Tempting Aquisitions Read Online Free Page A

country’s leading news magazines. She’d known him for years and while his thought pieces on the modern era of business were exceptional, his poker face was nonexistent.
    “Ted, you know as well as I do you got that exclusive because you’ve got the best audience of the business elite out there. And you loved every minute of it, so don’t try to play it off now like it was such a favor. Besides,” she added, unable to repress a teasing note, “I introduced you to Maria. That entitles me to favorable consideration for the rest of my life.”
    Ted ran a hand through his thinning hair, his sigh audible over the noise of the crowd in the bar. “Don’t pull that card on me, Keira. Something’s brewing between you and Maverick Capital. That article this morning wasn’t a random guess.”
    “No, it wasn’t.” That dark, husky voice that belonged only in fantasies floated over her as Nathan interrupted her conversation with Ted. “Not random or a guess,” he added, as if his statement required further clarification.
    “Would you care to comment further on that, Mr. Cooper?”
    Any loyalty Ted felt for her had clearly evaporated in the face of the business story of the year. Keira knew it, and she also knew she shouldn’t fault him for it. But was it so much to ask that she be able to conduct this battle in private?
    It was her family’s company. A product of her grandfather’s hard work and clear vision. Her father had fallen down on that, unable to understand that even family legacies required hard work and daily effort, which was why they were in this position. He’d taken the company public, all too happy to take the money and run, and turned control over to a board of directors.
    She and her sisters had known better. They’d had Sally’s help, which had been considerable, buying them the time they needed to turn things around.
    Piece by careful piece, she, Mayson, and Camryn had rebuilt McBride Media, convincing the industry’s best and brightest to come work for them. They invested in the best journalists, purchased original photography instead of stock, and ensured both the words and the photos were shown to optimum advantage on their magazine pages or to anyone with a computer, a mobile phone, or a tablet.
    Magazines that were once the laughingstock of the industry had new editorial teams, new sales teams, and technology platforms that were the envy of the ad business, with company after company scrambling to get into the pages of McBride magazines or on their websites. And turn it around they did. McBride Media was a vibrant business, returned to its once-former glory.
    She’d be damned if she gave it up without a fight.
    “Actually, Ted, I’d prefer not to comment any further. Ms. McBride and I are in high-level discussions and they’re not meant to be public.”
    A casual shrug lifted Ted’s shoulders. “In my experience, private conversations have a way of leaking out. A few sound bites would be more than welcome.”
    Nathan clinked the ice in his cocktail glass, his eyes hard and unyielding. “Then I’m afraid I need to disappoint. I have far too much respect for what Ms. McBride and her sisters have rebuilt to divulge our discussions.”
    “We’re not having any discussions,” she grit out between clenched teeth and a fake smile.
    Before Ted could respond to that, Nathan laid his glass on the edge of the bar and settled his hand at her waist. Keira felt the warmth of his long fingers immediately where they lay firmly against her hip, the touch a hot brand through the thin silk of her dress. “On that note, we need to be going. If you’ll excuse us.”
    Keira allowed herself to be led away, a mixture of shock and relief filling her at his deft handling of the situation. Despite her frustrated rebuttal to Ted, she wasn’t interested in having a public conversation about a very private matter.
    Rather than use the situation to bait her further, adding to the fire he’d started with the