Her Gentle Capture (5 page)

“Mr. Powell!” the voice came again. Mitch looked around and saw the man with the dirty leather jacket frantically waving to him.

Mitch pulled back but kept his arm around Adriana’s waist, not letting her shift far away from
him. “Jimmy! How are you doing?” Mitch asked, shaking the man’s hand.

Adriana watched with fascination as the older man approached. He had chipped teeth, a few of which were even black, a hat that should have been burned about three decades ago as well as pants that were held up only by the grace of God and a precarious knot tied at the man’s waist. If he had shaved at all, Adriana would
have guessed it hadn’t been in the past three days. Everything about this man was dirty but Mitch shook his hand as if the man were another member of his board of directors.

He was a gregarious fellow and his engaging grin pulled one’s attention away from the desperate appearance of his clothing. There was also a twinkle in his eye, as if he were excited about whatever the day was going to
offer him.

The man named Jimmy laughed and nodded his head. “Great! We’re all doing great! When are you coming down to the chess park again? Tim and I think we can trounce you next time.”

Mitch laughed at that. “I doubt it, but you’re welcome to try.”

“Next Saturday?” he asked eagerly.

Mitch thought for a moment, then nodded his head. “Next Saturday. Coffee is on me.”

Jimmy chuckled,
a sound that was almost more of a cough than laughter. Mitch looked sternly down at the man, putting a hand onto his shoulder. “Go over to Doc’s office and get that chest x-rayed again, Jimmy,” Mitch commanded with a stern look. “It doesn’t sound good.”

Jimmy waved Mitch’s concern away, his hand pounding firmly on the middle of his chest. “Hell, it don’t bother me anymore. That’s just the
lungs enjoying the night air.”

Mitch smacked the guy’s arm lightly. “Get it checked anyway okay? You won’t be able to focus on playing chess if you’re hacking up a lung. And if I know you, you’ll blame your defeat on not having enough focus.” Jimmy chuckled but he nodded his head. Mitch put his arm back around Adriana’s waist. “I need to get this woman some food. She eats less than you
do. Can I get you something?”

Jimmy licked his lips, paused, then shook his head, the light in his eyes dimming ever so slightly. “Nah. You just run on and flirt with the pretty lady.”

Mitch shook Jimmy’s hand again and Jimmy headed on down the street. Mitch steered Adriana into the restaurant, one of the posh establishments that catered to the wealthy and elite that poured out of the tall
buildings during lunch and after work.

The hushed atmosphere was a stark contrast to the bustling noise out on the sidewalk. “Good afternoon, Mr. Powell,” the hostess said as soon as Mitch stepped through the doors. “Your usual table?” she asked, already gathering menus.

“Please, Laura. That would be great.”

“This way,” she said and smiled professionally. Adriana felt horrible since there
were others standing inside the doorway, obviously still waiting on a table and it looked like they had been there for a while.

When they were seated and a bottle of wine ordered, Mitch leaned back in his chair and looked at her carefully. “Tell me what you were thinking about in the meeting earlier today.”

Adriana wasn’t about to go into the sexual fantasies she’d been having during the meeting
so instead, she focused on what was said and her ideas on how to use those concepts in the reports she compiled each month for the company in general and the ones she created for him specifically. She barely looked at him and had trouble keeping her hands still. She had to hide them, allowing her fingers to fiddle with the linen napkin because at least they were under the table and he wouldn’t
be able to see how nervous she was.

Mitch thought about challenging her on the issue, but he recognized that he couldn’t push her too far. She was already nervous and wary after that kiss. He would have to move slower than he normally did with a woman. That was going to be hard though because the feelings and need this slender woman generated within him with just one of her brown eyed glances
was more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced with another woman before. He wasn’t sure he would have the patience to woo her properly, but he was enjoying the chase. He couldn’t let it linger much longer though. The ache for her was powerful, intense. And consuming.

