The Boss's Proposal Read Online Free PDF Page A

out of the corner of her eye, she smiled faintly to herself. Two could play the game, she thought.
    â€œThe gala went well,” she told Hal. “Paul Fischer and Avery Sherwin spent quite a bit of time talking over the project with me. They liked the meditation garden idea, by the way, and Glory Bishop’s sculpture.”
    â€œGood. And the proposal is due Friday after next.”
    â€œYes. I’ve done a fair amount of background work and Mindy and I have been pulling some of the proposal material together. We’re in good shape, I think, as long as I can tap the drafting team and structural guys.”
    Hal nodded. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. We made the short list for the project, but that list includes a couple of pretty heavy hitters. The New Yorkgroup, in particular, has a substantial track record in the health care sector. We don’t have any. We’ve got the advantage of being local but that will only carry us so far.”
    â€œI think we also have some design innovations to offer, and we’re going all green,” Max argued. “A track record can cut both ways. It’s easy for them to fall into the same patterns because they’ve done it so many times before. We’re walking in with a fresh eye.”
    Hal leaned forward and folded his hands together. “It isn’t a matter of whether offering either innovation or experience. The winning team is going to have to bring both. Jeremy’s résumé gave us health care design experience, but now he’s gone. If we’re going to win the Portland General project, we need a rainmaker. That’s why I brought in Dylan.” Hal paused. “He’s going to be your new project manager.”
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    Dylan had to give her credit, she played it very cool. She had to have wanted the spot, making his father’s announcement a disappointment. And yet, the only evidence of any agitation was the faint beat of a pulse on the side of that pale gold throat.
    Today, she was every inch the polished professional in her edgy suit, that tumble of glossy blond hair caught up in a clip. Her chin spoke of determination, her posture, of total focus. There was little she could do to camouflage that mouth, though. Her mouth didn’t evoke professionalism. Full and soft, itwas pure invitation. The indentation in her lower lip made him itch to trace it with fingertip and tongue, made her look as though every word she said was a delicious secret. Her scent drifted over to him, sandalwood and spice.
    â€œYou’re a rainmaker?” Max glanced over at him. “Does that mean there’s a chance of showers?”
    A cold one, for him, if he didn’t get focused. “If we have the right team, we can win this thing.”
    â€œDylan designed the new surgical unit at the Parker-Woodward clinic and the biotech lab at the Carstairs School of Medicine,” Hal put in. “He’s been working on an office tower and resort complex in Dubai, but it’s on hold for the time being. Which is a good thing for us because he gives us exactly what we lack right now. He’s agreed to come on board as design principal and lead design architect.”
    This time, Dylan did see the reaction, a faint tightening of the muscle in her cheek.
    â€œThe man of a thousand personas,” Max murmured in a tone of voice that Dylan knew was intended for his ears only. She was hopping mad, he realized. Outwardly, she appeared relaxed. Only the jiggling of her foot at the end of that lovely calf betrayed her.
    Sitting in his Manhattan office the Friday before, fresh back from Dubai, the last thing Dylan had expected was an SOS call from his father. An important project, a vanished team leader and an assistant who had never won a contract solo. Come to Portland, HalReynolds had said, and bring your star power with you. Dylan had imagined a skinny, midtwenties guy who still lived with his mother, not this