locks closed on her briefcase.

"How much of it did you hear?"

"About twenty minutes of it."

"Any questions?" she teased, but the warmth of his smile, the lazy boldness in his heavy-lidded gray gaze, made her feel overheated, so she hastily looked away and kept her gaze averted.

"Three questions," Matt said, watching the way she was avoiding looking at him. "Four actually," he amended.

"What questions are those?" she asked, coming toward him and feigning absorption in flicking an imaginary speck off her coat.

"What are bucket goods, what is keystone, and why are you avoiding my eyes?"

She made a valiant attempt to give him a long, direct, calm look, but his wicked grin was almost her undoing. "I didn't realize I was avoiding your eyes," she lied, then she explained. "Keystone means to sell something for only twice what we paid for it. Bucket goods are things like jewelry and accessories that we occasionally buy in large quantities, sight unseen, for a dollar each—usually they're overstock from our regular suppliers. What was your fourth question?" she asked while they waited for the elevators.

How long is it going to be before you trust me? he thought. How long before you'll go to bed with me? How long before you stop dancing out of my reach? He asked the last question because it was the least inflammatory one, and because he was curious to see her reaction:

"How long are you going to keep dancing this avoidance waltz with me?"

She started at his bluntness, then she shot him an amused, cocky look that made him long to kiss her. "Just as long as you keep trying to call the tune."

"I think you're starting to enjoy it," Matt remarked with a disgruntled, sidelong glance.

Meredith stared at the lighted down arrow on the elevator buttons, but she smiled and said with more candor than she'd intended, "I always enjoyed your company, Matt. I don't like your motives this time around."

"I told you the other night what my motives are," Matt said firmly, the footsteps behind them silenced by the thick blue carpet.

"I don't like the motives behind your motives," she clarified.

"I don't have motives behind my motives!" Matt said in a low, forceful voice.

Behind them a laughing male voice said, "Maybe not, but what you do have are people behind your people, and your conversation is getting awfully deep for us to follow without a map."

Their heads jerked around in unison, and Mark Braden raised his brows, his smile veiling the warning that he'd deliberately given them that other employees were listening. "Have a nice weekend, everyone," Meredith said with a bright artificial smile at the three secretaries.

On the first floor they wended their way, leading with their briefcases, through the throngs of shoppers as they headed for the restaurant across the street. At one of the counters, however, Meredith stopped. "I want to introduce you to Mrs. Millicent," she told Matt. "She retired a year ago and comes back to help us out at Christmas. She'll be thrilled to meet you—she's kept a record of all the famous people she's seen here for over twenty-five years, and she especially dotes on movie stars."