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Her skin tingled once more at all that virility radiating from him. And confidence. He hadn’t held back. He’d known precisely what he was doing when he’d taken charge.
She resisted the urge to fan herself with a hand. No need to incense Avril further.
Maxi left her office and crossed the vast fishbowl that was the Operations division. Her people. Some of them had been with her since the inception of the company, six years ago, when Maxi had been a college intern. Some were new additions.
All were as dedicated to growing the brand and business as she, and helping Staci Kay Shoes become a household name the world over.
It was too bad the former VP and director hadn’t been equally committed. Hadn’t been true believers in the power of the pumps.
But then again…their lack of faith now paved the way for Maxi and Ryan to do whatever they could, whatever it took, to elevate Staci Kay Shoes to the pinnacle the company and its employees deserved.
Maxi thought of how Alex had sparked Lola’s creativity when Lola had joined Marketing, and had to admit that she now understood how lightning zapping every erogenous zone was not only good for the libido, but also awesome for the mind and soul.
For there was extra pep in Maxi’s step this afternoon.
Thank you, Dr. Donovan.
She stopped along the way to her meeting and chatted with those who’d just returned from lunch. Then she took a few deep breaths and marched down the hall to the smallest of the division’s conference rooms.
At first, she was relieved she hadn’t scheduled this meeting in her office. No way would she be able to get her mind off of Ryan with his arms around her, and his lips pressed to hers. It would have taken greater effort to home in on the enthusiasm she suddenly felt over the prospect of getting production back on track—ASAP!
But then she entered the room and there he was. Already situated at the table, his iPad and wireless keyboard set up, all prepared to document each passing moment of this meeting, she suspected.
Every fiery sensation returned.
Actually, they’d never diminished. Had only simmered below the surface. Yet one look at Ryan and she was practically melting in her stilettos.
What was that all about?
Sure, as she’d told Avril, Maxi had not had the good fortune of being the recipient of a stellar kiss in some time. A highly stimulating kiss. A deeply arousing one.
That didn’t mean she should be so wrapped around the axle about Ryan’s kiss.
Except…everything about their brief encounter had been arousing. Insanely so.
And how nerve-wracking it was to find they were the only ones who’d arrived for the meeting thus far, so she had nothing to divert her attention from him.
She took her spot at the head of the table and laid out her folio and pen, along with her iPhone to keep tabs on any emergency e-mails or texts that might come through.
Then she forced herself to make eye contact with Ryan. “Nice to see you again.”
He gave her that half-assed grin that could only be described as a Billy Idol sneer—the bad boy one that had left millions of wet thongs in its wake. Maxi felt the moisture pool and it wasn’t even Billy delivering the sexy look. It was Einstein.
His sexual potency was downright lethal.
“Try not to gloat too much,” she told him. “I was just using human nature against you earlier.”
“Is that how you’re justifying it in your mind?”
“Well, to be fair, you were the one to—”
“Hi there, Maxi,” Ben Overton said as he came through the door. He was a thirty-something with sandy-brown hair and friendly hazel eyes. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Not at all,” she said, relieved at the chance to jump off the trail of what had happened in her office. “You remember Dr. Donovan from this morning? I’ve asked him to join us.”
The two men shook hands. “Ryan is fine,” he informed Ben. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I read your e-mail on delivery solutions, with Maxi’s suggestion of offering free shipping to online consumers, which would delay fulfilling the order by three days, thereby giving us a little extra breathing room on those particular shipments.”
“She’s been a visionary from the start,” Ben said. “Most of us around here always wondered why she was just a manager when she should have become a senior executive years ago.”
