Wanted: Billionaire's Wife Page 3

  Too late, she realized Luke continued to speak. She tuned in just in time to hear him say, “If you complete the search in one month, you’ll earn a fifty-thousand-dollar bonus.”

  “Fifty...thousand...” The room began to spin around her once more.

  “Breathe,” he said. He put a hand on her upper arm to keep her steady. Sparks flew from where he touched her, crackling through her nervous system. “You should work on that.”

  It was a lot of money. Money her family needed. She searched his gaze, looking for a catch. She saw only determination.

  “Well?” He looked at his smartwatch. “The offer is off the table in three minutes.”

  Finding suitable contenders shouldn’t be a problem if she focused on education and work history. Charity work and social affiliations would also help her determine if they met his criteria. Thankfully, she had backed up the firm’s database of recruitment targets before she took her family leave. Johanna rarely changed her own email passwords, much less the password to the cloud storage site Danica used for the firm’s important files, so access to the information shouldn’t be a problem.

  The ethics of finding him a bride, however... She bit her lower lip. But he was right. Executive search hinged on making a successful match between the employer and the candidate. What he wanted wasn’t too much of a leap. She blurted out the next thing that popped into her head. “I’m not asking about sexual histories. That’s all on you.”

  A swift grin transformed his face. It made him seem approachable, even charming. “Does that mean you accept the job?”

  “I have a few conditions.” Her voice echoed in the empty office. “I’ll find you three women who fit your criteria. However, getting one of them to agree to marry you is your job. And if no one puts on your ring, I still get paid.”

  “Only three?”

  She held up her hand and checked off items on her fingers as she spoke. “You’re asking me to identify suitable candidates, investigate their backgrounds, check their references and ascertain their interest in the potential—” she was going to say position but changed her mind “—opening.”

  He raised an eyebrow and gave her a devastating smirk. Too late, she realized the word she chose was almost as suggestive as the one she discarded. “In one month. Three feasible choices are a very healthy outcome,” she said, managing to continue.

  “Fine. I accept. But I must agree each one satisfies my requirements before I sign off on the completion of your contract.” A gleam lit his gaze when he stressed the word satisfies.

  “You agree they fulfill the requirements on paper before you meet them. Any satisfaction that occurs after is up to you.” She bit her lower lip to stop from returning his smirk.

  His gaze lingered on her mouth. If he was trying to fluster her, he was doing a good job. She folded her arms and lifted her chin.

  That unholy glint of laughter remained in his gaze. “And your other conditions?”

  She resisted the urge to wipe her damp palms on her trousers. “An office to work in, a corporate cell phone and an open expense account. Oh, and health insurance. Starting today.” She kept her gaze steadily on his through sheer force of will. He really did have the most amazing eyes. Deep blue with flecks of gray—or were they deep gray with flecks of blue? Either way, they reminded her of pictures she had seen of ancient Roman mosaics in her parents’ home city of Zagreb, the colors deep and rich and playing off each other.

  This time an actual smile dented one side of his face. “Come by Ruby Hawk after lunch and I’ll have someone set you up with a workspace, phone, benefits and credit card.”

  Danica exhaled. It felt good to have her lungs back in working order. “It’s a deal.”

  “Not yet. I have conditions of my own. One, this is confidential.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Searches usually are.”

  “Two, you’ll sign a nondisclosure agreement. No talking to the press, your relatives or your partner.” He raised an eyebrow. “I assume you have one.”

  “I never talk to the press. I keep my work and private life separate.”

  “And the partner?”

  “None of your business, but not an issue.” Was that a flash in his gaze? Not that it was any concern of hers. Yes, he was attractive, but so had been her ex. Who dumped her to marry a woman who sounded a lot like Luke’s ideal candidate.

  He nodded. “We’ll tell the staff at Ruby Hawk you’re a consultant working on a research project for me. And three, while I understand asking certain questions are not in your job description—” he paused and his one-sided smile deepened “—your candidates must be single and free of romantic entanglements.”

  His phone rang, an insistent buzz. He looked at it, and the CEO feared across Silicon Valley reappeared. “I have to take this. I’ll see you in my office at two thirty.” It was a command, not a question. Before she could respond, he was gone, leaving eddies in the air.

  She let out her breath as the adrenaline surging in his presence slowly retreated. Her gaze swept the bare walls and scuffed floors. It was hard to believe two weeks ago she thought her job was secure. Of course, two weeks ago she also thought her strong, athletic teenage brother would remain in the best of health. Before the accident, Danica thought her life was on a straight road, with maybe the occasional dip or hill. Now? Nothing but blind curves and unmarked hazards.

  Like the blind curve Luke Dallas represented. She squeezed her eyes shut. She’d make it work. To help her brother get the care he needed, she’d do almost anything.

  She left the office with her box of personal possessions in hand and headed to the nearest library to log into the employee-only portal on the Rinaldi Executive Search website. As she anticipated, the passwords hadn’t been changed. She filled out the template agreement for executive search services, changing the words and terms as necessary. After her finger hovered over the keyboard for several heartbeats, she pressed Send.

