Romantic Acquisition Page 0,55

old man and too little big picture thinking,” David said.

Kate didn’t understand why they were talking about her. Whatever they were discussing sounded unsavory. But then she banished that thought. Her thoughts were becoming nefarious for Jamison’s. David was a mediocre manager at best but she didn’t think he would do anything illegal.

Embarrassed by the fact that she had been eavesdropping, Kate quickly knocked on the door and pushed it open slightly. Smiling, she found David, “Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if you knew where the ATI team was?”

“I have no idea,” David said and Kate thought she noticed a slight sneer cross his patrician features. “But come on in, I’d like to talk to you.”

The other man, who Kate had never seen before, stood up. “I have to get back to my office. We’ll talk more once the deadline gets closer,” he said and slipped out of David’s office leaving Kate alone with her boss. For some reason, the bad feeling she had earlier seemed to intensify. She tried to ignore the sensation and focused on whatever David needed to talk to her about.

“Sure thing. Thanks for the update,” David said and waved goodbye to the man.

Once he had left, David focused all his attention on Kate. “Please, sit down,” he said and waved his hand towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Tell me what has been going on lately. You and Carlo were gone for a long time and I didn’t hear anything from either of you. What kinds of reports is he asking for?

“Oh, the usual things,” she said.

An unexpected glint of anger sparked in David’s eyes, but quickly vanished behind his charming mask. “What do you consider the ‘usual things’?” he asked, his tone sharper than normal.

Kate was taken aback by his latent hostility. “Just general reports that any auditor would ask for; the accounting reports, purchase statements, anything that might show a problem with our procedures.” Her words seemed to relax him somewhat.

“And is he finding anything?” David asked, playing with a pen from his desk.

Kate ignored the shiftiness of his eyes. Something was definitely off but she couldn’t figure out what. “No, everything is very accurate and nothing is off from the computer system so far.”

“I also heard he was talking to the employees. What’s he asking them? I hope he’s not causing any problems.”

Kate shook her head. “No, nothing like that. We’ve heard a lot about how their benefits have been reduced. Were you aware of the low morale in the stores?” she asked.

David rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard some grumblings from some people but they’ll get used to it.”

Kate disagreed with him but knew she had to work him more diplomatically. She couldn’t just come out and tell him he was wrong. He would just dig his heels in out of spite. “David, there are people working full time without any health benefits. Aren’t you worried that our competitors will steal the good employees away?”

His shrug told her he wasn’t overly concerned with the loss of good employees. “We can always hire new ones,” he said, dismissing the issue as unimportant.

Kate was shocked. “David, do you have any idea how hard it is to train a new employee? Not to mention the need for historical information and building a clientele in certain areas of the store.”

“Sure, sure. That’s all well and good. And those kinds of issues will be flushed out on an individual basis. But we’re saving a lot of money on premiums right now and we need to be cash heavy for this sale to look good.” He stood up impatiently and walked around his office, playing with knick knacks on the shelves or the corners of his desk.

She watched him play with his toys, shock coming over her features at his careless attitude. Surely he didn’t mean what she thought he’d said. “You mean you cut everyone’s benefits simply to fluff up the bank accounts?” she clarified.

David laughed harshly. “No, that’s just a side benefit,” he said, smiling as if he knew a wonderfully delicious secret.

Kate shook her head. “I don’t understand you, David. You have a lot of great employees and you’re not treating them well.”

“Are you happy?”

“Well…yes, for the moment,” Kate said, surprised by the question.

“So what are you complaining about?”

“Don’t you understand the domino affect of losing good employees? Or worse, retaining the bad ones?” she leaned forward, her hands trying to emphasize her point. “The employees are