The Proposition

Chapter
One

Megan
knew there was something different about him the moment they were introduced.

No, it
wasn’t just his blinding good looks. It wasn’t even his money or the obviously
expensive clothes he wore. It was more about the power he exuded; the sensation
that he was some lethal beast barely holding himself back from seizing his
suspected prey.

Oh fuck
he’s hot, she thought, as she shook hands with Heath Mayer. She’d heard about
their
chief exec being quite the hunk, but did anyone have
the right to be so freaking sexy? He just had to breathe and he was any girl’s
hottest fantasy.

Above
six feet tall, wide shoulders, narrow waist – all round solid, hard. He
had the kind of arresting face you’d see on any of those high fashion men’s
magazines.
Brooding good looks with the chiseled jaw and
smoky eyes.
His were a piercing
grey,
with hair
so dark it seemed to have blue streaks in them. He had on a
three
piece
suit that fit him perfectly, and gave the impression that his clothes
cost more than Megan earned in a year.

“This is
Miss Kerry,” her superior, the VP of sales and marketing, was saying as he
introduced her to the owner and CEO of the company. She shook hands with the
hunky Heath Mayer, and it was all Megan could do to focus on anything or anyone
else but the specimen of utter male beauty standing before her. Her normally
well collected
, sensible brain almost shut down as she
blinked beneath his arresting grey stare.

“Ah,
this is the talented market strategist we have on our team,” Heath Mayer said,
finally releasing her hand. It was only then that Megan remembered to breathe
again. Whoa, his touch had sent an electric charge up her arm – making
her feel more alive than she had in a long time. His photos simply had never
done him justice, she thought firmly to herself. She remembered catching
glimpses of his picture in society
magazines,
newspapers and even once she’d seen him on TV. But nothing had prepared her for
meeting her boss face to face.

“Thank
you, Mr. Mayer; I’m honored you invited me to head office to plan the new sales
structure for the company,” she said politely in reply at last.

“Lionel
already told me you’re the best we have – probably the best in the city,”
Heath drawled as he indicated a seat in the spacious, ultra- modern office. “I
hope we’re paying you enough to ensure we don’t get you nicked away by the
competition.”

“I
doubt anyone could offer me enough to make me want to leave my job at Mayer
Consulting. I love working for you, sir.”

Megan
almost wanted to bite her lip at her gushing words. But then he suddenly
smiled, and it was like the whole world was just blinding light for a second.

“I’m
glad to be able to impact my employee to such level of loyalty. Well, why don’t
we sit down and the meeting can get under way?”

*

The
meeting was a very brief one. After all, Heath Mayer was a multi-millionaire
financial whiz with the world at his feet, clamoring for his attention. His
secretary had managed to hold all calls but it was obvious he had little time
for the brief pep talk he’d called them in for.

“Look,
I already like what you guys in sales are doing for the company. Whatever it
is, it’s working. I just felt like there were a few tweaks I’d like us to overview.
So tell you what,” he said casually, rising to his feet. Both Megan and her
boss Lionel also hurried to stand as Heath Mayer buttoned up his suit, “Why
don’t we fix some kind of business lunch, Miss Kerry, where you can run things
by me one more time? After all, the whole plan is your baby, so I’d like you to
make the presentation to me as soon as possible. How about Thursday? I have a
free lunch hour then.”

Megan
barely had time to piece her fuddled thoughts together. Lunch, Thursday, with
Heath Mayer, her boss – her overall boss. Even Lionel looked a bit
surprised but then, he was probably thinking the same thing Megan was thinking.
These rich folks couldn’t be questioned. Things were done their way or you hit
the highway.

“Thursday
would be perfect, sir,” she said, trying not to fumble over the words.

“Great.
Well guys, if you’ll excuse me, I have a flight to Melbourne in half an hour.
I’ll see you Thursday, Miss Kerry. My chauffeur will pick you from your office
to the venue of our lunch.”

Chapter
Two

None of
Megan’s friends at work could understand why she was so calm about her upcoming
lunch meet with their owner and CEO, Heath Mayer.

“I just
thought it was pretty weird,” Megan said with an off-hand shrug as they had
lunch in the pizza restaurant just a stone’s throw from their office building.
“But then, it made perfect sense. I designed the main marketing plan, so I’d be
the one to present it to him. And he decided he’d use a business lunch to do
it.”

“You’re
right; it’s just an ordinary formal lunch meeting. Nothing underhand about
that,” Lisa, from accounting, agreed. She bit hard on a piece of carrot from
her salad and then began to chew with equal force. “But still, I’d give
anything to trade places with you right now. Do you know how in demand our sexy
CEO is?”

“So, he
was named most eligible bachelor in the city like for three years running,”
Megan said with that same casual air. “I get it. I mean, I was within three
feet of the guy and I definitely felt like I would gladly lick cream off his
face, but…”

Her two
co-workers chuckled, and Megan’s eyes were finally gleaming with humor as she
admitted, “But his type has “off limits” and “out of reach” plastered all over
him in invisible ink. What hope would I have with a guy like him?”

