“I will if you really want me to, but if you really love your brother and care about what happens to him and his company, you'll let me stay.”
Colby drew in a deep breath. Her throat became congested with fear and uncertainty. “What do you mean by that?”
“If you'll allow me a few minutes of your time, I will tell you,” he said, returning to the sofa to sit down.
Colby eyed him narrowly. If there was something concerning James and Wingate Cosmetics, she wanted to hear it. “All right,” she said, closing the door. “You got five minutes. No more and possibly less.” She took a chair opposite the sofa. “I'm listening.”
A soft chuckle escaped Sterling's throat. Although he didn't want to, he actually liked her. She was an amusing change from most of the women he came in contact with. He couldn't remember the last time a woman had acted as if he'd crawled out from under a rock.
“We could have shared the sofa. I don't bite.”
“Your bite is the least of my worries, and you're down to four minutes, Mr. Hamilton. My patience is wearing thin.”
Sterling laughed. “So is mine. And I prefer you call me Sterling, or anything else you may find endearing.”
Colby gave him a withering glance. “There's nothing about you I find endearing.” She knew to him this was just a game. A game she wasn't interested in playing. Women threw themselves at him constantly, and she had no intention of being one of them. He was way out of her league.
Sterling reached for a briefcase on a nearby table that Colby noticed for the first time. He leaned back against the sofa and proceeded to review a stack of papers he took out of it. He didn't bother to look up as he began speaking.
“After you left Edward's office I made a few calls and found out some rather interesting information regarding your brother's company.”
Colby cocked an arched eyebrow. “Such as?” she asked blithely.
He looked up and wished he hadn't. Heat surged through his body just from looking at her. He quickly looked back down at the papers he held in his hand. What was wrong with him? You would think Colby Wingate was the first woman he'd been around in a long time, but that wasn't the case. He'd just flown in from Paris, where he'd been surrounded by numerous beautiful women on the set of his latest movie. What was there about her that drew his gaze to her tempting mouth time and time again? He shook his head and took an exasperated breath.
“I'm waiting for an answer, Mr. Hamilton.”
He looked up again and met her gaze, grateful he was a little better in control. “Such as the fact that Wingate Cosmetics is about to be faced with a hostile takeover attempt by Morton Industries.”
Colby sat up straight and stared at him with openmouthed shock. “What? Are you sure?” she asked in a whisper.
“I'm positive. A very good friend of mine named Jacob Madaris is a top-notch player on the New York Stock Exchange. He handles most of my investments and is known to have inside information about a lot of things.”
Shakily, Colby reached out to steady herself by grasping the arms of the huge chair she was sitting in. “But why? How?”
Sterling watched her reaction to the information. “Correct me if I'm wrong but according to my sources, Morton Industries released your brother from their employment several years ago when he failed to divulge the ingredients of a certain perfume he had created. I gather they liked the fragrance and wanted him to sign over the rights to them.”
Colby sighed. “Yes,” she replied softly. “He created it as a present for my eighteenth birthday and named it after me. It's called Colby. I'm the only woman who wears it.”
He nodded and inhaled the tantalizing aroma of her. It was a subtle but extremely potent scent. There was something about it that was totally alluring. He was familiar with various feminine fragrances, but somehow the one Colby wore seemed unique and exclusively hers. He couldn't imagine the scent on any other woman.
“What your brother may not have known is that he did exactly what they expected him to do by going into business for himself. They sat back and waited patiently for him to make it into a lucrative company. Now they're ready to take things over.”
Colby gasped. “You can't mean that.”
“Yes, I do. I doubt your brother is aware of it, but Morton's about ready to file with the SEC. It's only a matter of time before their intentions are made public. Then it will be virtually impossible for him to do anything about it. If they're successful, they will gain complete control of Wingate Cosmetics. If the perfume Colby is registered with the company, regardless of the fact it is not being publicly marketed for sale, it will become the property of Morton Industries. And I have a feeling nothing will please them more than to put it on the market. Also, this new creation of your brother's, the one you called Awesome, will fall into their hands.”
“I can't let that happen.”
Sterling met her gaze. “You can't stop them.”
Colby stood quickly to face him. “But you don't understand. I have to do something. Everything James's ever owned is tied to that company, his life savings, his heart and his soul. He's worked so hard to make it a success. He and his wife are expecting their first child and the pregnancy is a risky one. It's not fair that Morton Industries can just come in and reap the benefits of his hard work.”
Sterling witnessed her outburst. The anger she was feeling was openly expressed in her features.
“It's not fair,” she said. “It's just not fair, and I won't let them do it.”
“And just how do you plan to stop them?”
Colby slumped back down in her seat knowing she didn't have a clue. “I don't know, but I'm going to call James immediately. He'll think of something.”
“It's too late. The wheels are already in motion. There's nothing he can do.”
Colby frowned. “How can you say that? It's his company.”
“Not for long. Anytime a company goes public with stock options something like this can happen. Especially if the company is doing well financially. And according to this,” Sterling said, spreading out a financial report on the table in front of them, “Wingate Cosmetics is doing rather well. Your brother should be proud of what he's accomplished.”
Colby appreciated his compliment of her brother's hard work. “It wasn't easy for him. He works hard and long hours,” she said softly, thinking back to how his marriage had nearly suffered because of it.
Then she looked at Sterling for a long, taut moment before speaking again. “I would like to know how you got this?” she asked, indicating the financial statement spread out on the table.
“The financial position of any company is a matter of public record.”
“Are you saying James should have anticipated this takeover attempt by Morton Industries?”
“No,” he said calmly. “It appears Morton Industries' planned acquisition of Wingate Cosmetics was a calculated move on their part. I believe their reasons for wanting it are both business and personal. Your brother didn't leave on the best of terms. He was their top chemist and had created quite a number of successful products for them. Homer Morton took it as an act of betrayal when he left to form his own company.”
Colby lifted a brow as she sat curled up in the chair. “And just how do you know all of that?”
A tiny corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “I have ways of finding out anything I want to know.”
She stood and began pacing the room. After a while, she turned toward Sterling. “And you're absolutely sure about all of this?”
Sterling eased out of his seat and came to stand before her. “It's all there in the report. I suggest you read it for yourself. So