So during the meal, he allowed her the freedom to direct the conversation to more mundane and safer topics such as
work and marketing obstacles. All the while, he watched her face, fascinated with the way her eyes would light up when she had a really good idea or they might narrow if he disagreed with her. He loved to watch her cheeks flame with color when he made even the slightest personal comment.

When the waiter arrived with the dessert menu, she glanced at her watch, stunned to realize that they’d
been sitting there arguing for almost two and a half hours! “I really need to get back to work,” she said, exasperated with the man even though she was smiling at the challenge to her ideas he’d just tossed at her.

The waiter appeared at their table as if he’d somehow heard her comment about leaving, and set two boxes next to Mitch. “Have a good afternoon, Mr. Powell,” the waiter said and
bowed away.

“What are those?” Adriana asked, looking at the boxes and wondering what might be inside them. She’d eaten almost her entire meal, so it wasn’t her leftover lunch.

“Nothing,” he said and stood up. “Ready?”

He took the boxes and led Adriana out of the building. She was relieved that the crowd has dissipated from the front door. Hopefully, everyone who had been waiting had finally
gotten a table and was enjoying the restaurant’s excellent cuisine. She felt much better now that she’d filled her stomach. She really shouldn’t skip so many meals, she thought as she walked back to the building beside Mitch.

“I’ll be right back,” Mitch said, startling Adriana out of her thoughts. They were almost back to the same spot where he’d kissed her and she wasn’t sure what was going
on.

Adriana watched with curiosity as Mitch disappeared down an alley. It wasn’t a dark and dangerous alley, nor was it filled with garbage and discarded furniture like she’d seen on several police shows. It was a relatively clean alley. But it was still an alley. Not a place one thinks an obnoxious billionaire like Mitch Powell would frequent.

A few moments later, he came back out of the
alley, the two boxes no longer in his hands.

“What did you do?” Adriana asked.

He looked back down the alleyway, then at her and smiled slightly. “We’re late for another meeting,” he said and put a hand to the small of her back.

She hesitated, looking down the alley one more time, more curious than she wanted to be, but he was leading her away and nothing in the alley moved. Surely he hadn’t
just tossed those two boxes filled with food into the dumpster behind the alley, had he? She’d eaten there with her parents and she knew that the meals were expensive. It was the type of restaurant that didn’t even put the prices on the menu.

Then his words registered. “What meeting?” she asked, startled that she wouldn’t be getting space from the man. Okay, so lunch hadn’t been so bad.
Actually, now that she was thinking about it, she felt strangely invigorated by their conversation. It was the first time she had discussed something with him and she felt…empowered? Was that really the right word? Yes, she supposed it was.

When the elevator doors opened up, he held a door open for her but when she started to turn one way down the hallway, he grabbed her hand and pulled
her back, startling her with the heat in his touch and the crazy way her body reacted yet again. “This way,” he said, not answering her question. But instead, he led the way down the long, executive hallway once more. “Get your computer. I’ll need you to look up statistics during this meeting.”

She stared up at him, not fully understanding. “Statistics?” she asked.

“Yes. Listen to the
speakers just like in the meeting this morning, but I want you to counter any of the numbers you hear during this meeting. I don’t trust this group of investors. So if you find anything that doesn’t make sense, shoot me a text with the correct information.”

Adriana nodded her head, still not sure what was going on, but she loved that he was trusting her with a task that sounded important. “You’ll
be fine,” he assured her, sensing her anxiety.

She hurried to her office and grabbed her computer, unaware of the silly smile she had on her face. When she was back in the conference room, she took a seat behind Mitch this time and he didn’t stop her. But as the group of strangers walked into the conference room and started talking, she listened carefully, refusing to think about the man’s
underwear like she had during the morning meeting.

As soon as the investors started talking, she quickly understood why Mitch had asked her to be here. She instantly knew that the numbers being tossed out during their briefing were wrong and her fingers began researching the information. The very first thing they said, she stumbled on a site that contradicted their claims. She immediately
shot that information to Mitch. Then listened again. Over and over again, she heard information that she either quickly confirmed or debunked. She was thrilled to be flying through the internet so quickly, her fingers a blur as she typed quickly, sifting through fact and fiction. The more they talked, the more thrilling it was to keep up with them. Repeatedly, she found sites or data from independent
sources that contradicted their claims and then shot that information in as succinct a summary as possible.

