Like why, for example, did she always seem to notice how good he smelled? And why was she fascinated by those blue eyes of his—hard as arctic glaciers one moment, sparkling with amusement the next? He’d held her hand to help calm her, that was all. And yet the touch of his thumb on her wrist had woken feelings all through her body. In places that had never been disturbed before—places Cassie had long thought must be defective. That was why Part Two of the plan was so important, and she only hoped it would help with achieving Part Three, the part of her plan that felt like the most impossible. Surely if she looked the part of a sexy woman, the rest would follow naturally?
She stood up and crowded into the aisle. Ronan stood next to her, twisting around to reach the jacket he’d laid out in the overhead compartment to stop it from creasing. He shrugged it on and Cassie told herself not to notice his expensive cologne or the way the tailored jacket emphasized his broad shoulders and narrow waist.
He noticed her look and gave her a quick smile that reached all the way to his eyes before he busied himself with zipping up his laptop case.
He did that a lot, Cassie noted. Did something flirty—a look, a smile, a touch—and then pulled himself back. It was probably his nature. He flirted with all women, but when he remembered he was flirting with her, he stopped. She really must be that unattractive to him. The idea hurt more than it should.
She shook her head. At least in an hour or so they’d be in the store, and there’d be other people around. Dealing with him one-on-one was far too stressful.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE HEAT WAS UNRELENTING and so, it seemed, was Cassie Hartman. Ronan could feel his shirt sticking to his back—he’d given up on his jacket hours ago—as they climbed into their rental car after the last store visit of the day.
The sun was beginning to move toward the horizon but the temperature didn’t feel as if it had dropped a single degree since midafternoon. The air itself was oven-hot, and he gratefully gulped in lungfuls of the air-conditioning inside the car.
Cassie seemed oblivious, powering her way through the stores, greeting the staff like a long-lost older sister, praising good work done, gently chiding when she saw things requiring improvement. Ronan noticed that she couldn’t help tweaking things when they needed it—without doubt every store they’d been to had looked better, more inviting, more stylish, by the time they left. It was only a matter of a lamp here, or a vase there, but clearly Cassie had a knack for interior design.
He wondered what she’d make of his apartment back in San Francisco. The entire top floor of an old Victorian-style mansion, he’d always known it had the potential to be a showpiece—he’d just never got around to doing anything about it. A window in the kitchen was permanently open to let an old cat that seemed to have adopted him come and go as she pleased—leaving mess and paw prints as she went. The whole place never failed to produce comments from visitors. He lived like he was still in college—crates for shelves, movie posters tacked up on the walls, secondhand mismatched furniture—and not in a good, bohemian kind of way. More in a “Is that sofa safe?” kind of way.
He’d just never been all that concerned about it. His focus had always been on Conroy Corporation and, as long as he had a bed, a fridge and somewhere to park his car, he didn’t care so much about what his home looked like. Besides, he was too restless to settle in one place for long. It was why he was always the first to volunteer for projects that involved travel—although usually that meant within North America or, occasionally, Europe. When he was away from headquarters, away from his father’s all-pervasive influence, it felt easier to breathe, somehow. Not that he didn’t love his family. Just sometimes the pressure of being Ronan Conroy and heir to Conroy Corporation—and all the seemingly impossible-to-fulfill expectations that accompanied that—was a heavy burden.
No amount of pretty furnishings in his apartment was going to help cure those feelings, he knew. But his mind went back to Country Style’s boardroom—that incongruous room in a warehouse that Cassie had decorated as a family-style kitchen. He’d been comfortable there. It made him wonder whether proper decor in his own apartment might help him feel more settled. It also made him think that it might be a good gesture to demonstrate his commitment to his father—show that he was the mature leader Conroy Corporation needed. Perhaps his college-student-style approach to furnishings reflected his approach to life.
The more he thought about it, the more the idea appealed. He could imagine getting the place redone and then inviting his father and the board over for a dinner party. That would show his maturity and readiness for leadership, surely. He made a resolution to investigate that as soon as he got home. Maybe Cassie could help refer someone—she clearly had links to the interior design industry, although he knew she’d never done any formal study.
From her résumé, he knew that Cassie had begun her career with Country Style at seventeen, working her way up from junior salesperson to her current role. A couple of times he’d found himself standing back and watching, smiling to himself as she fixed a display or chatted to a staff member. Then he’d shake himself and give a stern internal lecture about why he was there. As much as he might want to let down her hair and get rid of those unflattering clothes—he expected she’d look like a brunette Botticelli’s Venus when he did—flirting with Cassie Hartman was off the table.
Watching her through the day, Ronan felt the faint stirrings of guilt about the true purpose of his investigation. He knew it was almost certain that Cassie would lose her job as part of the buyout. It wasn’t anything to do with her skills or knowledge—simply a matter of economies of scale. The other company already had head-office management in Australia—they didn’t need more managers. Likely, that was another reason Taylor had called in Conroy Corporation—because he wanted to be able to place the blame for it all on someone else. Ronan could just imagine how Taylor’s conversation with her would go: I’m sorry Cassie, but Conroy’s made it clear this was the right decision.
It was a pity, because she was very good at what she did. He didn’t understand why she’d spent so many years with Country Style—with her talent and experience, she could easily have moved into a more senior, higher-paying role somewhere else. He made a mental note to ask her about that when the time was right. Perhaps with a little push from him, she might start to see her potential beyond Country Style, which would make her termination seem not quite as serious as it otherwise might. She could certainly look at a lucrative career in merchandising, if she didn’t want to work for a Country Style rival.
Ronan adjusted the car’s air-conditioning vents and sent a welcome blast of cool air over his face.
“Heat getting to you?” Cassie asked, pulling the car out onto a wide, empty road. She’d insisted on driving and given that she knew where they were going and was familiar with driving on the left-hand side of the road, Ronan had been happy to acquiesce. Still, their bland, white rental sedan had given him a surge of longing for the sports car he’d hired in Melbourne and been forced to return early once he’d found out about the travel plans. Hopefully it would still be available over the weekend when they returned.
“I could use a beer,” Ronan said, conceding that San Francisco’s comparatively chilly summers had in no way prepared him for Australia’s scorching temperatures.
She gave a little laugh. “Yeah, that sounds good. Our hotel isn’t far. I knew the Fremantle store would be our last stop of the day, so I had Mel book our accommodation down here—it’s really pretty. It will take us a bit longer to get to the airport tomorrow, but it’s worth it.”
There was a glow about her as she spoke, Ronan noted. It had been there all day. Well, once they’d left the airport and the green tinge to her skin had disappeared. There was no doubting that Cassie loved her job. Really loved it. Even the heat hadn’t dampened her enthusiasm.