Page 19 of Landry
"Kady, this is the third time he's calling and this time, he's insisting on speaking with you." Helen firmed her lips. "I love you dearly, but I don't appreciate being in the middle of whatever is going on with you and Mr. Crenshaw. He's our boss, after all."
Flinging down the pen, she looked up and glowered.
"All right, transfer the call."
She scowled at the flashing light, jabbed her finger on the button, and lifted the receiver.
"I don't have time for a conversation."
"I'm afraid you're going to make time." His voice was cool and authoritative and had her bristling with resentment.
"Is this your way of showing who's in charge?" she asked coldly.
"Call it what you may, but we're going to be working together. I've tried to be civilized about this-"
"Civilized?" she snorted indelicately. "If you had any decency at all or any remorse for what you did, you would stay the hell away from me."
There was silence for a few seconds, and she waited, her hand tight on the receiver.
"Kady-Ann, I'm in charge of a project, and this will only work if we're willing to put aside our differences and be united. I need a meeting to discuss the way forward. Today."
"I cannot make it-"
"Today." His tone was implacable, warning her that his patience was at an end. "I will give you the choice of it being here at my office or I can come to you."
"You're not giving me a choice," she told him tightly.
"I've been trying to speak to you for a week, and you refused to take my calls. Now, I'm taking matters into my own hands. Here or there?"
Leaning back, she closed her eyes and fought down the panic.
"What time?"
"Seven. I have a full day and can only accommodate you after hours. Where would you like to meet?"
Kady struggled with the decision. After hours meant that they would more or less be alone, and she was not sure she could endure being alone with him. She was much too vulnerable.
"Here," she murmured, wondering fleetingly if she could ask Helen to stay back. Dismissing the thought immediately, she straightened her shoulders. This was going to prove that she was on her way to being over him. It was time.
"Good," he said briskly. "I will see you then." He hung up before she could respond. Replacing the receiver, she sat there as if frozen in time. He was coming here. She had wanted him in her domain, not facing him in that towering office building where he had the authority. He would have had the authority: the upper hand. That would not do.
Her peace of mind was in tatters as it was; she could not bear another battering. It would be business, she decided firmly. Strictly business between them and nothing more, no matter what she was feeling.
****
Leonora studied her boss' face discreetly as she took her notes and tidied up a contract he had sent to her. He hid his feelings well, of course. Landry Crenshaw had learned over the years to keep his emotions at bay. But after working with him for years, anticipating his moods and his needs, she knew him. And she loved him. Not like a prospective lover, God forbid! But like a mother would love her son.
She was aware that his own mother was a cold fish of a woman who cared more about personal appearances than her own children, and it made her heart ache to realize that the beautiful young man was lacking in parental love. She kept her feelings to herself, of course, because he would have shied away and certainly wouldn't welcome anything else than professionalism and her complete dedication and loyalty.
But she could not help but notice the tension, the nerves that he was trying not to show.
She also knew that the young lady had been a part of his past. He would not bring it up and neither would she. There were boundaries that had been erected by him, ones she would not dare to cross.
He looked up suddenly to catch her staring at him. His only acknowledgement was a lifting of one thick blonde brow.
"Are you sure you're fully prepared for the meeting?" she asked swiftly, trying not to show her own concern.
"You've prepared the reports I asked you to, haven't you?" he deliberately misinterpreted her meaning.
