Cassie's Grand Plan

Four steps to a brand-new life

Cassie Hartman knows what she needs to do to get her life under control. First, she’ll get herself promoted. Then she’ll update her appearance. Steps three and four—marriage and family—well, those will have to wait.

Then Ronan McGuire shows up. The too-sexy, too-polished business consultant has the power to derail Cassie’s plans before she’s even really started. If he doesn’t approve her promotion, she’ll be back to square one—and that’s not an option. Cassie needs to keep her focus on that first step, no matter how much Ronan tempts her to skip ahead to the third and fourth ones….

Questions piled up inside her mind faster than she could process them

What would it be like to see Ronan naked? To have his bare skin against her own?

“Cassie, sweetheart.” Ronan’s voice was a ragged plea. “You have to stop thinking whatever it is you’re thinking, because otherwise I won’t be held responsible for my actions.” He sucked in a breath. “I’m trying so hard to do the right thing here.”

Surely the right thing couldn’t be denying this energy that thrummed between them, the desperation to hold him again that seemed to pour from her every nerve. Even if it was the very last thing in the world she should be thinking, let alone doing. He was exactly the wrong kind of man for her. She wanted safe, he offered reckless. She wanted stable and settled, he traveled the world for his work, no doubt had a girl in every port.

And yet...

Dear Reader,

While unlike Cassie, I’m not afraid of flying, I am very familiar with frequent travel for business. I’ve always entertained a fantasy that one day, I’d board a plane and sitting next to me would be Bradley Cooper or Alex O’Loughlin. (I seem to conveniently forget those guys aren’t likely to fly coach!) I have a definite weakness for broad-shouldered men in crisply tailored suits, white shirts and silk ties. Especially when they’re a little crumpled after a day’s work. Unfortunately, also unlike Cassie, I’ve yet to find a consultant quite like Ronan on one of my plane trips.

While Cassie might be about to go through the audit/job interview from hell, at least the scenery’s good! And like many people who’ve experienced this kind of review, for Cassie it turns out to be a watershed moment, a critical turning point for her to review her life and reassess what she wants from it. It’s a big upheaval for her, because the one thing she’s not good at is change. But she’s boarded the ride now—it’s too late to turn back.

Writing Cassie and Ronan’s story was a roller-coaster ride for me, just like the Scenic Railway they ride at Luna Park—although with perhaps more extreme highs and lows. Thankfully the ride ended with the greatest high of all: this, my first published book. There are lots of people who went along with me for the ride—too many to thank individually. I just hope they’re not too worn-out from all the squealing!

I’d love to hear from you. Visit me at

www.emmiedark.com.

Cheers,

Emmie Dark

Cassie’s Grand Plan

Emmie Dark

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After years of writing press releases, employee newsletters and speeches for CEOs and politicians—none of which included any kind of kissing—Emmie Dark finally took to her laptop to write what she wanted to write. She was both amazed and delighted to discover that what came out were sexy, noble heroes who found themselves crossing paths with strong, but perhaps slightly damaged, heroines. And plenty of kissing.

Emmie lives in Melbourne, Australia, and she likes red lipstick, chardonnay, sunshine, driving fast, rose-scented soap and a really good cup of tea.

All backlist available in ebook. Don’t miss any of our special offers. Write to us at the following address for information on our newest releases.

Harlequin Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

For my sister, Georgina.

Contents

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

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

SWEAT PRICKLED THE BACK of his neck. It was too hot for a suit, but professional pride insisted he drag his Hugo Boss jacket from the backseat and shrug it on anyway.

Funny, he hadn’t thought he had any pride left.

Ronan Conroy surveyed the scene from inside the car a bit longer, delaying the moment he’d need to turn off the engine and lose the blast of cool air from the vents—little as it was doing to assuage the heat.

