Jessie glanced down at her small gold watch as she hurried
across the almost deserted lobby of the large office
building toward the bank of elevators. It was one fifty-
three. Perfect. She would arrive in Max Sheridan's office
five minutes early. Not so early that she would seem
anxious, and yet early enough that it would be clear to
him that this meeting was important to her.
Stepping into an empty elevator, she pressed the button
for the fifty-second floor and then checked her appearance
in the mirrors that lined the elevator's walls. Her black
boxpleated skirt fell almost to her knees without a
wrinkle and the matching fitted jacket had no lint on it.
Her gaze dropped to her long, slender legs, searching for
a run in her panty hose. Thankfully, she didn't find one.
Nor were there any stray specks of dirt on the highly
polished gloss of her black slingback heels or her slim
black briefcase.
When the unexpected summons to see the normally
inaccessible head of Sheridan Electronics had come
yesterday, she hadn't been sure what to wear. Normally she
dressed to project an image, and the image depended on who
she was working for and what she was trying to accomplish.
But since she had no idea why the enigmatic Max Sheridan
wanted to see her, she had finally opted for a
conservative, professional look.
When the elevator opened its doors with a restrained chime
on the fifty-second floor, Jessie took a deep breath,
ignored the butterflies in her stomach and walked briskly
toward the well-groomed middle-aged woman sitting behind
an elegant antique desk in the reception area.
"I'm Jessie Martinelli," she said. "I have an appointment
with Mr. Sheridan at two."
"Good afternoon, Ms. Martinelli. Just a moment while I
check with his P.A. and see if he's free."
Surreptitiously Jessie looked around while the woman made
the phone call. A huge cream-and-blue Aubusson carpet
covered the floor, and comfortable-looking chairs had been
scattered around, presumably to give the appearance of a
living room in a private home. The whole area spoke of
good taste and the means to indulge it.
It was the first time she'd been on the executive level of
Sheridans. She'd visited their human resources department
one floor down last year when she'd given a presentation
on her workshops to one of their managers, but since the
shortsighted woman hadn't seen the need for teaching
business manners to their account executives, she'd never
had a reason to return.
Could that be what this unexpected summons was about? Had
they decided to use her workshops, and Max Sheridan
himself wanted to discuss them? A sense of excitement tore
through her. Landing an account with a conglomerate like
Sheridans would do wonders for her company's bottom line.
"Mr. Sheridan will see you now, Ms. Martinelli. If you'll
come with me..." The woman gave her a bright, professional
smile.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Jessie followed the
receptionist.
"Ms. Martinelli, sir." The woman moved out of the open
doorway, and Jessie forced herself to walk into his
office, praying she didn't look as nervous as she felt.
The sound of the door closing behind her echoed ominously
in her ears.
Jessie instinctively tensed as the man behind the oversize
mahogany desk slowly got to his feet. The office was huge,
but Max Sheridan easily dominated the space. She'd seen
pictures of him in the paper from time to time, but
nothing had prepared her for the reality of his physical
presence. He seemed to project a force field of energy
that drew her like the proverbial moth to the flame.
Critically she studied him, trying to analyze her
unexpected fascination with him in the hopes of minimizing
its effect. He wasn't particularly tall. Probably no more
than six foot, with a solid, muscular build that for some
reason reminded her more of a dock worker than a business
tycoon. Nor was he classically handsome. Not only were his
features too bluntly chiseled, but the silvery scar on his
right jaw suggested an aggressive masculinity than made
mere beauty seem superfluous.
Jessie felt a tingling sensation skate over her skin as
her gaze collided with his bright blue eyes. Somehow he
made her aware of her femininity in a way that she'd never
felt before, and she didn't like it. She was nervous
enough without adding sexual tension to the mix.
Taking a deep breath, she tried a trick Maggie had taught
her years ago of picturing your audience naked, to lose
your fear of them. It was a mistake. An image of Max
Sheridan's broad shoulders minus the expensive gray suit
jacket he had on immediately popped into her mind. His
chest would probably be covered with the same inky black
hair that was on his head. Would it feel as silky as his
hair looked or would it feel crisp? Her fingers began to
itch as if they couldn't wait to find out.
"Good morning, Ms. Martinelli." His deep, smoky voice
slammed through her fantasy, smashing it to pieces —
pieces that immediately reassembled themselves to form an
image of him bending over her, his bare shoulders...
Stop it! She hastily sliced off her thoughts. What was the
matter with her? So he had a magnetic presence. That was
no excuse for her to act like some half-wit groupie. She
was here on business, and she'd better start acting like
the competent professional she was or she could kiss any
hope of landing the Sheridan account goodbye. Max
Sheridan's reputation was that he didn't tolerate
incompetence. And he didn't believe in second chances.
"Mr. Sheridan." Jessie reluctantly took the hand he held
out. If just being in the same room with him sent her
nervous system into disarray, what would touching him be
like?
Mind-blowing. She had her answer as his hand closed firmly
around hers. Heat seemed to pour off his strong fingers,
permeating her skin and sending her heartbeat into
overdrive.
