Working It by Cathy Yardley Read Free Book Online Page A

finally croaked.
    He took a step back. “I’ll go along with what you suggested. The sales coaching thing. With you.”
    She felt… Well, she supposed it was relief. Step one was over. She’d got him to agree to work with her.
    Her lips tingled with thwarted anticipation, and she forced her nerve endings to just calm down. We won, you idiot. Stay focused!
    â€œSo.” She cleared her throat, standing straight. “That’s fantastic. We should start right away. I mean, you’ve only got—what?—four weeks. That’s not a lot of time, but if we work hard…”
    She saw him smiling slightly and shaking his head. “What?”
    â€œThere’s a little problem,” he said, and he sounded just as frustrated as she felt. “I can’t start right away. In fact, you’re probably only going to have about two days or so to get me, er, coached.”
    â€œTwo days?” She didn’t mean to yell, but the surprise tended to bring out the volume in her. “What are you, nuts?”
    â€œI think your temper is beginning to grow on me,” he said with a grin.
    â€œI think your sense of humor is going to kill me,” she bit out. “I also thought that you were being straight with me.”
    The humor left his expression. “This isn’t me yanking your chain. Seriously. I have to go on a three-week sales trip—a road trip, to some of our more rural customers. They’re bigger spenders, and we need those orders now more than ever. I have to go.”
    â€œThat’s what you have salesmen for,” she said, knowing that the argument sounded petulant. But, jeez, two days wasn’t enough to coach anybody who was going in cold. Even as confident as she was, she wasn’t crazy enough to believe that!
    He sighed. “Let’s just say I’m the closer on this deal.”
    She closed her eyes. He would have to put it in terms she understood.
    â€œSo.” He chucked the bottom of her chin, the grin back in effect. “See you in three weeks?”
    â€œI can’t possibly work like this,” she said.
    â€œThat’s all I’ve got.” He motioned to her car. “Not that it hasn’t been a fun evening and all, but don’t you have a two-hour drive ahead of you?”
    â€œYeah,” she said. “When are you leaving?”
    â€œMonday,” he said. “First stop is Montecito…a few hours from here, near the Nevada border.”
    â€œMaybe you could…I don’t know… call, ” she said, racking her brain. Two days. There was just no way this would work.
    He smiled. Indulgently, she thought. “Sure. I’ll try.”
    â€œThis isn’t going to work,” she muttered as she opened her door and climbed in.
    â€œDon’t worry,” he said, shutting the door behind her and waiting for her to roll down the window. “Nobody screws up on your watch, right?”
    The curses she threw at him were drowned out by the roar of her engine. He grinned and leaned down.
    â€œI’ll call,” he said, just inches away from her face. Then, with a lightning-fast grin, he pulled away.
    She watched him as he walked to his own car, getting in, driving away. Fortunately he didn’t notice that she leaned back against the leather upholstery of her seat, almost melting into it. She was short of breath. The guy was a walking, breathing, sexual punch in the gut. And she’d felt the hit, all right.
    It was a first in her experience. And it was utterly humiliating.
    She finally pulled out, heading toward the highway. Now that he wasn’t in her physical proximity, she could focus on what was even more disturbing than his powerful sensual appeal. For example, the fact that she now had only two days to do what a miracle worker couldn’t pull off in a week. And what sort of screaming idiot goes on a three-week road trip just before a big investor meeting,