“Zilch,”
Lisa said with a sage nod, and Megan let out a sound of protest.

Her
other friend, Ursula, said quickly, “Don’t mind Lisa, she’s just jealous. We’ve
worked for the company for five years and never caught a glimpse of our hunky
owner. And yet here you are, barely two years at the place, and already you’ve
caught his attention. Something tells me there’s more to it than meets the
eye.”

Lisa
was shaking her head at Ursula. “Why are you doing this to the girl? Giving her
false hope? He’s a very busy guy who takes every detail of his company
seriously. He simply wants a chance to hear Megan out but his only opportunity
in the near future is lunch on Thursday. Which, by the way, is tomorrow,” she
added smoothly, making a sharp turn to face Megan. “Now girl, what are you
going to wear? Hope you’ve got a sexy little skirt suit lined up for your one
hour with Mr. Candy on Legs.”

Now it
was Megan’s turn to shake her head and laugh right along with them.

She
felt so twisted up. She knew it was probably just wishful thinking, but she
could have sworn she saw something in Mr. Mayer’s eyes when he’d shaken her
hand – and when he’d suggested the lunch appointment. But wasn’t she
being foolish for nursing any silly crush for her gorgeous boss? She’d only be
letting herself up for embarrassment, not to talk of heartache, is she didn’t
smarten up soon…

Chapter
Three

Was it
even possible for him to look even hotter than the first time they’d met?
Megan’s heart fell into the pit of her belly as she faced Heath Mayer once
again.

It was
the afternoon of their lunch meeting, and she’d arrived with what she hoped was
a professional and confident exterior

“Nice
to see you, Miss Kerry,” he said in that chocolate-melting voice of his. She
placed her hand in his and for a moment, she had that tingling sensation that
he didn’t want to let go.

Nice to
see you, handsome, she would have said, but instead made an appropriate reply
before sinking into the chair opposite him at the table. It was a very intimate
restaurant, obviously expensive, within a very prestigious five-star hotel. He
at once proceeded with ordering, and Megan chose something light. She was sure
she’d be too nervous to eat.

“The
presentation, Mr. Mayer…”

“Can
wait one more minute,” he said, sitting back as his fingers tapped the side of
his wine glass. She lifted wide eyes to his face, her breath catching at the
studious expression there. Why was he looking at her like he was undressing her
with his eyes? Was she imagining the sudden air of awareness swirling around
them and making it seem like all the oxygen was sucked out from the room?

“You
intrigue me, Miss Kerry. How old are you, twenty two, twenty three?”

“I’m
twenty five, actually, sir,” she said, taking a hasty gulp of her wine and
almost spilling it on herself, her hands far from steady.

He
nodded thoughtfully. “I was looking through your file the other day, and I was
thinking how much progress you’ve made since you joined my firm. All the ideas
and structures you’ve spearheaded have in one way or
another,
placed the company one foot ahead. You remind me a lot about myself when I was
your age.”

Megan
found herself chuckling softly at that. “You make yourself sound so ancient, Mr.
Mayer. You can’t be much older than me, surely.”

“I’m
twenty nine. But I’m serious; it took me just a few years to make my mark in my
own field. And you, Miss Kerry, are making quite a mark of your own. And by the
way…I like the way you laugh. You should do it more often.”

Megan
blinked, and then said, “Thank you sir,” even as her heart began to pound
alarmingly again. But the waiter appeared with their first course so she had a
few moments of respite to collect herself after his unexpected compliments
– all of them.

As they
ate, she gave him an insight to her plans for the marketing growth of the
company. She could tell he liked what he heard, and her heart lifted when he
made some approving c(omment or the other on one or two of her points.

“Once
again, you’ve impressed me, Miss Kerry,” he said lightly. They’d just had the
table cleared and he was drinking some more wine. Following suit, Megan took
several swallows from her glass and fought off the heady feeling overtaking
her. She was normally lightweight with alcohol and she knew she should be
taking it easy, but around Heath Mayer, she needed as much fortification as she
could get. Just sitting so close to him, having to endure his skin-tingling gaze
was bringing a twitching to her hidden places.

“Thank
you, Mr. Mayer,” she croaked out. She tried to meet his eyes but daren’t. It
was hard to look straight at him and not wish
herself
in bed with him right there, right then.
That somehow, with a
snap of her fingers, the restaurant would disappear and they’d be in some
exotic location, having steamy, filthy sex for hours.

“What
if I told you I’m considering giving you a promotion – moving you up to
head office to head the team there?” he said calmly, and Megan’s eyes darted as
she let his words sink in.

“I’d
say…wow, sir. That’s a big career leap,” she said with reined-in enthusiasm. It
wouldn’t do to jump on the table and do a jig, not just yet.

“But
you’ve got the guts and the talent to hold your own, don’t you, Miss Kerry?
There’s much of a can-do element about you; I can tell these things.”