Scandalous: Scandalized!. Lori Foster

you could know a person for years and never say or do anything outside the realm of related business, then suddenly be discussing very intimate, personal topics. She didn’t really mind, though. She’d always believed the better you knew your business associates the easier it would be to deal with them. It was her fondest wish to do a great many deals with Tony Austin. She finally nodded and answered, “Very personal. I detest alcohol.”

      “Maybe someday you’ll tell me why.”

      “Maybe.”

      Tony was silent a moment. He appeared to be studying her drop-pearl earrings until suddenly he asked, “Do you have a five-year goal for yourself, Olivia? Or some long-term destination that you’re working toward?”

      Again, Olivia felt that touch of excitement and tried to quell it. He was showing an interest he’d never shown before, and that could only mean he approved her business management. Tony Austin was the epitome of business excellence. A person could learn everything she needed to know from him.

      It was said Tony had doubled the Austin Crown hotel chain within three years of his father’s death. Under Tony’s guidance the hotels had grown from mediocre to posh and exclusive. Every upscale business convention around wanted to be on the receiving end of Crown’s special treatment.

      Tony Austin’s employees loved him and praised his leadership. As a pioneer in the business world with one of the fastest growing hotel chains around, he was regularly featured in business magazines. Austin Crown hotels were located throughout the country and probably would soon be around the world.

      Olivia watched now as he propped himself up against the wall, the breadth of his shoulders visible even beneath the elegant cut of his dark suit. He was a well-built man, she admitted to herself, in his early thirties, with more energy and determination than anyone she knew. Right now his brown hair, darker and richer than her own and with a spot more curl, had fallen forward over his brow, and his green eyes were intense on her features.

      Olivia smiled. “Of course I have a plan. A very substantial plan. If you’d like, I could outline it for you.”

      To her surprise, Tony caught one of the servers milling through the crowd. “Miss Anderson and I will be in the inner office. Please bring us refreshments, nonalcoholic only, and see that we’re not bothered unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

      The server nodded, took their empty glasses and walked away. Olivia felt her nerves tingle. He’s going to give it to me. She hadn’t expected this, hadn’t expected Tony to want to discuss business tonight, but still…

      Tony took her arm and began weaving through the crowd. Several people noticed, but she ignored them. Tony merely nodded to anyone who stared too long, but he was used to this. It was a fact he drew regular gossip from outsiders. After all, he was the local boy made good and there were always busybodies hoping to pick up a scrap of dirt. But they were in Willowbrook, Indiana, on Tony’s home ground, and anyone who really knew him paid little heed to the rumors.

      Olivia rehearsed her speech in her mind, preparing what she would say, how she would convince him to her way of thinking. She was busy wondering if she’d be able to shorten her five-year goal with his cooperation, when he tugged her into a dimly lit room that smelled of rich leather and Tony. Which, to her at least, was the scent of raw excitement. In this room she might get the break she’d been waiting for. All she had, all she would ever have, was her business. She’d given it everything she could, and it had given back all she had hoped for. Watching the business expand and grow was almost the same as having the life she really wanted. Almost.

      TONY CLOSED THE DOOR and leaned against it. It was funny, but before tonight he had never really noticed how lovely Olivia Anderson could be when she was excited, when she smiled…. Of course, he’d made note of and approved each one of her individual features. But he’d never before put them all together, taken them as the whole, and understood just how tempting an appearance she made.

      Tonight she had her soft dark brown hair pinned back in an elegant twist, though he knew it was nearly straight and fell to the tops of her shoulders. Olivia always looked elegant. She had more style and class than any woman he’d ever known. And it didn’t matter that her eyes were dark brown, not green like his own. He liked her eyes. They showed her emotions clearly, showed the depth of her character and her passion. Passion for her work, that is.

      He stepped away from the door and flipped on a single lamp that added a vague glow to the expansive room. It was cowardly of him, but he preferred to keep the lighting dim, to allow himself the cover of shadows while he presented her with his proposal. He said abruptly, “Have you ever been married, Olivia?”

      She looked stunned by the question, but thankfully, not insulted. She shook her head. “No. Nor do I plan any such alliance in the near future.”

      “Alliance?” He found himself smiling again. She had the strangest way of looking at things, as if everything was a business venture.

      Shrugging her shoulders, Olivia turned to find a chair, and sat down in one of a matching pair of chairs that sat adjacent to his massive desk. “My work is my life. I’m content that it stays that way.”

      Tony eased himself into the chair across from her, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. Though that was the answer he’d expected—anticipated—from her he was still a little disturbed. It wasn’t right that a woman with her attributes, with her intelligence and personality, should spend her life alone.

      “How old are you?”

      She blinked, but she answered readily enough. “Twenty-six. Actually my five-year plan was only formulated last year. By the time I’m thirty, I hope to have created a very substantial business with at least three more shops.”

      He waved that away. “You don’t leave yourself much room for a husband or children or any other personal pursuits.”

      Frowning now, she surveyed him with a wary eye. Tony knew he needed to retrench, to give her a bit more room. The thing was, he’d never been a patient man. When he wanted something, he wanted it now.

      And he wanted a baby.

      He reached out to take Olivia’s hand, but she snatched it back, then looked embarrassed that she’d done so.

      “I don’t understand the need for such personal questions. I assumed you were satisfied with our business dealings…”

      “More than satisfied. You run a very profitable business and your two existing shops have already benefited my hotels. I don’t see any problem in expanding them.”

      Olivia let out a breath and gifted him with a beautiful smile. “Thank you. Obviously that’s what I was hoping to hear. I’ll admit, though, you threw me with all that personal stuff. I know it’s important to understand your associates, to make certain they won’t suddenly change their priorities and let their businesses flounder. If that was your worry, let me assure you—”

      “I’d like to have a baby.”

      His timely, or not so timely, interruption, left Olivia with her mouth hanging open and her brows lifted high. It was a nice mouth, full and soft. He could see her tongue, pink and moist and…She also had beautiful skin, which of course would be a plus, along with her excellent health and unbelievable ingenuity.

      She cleared her throat, and with a small, nervous laugh, said, “I believe that might be an anatomical impossibility.”

      “Not if I can find the right woman to carry the babe.”

      She fell back in her seat, her hands braced on the arms of the chair, her mouth once again open. Right then, Tony decided to stop noticing her enticing mouth.

      He was saved from having to say anything by the knock on the door. Tony waited until the server left the room and softly closed the door behind him before meeting Olivia’s eyes again. She still looked stunned.

      “I can practically hear your brain working, Olivia, and I want to assure you, before anything else, that this has nothing to do with your