“Lord, yes, I remember that.” John sighed, shaking his head. “Poor Mariana, she was at her twentieth high school reunion and they paged her to come in and cut the paperwork.” He glanced over at the faintly shocked-looking Michelle. “Mariana’s our VP of Personnel. We were in the same class.
I was standing talking to her when her pager went off.” He looked to one side.
“You were not her favorite person that night, that’s for sure.”
Dar lifted both hands and let them fall. “Someone screws with our reputation that badly, they can expect that from me.” Then she went back to her list. “Useless jerks. Damn right, I fired them. Should have dumped them in the Atlantic while I was at it. Let’s see what else we’ve got here.”
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Michelle forestalled her. “I think that’s enough. Jerry, do you have something for me?”
Reluctantly, he handed over a sheaf of papers. The Disney exec picked them up, then stood. “Excuse me, I need to review these. I’ll be back in a few moments.” She caught Dar’s eye and favored her with a tiny smile before she left, trailing two aides behind her like a brace of sight hounds.
They were left facing each other, in a glass-walled room. People walking by glanced in curiously at the silent group, but went on their way.
Kerry studied the other team. They were dressed alike, in dark suits and white shirts, and they were all in their mid-thirties to mid-forties, with short haircuts. Their own team was a little different. Aside from herself and Dar, John was dressed in a conventional business suit, but his tie sported cartoon characters. Small, discreet ones, to be sure, but from where she was sitting, Kerry recognized Donald Duck poking his head out from between two buttons. The three other men with John were of varying ages. One was an older man, foxy looking, with a beard and mustache and clever hazel eyes.
Seated next to him was a very tall man with oversized ears and the general look of an engineer about him. His pad was covered with doodles Kerry recognized as circuits. The fourth team member was a young, crew-cutted man with blue eyes and a friendly smile, which he turned on her when he caught her looking.
“Well, we must have scared your team shitless for them to send your ass in here, Roberts,” Jerry finally spat.
Dar folded her hands on the table and shrugged. “Not at all, Jerry. I just wanted the chance to see you again.” A smile totally devoid of humor flashed across the table at him. “I had such a good time the last bidding round we did together.”
He leaned forward. “You don’t have a chance here. This contract is out of your company’s league, and they know it.” He glanced to the right. “Oh, unless you’re going to offer your little friend there up to Graver to sweeten the deal. That might win you a few points.” He looked right at a stunned Kerry.
“Is that what you’re here for, sweetie? Does Daddy know that?”
Green eyes looked into his with disarming friendliness. “Daddy is Senator Stuart of Michigan, and he’d probably find it a very odd thing for you to say. I’ll make sure I mention it the next time we speak, thanks.” She added a charming smile to the end of her response, and almost jumped when a hand squeezed her knee in appreciation. Dar’s expression hadn’t changed, but a tiny sparkle of glee was in her eyes as she glanced toward Kerry.
Even Jerry’s colleagues winced. “I meant no disrespect,” he forced out with a sour grimace.
“Better keep your mouth shut, Jerry.” Dar chuckled. “The room’s full of static electricity. You keep chewing on your shoes like that, you’re gonna zap your fillings and give yourself a perm.”
Kerry muffled a laugh, but the rest of their team didn’t bother.
He just gave them a disgusted look and stared pointedly at John. “How does it feel to have to hide behind a skirt?”
The short account rep folded his hands over his stomach and smiled.
“From where I’m sitting right now? Pretty damn good. Thanks for asking.”
186 Melissa Good The door opened and Michelle came back in, trailed by her hounds. She sat down and placed the two bids on the table and then cleared her throat.
“These bids are very competitive.” She toyed with one of them. “But what’s on paper is not really the important issue for us. Service is the issue. So what I’m going to ask is this—I’m going to hand over a task to each of you, so we can evaluate your response.”
Dar was encouraged. That meant the bid was still alive, and they had a chance. She’d undone some of the damage from the previous days, and now it remained to see what this sharp, intense woman was going to come up with as a test.
“Then, I’d like to schedule another meeting tomorrow here, to go over the results, and we’ll try to announce our decision at that time.” She stood and handed an envelope to each team lead, then nodded. “That’s all for now.” She watched them all stand, then she turned to Dar. “Ms. Roberts, a word with you, please?”
Ah. Dar’s instincts prickled. She excused herself from her little group and stepped around the table, until she was next to the other woman, putting one hand on a chair back and leaning against it to keep from intentionally towering over her. “What can I do for you, Ms. Graver?”
“For starters, please call me Michelle,” the woman said with a smile.
“Only if you call me Dar,” the dark-haired woman replied instantly, with a return smile.
“Nice shirt.”
Was that a twinkle in Michelle’s dark gray eyes? Dar chuckled. “It went with the suit, and there’s nothing I like better than carrying Mickey around on my chest.” She was aware Michelle was sniffing interestedly at her and decided a little reciprocation wouldn’t hurt. “Since our plane got in early, I got to indulge in some rampant tourism last night.”
“Mmm. I wish I’d known you were coming in, I would have arranged for one of our VIP tours—all the behind-the-scenes stuff us geeks love.” She licked a lower lip and let her eyes wander a trifle. “I hear ‘results oriented’
doesn’t begin to describe you. Is that true?”
Definitely flirting. Dar was a little surprised at the aggressiveness, but not that Michelle had taken a moment to request a dossier on her during the break. “It’s true,” she replied quietly. “I make things happen.”
Michelle quirked a grin. “I’d like to hear more about that. Since you’re stuck here another night, I’d like you to be my guest for dinner. We can discuss your bid.” A hound tapped her shoulder, and she ducked away for a moment. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” She moved a pace away, and dropped her voice to a whisper as she spoke with the man.
Gotcha. Dar could feel the conquest on her fingertips. Michelle was interested, intrigued, and willing to indulge in a personal interaction that would, in all probability, bias the vote in her favor. She was aggressive, and not unattractive, and god only knew, it wouldn’t be the first time Dar had used her personal magnetism to seal a contract.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Kerry’s interested expression, as the young woman watched the buzzing groups and occasionally flicked her gaze to Dar. Their looks met, and Dar felt a smile touch her lips, which was Tropical Storm 187
mirrored from across the room.
What would Kerry think of this? Dar could read the proud look in the kid’s face as she regarded her . No, Kerry is intelligent. She would understand that this is business, and sometimes you have to do things to get what you want. It’s all in the results, like I told Michelle. I make things happen.