After two hours, the team stopped, smiled and opened their arms wide as if just waiting for Mitch to jump on board their train.

Mitch rubbed his thumb against the side of his jawline, his eyes not revealing any of his thoughts. Then he started smiling. It was a slow smile and the presenters
obviously thought they’d won Mitch over. But Adriana instinctively knew exactly what he was about to say.

Mitch stood up, shook the lead presenter’s hand, then each of the others, and walked out of the conference room.

“Mitch?” one of his vice presidents called out, trying to get his boss to slow down. “Aren’t you going to even consider this guy’s proposal?”

Mitch turned around and shook
his head. “Their numbers are a complete fabrication.” Turning to Adriana, he said, “Summarize all of the data you sent to me, confirm each number, then send it out to everyone on my team who was in that meeting. I don’t want any of them contemplating doing business with that company.” Turning to the vice president he said, “I want you to contact Juniper Group and tell them we’re a go for the
trucks and half of the order on the ships. Demand a ten percent discount and I want the entire order filled within six months, not one year.”

The vice president was stunned by the order. “But that will completely undercut the services to…” he weakly waved his hand towards the strangers who were standing to the side, looking stunned and more than a little pale.

“Once you read Adriana’s summary,
you’ll understand.” He turned to Adriana. “They’ll need that data by tomorrow at the latest.”

Adriana nodded her head quickly and moved down the hallway to her office. She couldn’t believe how pumped up she was to be tasked with such an enormous responsibility. And to have so much insight into the workings of a company? Good grief, this was experience she couldn’t get any other way!

For
the rest of the afternoon, she worked hard on the report, so excited she forgot to take a break for dinner. A sandwich was delivered to her desk around eight o’clock that evening, but she only took the time to eat half of it, wanting to keep digging into the report she was building.

By midnight, she had it all compiled, the information triple checked and graphs, charts and explanations all
built up and color coded for easy reference. When she printed out the last spreadsheet, she looked at the information with a sense of accomplishment and pride that was unparalleled.

“Feeling pleased with yourself, eh?” a deep voice said from her doorway.

Adriana jerked upright and stared at the tall, handsome man. “What are you still doing here, sir?”

He stepped into her office and picked
up the report, his fingers flipping through the pages, stopping occasionally to read one or two of the points she’d discovered. “This is good,” he said and tossed it back onto her desk. “You were listening over the past few days.”

Adriana’s eyes widened. That last report! The one she’d gotten so angry with him about? She glanced down at her new report and almost laughed at how much of the
analysis he’d taught her that day was included in this report. “Yes, I guess I was,” she said with a laugh.

“Smart and beautiful,” he mumbled. “Good combination.”

Those words caused the breath to be trapped in her throat. Goodness, he knew how to throw a curve ball! “Um…I don’t think…”

He leaned over her desk, his palms flat on the surface while those crystal blue eyes looked into her brown
ones with heat and desire. “Adriana, you know we’re going to be lovers, right?”

Now she couldn’t breathe at all! “What did you say?” she whispered, afraid she’d misheard his statement.

He smiled slightly, his eyes moving over her features slowly. “Lovers. We’re going to be lovers. When are you going to accept this?”

She shook her head. “We’re not.” She stared at him, feeling that heat
steal through her body once more. Then those crazy feelings she’d experienced when he’d kissed her earlier today came rushing back and she felt her breathing start to increase, her eyes moved down to those firm lips.

He moved to sit on the corner of her desk, looking down at her with those fascinating blue eyes. “Why does the idea terrify you so much?” he asked, picking up a paperweight that
her mother had given her a long time ago, dropping it back and forth in his hands.

She shook her head. “I don’t even like you, sir.”