Two women stood outside the Country Style furniture warehouse in the grimy, industrial outskirts of Melbourne. Heat shimmered in air that smelled of dust and smoke, perceptible even inside the car. Concrete buildings and asphalt roads only magnified the temperature. It was hot as hell and that was probably fitting—this was, after all, supposed to be a punishment.

The women were talking animatedly. Stacks of furniture—chairs, tables, cabinets, bed frames—were haphazardly arranged around them. Guys dripping sweat emerged from inside the warehouse, grabbed an item and disappeared back into the darkness with it.

As jet lag pulled at his eyelids, Ronan watched the women continue to talk, each of them occasionally pointing at a clipboard one of them was holding.

The one closest to where Ronan had parked was short, blonde and dressed in a light green skirt and matching short-sleeved suit jacket. Her hair was cut in a neat bob, shiny and precise. Even from a distance he could see her lips were outlined in bright lipstick.

The other was taller. She wore dark trousers and a pale blue shirt with the Country Style logo emblazoned over one breast, the sleeves rolled up. A streak of dust marred one pant leg, and her cheeks were flushed. But her hair…long, dark, wavy. It was barely constrained by a clip at her nape and hung down to midway between her shoulder blades. As he watched, she tucked a stray lock behind one ear. If that beautiful mane was out, allowed free, it would swing forward, over her shoulders. Would it cover her breasts? Maybe. Maybe not quite. Maybe just—

Ronan gave himself a mental shake. It was just this sort of thing that had got him into trouble before.

It was why he was here, on the other side of the world, while his disapproving father was back in San Francisco waiting to see if he could prove himself. Again.

He grabbed his briefcase and turned off the engine, stepping out of the car. This one was going to be strictly business. There was too much riding on it for it to be anything but. His chance to finally prove that he was good enough for the partnership in Conroy Corporation that should have been his long ago—even if it was by completing a job that barely matched his skill level. It was going to be a walk in the park.

He’d been sent here to work with Cassidy Hartman, the head of operations for Country Style. He straightened his shoulders and headed toward the women. He’d bet she was the one in the suit.

CASSIE NOTICED SOMEONE approaching out of the corner of her eye, but she was too absorbed by the figures on her assistant’s clipboard to pay much attention. The delivery was short—very short—and they were going to have a problem meeting customer orders, never mind having floor stock for display in the fifty-seven Country Style stores around Australia. The tedious task ahead of them now was to match the consignment note with every item that had been delivered and then she’d be on the phone to the manufacturer, making her displeasure clear. This was the third time this company had short-delivered and Cassie’s patience was running out.

“I’m not standing for this, Mel,” Cassie said, one hand going back to play with her hastily gathered-up ponytail. Her other hand grasped her paper coffee cup dangerously tightly.

“I know, I know,” Melanie said soothingly. “They’ve tried this on us before. But don’t worry, we’ll get on to it and it will be sorted.”

“As if we didn’t have enough to deal with today,” Cassie said under her breath. Being caught in the middle of an argument with a supplier was the last thing she needed.

A surprise phone call from her boss the previous afternoon had informed her that some high-flying international business analyst would be arriving this morning to begin a review of the entirety of Country Style’s operations. Graham Taylor, the owner of Country Style, hadn’t needed to spell out that Cassie’s own performance was what was really under the microscope here.

Cassie checked her watch. It was only just before eight, so she figured she had at least another hour or so to prepare. She did a mental run-through of her to-do list, checking off priorities on her fingers. “I still have to confirm the travel arrangements for the store visits, finalize the contracts for the new ad campaign and iron out the problems with the signage on the new Hawthorn store before the opening next Monday.”

“I know,” Melanie repeated sympathetically. “I’ll deal with this and I can work on the travel stuff. You just focus on Hawthorn and do what you need to do.”

