The Merger

• Title Page
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-One
  

The Keller Family Series

Book 9

5 Prince Publishing

Denver, CO

www.5princebooks.com

Copyright 2014

This is a fictional work. The names, characters, incidents, places, and locations are solely the concepts and products of the author’s imagination or are used to create a fictitious story and should not be construed as real.

5 PRINCE PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC

PO Box 16507

Denver, CO 80216

www.5PrinceBooks.com

ISBN 13: 978-1-63112-036-7 ISBN 10:
1631120360

The Merger

Bernadette Marie

Copyright Bernadette Marie 2014

Published by 5 Prince Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations, reviews, and articles. For any other permission please contact 5 Prince Publishing and Books, LLC.

First Edition/First Printing December 2014 Printed U.S.A.

5 PRINCE PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC.

For Stan,

Our Merger has made for one amazing adventure!

Thanks for being my partner in business and in life!

For Stan who has backed my wild adventures 100% since the minute I met him.

For my Fab 5 who are my greatest successes to date!

For Mom, Dad, and Anni who have given me those shoves up the ladders I was climbing when I needed it.

For Connie, Clare, and Marie who have helped me build (what is in my head) an empire to making dreams come true.

For Cate and Connie who polished my contractual commitment so that it shined.

For all men and women who dream big!

Dear Reader,

Spencer Benson is all grown up and making those executive decisions we first saw his father make. Now at the helm of Benson, Benson, and Hart, Spencer is merging companies and building new communities.

Lawyer Julie Jacobson never intended to make Spencer’s life difficult, but she had a job to do. Little did either of them know that their clashing personalities would eventually merge them together.

The Keller/Benson family has been so warmly welcomed by readers looking for that family connection and I know that The Merger won’t disappoint. As we get to know the grown Spencer Benson, we get to reunite with all our favorite Keller/Benson couples.

I’ve also included the first chapter of Avery Keller’s book, The Escape Clause, at the end of the book for your enjoyment.

Happy Reading!

Bernadette Marie

Oregon was a fine place. Perhaps, Spencer Benson thought, he’d like to come back someday and visit as a tourist. However he was into his fifth month of merger negotiations with Pacific Line Lumber, and his desire to ever fly out to the Pacific coast again was waning.

He pressed his head to the back of the boardroom chair as he listened to the eighty-year-old owner of the company reminisce, again, about the day his father had taken down the first tree to build their family house
…and
an empire
was born.

Spencer had a great appreciation for
family
business. He was part of one. His great-grandfather had started Benson, Benson, and Hart. His grandfather took over. followed by his father. His cousin Ed had been holding the CEO position for years now. It was time for him to rise to the position. However, taking five months to close
a deal
wasn’t making him any friends back home.

A moment later the door opened and Spencer felt the twinge in his chest start as it did every time that
bitch
of a lawyer walked in the door. Julie Jacobson had found a million little flaws in the proposal. He’d like to not see her face again.

Okay, he thought, it wasn’t a bad face. She wore her blonde hair back in a ponytail most times. Her eyes were brown. He’d noticed that as she’d burned holes through him for the past five months with them.

Today she hurried into the boardroom dropping a stack of paper on the table. It toppled over, slid to the floor, and she scrambled to pick it all up as every man in the room watched.

Okay, he’d later admit he’d rather have watched her fume over the papers and thought it was just, but he wasn’t that kind of man. Spencer rose from his seat and walked across the room to help the frazzled lawyer with the mess she’d created.

When everything was stacked back on the
table,
she turned those brown eyes on him. They were bloodshot and full of sadness.

“Thank you,” she said very softly as if not to let the rest of the room hear her.

“My pleasure,” he lied and walked back to his seat.

The meeting continued with interludes from the owner as he reminisced about this or that. A brief five hours later, they finally broke and Spencer gathered his things and headed back to his hotel.

As he walked through the
lobby,
his phone rang. It was his father and he toyed with the idea of not answering it. However, that wasn’t like him.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Make any progress?”

