“You’re a woman after my own heart. Wouldn’t you rather work for me?” Erika joked. “I’m so much easier to please than he is. And I don’t bark.”
“Who says I bark?” Gannon asked from behind Erika.
She cringed at being caught talking about him at the same time she felt a shot of adrenaline at the sound of his voice. His voice had always affected her that way, sent her heart and hormones off to the races. She definitely needed to rein in her response to him. “Coffee, please,” she mouthed to Lena, then turned to face Gannon. “Good morning. Your assistant has arranged a lovely spread for the meeting.”
His killer Irish eyes were a bit too sharp for her taste this morning. And why did she always forget how broad his shoulders were?
He glanced at the table, then returned his gaze to Erika. “Yes, she has. She resisted fast food when I told her you were coming.”
“Bless you, Lena,” Erika said and accepted the piping-hot coffee Gannon’s assistant offered her.
“You weren’t trying to steal her away from me, were you?”
“Just making her aware of her options,” Erika said with a smile.
“Who says I bark?”
“Everyone,” she said without batting an eye.
He glanced at her coffee. “Black?”
She nodded and took a sip.
“Hmm. Black coffee … coming in late this morning … Did you have a late night last night?”
“Nope.” That was true. She’d come home early and fallen into bed as a result of one too many martinis.
“Out with the deadly duo?” he quizzed, speaking of Jessica and Paula.
She’d revealed far too much of her personal life to him during their affair and she didn’t like his reminders. “As a matter of fact, yes. How’s your family?” she asked, turning the personal questions on him.
He paused and shook his head. “Same as ever.”
“That’s about as vague as you can get,” she said, studying him.
He leaned closer to her, making her heart jump. “You’ll learn more if you rejoin the Pulse team,” he told her in a low voice as four more people entered the room.
Michael Elliott, editor in chief of Pulse and Gannon’s father, entered the room and extended his hand to Erika. “Good to have you back. We’ve missed you.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Mr. Elliott,” she said as she shook his hand.
“Erika, glad you’re back,” Jim Hensley, chief copy editor, said as he entered with the rest of the department heads.
“Great to see you,” Barb said.
Howard gave her a thumbs-up.
The greetings felt good. A couple of minutes passed while Lena provided everyone with coffee and a bottle of water.
Michael called the meeting to order. “Let’s get to business. Gannon, you go first.”
“I’d like to start with the baby story since Erika tells me she’ll need to cut out early. Erika, what are your thoughts?”
“I suggest incorporating several points of view. A scientist, a couple who have chosen their baby’s sex, outlining the procedures and costs involved, and a couple who considered choosing their baby’s sex but changed their minds. It would be interesting to learn which sex is chosen most frequently. And at-home techniques that do or don’t work.”
“I like it all,” Michael Elliott said. “And you’re the one to do it.”
Erika blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Since you’re moving back to Pulse,” Gannon’s father said, “you should take the lead on this. It’s going to be a major story with possibilities for awards. You’re perfect for it.”
Erika tossed a questioning glare at Gannon.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” he said. “We have a contact for the scientist, but knowing you, you have your own. You always found the most amazing contacts and got the best quotes.”
“Hey,” Barb said, “if you keep talking about Erika like she walks on water, you’re going to make the rest of us feel like hacks.”
“She does walk on water, doesn’t she?” Howard said, wearing a deadpan expression.
Erika glanced at Gannon and felt a sliver of suspicion. This meeting was way more warm and fuzzy than the meetings she remembered from a year ago, and while Michael Elliott gave the occasional pat on the back, he’d never been one for effusive praise.
If Gannon had pulled his father and three of Pulse’s top power brokers in on seducing her back to the team, something had to be up. Something she hadn’t been told. Something big.
“You guys are too good to me.” She glanced at her watch. “Time for me to go back to HomeStyle land. It was great seeing all of you.”
Gannon stood. “I need a quick word with Erika. How about if everyone starts on lunch?”
“No problem,” his father said. “Don’t take too long.”
Lena handed Erika’s lunch box to her. “Don’t forget your lunch.”
Erika couldn’t prevent a smile. “Spoken like a true mom. Thanks.” She walked out the door, feeling Gannon directly behind her.
He pulled the door closed and she rounded on him. “There seems to be some confusion.”
“What confusion?” he asked, his face revealing nothing.
“Your father, along with other staff members, appears to have the false impression that I’m rejoining Pulse.”
“Admit it, Erika. You can’t resist the baby story. You want to be back on Pulse so bad you can taste it.”
“The baby story interests me, but it’s not enough to bring me back to Pulse.”
“Then what is?” he asked, surprising her again with his wide-open offer. “We need you on the team more than ever. Name your price.”
Three
Gannon allowed Erika thirty hours to think about what he could do to bring her back to Pulse. The negotiation process was turning out to be tougher than he’d planned. In the past, although he’d appreciated Erika’s originality and adventurous attitude on the professional end, he’d always thought of her as cooperative.
Even at the end of their affair, she hadn’t fought him when he’d abruptly broken off with her. He still felt a twinge about it. He’d always been scrupulous in avoiding office affairs. Lord knew his grandfather frowned on anything that bore even a hint of scandal. Gannon knew the reason he’d risen to his present position so quickly was because he’d embraced the Elliott family work ethic by skipping vacation for two years and because he’d built a reputation of integrity.
Erika had been his one slip. Her combination of natural beauty and willingness to take chances and succeed had caught his attention. He’d never met a woman he could talk with more easily. At the same time, he knew about the kick of fire beneath her black suits and businesslike attitude. He’d seen her naked, felt her body against his, felt himself sink inside her, into an oblivion of pleasure.
He felt himself harden at the memory and swore under his breath. He adjusted his tie and opened his office door to find his father on the other side.