Cassie was grateful for her assistant’s encouraging smile and composed demeanor. Normally a very cool, calm and collected businesswoman herself, today’s inspection had Cassie feeling jittery, doubting herself and her management abilities. She’d barely slept last night after staying up late to prepare herself for the inquisition. She’d worked through every possible scenario, rehearsing her responses to any question she could think of. It hadn’t helped. Now she was just nervous and sleep deprived. She took a long sip of her coffee, hoping that the caffeine would give her a jolt, get her back to her normal, take-charge self.

Still caught up in self-analysis, Cassie was just taking another sip of coffee when a tall, suited man suddenly appeared next to them, making her gasp in shock.

He held his hand out to Melanie.

“Hello, you must be Cassidy Hartman.” Smiling broadly, his American accent rang out as if someone had just turned on a TV. “I’m Ronan C—McGuire from the Conroy Corporation. I understand Graham called to let you know to expect me.”

Cassie’s world slowed for a moment.

This was the pencil-pushing number-cruncher Graham had sent to check up on her?

But there wasn’t a bow tie, pocket protector or pair of horn-rimmed glasses in sight. Instead, everything about this man screamed money and sophistication, from the tailored shoulders of his fine wool suit all the way down to the shiny, no doubt Italian, leather lace-ups. His dark hair was artfully tousled, just enough to look as though care had been taken, but not so much that it would look fussy.

If this was a sitcom, then the star had just walked in—straight out of central casting, with “tall, dark and handsome” written in script under his name. Cassie half expected to hear whoops and mad applause in the background.

Melanie, flustered, looked from the man who held his hand out toward her to Cassie and back again, her pretty face creased with confusion and anxiety.

Cassie, for her part, remembered to breathe at the same time as she also remembered to swallow her mouthful of lukewarm coffee. Bad idea.

Choking and spluttering, she struggled to draw breath.

“Um, I’m…” Melanie stuttered, clearly unsure whether to introduce herself, deal with Cassie’s coughing fit, or maybe just run away.

Ronan looked over at Cassie and patted her on the back firmly a few times. “Are you okay?”

His eyes sent a ribbon of heat through her that had nothing to do with the oppressive northerly wind whipping around them. Blue. Perfect reflections of the summer sky above them. Sultry and flirtatious, his gaze made Cassie’s heart skip, even as she tried to swallow and breathe normally.

She fought to restore her composure. “I’m fine,” she said hoarsely. She blinked back the tears threatening to stream down her cheeks from the coughing fit.

“Good.” Ronan nodded and turned back to Melanie. “So, Ms. Hartman, I know Graham probably told you to expect me at nine, but I like to arrive a little early so we have a chance to get to know—”

Finally Melanie recovered enough to speak. “Sorry, but my name’s Melanie. Cassie is—”

“I’m Cassidy Hartman.” Cassie drew herself up straight and held out her hand. She knew her face was red and not just from the coughing. This was Graham’s consultant, and he’d mistaken Melanie for her. Who could blame him? She was filthy from crawling through the recently arrived stock trying to do a rough estimate on quantities. She’d barely slept so she knew her eyes were baggy and her hair was in its usual messy ponytail. Whereas Melanie—well, she was Melanie. Cool, crisp and utterly perfect.

The mistake was understandable, but no less embarrassing. And, much as she didn’t want to admit it, it hurt. Part Two of her recently drawn up Plan-with-a-capital-P was all about making sure this kind of misunderstanding didn’t happen, but she had to get Part One bedded down first—and that meant making her position at Country Style rock solid. She just hadn’t considered that the report she’d spent her nights and weekends researching and writing would prompt her boss to call in professional analysts instead of simply granting her the CEO position as she’d recommended.

The smarmy-but-gorgeous Ronan turned to Cassie and gave a slight bow, extending his hand to grasp hers. His eyes flashed with a moment of regret at his misstep, but he covered it quickly. “My apologies, ma’am.” He cocked his head to one side as she stifled another cough. “I admire your new caffeine delivery system, but perhaps it still needs some work?”

