He had removed his suit coat and stood at the plate glass window behind his desk, staring pensively at the downtown Nashville traffic on the busy street below. With his hands stuffed into the front pockets of his trousers, the gray fabric had pulled taut over his tightly muscled derriere, drawing her attention to the narrowness of his hips, while at the same time his crisply pressed, tailored white shirt emphasized the width of his broad shoulders. The contrast was amazing and a testament to his excellent physical condition. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide her reaction to him.
“You’re three minutes late,” he said without turning around.
Bringing her wayward thoughts in check, she calmly set his coffee mug on the desk. “I had several calls to make in order to free up your day.”
She wasn’t surprised that he knew the moment she walked into the room, even though the plush carpet made the sound of her late entrance inaudible. Luke Garnier missed very little. And he never hesitated to comment on his observations. Ever.
“Sit down, Haley. There’s something I want to talk over with you.” His tone of voice denoted the serious nature of their discussion and for the briefest of moments, a tiny shiver of trepidation coursed through her.
She’d been extremely careful, but had he finally realized that his efficient, reliable, emotionless executive assistant had done the unthinkable? Had he discovered that she’d developed a huge crush on him practically from the moment he interviewed her for the job five years ago? That she might even be in love with him?
Seating herself in the leather armchair in front of his desk, she gave herself a mental shake. Her feelings for him had been the only thing that he’d failed to detect and she had no reason to believe that had changed. She’d never given him the slightest indication that she viewed him as anything more than her workaholic boss. A boss who made no secret of the fact that he had no interest in anything that took his attention away from Garnier Construction. His business was a very demanding mistress and that was just the way he preferred it.
“How was your trip to Wichita this weekend?” she asked when he continued to stare out the window. He hadn’t shared the reason for his last-minute trip or whom he’d been meeting with, but Haley had no doubt it was the cause of his early arrival at the office this morning. “Did everything go well?”
His shoulders slowly rose and fell, indicating he took a deep breath before he finally turned to face her. “It actually depends on how you look at the outcome.”
His noncommittal answer confused her. She’d never known Luke Garnier to be indecisive about anything. He was the type of man who viewed things as either black or white, up or down, right or wrong. Gray areas in his business or his personal life were quite simply nonexistent.
Frowning, Haley shook her head. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.” His intense blue gaze pinned her to the chair for several long moments as he decided exactly how much he wanted her to know about the meeting, then raking his hand through his thick black hair, he took another deep breath. “I’ve just become the new owner of Laurel Enterprises.”
She couldn’t have stopped her surprised gasp if she’d tried. “This is huge, Luke. Laurel Enterprises is the largest, most successful builder of vacation rentals and log homes in eastern Tennessee. Maybe in the entire state.”
He nodded. “Laurel and all of its holdings are mine now.”
“Congratulations! How on earth did you get Emerald, Inc. to relinquish it?” she asked, somewhat in awe of the achievement. She had seen him accomplish several seemingly impossible goals in the past, but obtaining Laurel Enterprises from the infamous Emerald Larson had to be an all-time best, both professionally and personally.
“Let’s just say I had the inside track on gaining control of Laurel and leave it at that for now,” he replied, giving her a one-shouldered shrug.
His answer only served to confuse her even further. As his executive assistant, Haley knew almost as much about Luke’s vision and goals for Garnier Construction as he did. And she couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out why he wasn’t more triumphant about the acquisition. For someone whose already quite lucrative construction company had just doubled in size, he was being extremely reserved about it.
But she knew better than to ask why he wasn’t more enthused. If he wanted her to know how he’d pulled off the deal, he would tell her.
“Well, whatever magic you used to convince them to sell to you worked beautifully. You’ve been wanting to expand into that area of the business for some time.” She smiled. “Shall I set up an appointment with your attorney to examine the purchase agreement?”
“No, all paperwork was taken care of over the weekend.”
“Should I contact your banker to have the funds transferred?”
“No need. Laurel has already been signed over to me. Free and clear.”
Surely she’d misunderstood. “Excuse me? Did you say free?”
When his vivid blue eyes met hers, he gave her a half smile. “Yes.”
Unable to believe what she was hearing, Haley sat forward. “Emerald Larson, the most successful woman in the corporate world, the first woman to crack the top five of the Fortune 500 list, just gave you the company?”
“Yes, but that’s not what I want to discuss with you,” he said, his tone indicating that the subject was closed. He lowered himself into the high-backed executive chair behind his desk. “I’ve come to the realization that now that I own the largest construction company in the South, I need someone to ensure the continuance of Garnier Construction long after I’m gone. I need an heir.”
She wasn’t sure what shocked her more, his admission that Emerald Larson had handed him Laurel Enterprises on a silver platter or that he suddenly thought he needed someone to inherit his assets. “What brought this on?” she blurted before she could stop herself.
To her surprise, he didn’t seem at all upset that she was questioning his decision. “My brother and sister aren’t the least bit interested in the construction business,” he explained. “Jake is perfectly content being the most expensive divorce lawyer in Tinseltown and Arielle adores teaching preschool kids whatever children that age need to learn. That’s why I’ve decided to hire a surrogate and produce an heir of my own.”
Haley knew her expression conveyed her disbelief, but she was beyond caring. “Don’t you think that’s a little drastic? Having a child is a huge step.”
Luke shook his head. “It makes perfect sense. To make sure that the Garnier name will be a force to reckon with in the construction business for decades to come.”
“And you think that having a child will make that happen?”
“I believe it tips the odds in my favor, yes.”
“But it will take years before a child would be ready to learn all that you have to teach.”
“That’s why the sooner I get started, the better.”
Luke could tell from the look in her turquoise eyes that Haley thought he’d lost his mind. And truth to tell, he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t done that very thing.
But after seeing Emerald Larson’s desperation to find family members to take over her vast holdings, he’d realized that building a corporate empire meant nothing without someone to carry on the legacy. That’s why he had thought about who would take over his company and what they would do with it when the time came for him to retire.
It had taken a couple of sleepless nights, but to be certain Garnier Construction continued to grow and prosper long after he was gone, he concluded he would have to spend years grooming his own replacement. And who would have more of a vested interest in learning all that he