An Unexpected Partnership. Teresa Southwick

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ that’s why you turned green when Geri mentioned coffee.”

      “I thought I did a good job of hiding it,” she said.

      “No.” She might be concealing other relevant facts, but not her current distaste for coffee. “But you’re not supposed to have it anyway, at least not much,” he qualified. “It’s not a complete no on caffeine, but it has to be less than two hundred milligrams a day...” He stopped because she was staring at him as if he’d grown another head. “What?”

      “How did you know that about coffee during pregnancy?”

      He knew because he’d married the last woman who said she was having his baby and embraced the experience with her. Along with the pain of finding out the son he loved more than life wasn’t his, he remembered pregnancy do’s and don’ts. “I guess I just heard it somewhere.”

      “You do meet a lot of women.” There was sarcasm in her voice.

      “One of the perks of being a hockey star,” he said, hoping to change the focus of this conversation.

      “Must be a difficult cross to bear.” Now bitterness mixed with the sarcasm.

      If he didn’t know better, he would say she was a little bit jealous, but that proved again just how bad he was at reading women. She’d taken a dislike to him almost from the moment they met. There was definite female interest in her eyes, right up until Pat Morrow introduced him as a former professional hockey player. An athlete, she’d said, in a disdainful tone that lumped him in with litterbugs and dog haters. Neither of which he was.

      He’d liked her from the first but she gave him the cold shoulder. Until the night of her grandfather’s memorial service, when she was hot as hell and took him to heaven. She was right about one thing. He had had no room in his brain to think about protection that night. Holding her felt that good. If the baby was his, the blame could be shared fifty-fifty. But that night proved one thing. Tess was attracted to him even though she disapproved of him personally.

      He met her gaze. “I do like women. That’s not a hanging offense.”

      “No one said it was.”

      “You didn’t have to say it. Judgment is written all over your face.”

      “Wow,” she said. “Apparently my face gives away more than just the fact that the thought of coffee makes me want to barf.”

      “Was it coffee? I assumed it was the sight of me.”

      “Wow again. I’m surprised you could find a helmet big enough for your swelled head. Not everything is about you, Leo.”

      “And jumping to that conclusion just proves—”

      “Hello, Leo.” His attorney interrupted him. The pretty, green-eyed redhead smiled at Tess and held out her hand. “I’m Annabel Sanders. You must be Ms. Morrow.”

      “Tess.” She shook the other woman’s hand.

      “I apologize for keeping you waiting. I didn’t expect my last client to take as long as he did.”

      “I didn’t see him leave,” Leo said.

      “I’m not surprised. You were having an intense chat.” Annabel’s eyes narrowed on him for a moment, and then she smiled at Tess. “It’s nice to meet you.”

      As the two women chatted, Leo studied his lawyer. She was a beautiful woman. Spectacular curves were showcased in the body-hugging hunter green dress with the flaring skirt. She was also funny and brilliant but he’d never felt the slightest hint of attraction to her. Not once in the nearly two years he’d known her. Maybe because their relationship was professional.

      “If you’ll both follow me into my office, we can go over the agreement.”

      He let the women precede him into the large corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides. In one corner was a conversation area, defined by a leather love seat, two matching club chairs and a glass coffee table. The attorney sat behind her large desk. These digs were much nicer than the small, cramped office where they’d had their very first meeting.

      Annabel opened a file on her desk and put on her lawyer face. “Tess, you got the email I sent with the attachment containing the agreement?”

      “Yes.”

      “You had a chance to read it over and have your attorney look at it?”

      “I read it,” Tess said. “It looks fine to me.”

      Leo had clued Annabel in on the background that the partnership was a go because Tess was strapped for cash and trying to save her business. He could see her making that connection as the reasoning for not getting a second legal opinion.

      “I can assure you that the terms are extremely fair,” Annabel told her.

      Tess nodded. “I agree.”

      “Do you have any questions?”

      “No.”

      The attorney nodded. “Leo was very clear that he didn’t want to take advantage of your grief and your grandfather’s passing. My condolences, by the way.”

      “Thank you.” Tess glanced at him and the paleness in her cheeks disappeared, replaced by a charming pink. Must be the “taking advantage” comment.

      As he saw it, they’d had a mutual taking advantage, and the memories were never far from his mind.

      “The thing is, Ms. Sanders—”

      “Annabel, please.”

      “Okay. Annabel. Before he died, my grandfather approached Leo about the partnership because he trusted him. I have faith in his judgment. And I didn’t see anything in the paperwork that changed my mind.”

      “Okay, then. We’ll get this done.”

      She went through each page, having them sign and initial where indicated. It was a lot of paperwork, but finally they reached the end.

      “Congratulations,” the attorney said. “You two have a partnership.”

      “In business,” Tess clarified.

      “Yes.” Annabel looked from one to the other. “By definition partners need to work together.”

      “Are you lecturing us?” Leo asked.

      “No. Yes. Maybe.” She looked at him. “I heard you talking in the waiting room and got the feeling there’s an adversarial aspect to your relationship. If you’re going to make a success of this venture, it’s important to work together.”

      “Of course,” he said.

      “I mean it.” She looked at Tess. “I don’t know you, but I’ve worked with Leo for several years. He has an excellent head for business and a successful track record to prove it. Don’t let his cocky attitude fool you.”

      “If СКАЧАТЬ