Free Temptation's Kiss by Sandra Brown Page A

Megan said, her aggravation showing. “I gave you fair warning at the beginning of the week that you'd better shape up. Now the principal of the largest advertising agency in this part of the country comes to me, in an emergency situation, to tell me we may lose one of our largest accounts, and all because of your ineptitude.”
    Ignoring Barnes's stammering attempt to defend himself, she swung her fiery gaze to Josh. “Mr. Bennett, would you, for my sake as well as Barnes's, enumerate the complaints you've heard?”
    With the sober intonation of a judge, Josh ticked off the incriminating derelictions of duty—misrepresentation of when the client's commercials would run, misquotation of the rates, blatant indifference, total lack of communication. With each transgression cited, Barnes's face collapsed further, until he had the countenance of the saddest of basset hounds.
    When Josh was finished, he swung his eyes from a distraught Barnes to Megan. “Thank you, Mr. Bennett, for warning us of this. Let's hope there's time to make amends. Any comments, Barnes?”
    The young man shook his head miserably. “I've been messing up. I know it.”
    “Well, if you want pity, you've come to the wrong place. If you want that girl in the newsroom, then go after her and go after her to win her, or give her up, or find a substitute for her, or take cold showers. I don't care.”
    Barnes stared, stupefied, at Megan, clearly surprised to learn that she knew the source of his problem. As a woman she wanted to confess that she knew exactly what it was like to let someone consume one's thoughts and override one's common sense. But as an executive she couldn't afford to give an inch.
    “I'm not going to divide your account list among the other salesmen, because they all have heavy loads. Nor am I going to threaten to replace the good ones you have with those that are less desirable. I don't think you'd care. What I am going to do is put you on one month's probation. For my part, that's a generous amount of time. At its termination I'm going to call personally on all your accounts. If they aren't completely satisfied and singing your praises, you might just as well clear out your desk, because you'll be gone by that working day.” She consulted her calendar. “That will be June twelfth. Have I made myself clear?”
    He nodded glumly. “Yes, Meg—, uh, Ms., uh … ma'am.”
    “Thank you for responding so promptly to my summons,” she said by way of dismissal. Barnes dragged himself to the door and closed it behind him.
    Megan rose from her chair, feeling the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. She went to the window and stared out at a gorgeous spring day. Her eyes closed against the bright sunlight, which she dimmed by closing the blinds a notch. The sounds of traffic on the downtown streets were muted. She felt Josh's hands on her shoulders before she knew he was standing behind her.
    “So a woman is his problem,” he said softly as his hands massaged the tension from her neck and shoulders. Through the thin fabric of her blouse, his hands were warmly comforting.
    “Yes. Maybe I shouldn't have chastised him in front of you, but I thought your presence might increase the urgency of what I was telling him, shame him into doing what I know he's capable of doing. I don't know whether I handled it the right way or not.” It felt so good to confide her uncertainty to him.
    “You handled it just great.”
    “Do you think so, Josh?” She didn't examine why his opinion meant so much to her.
    He turned her around to face him. “You were wonderful, brilliant,” he whispered, smoothing one hand down her hair while the other propped up her chin. “If I were young Barnes, I'd get my tail in gear and try to get on your better side.”
    She smiled skeptically back at him. “That remains to be seen.”
    “I'm so damn proud of you. I knew you were tough. I'd heard reports that you were sharper than a tack. But I didn't expect you to