Spencer blew out a breath. “You know that
bitch
of a lawyer is making me crazy. We’re up to replanting. How many trees and seedlings will we replant each year to replace everything we use. We’ve gone over that.”

His father laughed. “And how many will we?”

“I don’t know,” he said pushing the button to the elevator. “I have a lot of math to do tonight.”

“This is your project. You’ll do fine with it.”

“Sure, you just don’t get what a bitch this woman is,” he said just as he noticed that very bitch step into the elevator as the doors closed. He let out a grunt. “Dad, I’ll talk to you later.”

He turned off his phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

Julie Jacobson didn’t turn to look at him. She didn’t say a word to him. But there was something going on. Something was wrong. Why was she in
the hotel
elevator?

Was she crying?

Oh, who cared? She deserved to cry. She
was costing
him time and money each time she opened her damn mouth in that boardroom and he was tired of her. Let her cry.

The elevator opened again and another man walked in, looked her up and down then pushed a button. The elevator
rose
a mere two floors before he got off. Spencer watched as Julie literally stomped her foot in aggravation for the stop.

They rode in silence for a few more floors and then the doors opened and he began to step off, but the blood that ran through him wouldn’t let a
woman
suffer. He lodged his hand in the door and looked at her. She was indeed crying.

“Ms. Jacobson, are you okay?”

She lifted her head. The bitch didn’t seem to be in there. This was a broken woman with troubles. He could see that. She only nodded and he accepted her answer.

“Okay, then, have a pleasant night.” He stepped back again, but when her head lifted again and the sadness burned through him he couldn’t handle it. He tucked his foot back into the door forcing it open.

“Mr. Benson, what are you doing? I’d like to get to my
room,
please.”

Ah, there she was, he thought as the door closed behind him.

“You don’t look okay. I mean something’s going on and I just want to be here if you need someone.”

She let out a grunt. “You hate me. I know you hate me.
I’m costing
you time and money.” So, she was a mind reader. “My private
life, on the other hand,
isn’t any of your business.”

He nodded. He could accept that.

She lifted her hands to wipe away the tears and he noticed the tell tale sign of a wedding ring having recently been taken off. There was an indent in her finger and a white line where it must have been worn for years.

“Would you be interested in having a drink?”

She turned to him and those brown eyes bore right
through
him. “Are you kidding me? You want to take me out for a drink? I’m
the lawyer
for the company you’re trying to buy. I don’t think that would look very good, do you?”

He hadn’t thought of that. “No. You’re right. I just…”

He only had a moment to catch his breath before the woman lunged at him and pushed him up against the wall of the elevator. Spencer was ready for the knee to the groin, but her mouth coming down on his, her tongue pressing into his mouth, her hands in his hair—none of this he’d expected.

Spencer was gripping the bar on the wall, but the man in him decided that a woman throwing herself at him would be better to hold. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her to him even tighter. Heat rose between them. The moan from her throat was enough to make him go light headed as the blood traveled away from his brain.

When the door
opened,
Julie stood straight and stepped away from him. As Spencer moved to
her,
she held up her hand and straightened her shoulders.

Her breath was coming in great big
gasps
. Pink colored her cheeks and those brown eyes didn’t hold fire.

“Good night, Mr. Benson,” she said as she stepped out of the elevator.

Goodnight? What in the hell? His body wasn’t quick enough to chase after her before the doors closed and she was out of his sight.

The blood was rushing back to his head and he thought he might need a very cold shower when he got back to his room.

What was that all about? Bitch one moment—panting horny woman the next?

Who needed it? This was just the force and fire he needed to walk into that meeting tomorrow and say take it or leave it. He’d had enough of Pacific Line Lumber and their legal staff.

As the door
opened,
Spencer stepped out onto his floor and went straight to his room. He slid the keycard into the lock, and then again, and again. He hated these stupid pieces of plastic.
Finally,
the door beeped and he pushed it open.

The lightness in his head took over. He was going to need to sit down.