Double-Cross My Heart Read Free Page A

was good for him would be good for her, too. Her situation now was intolerable.
    Was she ready to hear his proposition? His team had originally targeted Eden in the hope that he could form an alliance and win her assistance in his takeover bid. But he was reluctant to speak now that the moment of truth seemed close at hand. This was dicey business, even more than the other business deals, he’d worked. It was complicated for the very reason that not only business was at stake here. He’d let things get very personal. It would have been so much simpler if he hadn’t liked her so much.
    Regret wasn’t high on his list of worthwhile experiences, but as he sat across from her trying to find a good way to broach the subject of his take-over bid, he knew regret. There had to have been a less calculating way to get into her life.
    At least, he hadn’t had sex with her…yet.
    Depending on how he handled this, he’d either be her hero or her enemy and he much preferred the former role.
    “It must be hard to come to this point after all the years you’ve worked with Michele,” he commented finally. “She’s been like your family and then she turned on you. You’ve handled the whole mess very professionally. Michele doesn’t deserve all the slack you’ve cut her.”
    “No,” Eden agreed, her beautiful mouth in a wry smile, “she doesn’t. She deserves my letter of resignation on her desk two weeks ago, at the very least. I’d like to see her and her bimbo run the business now! And I’d have taken another position if my other avenues had panned out. But like I said, I’m trapped. If I leave Michele Cosmetics, I have to give up a career I love. Some people say business is business, but they’re wrong. The beauty industry is what I’m good at.”
    After a short pause, Alex said, “Didn’t you say something about an uncle you might be able to work with in some capacity? What does he do?”
    Would she confide in him about her compromised position regarding her family relationship to George Thompson? If Thompson had pulled his head out of his ass and offered Eden a position, Alex’s plans for Michele Cosmetics would have to be redeveloped. He could think of worse things. At least, Eden would get what she truly deserved.
    From the expression on her face, however, he had to conclude that George Thompson’s head was still firmly lodged in its usual position.
    “He runs his own business,” she said noncommittally, her face losing some of its lively sparkle.
    “What kind of business?” Alex pressed. “Would he have any use for your expertise?”
    Waiting while she formed her response, he considered how he could best tell her he knew of her disastrous family tie. He would never actually reveal the compromising information to anyone at Michele Cosmetics. He might, however, need to remind Eden just how vulnerable she was. If he could find out that she was closely related to Michele Cosmetics’ biggest regional competitor, others could. People who were gunning for her, unlike him.
    Nothing good would come of Eden staying where she was now. She needed to take his offer, needed to move on. He’d spent the last ten years building up a multi-million dollar business. Knowing how to make an offer sound good was a deeply ingrained habit.
    In the early morning hours, awake as usual to greet the dawn, he’d gone over and over his pitch. Deals always went better when everyone felt like they were winning. Could he make this one seem that way for Eden? Everything would work out so much better for them all if she could see that her own best interests lie with him.
    Alex was hopeful. She was a smart, savvy woman.
    Aware of an unusual tension as he prepared to make his pitch, he tried to believe she’d see how his proposition benefited her.
    “So your uncle is in what business?” he asked again.
    This could be the beginning of a terrific relationship, he thought as he waited for her response. Eden’s business skills commanded