Cassie had been about to apologize for her appearance, explain about the short-delivered order, but his condescending expression stopped her in her tracks. She wanted more than anything to slap that grin off his face and send him packing back to his big glass office in America. Instead, she forced herself to smile, as much to stop herself insulting him out loud as anything else.

She shook his hand and released it quickly when a jolt ran through her body, as if she were holding hands with the devil.

“Can I get you a coffee, Mr....uh,” Melanie stuttered.

Cassie looked over at Melanie and was surprised to find her unflappable assistant looking at a loss.

He hesitated just a split second before answering smoothly. “Mr. McGuire,” he reminded her, “but please, call me Ronan. And I’d love a coffee. Black, no sugar—I’m sweet enough,” he added with a wink and Cassie was staggered by Melanie’s response. She gave a shy giggle and a telltale blush marched across her face. Melanie was the target of flirting from just about every man she met. This was the first time Cassie had ever seen it work.

She guessed any woman would fall weak at the knees faced with this perfect specimen of the male sex. Objectively, Cassie could see why. He wasn’t her type, though. Too polished. Too worldly. Too good-looking. Too overwhelming. It’d be too easy to lose yourself—lose control—with someone like him. It wasn’t something she would ever allow to happen.

Besides which, it was pointless even thinking those kinds of thoughts. He was here to assess her performance—at work, not in the bedroom. Thank goodness. At least at work Cassie knew what she was doing.

Well, she’d thought she did up until Graham had called for this review.

Her stomach twisted into ever-tighter knots.

“Sure, Ronan.” Melanie lowered her voice to say his name, as if it were sacred. Her eyes didn’t leave the man’s face as she asked, “Cassie, can I get you another one?”

Cassie could only nod, even as the coffee she’d already consumed that morning curdled in her belly. She figured she was going to need every bit of help she could muster to get through this day and more caffeine was a good start.

The fragile balloon of self-confidence she’d tried to pump up last night was rapidly deflating. In all the scenarios she’d pictured, she’d been imagining herself answering to a bow tie–wearing nerd. She honestly had been expecting some gray-haired, button-down bore. Not the kind of man who’d make most women think of beds instead of budgets. Of sex instead of stock levels.

And she’d expected to have more time to prepare. Not get caught out in the middle of a delivery blunder, dusty and hot and annoyed. She swallowed again, resisting her tickly throat that still urged her to cough.

“I’ll be back in a moment.” Melanie seemed to have recovered from her little swoon and was back to her normal efficient self. “I’ve set up the conference room for you both. All the documents you requested are in there, Cassie, and I even found an adaptor so you can plug your laptop in, too, Ronan.” Again, that sexy tone when she said his name.

“Why, thank you, Melanie.”

No. Oh, God. Had he winked again?

When he turned back to Cassie, his face was all business. Cassie refused to feel disappointed. “After you, ma’am.”

Without another word, Cassie led him into the warehouse and through the side doorway that led into the office area and the conference room.

“Conference room” was a grand title for the space that they used for staff meetings and big client pitches, but it was the most presentable part of the building. It had also allowed Cassie to exercise her passion for interior design—a passion that had played no small part in her success. Predicting trends and designing merchandising schemes were her favorite parts of the job.

Cassie had furnished the space as if it were a provincial dining room; instead of the typical imposing boardroom table surrounded by black leather swivel chairs, she’d brought in a large, whitewashed-timber dining table, plush dining chairs and a kitchen sideboard for storage. Audiovisual equipment was stored away in a large wooden trunk and dresser, while a kitchenette gave the impression of a family space ready to prepare an evening meal. The view of the loading dock from the window was the only thing that broke the illusion that the visitor had stepped into a country home.

It was one of Cassie’s favorite hideaways and she managed to take her first deep breath of the morning as she walked in. A measure of calm settled over her jangled nerves. Whether it was the fact that she had designed it herself, or that it was just the kind of room she dreamed of having in her own home one day, she didn’t know. She just knew that on those frequent late nights at work, she often left her office and came in here to soak up the comfort the room offered. Then she could pretend that she was finishing up her work at home, her family tucked up safe in bed, a lovely, soft, gentle man offering her a nightcap.

