Principles And Pleasures. Margaret Allison

she’d still been a girl about to come into her own. She was now a woman, poised and confident, radiantly beautiful. But from what he had heard, looks were deceiving. Meredith had a reputation as one of the most ruthless chief executives in the business.

      So ruthless that she was willing to trade her sister’s happiness for artificial snow. Although he had a hard time believing that Carly would let herself be manipulated like that, he still found the entire deal suspicious. He did not trust the Durans and had no intention of getting into a secret bidding war with Meredith. He had been involved in those before and had found himself the victim of the winner’s curse more than once. The price would become so inflated, the final tally seldom reflected the true value. But from what he had seen tonight, Meredith Cartwright was not a woman who would listen to reason.

      So he would continue on his course and attempt to reach Meredith through Carly. Although she was not as brilliant as Meredith, she was still an astute and energetic individual. He would try to win Carly over by explaining the situation and having her act as an intermediary with her sister. He would also make it clear to Carly that she did not have to marry Mark for Cartwright to win the rights. If only Meredith would agree, they could share the company.

      Once again he thought about how Meredith had offered him money to leave Carly alone. What would make her think he had come back to woo a woman with whom he had not spoken in years? Besides, he had never been romantically interested in Carly. She was and always would be, in his eyes at least, a less impressive version of her older sister. He would never be able to look at Carly without remembering the night Meredith had finally quenched his thirst.

      He stood and began to pace. He would not go back to the party. But he would return tomorrow. Meredith could not intimidate or manipulate him. She may not realize it yet, but she had met her match in Josh Adams.