Cassie's Grand Plan. Emmie Dark

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ tour?”

       His mocking tone made Cassie wonder if he had somehow read her mind.

       What had they been talking about again? Oh, yeah, the site tour. She took a deep breath to lend strength to her voice. “I thought the best way for you to get a handle on the scope of the business would be to visit some of our stores. You can meet our staff, look at the merchandising and the layout and get a better understanding of our customer base.”

       He nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”

       Melanie returned and placed a small pile of documents in front of Cassie. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she leaned low over the table. Subtle as a brick. Cassie could just imagine the view Ronan had down Melanie’s silk blouse.

       “If you’d like, Cassie,” Melanie purred, “I can take you and Ronan through this, explain how I’ve organized the flights and—”

       “Thanks, Mel, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it,” Cassie interrupted, giving Melanie a firm smile that clearly communicated “go away.” Melanie’s foolish and obvious flirting was just the push Cassie needed to get serious.

       All the thoughts that had kept her awake the night before flooded back as Mel gave another flirty smile and flounced from the room.

       Despite the loyalty Cassie had shown, Graham was a businessman and his decisions were always impersonal when it came to making money. Cassie knew she’d worked hard, she knew that Conroy Corporation would find no evidence of mismanagement or incompetence in her record. But Ronan was right—she’d never been employed anywhere else. What if putting her in charge cost Country Style the opportunity to grow? What if that was more important to Graham than the loyalty she’d shown him for eleven years?

       What if Graham decided it was in her best interests to move on? What if he asked her to leave?

       Cassie could have sworn the ground shifted underfoot at the very thought. In reality she knew it wasn’t an earthquake, just her own hard-earned sense of security being shaken, but her stomach swooped anyway.

       It would be the end of her dreams of becoming CEO and Part One of her plan would come crashing down around her head.

       Really, it meant the end of everything—because, quite frankly, what else did she have?

       “Flights? So we’ll be going further afield than Melbourne?” Ronan asked, bringing Cassie back to the issue at hand. Site visits.

       She willed her voice to come out steady. “Yes. Although our headquarters is based here, we actually have more stores in New South Wales right now. And Fremantle is one of our newest stores—we’ve been able to benefit from the real estate peak in Western Australia, and business there is booming,” Cassie explained.

       “Western Australia,” he mused, “isn’t that on the other side of the country?”

       “Yes, but it only takes four hours to fly there.” Cassie pointed at the documents, where their flight schedules were detailed. “Graham said you’d be here for a week, so I thought this would be the best approach. You’ll get to see our stores in operation, and still be back here for the opening next Monday. Traveling will take up quite a bit of time, but you can read the reports and go over our financials during the flights. I think it will be worth the investment—there’s no better way to understand the business.”

       “And what if I have questions I need to ask you?”

       Cassie was confused by the question for a moment, but then she realized he didn’t understand. “Then you can ask them. I’m coming with you.”

       He straightened in his chair and another of those hard, emotionless looks that Cassie couldn’t quite identify came into his eyes.

       “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary.” In contrast to the pleasant, if occasionally condescending, manner he’d been using all morning, his tone was cold. “I don’t need to talk to you in detail again until next week. I prefer to work alone.”

      No, sir, Cassie thought. No way was she letting the man who’d be deciding her future out of her sight for a minute.

       Except for maybe when he slept.

       And then her brain supplied an image of Ronan McGuire lying in bed, a crisp white sheet gathered at his waist, his chest bare and those dark eyelashes fanned on his cheeks.

       Was the air conditioning working?

      Get a grip! Cassie scolded herself. What happened to getting serious?

       She straightened her shoulders and screwed up her courage. Her entire life was riding on these next few days and she was going to do everything in her power to get the outcome she wanted.

       “I’m afraid that’s nonnegotiable, Mr. McGuire,” she said, pleased with the firm tone of her voice. “I can’t allow you free rein of our stores without supervision. You understand—I have to prioritize customer service and operations above the needs of Graham’s little investigation.” Did she sound bitter? Cassie inwardly winced. Yes, probably, but then it didn’t hurt for this guy to understand the relative importance of this exercise. They might be deciding the company’s future—Cassie’s future—but on a day-to-day level, customers still had to be served, furniture still had to be sold, operations still had to continue. Otherwise there’d be no future to plan for.

       “But shouldn’t you be around to manage the store opening?” he tried again.

       Yes, she should, but Cassie wasn’t about to admit that she wasn’t capable of being a retail superwoman. She gave what she hoped looked like a carefree shrug when in reality her mind was filled with a list of the seemingly unending tasks that had to be completed between now and next Monday. “It’s mostly all bedded down now. I can handle any last-minute things from the road. Our flight leaves Wednesday, tomorrow, for Perth. We’ll stay overnight and then catch an early flight to Sydney on Thursday. We’ll spend two nights in Sydney and come back to Melbourne on Saturday morning. Monday is a soft opening for the store—the advertising and marketing doesn’t start until later in the week with the official grand opening on Saturday.”

       He gave her a considered look and nodded. “So there’s the weekend to finalize things, too, if need be.”

       “Exactly.”

       He studied her for a while, his eyes searching her face, and Cassie steeled herself not to look away. Eventually his mouth curved into an almost smile and his eyes softened. With a nod of his head, he let Cassie know she’d won. This round.

       “Of course,” he said.

       “I assure you, we will make our visits as effective and efficient as possible.”

       “Effective and efficient works for me.” That teasing tone was back. If she hadn’t just spent the morning with him, going through the financials, and seen his expertise firsthand, she’d wonder if the man ever took anything seriously.

       “We have the rest of today here, then we leave first thing in the morning for Perth. It’s an early flight, I’m afraid.”

       “Fine with me. I’m an early riser.”

       She’d just bet he was. He looked like the type that rose at dawn to go for a run—always one СКАЧАТЬ