Seeing Stars (32 page)
"Hello, Dexter." She frowned and juggled her stylus, organizer, and telephone. "Any way we can put it off? No, Friday's impossible. Can you—Yes, I agree. I—yes, I'll be there."
"Problems?" he asked when she'd cradled the receiver again.
"No," she said. She switched off her portable computer and slipped it into its case.
"Sam, hold on a minute."
She stood waiting for his words, eyes inscrutable, lips unsmiling. This was pure impulse, but he'd learned to trust his impulses.
"We signed a contract when you started working here. I assigned you a block of shares that would become vested in two years."
Her eyes met his, unblinking. "Provided you're satisfied with my work."
"I'm satisfied." Why the devil were they talking so formally? "I've been making things hard for you these last few weeks."
"You've been a nuisance, Cal, but I know you're itching to get started on this project. Once this recruitment is over, you'll get off my back."
"I think it's time to vest your shares, give you that seat on the board. I'll call the lawyer in the morning and set it up."
She looked stunned.
"This wasn't supposed to happen for another six months." She picked up her computer case, looking a hell of a lot less pleased than he would have expected.
"What the hell's going on, Sam?"
She shifted her grip on the computer. "We've got a meeting in about ten minutes. Can we talk afterward?"
"Yes," he agreed. "We'll talk afterward."
About the Author
Vanessa Grant
Vanessa Grant’s love affair with writing fiction began during a protracted illness at the age of twelve when she decided to write a novel of her own, sitting up in bed and using the typewriter she’d been given for her birthday. Not a computer, not an electric typewriter, but a then state-of-the-art manual typewriter. The story ground to a halt on page 50 but Vanessa never forgot the excitement of bringing her own characters to life. In her twenties, she wrote three unpublished novels, developing her skills as a writer while living in a remote lighthouse, during what she thinks of as her baby-making, basket-weaving, beach-walking days.
She now has over ten million books sold and has been translated into fifteen languages. She has also written what one critic has described as, “by far the best writing book I’ve ever read.”
Writing Romance
, published by Self Counsel Press, won the Under the Covers Best Writing Book award, and is currently in its third edition.
Vanessa lives with her husband and their two Australian shepherds on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Connect with Vanessa online:
For other books by Vanessa Grant, visit Vanessa’s website at
www.vanessagrant.com
Vanessa is also on Twitter as @vanessa_grant, and on Facebook at
http://facebook.com/vanessagrantauthor
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