Executive Perks Read Online Free PDF Page B

strategy?”
    “It’s not precisely a strategy, James. We already have the standstill. I don’t want to talk to him. It’s as simple as that.”
    “Well, I’m not sure I think that’s wise. You can’t afford to alienate Winston. He has too much leverage over you, especially if we hope to convince him to sell back the stock. Cold-shouldering Winston may be a dangerous move. Call him back, Virginia, find out what he wants.”
    As if she didn’t know. It was either taking over her company after all or getting her to jump into bed with him until he decided to.
    “He probably just wants to get a personal thank you from you about the standstill,” Minlow continued. “He did seem a little irked that you couldn’t make it to the signing, but I assured him that you had pressing weekend plans. And I covered for you with Rye just now, saying that you were probably swamped with catching up on work after your short vacation and that you’d get back to Winston as soon as possible. So let’s keep this on a friendly footing, shall we?”
    Not too friendly, she hoped.
    When she hung up with Minlow, she decided that there was no use in putting this off and dialed Winston’s number, surprised that she had memorized it from the message slip before she gave it to Brendan earlier today.
    Winston’s secretary put her through immediately and Aaron’s low voice came over the line. “Miss Beckett, how nice of you to return my calls.”
    Was there a hint of sarcasm in Winston’s tone? Virginia couldn’t be sure.
    “Not at all,” she murmured. “Is there something you want to discuss with me, Mr. Winston?” Better to just ignore that bizarre proposition and keep in mind that they were business partners in a sense, who had recently come to a satisfactory compromise of their perhaps conflicting interests.
    “Yes, there is, Miss Beckett. Could you possibly meet me for dinner tonight?”
    Virginia’s immediate reaction was to refuse, especially given their last explosive meeting, but she didn’t pay Minlow seven hundred dollars an hour just to ignore his advice.
    “I’d prefer a meeting in my office,” she mildly substituted for a refusal.
    But Winston, damn him, was adamant and Virginia found herself sitting across from him at a romantic candlelit table in a swanky French restaurant only hours after their call. He ordered a bottle of fine California white wine as soon as Virginia arrived and insisted that she take a sip of her glass before he would disclose why he had asked to meet with her.
    “Miss Beckett.” He smiled indulgently, slight indentations in his cheeks she hadn’t noticed before deepening. “Virginia, I asked you here tonight because I’d like to clear the air between us. I’m sorry if I insulted you at our last meeting.”
    Virginia felt her face go hot. She hadn’t expected such a frontal attack, and quickly stammered, “It’s forgotten, really.”
    “Not quite, Virginia, not by me anyway.” His long fingers caressed the stem of his wine glass. “As I’m sure you know, I’m pretty aggressive in my business dealings and I’m sorry to say I let that aggressiveness spill over into the personal the last time we met. I don’t usually do that.”
    Unbidden, his comment that he didn’t come on to the CEOs of the companies he raided flashed through her head. She kept an appropriately solemn expression anyway.
    “We both got a little heated last time.”
    “Yes and I hope the standstill went some way toward reassuring you.”
    “Yes, thank you. Not as far as selling me the stock back would have of course, but I guess we can consider this a time out.” She tried a smile, but it came out pretty weak.
    “And while we’re taking this time out, I’d like to say that some of my reaction to you was so exaggerated because I’m interested in you.”
    Virginia stuck out her chin and straightened even more her usually rigid posture. The large dark picture windows of the restaurant reflected the