Romantic Acquisition Read Online Free PDF Page B

from across the table.  “I can be a very resourceful fellow.”
     
    Kate laughed, liking the laughter in his eyes even though he didn’t actually laugh out loud.  “Okay, so it was my idea.  I had a hard time convincing David to let me go in that direction.  He wanted to stay with the same old boring lines, the traditional career designers.  I had to argue for over a year just to do a trial of my idea.  It has worked though.  Jamison’s has become known for their original career clothing and great quality.  I just wish David would adopt my pricing strategy. ”  She almost rolled her eyes but restrained herself before continuing.  “ We could increase the volume if he’d just lower the price point.  The volume would take care of his precious margins.”
     
    Kate shook her head as if to get the bad thoughts out.  “What do you do when you’re not working?” she shot back at him. 
     
    “I play tennis and golf,” he replied.
     
    Kate smiled at his cryptic reply.  “Of course, what else?”
     
    “Why of course?” he asked. 
     
    “You just look like the type that likes to play golf.”
     
    Carlo wasn’t going to let her get away without explaining her comment.  “What’s my ‘type’?”
     
    She eyed him carefully, daring to look up at his face with it’s five o’clock shadow, his sharp, intelligent eyes.  She wouldn’t let her eyes drop below his chin.  She didn’t want to think about his incredibly gorgeous body.  “Rich, driven,” she finally said.  “ Hard and tough on both yourself and your staff.  You probably haven’t played golf in over a month, have you?”
     
    He didn ’t bother to answer but the look on his face told her she was right on target.  “What else?” he asked.
     
    “Oh, I don’t know much more.  You’re a very serious person.  Probably an only child?”
     
    Carlo threw back his head and laughed, shaking his head at how far off the mark she was. 
     
    “Older brother?” Kate guessed.   She was a little rattled by how wonderful his laugh sounded to her ears.  It wasn’t even a rusty laugh which meant he laughed often, just not in business situations, she supposed.  She felt thrilled to have initiated his laughter although she wasn’t sure what the joke was. 
     
    “I’m one of the youngest, I’ll give you that.”
     
    Kate was instantly intrigued.  “Uh oh.  You must have more than one older brother.  Lucky you!”
     
    Carlo laughed again at that.  “Why am I lucky?”
     
    “First of all, tell me how many brothers you have.”
     
    “ I have one older sister who died several years ago plus f our older brothers and one younger sister.”
     
    Kate sighed and her shoulders drooped slightly.  “Oh, t hat must have been a lot of fun,” she sighed.  “ What was it like living with so many siblings?   Was it absolutely wonderful?  Did you all play together and have lots of fun? ”
     
    Carlo shook his head.  “ You definitely have the wrong idea of what it is like living in a large family.  Having siblings is not always fun .  Especially being the youngest boy.  I only had one sister to pick on and she was too little to tease for a long time .  The rest picked on me until I was able to fight back.”
     
    “But you all shared toys didn’t you?  It must have been loads of fun,” she sighed, wishing she could have experienced siblings.
     
    “It didn’t matter how many toys we had.  Everyone wanted what the other was holding, especially me.  And since I was the smallest for a long time, most of my toys got ripped out of my hands.  Until I learned to fight back, that is,” he explained. 
     
    “Is that why you’re so muscular?  Because you had to fight all your older brothers?”
     
    Carlo raised an eyebrow at her observation which instantly made Kate’s cheeks flame yet again.  Carlo laughed at her shy expression.  “I guess it was a type of competition among the five of us.  We’re all pretty