Soft and gentle was what she wanted, not sculpted and swoon worthy, she reminded herself as she took another sideways glance at Ronan McGuire. He was looking at her, an openly appraising expression on his face. Cassie swallowed hard. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he liked what he saw.

She quickly looked away. “We’re all set up in here,” she said needlessly, gesturing to the table.

“Interesting choice of furnishings, ma’am,” he said as he pulled out a chair and opened his briefcase. A hint of Southern twang to his accent stopped his “ma’am” from being smarmy—but only just. Cassie wanted to say something witty and cutting, but reminded herself of what was at risk. Besides, witty and cutting—especially in front of a hot guy who had apparently just been checking her out—had never been her forte.

Cassie sucked in another deep breath before answering. “It’s used for commercial clients and supplier meetings,” she said crisply. “It allows us to show off the Country Style look and range. Why should we buy boring gray office furniture when we have these beautiful pieces at our fingertips?”

She could hear the defensiveness in her own voice and scolded herself. It was crucial to get control of her nerves! If she was going to gain this guy’s confidence and win him over to the idea of her as CEO of Country Style, sounding bitter and defensive wasn’t the way to go about it. She had to sound like a leader. Calm. Absolutely in control.

“I understand why you’d use your own furniture range, ma’am,” he said, his tone betraying no hint of a reaction to her aggression. “Makes perfect sense.”

Cassie’s frayed nerves shredded. “Stop calling me ‘ma’am’!” Oops. She was pretty sure snapping at him didn’t count as either calm or controlled.

“Okay, I just—”

“I’m not a ma’am, I’m a miss. But don’t call me that, either,” Cassie added, flustered. How had she managed to get off on the wrong foot so quickly? She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly before continuing. “I don’t know if it’s different in America, but in Australia we’re quite informal, even in business. So Cassie will do. Just plain Cassie.”

Those sky-blue eyes of his swept over her, and the hardness melted away, just for a moment. A lazy seductiveness took over as his eyes did a slow sweep of her body. “Oh, I don’t think there’s anything plain about you, Cassie Hartman.” One corner of his mouth crooked up in a ghost of a smile before his eyes shuttered with the professional reserve she’d noticed earlier. “Now, shall we get to work?”

Cassie felt her stomach clench, not sure if she was furious, pleased or simply confused by his approach. Perhaps this was what he did—he got people unsettled, all the better to manipulate them so he could find what he wanted.

All she knew was that she had to be on her guard every moment he was around.

He got under her skin.

CHAPTER TWO

CASSIE WAS BARELY AWARE of the time passing until Melanie knocked on the door and walked in, interrupting them with lunch.

After that initial flirty comment, something in Ronan McGuire’s demeanor seemed to change, as though he’d flicked a switch, and from then on it had been strictly business. He delved straight into the work in front of them, polite, friendly, but entirely businesslike. It was as if the spreadsheets in front of him called to him like sirens, more attractive than any real woman. Especially plain old Cassie.

Which was fine by her. It was a relief, actually. Gave her time to pull herself together after the deep unease she’d felt at his arrival. It wasn’t just nerves about the ordeal ahead of her—something about him resonated deep within her. Was it his eyes? His accent? His smell? She put it down to the potential impact he could have on her life and tried to remember her little internal pep talk. Behave like a true leader. Calm. In control.

Once they got down to business, things were easier. When she was talking about Country Style, Cassie was in her element, and her agitation slipped away. Country Style was her baby, her home, her life. She loved her work; it was the only place that had offered her stability, security and a chance to prove herself. As she’d worked these past weeks on her proposal for Graham, she’d felt a new sense of motivation, imagined a new picture of what her life might be like. Shoring up her job at Country Style was Part One of her Plan-with-a-capital-P.