His cock was now at full attention, and he turned abruptly away from her. “Stay here,” he barked over his shoulder as he walked toward the back office. Taking long, meaningful strides, he quickly made it to the office and shut the door behind him. Will’s head snapped up at the interruption.
“What is it?”
“Lianne Seward is here.”
His brother’s brow remained furrowed. “And?”
Seb poured himself a cup of water and downed it in one gulp. “And I need a minute.”
“Who’s watching the front?” Will rose from his chair with a glare and headed for the office door. “You can’t just leave the tellers out there alone, Seb. How many times do we have to go over this?” Will shoved past him.
“Mrs. Sawyer took her break,” he called after his brother. He shook his head and then took a deep breath, feeling as if he had perhaps regained some of his aplomb. When he walked out of the hallway to take Lianne to one of the small meeting rooms, he felt a smug pleasure at his brother’s faltering in the face of Lianne’s huge smile and eager hello. Will adjusted his tie, fiddled with his shirtsleeves, and looked generally uncomfortable under Lianne’s power.
At least he wasn’t the only one affected by her brilliant presence. “So I see you’ve been reacquainted with Miss Seward.” He shot his twin a knowing look.
“Oh, come on, Seb. Call me Lianne. We’ve known each other since I was born.” He felt the tips of his ears burning at her friendly admonishment.
“Lianne, then.” He nodded. “So where have you been these last few years? We certainly haven’t seen you around the bank.”
“Let’s see, I graduated from Colorado State in May and moved back here, back into my mother’s house. I work as a substitute now and have my business on the side.” She held up the portfolio again. “But I guess we can get into all that in the meeting. But yep, that’s basically it, yeah.”
“That’s as good a segue as any,” Seb said, putting a hand on her back and nudging her toward the office in the corner at the front of the bank.
“It was nice to see you again, Will,” she said over her shoulder.
He closed the glass door to the office and invited Lianne to take a seat. Her cheeks had grown redder, and he assumed she was simply nervous about presenting her business plan and loan request to him. “Shall we jump right into things?” he asked her.
“Sure, okay. That’s probably the best idea.” She laughed nervously and began pulling packets of paper, charts, graphs, and a laptop out of her leather case. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she slid one of her packets over to him. “This is the summary of everything I want to talk to you about today. It’s got my business plan with all my company’s data so far, plus my credit report and projected sales costs and profits. I just thought you might want a copy, you know, just so you have it in your hands as we go along on the laptop. I just thought it would be easier for you, and, you know—”
“Lianne,” he said, cutting her off.
“Yes? What is it? Yes?”
“How about we take a deep breath?” He looked into her violet eyes and sucked in a breath. Her eyes widened, but she followed suit, taking in a hearty lungful.
“Thanks,” she said a moment later. “I get myself so worked up.”
“We’ll take as long as you need. I want to get to know you
and
your business, but it will be difficult if you’re nervous. So if you need a moment, or if you need a break, just let me know. Okay?” He didn’t know what came over him. He had planned to let her stumble through her presentation without saying anything, without offering encouragement and without showing enthusiasm, but he couldn’t help himself. She was obviously flustered. This meant a lot to her.
And she was damn beautiful.
He was surprised to find he almost
wanted
her to persuade him. He wanted to see what she was capable of. She intrigued the hell out of him.
She nodded, taking a deep breath as per his instruction, but he could see she still needed a little help.
“All right, so first, why not tell me a little bit about your business. Let’s start there. Sound good?”
She shot him a wide smile, and her relief was immediately apparent. That was all it took. She launched into her presentation. She told him about each of her beauty products, how all of them used natural ingredients purchased from families right here in Savage Valley. Most of them were honey or pollen based, but some of them had herbs purchased from local farmer’s markets or almonds from Nadine’s nut farm. As the morning wore on, Seb became more and more impressed with her. Not only was she stunningly beautiful, but she had a knack for business. She kept track of her sales religiously and documented them. She also had studied a lot of companies similar to her own that sold organic beauty products and used their business models to help build up one for herself.