  * * *

  Luke wasn’t sure if he’d made an expensive blunder or hit upon a stroke of genius. The decision to hire Danica Novak to find him a wife so he could jump through Nestor Stavros’s ridiculous hoop seemed right at the time. A week later, driving in his car on his way to work, it seemed like a damn foolish idea. Especially since he had yet to see any viable work product from Ms. Novak.

  He refused to think he been taken in by big green eyes and a luscious mouth meant to be kissed slowly and thoroughly. He found her physically attractive, yes. But she also exhibited a quick wit and a willingness to go toe to toe with him that suggested she was intelligent and more than capable. He just needed to see the evidence of it. Now.

  He parked his BMW i8 in the parking space marked with his name and strode through the glass doors engraved with the Ruby Hawk logo, forgoing the elevator in favor of taking the stairs two by two up to the third floor that housed the main operations. Today was going to be yet another difficult one. Cinco Jackson wrote another article about the Stavros Group acquisition, and this time he mentioned the deal might fall apart if certain unnamed conditions weren’t met.

  Anjuli Patel met him as he exited the stairwell. He did a double take as he took in her outfit. The chief financial officer of Ruby Hawk and his second-in-command, she normally wore carefully color-coordinated outfits and tasteful jewelry. This morning she looked as if one of her three-year-old twins had chosen her clothing. “Another article just appeared in the Silicon Valley Weekly,” she said. “My husband texted me from the gym at 6:00 a.m.”

  “Yes. I saw it. I’m sure everyone has,” he answered without breaking stride.

  Anjuli fell in beside him and matched his speed. “How much truth is in it? Is the Stavros Group removing you when the deal goes through? Is the deal going through?” Her dark gaze sparked with anxious curiosity. She knew as well as he did how much the influx of cash from the acquisition was vitally needed.


  “Let’s talk.” He beelined for his office. Like most tech companies, Ruby Hawk employees worked in an open plan bullpen. No doors, no cubicles, just desks pushed together to form team clusters. But recently Luke took over one of the glass-walled conference rooms that ringed the outer wall for more privacy during the acquisition discussions. He’d need it today.

  “Let’s talk in a good way? Or let’s talk and it’s bad?” she asked.

  “Just be prepared,” he said. “Run the numbers if the Stavros Group stays with the deal, and then run the numbers if they don’t.”

  “Which set do you want first?”

  The sooner he knew what he was up against, the better. “The latter.”

  “So it’s bad.” Her worried gaze swept over the engineers sitting at low desks. A few browser windows featuring the Silicon Valley Weekly website closed as Luke and Anjuli passed by.

  “It might be.” He increased his stride to pull ahead of her.

  His steps slowed as he neared the door to the conference room. A clump of his top executives occupied the space between him and the door. Every single person standing outside his office he had handpicked to be on his team. In many cases, he persuaded them to leave lucrative salaries and promising career trajectories to join him at Ruby Hawk. He owed them, more than he could express.

  “There he is.” The knot of executives pressed forward.

  “Is it true?”

  “What’s happening with the acquisition?”

  “Are you leaving the company?”

  He caught sight of a messy blond ponytail on the outer fringes of the group. Good. He needed Danica—or rather, he corrected his thoughts grimly, he needed her work, now more than ever.

  He held up a hand and the questions quieted down. “Don’t pay attention to the rumors. Our response is to keep our heads down and continue to do good work. But I do need to see her.” He indicated with a jerk of his chin for Danica to come forward.

  Her startled gaze met his. “Me?” she sputtered.

  “You. Anjuli, let’s meet after you run those numbers. Everyone else, back to your desks. If you want to gossip, do it on your own time.” He stepped forward to usher Danica into his office as the small crowd dispersed at his command.

  * * *

  Danica didn’t have time to form a protest. His hand on the small of her back guided her, its warmth radiating through the thin cotton jersey of her shirt. He indicated a chair in front of his desk and let go of her arm, not a second too soon for her comfort. The door shut behind them with a resounding click.

  “What can I do for you?” she asked, sitting gingerly on the edge of a clear molded acrylic chair. Her back was to the glass wall, but her spine prickled with the heat of at least half a dozen stares aimed straight at her.

  He sat down on the opposite side of the repurposed-wood conference table. He pushed a button on a remote control and mechanized shades unrolled over the windows, shielding them from the curious gazes.

  The light in the room dimmed, the atmosphere changing from corporate to intimate. She was very aware they were the only two people in the room.

  His shoulders seemed to fall slightly. It was a small chink in his usually impenetrable armor of arrogant self-confidence. She yearned to reach out and smooth the faint creases marring his brow. “What’s wrong?” she tried again, her tone soft.

  The vulnerability disappeared as quickly as it had revealed itself, causing the temperature in the room to fall a few degrees. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  She resisted the urge to turn around and point at the now-shaded glass wall. “The angry mob searching for pitchforks and torches was just my imagination?”

