Marrying Her Billionaire Boss. Myrna Mackenzie

exquisite silver eyes on her. “Take copious notes. Not just about what’s being said, but about your impressions of the people on the commission, how they react. What they like, what they don’t like, how they conduct themselves. This meeting today is just a formality to ensure that we can begin working again, but in the weeks that follow we may have to go back to them if we make any changes to the structure.”

      “Will we do that?”

      Those silver eyes connected with her in a way that was deeply disturbing, primal, male. “Undoubtedly. There’s always competition to be the best. My brother has been out of commission for a while, but the hotel world has kept moving. We’ll need to make improvements, to hunt for the next trend, to discover what it is that will bring guests to our hotel rather than to another one.” His voice was deep, dark, ragged, earnest.

      “I thought you didn’t have experience with this,” she said softly.

      “I don’t have much, but I’ve sat in on plenty of discussions between my brother and my father. I’ve run my own firms and been a lifelong consumer of luxury products. As fickle as any customer, I’ve moved from one thing to the next.”

      For a moment, Beth had the discomfiting feeling that when Carson said “thing” he meant women, his voice was so low and seductive. It was terribly easy to believe that women would parade their wares before him, each trying to outdo the other.

      She swallowed hard. “I’ll take detailed notes,” she promised.

      It seemed a simple task when she thought of it that way. Taking notes? What could be so difficult? She would be a great assistant and make Carson glad that he had chosen her. Maybe she could even turn this into a career that would grant her the independence and the future that she needed.

      A sense of confidence and well-being filled her soul…until she walked into the office where the meeting was being held.

      A row of eyes met her entrance. A wall of men were seated at the table. In other years, Beth was sure, there had been women present, either as members of the commission or as architects or attorneys, but not today. Today she was the lone female, and, she was well aware, the only inexperienced person in sight, no matter what Carson had said.

      The minute he entered the room, he seemed to fill it. He was taller, more powerful-looking, more confident than any man present—even though every person in the room looked important. This was no small potatoes meeting.

      Everything that happened here mattered. That meant that everything she did mattered.

      She could help Carson, or she could prove her brothers right and be a helpless female who needed assistance.

      Beth swallowed hard and sat down, pen poised. She cast one look at Carson and found him studying her. He smiled slightly, and she knew instantly that he had loved and left many beautiful ladies.

      He might need her help today, but she must never make the mistake of thinking he needed anything else from her. She’d erred that way before. No more.

      Dredging up a look of confidence from some hidden place inside, Beth managed to give Carson a flippant smile. She began to scribble, and she knew that this man could help her free herself from the prison she had inhabited.

      Or he could create a new kind of prison for her. If she let him.

      CHAPTER THREE

      “WELL, THAT WAS incredibly interesting, Ms. Krayton,” Carson said as they returned to the office.

      She placed her hands over her face. “I can’t believe I did that, said that.”

      He couldn’t help chuckling even though he had been as horrified as she when she had gotten up to speak at the meeting. That certainly hadn’t been on the agenda. “You did that,” he agreed. “You said that. It most definitely broke the ice.”

      A look of horror came over her face. “I’m sure that one isn’t supposed to tell a commissioner that our pool would be so fun and romantic that he and his wife would feel as if they were giggling newlyweds on their honeymoon. I mean, I didn’t even know if he was married.”

      Carson shrugged. “He is, but I don’t think it was the comment about his marriage that intrigued everyone. I believe it might have been your enthusiasm that won them over.”

      “Well what’s not to like about a series of round stepping stone pools connected by ladders and slides? I especially liked the idea of the slide-away ceiling and the changeable lighting and movable landscaping to take the atmosphere from family swim parties to romantic adult evenings. But, when I stood up I wasn’t thinking. I only meant to say that I hadn’t seen anything like that in Chicago.”

      And she had said that…just before launching into a rapt speech about how the commission members themselves might benefit from a stay at the hotel.

      The look in her fine brown eyes now couldn’t be construed as anything other than guilt. Remorse. A truckload of both. Carson knew those feelings. He lived them every day, and one guilty person in their office was more than enough, especially since she had struck a chord with the commissioners.

      “Beth, you were fine.”

      “I wasn’t supposed to talk at all. I just…they were asking so many questions.”

      Carson couldn’t help smiling. “They’re supposed to do that. It’s their job.”

      She nodded. “Yes, I know. I mean, now that I’ve stopped to think, I know that. But the problem was that at the time I didn’t stop to think. I just jumped up and butted in where I didn’t belong.”

      She had flung one hand out and Carson caught it, holding her still. Her skin was warm and soft beneath his fingertips, but he tried not to notice that. In that boardroom she had been passionate, electric, her face suffused with a glowing enthusiasm that had spilled over into her speech about the selling points of the hotel and the pool. “Beth, they gave us permission to go on with the plans.”

      “Because of you. I’ll bet mere assistants don’t usually hop up during presentations and launch into wild speeches. They were probably too shocked to shut me up.”

      “Maybe,” he said with a grin, “but they knew you were a member of the Banick team. Your speech might have been a bit out of the ordinary, but it was effective and impressive. It’s good to see that kind of enthusiasm. It means that you’re part of a team that will work toward excellence.”

      She fidgeted. “I’ve never been called impressive.”

      Carson looked down at Beth, remembering the moment when she had put down her pen and gotten to her feet, beginning her speech. Politely at first, but then with more depth of feeling. She had made eye contact with the others sitting at the table. She had spoken to them as if she valued their opinions and expected something from them beyond business as usual.

      Beth might not be a lot of things…she clearly couldn’t dress herself, he thought, noting that her jacket was riding up, exposing a sliver of creamy skin she didn’t even seem to be aware of. Untamed strands of her hair framed her face, the result of her impassioned soliloquy. From what she had said he gathered that she had never met a person with a pedigree outside the working world.

      His mother would faint if he brought her home, even for a single dinner. Deirdre Banick wouldn’t have liked the speech about honeymoons, either. Her entire life was lived according to a strict set of rules, and she never spoke of anything remotely related to the more sensual aspects of life. Elegance and class were paramount.

      She had long been the driving force behind Banick Enterprises, and elegance had always been part of the company’s reputation. His foray outside the usual Banick standards in hiring someone as unpredictable, outspoken and untutored as Beth had probably been ill-advised. Nevertheless, that didn’t change what had just happened in that meeting. Beth Krayton was one hell of an amazing woman when she got excited about something.

      He wondered what else excited her, other than hotels and swimming pools.