Starting as an online shop through a DIY site called Effie, she’d made quite a name for her company. Her next step had been to start selling products locally. She’d found a couple businesses in Savage Valley willing to sell her products. The Ninth Time and Savage Convenience both sold a few of her items, but neither one agreed to sell her whole line.
As she explained her goals in both the short-term and long-term range, she began to get a little more animated, bouncing in her seat and flicking through slides as she spoke faster and faster. She wanted to open a small shop right on Main Street where she would make her products. She would have a lab in the back and an area to sell her merchandise in the front while also continuing her online business. Eventually she hoped to open a chain in the surrounding areas and then across the state.
“So I guess now we should get down to numbers?” she asked, pulling a new packet out of her leather case. She slid it across the desk to him. When he pulled it from her, his fingers brushed against hers. She snatched her hand away and dug through her bag for another one. While her head was down, he clenched his hand, holding on to the sensation she’d left tingling across his skin.
She snapped her face up and plopped her paper down on the desk, but her eyes landed on his clenched fist. He quickly relaxed his hand, but it wasn’t fast enough. She’d caught him, and her eyes lingered on his straightened fingers for a moment. Then those violet orbs slowly worked their way up his arm and shoulders to land gently his face. Thankful for the concealing bulk of the desk, he felt his cock getting itself worked up again.
How could her gaze wreak so much havoc upon his usually austere control?
Their eyes held for a long moment, but then she blinked, stuttering nervously and tucking her hair back. “So what you’ll see if you turn to the third page is that I’ve broken down all the expected expenses and included past costs as a projection tool. I’ve listed how much I’m willing to invest of my own money. I’d even be willing to put the deed to my house down as an asset.”
Seb studied her numbers without saying anything. Mostly he wanted a moment to compose his thoughts, but he could see Lianne fidgeting out of the corner of his eye.
The she spoke in a soft, tentative voice. “Look…I know it seems like a large sum, but I truly believe in my products. I think they’re healthier and safer than a lot of beauty products available to women. I already have a solid base of loyal customers, and I know…
I know
that if I could just get this started, I’ll make it work.”
He thumbed through her packet, but she’d already more than impressed him. How could such a logical, sane creature be related to the Strongs, he wondered. With her honey-blonde hair, elf-like features, and steadfast eyes, she seemed almost otherworldly to him, and he wondered if the rumors about her mother being a witch had some truth to them. He didn’t find it hard to believe. “Here’s what I’ll do,” he said. “I’ll pull up your credit report and discuss everything with Will. We both have to review the business plan before any loans are approved. It’s part of the legal stipulations our fathers put on our inheriting the bank. But what I can do is promise to get in touch with you before five this evening to let you know one way or the other. Does that sound acceptable?”
Her generous lips stretched into a shaky smile, and she nodded. “I think I can make it until then without going bonkers.”
Seb felt his lips twitch but didn’t let himself laugh. He’d already revealed too much interest as it was. “So I’ll speak with you later.”
Holding out her hand, she said, “It was nice to see you again, Seb. Maybe I’ll see you around town?”
He nodded, taking her hand and giving it one solid pump and then releasing it. Just as it had the first time, her hand had left his tingling. “I’ll talk with you later.”
She frowned at him but then began gathering her paperwork and laptop and stuffing it all into her leather case. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she gave one last awkward good-bye and then tugged open the glass door. After she had slipped through, he walked to the window in the office and watched her climb into her car.
Once she’d turned on the engine, she sat for a long moment staring at the steering wheel. Then her shoulders straightened, and she pulled out of the parking lot. He watched her car putter down Main Street until it disappeared from sight.