  His eyebrows drew together. “A vivid one. That was nowhere near a mob, and they weren’t angry.”

  “A group of concerned employees, then. Is it the article about the Stavros Group pulling out of the deal?”

  “I need your candidate list.”

  It was a good thing she was already sitting. The shock would have blown her off her feet. “I sent you my preliminary list days ago. That’s why I was standing there, hoping to catch you for your reaction.” She pulled an email printout from the folder she carried and placed it on his desk.

  He glanced down at the paper, and then his head came up sharply. “I thought this was a list of rejected candidates. I deleted it.” He pushed it aside. “It’s been five working days. I need your results. Now.”

  He deleted her hard work? Without so much as an acknowledgment he had received it? “I know it’s been five days!” she shot back. “Five days of you ignoring my emails, my phone calls, my chat invitations, my texts.” How dare he put this on her? “I did everything but parade naked in front of that window to get your attention!”

  The light in his eyes changed. Prickles formed on her skin. “I answer communications when I have something to say. No answer from me means ‘No.’” A corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. “Although no one’s tried parading naked before.”

  That treacherous heat suffused her cheeks again. “If this is the way you treat your employees’ attempts to get in touch with you, no wonder they talk as if the company needs to be measured for a coffin behind your back.”

  His lips compressed into a thin line. “They do no such thing.”

  “I know this room resembles a bubble, but that’s no excuse for talking like you live in one.” Luke was powerful and wealthy. Perhaps his lofty status kept him from seeing the ground below him. “I’m practically locked up in a converted supply closet because you don’t want anyone to know why I’m here, and even I know the acquisition is in trouble. You need to talk to your employees. Starting with me.”

  His gaze was the glacial blue of an iceberg beneath the surface and just as dangerous. “Fine. Let’s talk. If you’re having difficulty performing the task assigned to you, we should rethink this arrangement.”

  What? Her breath came in staccato bursts. She’d told her parents she would pay for Matt’s treatment. She refused to let that become a lie. “I performed the task assigned to me. That list is the result of hours of impeccable research. Every single person has been vetted and meets your criteria.” She returned his arctic gaze with a heated glare. “How dare you delete it?”

  He stood up, his broad, muscled form towering over her. “You submitted a list of women already known to me. Therefore, it’s unusable.”

  She sprang to her feet. He would not intimidate her with his stance. The top of her head came up to his Adam’s apple, forcing her to tilt her head back so she could meet his gaze straight on. “It may be hard to believe, but every date you’ve ever had is not on a gossip website. That is why I sent the list to you to vet. I need your feedback.” She leaned over and pointed at the printout, her index finger planted firmly on his desk.

  He raised a dismissive eyebrow and slid the paper from underneath her finger, crumpling it up and tossing it in a perfect arc into a nearby wastebasket. He then put his hands on the desk and angled his torso over the table. Scant inches separated them.

  “The women on your list work in tech. You think I’m not aware of talented up-and-coming executives? I don’t need you to tell me who I know and already considered. I need you to find someone I haven’t considered.”

  Danica huffed. “Remember what I said about communication? This would’ve been useful information to have. A week ago.”

  He leaned even closer. The scent of expensive leather and fresh citrus teased her nose. She got the distinct sense of a tiger playing with his prey. The prey might think it could escape. But the tiger was coiled to jump and tear out the prey’s throat in a blink.

  “You’re the search expert, not me,” he said in a low, controlled voice. “But common sense dictates looking further afield than the client is able to do on his own is a prerequisite for the job.”

  “You—” she began.

  Th
en she stopped and considered his words.

  He was right.

  She had overlooked a basic step in conducting a search: assess which candidates had already been rejected before she came on board. And yes, he could have explained the problem with her list in a timelier, if not infinitely more tactful, manner. But if he had, he wouldn’t be Luke Dallas.

  Her gaze fell. His shirt was open at the collar, revealing a triangle of sun-bronzed skin. A pulse leaped at the side of his neck, and for a split second she wanted to rest her lips there and see if he tasted as good as he smelled.

  “You...” she started again. “You’re right. I’m sorry. If you still want me to work on the search, I’ll compile a better list.” She snuck a glance at him from under her eyelashes. She expected chilly disdain, but there was something warm and contemplative deep in his eyes. A hot spark kindled in her chest as their gazes tangled.

  “I only hire people who perform well at their tasks. You’re still on the search. But I expect better results.” He sat back down in his chair, taking his appealing scent with him. She stifled her disappointment.

  “And you will get them. I promise.” She turned to leave the room.

  “Have dinner with me.”

  “What?” She whirled around so quickly she nearly caused self-induced whiplash.

  He put down his tablet and looked up at her, leaning back in his seat. “I haven’t given this project the specialized attention it needs. It’s clear you don’t have the necessary inputs to make correct assessments. I don’t have time to remedy that right now. But I do have to eat later, so you might as well eat with me.”

  His words doused the spark’s last flickers. “When you put it that way, how can I refuse?”