Risky Negotiations (5 page)

“
Why are you working so hard at avoiding me?” he asked.

Thankfully her martini glass was sitting on the table beside the chair. At his first touch, both her hands grasped the arms of the chair while her body instantly started tingling. “What are you doing?” she asked nervously, trying to pull her foot away, her victorious expression turning to panic as his strong hands held her ankle.

“
Making you more comfortable,” he said, then slipped her shoe off her foot and started massaging the arch of her foot. Laci couldn’t help it. At the first touch of his hands on her feet, her shoulders relaxed, her head fell back on the cushions and she let out a moan of pleasure, the pain instantly leaving her foot. “That feels wonderful.”

“
Now answer my question,” he said.

Laci didn’t bother lifting her head up. Her eyes were closed and all she could feel was the alcohol easing the stress from her body and his strong fingers massaging the pain from her foot. “Mmmm….Because you’re using our acquaintance to get your way on the negotiations. So I’m trying to stay away from you,” she said. Then her head popped up and she grinned elfishly. “I’m not doing a very good job, am I?”

Sal couldn’t help himself. The laughter burst out of him. He’d expected another lie so her honesty caught him off guard. “Not really,” he said, her smile infectious. “Why do you think I’m only interested in you because of the negotiations?”

Laci laughed deep in her throat. “Don’t flatter me. I’ve seen your picture in the newspapers. The women on your arm are glamorous, famous and incredibly beautiful. I’m not your type, just as I said the other day.” She pulled her foot out of his hands, intending to put her shoe back on and get up to leave. But he just pulled the other foot onto his leg and took off that shoe.

“
You don’t have to do that,” she said, but couldn’t pull it away as his fingers massaged the pain out of that one just as he had the first. The feeling was too wonderful for words.

Sal ignored her protest and continued to massage the second foot, concentrating on the arch and working his way to the stocking encased toes. “What if I said you were wrong about my type,” he asked.

Laci didn’t respond. She simply lifted her shoulders, her head leaning against the cushions again as the knots in her foot slowly loosened and left her muscles.

Suddenly, she looked up, staring at him straight in the eye. “Have you ever been sky diving?” she asked.

Sal blinked. “Yes,” he responded unthinkingly.

“
When?”

“
A few years ago.”

“
Why?”

Sal laughed, leaning back so his hands were supporting him against the coffee table. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he said, using the old spy phrase.

Laci couldn’t help it. He looked so serious. She just started laughing and couldn’t stop for several minutes. When she finally got control of herself, she had to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. “Oh, thank you,” she said. “I really needed a laugh,” she explained.

“
I guess you don’t get many jokes in your line of work,” he said.

“
Only the occasional lawyer joke,” she said standing up and taking her martini with her. “Have you really been sky diving before?”

“
Yes.”

“
What was it like?” she asked.

“
Why?”

Laci shrugged. “I was just wondering.”

“
I’m not sure words can describe the feeling,” he said and got up to follow her. She was facing him, leaning against his desk. “You’re not planning on going sky diving, are you?” he questioned.

She almost choked on the sip of martini she’d taken. “No way. I’m terrified of heights. I’d be paralyzed.”

Laci thought there was a slight decrease in the tension in his shoulders. But she dismissed the idea, thinking she’d just imagined his concern.

“
Have you done anything else dangerous?”

“
What do you consider dangerous?” he questioned, moving closer.

“
Mmmm, scuba diving?” she asked.

He nodded. With each question and answer, he slowly closed the distance but she wasn’t aware of his slow stalking.

“
Race car driving?”

He nodded again.

“
What about….”she thought for a few more moments. “Rock climbing?”

“
I’ve never been rock climbing.”

“
Why not?” she asked a little breathlessly.

“
Takes time. I don’t have the time to learn that kind of stuff,” he explained.

Laci nodded. “Yeah, I guess running a huge business does get in the way occasionally.”

Sal smiled. “It has it’s perks,” he replied. He was less than a foot away from her and Laci had to lean her head back to look up at him.

Shaking her head, she realized how close he had gotten. “I’m not one of them.” She said and moved over to the bar. “I’d better be getting home,” she said.

“
Have dinner with me,” he countered.

“
I can’t.”

“
Why not?”

“
I have plans,” she said, not daring to look at him for fear that he’d call her bluff.

“
Tomorrow night,” he said, still standing by the desk where she’d left him.

“
Plans for tomorrow night as well,”

“
What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“
Can’t say at this point,” she said, picking up her briefcase and jacket. Turning to smile at him, she said, “But it doesn’t include a tall, gorgeous man trying to corner me and convince me that health insurance costs should go up ten percent,” she said.

Laci walked quickly out of his office, loving the sound of his laughter as she exited. Laci stepped into the elevator, hoping to make a quick escape. She dared to look up at the last moment and caught him watching her. He still had a smile on his face and his arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned against the door frame, watching the doors close.

She thought she’d gotten away unscathed. But the look in his eyes told her she’d only won a minor skirmish. She wouldn’t win the next battle.

Chapter 4

Laci slept in the next morning, exhausted because she hadn’t fallen asleep until nearly dawn. She’d lain awake, fantasizing about how Sal’s long, strong fingers would feel if they were massaging other parts of her body instead of just her feet.

