Never Forgotten: Second Chances Read Online Free
Author: Alana Hart, Marlena Dark
Tags: Contemporary, first love returns, high finance alpha males, international high-tech business, female protagonist business success, choosing among lovers, loss of beauty
her lips like a flower, even when they were insistent. He didn't command attention through force but delicacy. He was delicious, and his presence almost fragile yet he wasn't at all frail. He touched her arms, and she moved against him, her breasts against his chest as he ran his hands down her back. She tingled with delight.
She led him into the living room, and he spotted the open bottle of wine from the table and picked it up, glancing at the label and wrinkling his nose. "I should've brought something decent. I knew money was a problem, but I didn't realize things were this bad."
"Don't pretend to be quite such a wine snob. I rather like this one. It tastes good, and I can buy it at the supermarket on my way home from the office." She wanted to say more, but his attention had moved on. The moment was gone.
"What was going on in the meeting?" he asked, sitting, pouring two glasses of the deep red wine into her crystal stemware. He picked one up and held it up to the light, swirling it for a moment. "It has decent legs," then smiling at her, his eyes caressing her bare legs, "though not as nice as yours." He sipped it, inhaling air through his mouth and screwing up his face.
"I'm so glad you like it," she teased, sitting beside him, up against him, then taking her glass and sipping her own, relishing the bite of the tannin in her mouth. She knew what Thom objected to was that very crudity. Things with a bite were untamed, not delicate. Thom could be stubborn and intractable at times, but never crude.
He looked at her, weighing his words. "The meeting today. Before we leave the day behind, I need to go back to that. I wasn't sure why you dropped such a bombshell. You didn't give me any warning about this money crunch."
"I shouldn't have gotten caught out like that, and I feel stupid. I knew things were changing, but I hadn't checked the revenue for the last month, and I hadn't realized how fast the ground was moving. Yesterday, when I was reviewing Lenora's proposal, I ran the numbers so we could get a jump on things. I knew we'd have to shuffle some things, but let the bad news sneak up on me." She shrugged. "The meeting was already scheduled, so I decided we needed to talk it through, and it was easier to present it to everyone at once." She sipped her wine again. "But once you decided you wouldn't entertain the notion of putting in more money the discussion was over."
"You didn't give me compelling reasons to agree to anything. No concrete financial plan, mere speculation about payback."
"Thom, you know damn well that anything we came up with would be speculation. Why pretend otherwise?"
"Because that's how it's done."
"Not by me. I don't like doing business based on pretense or wasting time, for that matter. The question was, to my mind, a rather simple one. Are you willing to take the gamble that Craig has come up with a winner or not? You weren't." It was that simple in her mind. She wasn't even angry with him for staying out. She didn't confuse their personal relationship with business decisions. But he seemed to feel the need to defend his position.
"I have people, investors that I report to. They expect analysis, projections..."
She laughed at that. "Hell Thom, they believe whatever you tell them. Besides, you could afford to bankroll this yourself if you believed in it."
He puffed up slightly, proud that she said that about him. He considered it high praise. "You know I'm not comfortable with high tech stuff and less so with software. I'd never invested in it before you convinced me to put a small stake in Diamond."
"I know. And you've enjoyed it."
"But as I said, I've got so much on my plate, so many attractive things that I know something about... oil leases, a wildcatter in Borneo."
"Things that keep you in your comfort zone."
He sighed. "You understand."
"Which is not the same as approving."
"Yes." He blinked, glanced around. "You wish I were more of a risk taker, and I admit I've missed out
She led him into the living room, and he spotted the open bottle of wine from the table and picked it up, glancing at the label and wrinkling his nose. "I should've brought something decent. I knew money was a problem, but I didn't realize things were this bad."
"Don't pretend to be quite such a wine snob. I rather like this one. It tastes good, and I can buy it at the supermarket on my way home from the office." She wanted to say more, but his attention had moved on. The moment was gone.
"What was going on in the meeting?" he asked, sitting, pouring two glasses of the deep red wine into her crystal stemware. He picked one up and held it up to the light, swirling it for a moment. "It has decent legs," then smiling at her, his eyes caressing her bare legs, "though not as nice as yours." He sipped it, inhaling air through his mouth and screwing up his face.
"I'm so glad you like it," she teased, sitting beside him, up against him, then taking her glass and sipping her own, relishing the bite of the tannin in her mouth. She knew what Thom objected to was that very crudity. Things with a bite were untamed, not delicate. Thom could be stubborn and intractable at times, but never crude.
He looked at her, weighing his words. "The meeting today. Before we leave the day behind, I need to go back to that. I wasn't sure why you dropped such a bombshell. You didn't give me any warning about this money crunch."
"I shouldn't have gotten caught out like that, and I feel stupid. I knew things were changing, but I hadn't checked the revenue for the last month, and I hadn't realized how fast the ground was moving. Yesterday, when I was reviewing Lenora's proposal, I ran the numbers so we could get a jump on things. I knew we'd have to shuffle some things, but let the bad news sneak up on me." She shrugged. "The meeting was already scheduled, so I decided we needed to talk it through, and it was easier to present it to everyone at once." She sipped her wine again. "But once you decided you wouldn't entertain the notion of putting in more money the discussion was over."
"You didn't give me compelling reasons to agree to anything. No concrete financial plan, mere speculation about payback."
"Thom, you know damn well that anything we came up with would be speculation. Why pretend otherwise?"
"Because that's how it's done."
"Not by me. I don't like doing business based on pretense or wasting time, for that matter. The question was, to my mind, a rather simple one. Are you willing to take the gamble that Craig has come up with a winner or not? You weren't." It was that simple in her mind. She wasn't even angry with him for staying out. She didn't confuse their personal relationship with business decisions. But he seemed to feel the need to defend his position.
"I have people, investors that I report to. They expect analysis, projections..."
She laughed at that. "Hell Thom, they believe whatever you tell them. Besides, you could afford to bankroll this yourself if you believed in it."
He puffed up slightly, proud that she said that about him. He considered it high praise. "You know I'm not comfortable with high tech stuff and less so with software. I'd never invested in it before you convinced me to put a small stake in Diamond."
"I know. And you've enjoyed it."
"But as I said, I've got so much on my plate, so many attractive things that I know something about... oil leases, a wildcatter in Borneo."
"Things that keep you in your comfort zone."
He sighed. "You understand."
"Which is not the same as approving."
"Yes." He blinked, glanced around. "You wish I were more of a risk taker, and I admit I've missed out
Readers choose
James Maxwell
Nathan Yocum
Mandoline Creme
J. G. Ballard
Scott Nicholson
Christopher Pike
Marcia Lynn McClure
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Terry Carr