* * * *
“
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”
Lianne had read the same forty words approximately seventeen times over the last two hours. She was sprawled on her couch with her head on the armrest and Austen propped comfortably on her stomach. However, her eyes kept wandering above the book and toward the window. Her thoughts floated away and up into the clouds. She simply could not exist in words or in reality. She wanted to run and jump and skip through ideas, through dreams and impossibilities. If only she got the loan. Everything hinged on that.
She checked the time on her phone. Seb had said he’d call her before five, but it was already three. She sighed and returned her eyes to the pages of
Emma
.
A few minutes later, her front door swung open. She rolled her head back over the armrest. Her housemate and best friend, Jamie Norman, dangled upside down from the floor as she closed the door behind her and then shed her coat. When her keys and purse had been placed on the rack next to the door, she turned to face Lianne.
“What on earth are you doing?” Jamie asked, placing her hands on her hips.
Lianne giggled and then lugged her head up. She rolled over on her stomach and put her chin on the armrest. “I’m wallowing in nervous listlessness.”
“Oh dang, you had your meeting today at the bank. How did it go?” Jamie ran over to the couch. Lianne rolled back over and moved her legs out of the way. When Jamie had settled into the cushions, Lianne stretched her legs out again over Jamie’s lap.
“It went pretty well, I think. I didn’t forget anything, and I didn’t stutter or trip up on anything. But, really, what it all boils down to is if the Carsons think I will be able to repay the loan.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. If they don’t see how amazing you are, they are fools.”
“But the thing is, I’m normally really good at deciphering people’s responses to me and to what I’m saying, but Seb—that’s who met with me—I couldn’t read him. And now I’m afraid that he didn’t like it, or that maybe, he didn’t really get it.”
Jamie patted her knee. “Lianne, you’re the only person I know who would stay up until three in the morning to practice her presentation one more time even though you’d already given it to me
seven times in a row.
”
“Sorry about that,” Lianne said with a sheepish smile. “I hope you weren’t too terribly tired today for work.”
“Yeah right. Even if I was tired, I love working at the vet clinic. Dr. Ashley is so nice, and he doesn’t get annoyed when I ask him questions.” Jamie turned to look out the window. “Not like some people we know,” she said darkly.
Lianne frowned. She knew Jamie was thinking of her father, Ulysses C. Norman. He currently resided in Denver, but he’d never really been the supportive, family-values type of dad. Just the fact that Jamie lived here with Lianne was a source of contention between them. He’d wanted his daughter to work in some cushy job in his huge, corporate conglomeration. Instead, Jamie had taken a position as a lowly vet tech at Savage Valley Veterinary Clinic.
“Well, looking at the bright side,” Jamie said, perking up and turning to face her again, “we can always get my dad to back you if you don’t get the loan.”
They both broke into a fit of laughter. Ulysses C. Norman was the last person Lianne would ever ask for money. And Jamie would go to the devil himself before asking her father for money.
Lianne’s old-fashioned telephone suddenly rang from across the room, its white and gold handle shuddering on the frame. After flying off the couch and across the living room, she leapt into one of the chairs next to the window, curled her legs up under her body, and then shot Jamie one nervous glance before picking up the handle.
“Lianne Seward speaking.”
“Hi, Lianne. This is Sebastian Carson from the bank.”
“Hello,” she said, squeezing the curled wire of the telephone tightly between her fingers.
“I’m just going to cut to the chase. After reviewing your file with my brother, we have decided to grant you a partial approval.”
“A what?” She looked over at Jamie, who was sitting up straight on the couch, face rapt and attentive.
“What that means is that you
will
be getting a loan, but it won’t be for the amount that you’ve requested. We love everything I saw from you this morning. You show a real initiative and drive. Unfortunately, as I’m sure you are aware, the economy is in an unstable place, so loans in particular have to be considered very seriously. We would have liked to grant you the full amount. But it’s not just our money that we would be gambling, and ultimately, we have to consider the good of the bank. That being said, we’d like you to know that if you need anything, any help making connections or contacts with distributors, equipment companies, anything you need, we are more than willing to assist you.”