She woke about nine o’clock and rolled over, trying to figure out what day it was. Was it finally Saturday? Could she relax slightly? The bright sunshine broke through her consciousness and her mind was able to confirm that it was indeed Saturday. With that knowledge, she jumped out of bed and forced herself to get moving. She needed to be at the gym in less than an hour.

She showered and changed into leggings and a sweat shirt, with tennis shoes. She pulled her hair into a pony tail, then braided it and pinned it to her head, making sure it was secure. Today would be hectic and she didn’t want to worry about her hair getting in the way.

The streets of D.C. were relatively clear this early on a Saturday morning. She reached the old high school quickly and saw her girls’ basketball team congregating on the side, right outside the gym.

As soon as they saw her, they hurried towards her. “Ms. Anderson! You won’t believe what’s going on!” Alexa said, being the first of thirteen girls to reach Laci.

“
What’s wrong? Are you guys all stretched out?”

“
You won’t believe it!” Alexa said, almost out of breath. “They’ve given away our gym!” she exclaimed.

Twelve other girls chimed in, all talking at once in an effort to show their dismay at losing their practice time. “And to a bunch of boys!” Tanya, the team captain said with a horrified tone.

Laci held out her hands in an attempt to quiet them down. “Ok, one at a time. From what I understand, the gym is currently being used by a bunch of boys. Is that correct?”

“
Yes!” they all said, nodding their heads for emphasis.

Laci went to the trunk of her car and took out a bag of basketballs. “Ok, well let me get inside and find out what is going on. I reserved the gym a long time ago. There’s probably just a mix up,” she said. Slamming the trunk closed, she prayed that it was only a misunderstanding.

“
But before we get started, I need notes,” she said and instantly, thirteen pieces of paper were pushed into her hands. Laci had to grab at most of them as she quickly scanned each one, looking for weekly grade verification from teachers.

These girls lived in the worst part of Washington, D.C. And they only had a chance to practice once a week. Laci was part of a group of volunteers that helped inner city kids by coaching basketball or another sport. The kids didn’t have to pay a cent but they had to keep a weekly grade average of a B or higher.

The girls surrounding her all achieved a high B average each week. Laci made sure each of them were taking classes that were significant and not simple classes that didn’t require much effort. These girls had put in so much effort throughout the week, if they had lost their gym time, Laci was going to cause some problems for someone else.

She entered the gym from the side door, all thirteen girls following behind her. She heard several basketballs echoing in the large gym area as a group of boys dribbled across the court. She stopped one of them as he came closer and asked if he had a coach.

The boy politely nodded and pointed to a group of boys near the opposite side of the gym, huddled around a tall man bent over as he talked to them. The boy immediately pointed across the gym to a tall man with his back to her. He was talking to a small group of boys so she couldn’t tell who he was from this distance.

Laci’s heart skipped a beat as she walked closer and took in the tall man but chided herself for thinking it would be Sal. There was no way he would step into this area. He was strictly upper crust.

“
Ok, ladies. Why don’t you start stretching out over here while I go straighten out this misunderstanding.”

Laci walked purposefully across the gym, spoiling for a fight. She’d spent the last five days arguing, negotiating, cajoling but with no clear conclusion on any issue, important or not. A basketball coach would be no problem for her, an easy win. Or so she thought. “Excuse me,” she said as soon as she reached the group of boys. And then had to smother a groan as the tall man slowly stood up. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in Salvatore Attracelli, the man himself, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

“
Well, well.” He said, his eyes wide as he realized who was addressing him. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.

“
I was wondering the same thing,” she replied, ignoring the excited feeling that instantly sprang to life inside her. “But also why you’re using our court time.”

Sal smiled at her bristly tone. “We were double booked,” he explained. “Lucy, the woman at the front desk, told me to ask your forgiveness for the mistake. I think she thought it would be better coming from me. Perhaps I can charm you into forgiving her,” he said, a half smile already forming on his face as he watched her get angrier.

Laci gritted her teeth, knowing that she had to control her temper around her girls. She wasn’t just teaching them basketball, she was teaching them life skills and one of those was speaking civilly to someone and working things out instead of fighting.

“
Lucy knows she won’t get off that easily,” Laci said, forcing a smile to her face as she looked behind him and saw a group of boys listening to their conversation. She knew that the boys were probably in the same situation as her girls, but after working towards a compromise with this man’s company for the past five days, she didn’t want to give in on her day off.

Unfortunately, she didn’t really have a choice. “Well how about if we split the court so both our teams can practice?”

Sal nodded. “That’s a great idea. I’ll pull my guys over here and you can take the far court. Will that work?”

“
Fine,” Laci agreed and walked back to her girls who had stretched and were waiting anxiously for her to report on their practice time. She smiled brightly for her girls but was frustrated about the results.

“
Are they leaving?” Tanya asked.

Laci shook her head. “No, we’re going to share the court. They’ll stay over there, and we’ll stay on our side.” She ignored their groans and called out positions. “Tanya, and Michelle, you’re both playing center today. The rest of you, play your normal positions and we’ll work through the short passes. Tanya – make sure you get the passes high today. Michelle – make sure she doesn’t get past you.”