Jessie gritted her teeth, praying that the heat boiling
through her wasn't visible on her face. She absolutely had
to keep her professional demeanor intact.
As quickly as good manners allowed, she dropped his hand
and stepped back.
"Please have a seat." Max gestured toward the chair in
front of his desk, and Jessie gingerly perched on the edge
of it.
She watched as Max sat back down in his leather chair and
silently studied her with a narrow-eyed intensity that
made her want to get up and run. He probably wasn't even
seeing her, she tried to tell herself. Chances were he'd
been working on some high-powered deal when she'd arrived,
and his mind was still on it.
Keeping a polite smile on her face, she waited for him to
break the silence, knowing that rushing into speech would
give him a tactical advantage.
Damn! Max thought in frustration as he stared at her. When
he'd spoken to Sam Berringer last week, his glowing
account of the fantastic job Jessie Martinelli had done in
transforming his wife hadn't included a physical
description: his use of words like solid background,
absolute discretion and unimpeachable integrity had all
suggested an older woman. He'd formed a mental image of a
comfortable, grandmotherly type who was supplementing her
social security check by giving etiquette lessons. And he
couldn't have been more wrong. There was nothing the least
bit comfortable about Jessie Martinelli.
On the contrary, there was something about her that put
him on edge, and he wasn't quite sure exactly what it was.
She wasn't beautiful. Her mouth was a shade too big, and
her cheeks a bit too rounded. Although she did have good
skin. Very soft and silky looking. He ignored his sudden
compulsion to stroke it. And her eyes were intriguing. A
clear, crystalline green that reminded him of emeralds. As
for her hair... He studied the profusion of fiery red
curls that framed her face and had an inexplicable urge to
thread his fingers through them. He wanted to tug one of
those curls and see how long it really was. He wanted to
bury his face in the satiny mass and draw deep into his
lungs the faint scent of flowers that clung to her.
For some reason that he couldn't begin to fathom, Jessie
Martinelli fascinated him on a primitive level that owed
nothing to rational thought.
So now what? he wondered in frustration. Did he jettison
his plan because he had a totally unexpected case of the
hots for his prospective consultant? But if he did that,
where was he going to find someone else to help him? He
could hardly advertise for an etiquette expert. It would
be all over the gutter press the next day, and the last
thing he wanted was publicity.
He would hire Jessie Martinelli and ignore his attraction
to her, he finally decided.
"I imagine you're curious as to why I asked you to come in
to see me," he said.
Max paused to allow her to say something, but she didn't.
She simply gave him a small, encouraging smile and waited
for him to go on. To his surprise he felt the urge to do
exactly that. Jessie Martinelli had clearly mastered the
technique of convincing people that she was fascinated by
what they were saying.
"I want to impress on you that anything I say is to be
treated with the utmost confidentiality. I would be
seriously annoyed if you were to mention it to anyone
else."
Jessie barely suppressed a shudder at the ice she could
see glittering in his eyes. He didn't need to threaten
her. Common sense told her that only a fool or a very
desperate person would ever deliberately cross Max
Sheridan. And she was neither. "I understand," she said,
when it became clear that he was waiting for an answer.
"I got your name from Sam Berringer. He felt you might be
able to help me." He stood up as if too restless to sit
still. Walking around his desk, he perched on the edge of
it.
Jessie's eyes were drawn to the way the expensive material
of his pants tightened over the muscles in his thighs.
With an effort she dragged her eyes away from the enticing
sight and forced herself to focus on his face instead. It
was tense, his mouth tightly compressed.
What kind of problem did he have, she wondered, not sure
she wanted to know. If it worried a man as powerful as Max
Sheridan, it would probably send her screaming into the
night.
Jessie had never considered it bravery to stand firm in
the face of overwhelming odds. As far as she was
concerned, strategy that led to debacles like the Charge
of the Light Brigade was singularly stupid.
"I have reached the point in my life where I'm ready to
take a new direction," he finally said. "To put it
bluntly, I have decided it's time I got married and
started a family."
Jessie stared blankly at him. So why was he telling her?
Unless... For one mad moment she wondered if he was going
to propose to her, before her common sense kicked in. He
didn't know her, even if he did know about her. And men
didn't propose marriage to women they'd never met. At
least, normal men didn't. Although...
Unconsciously she ran the tip of her tongue over her dry
lips. By no definition could Max Sheridan be called
normal. Any man who rose from abject poverty to
billionaire status without even the benefit of a high
school education was by definition abnormal. "Um...exactly
where do I fit into your plans?" Jessie broke the silence.
"As my consultant, for want of a better word," he said.
"In what capacity?" she asked, ignoring the sharp stab of
disappointment she felt.
Getting to his feet, Max walked over to the large window
behind his desk. He stared down at the street far below
for several moments. Then he turned and ran his long
fingers through his dark hair. The action rumpled his
hair, making him look younger and more approachable.
"Because of my background I don't know a lot of the finer
points of social etiquette," he finally said. "I have no
problem operating in a business setting. In business I
know exactly what clothes and behaviors are acceptable.
But on the social side, my knowledge has some gaping holes
in it. Holes I need you to plug, like you did for Bunny
Berringer.