eyed him squarely. “You helped make the dinner, didn’t you?”
“I scraped pumpkin for pies. What’s so earthshakingly important about that? I would think you’d thank me for hiring a caterer. This way, the kids will have more time to play.”
“Mr. Roxbury could have afforded a caterer. What did he do?” she coaxed, hoping she was still being reasonable, not playing Twenty Questions. Darned half-baked book.
Lucas said nothing for a moment, but Jess thought she saw a change in his demeanor. Was it a wince? “Are you telling me the old man expects me to scrape pumpkins?”
She took a deep breath. “Remember, you’re taking his place as Mr. Niceguy.”
“It’s a waste of time. Forget it. I said I’d be responsible for the dinner, but I’m not going to get involved—personally. I have a meeting that day.”
She couldn’t believe her ears. “On Thanksgiving?”
“I told you we have an important deal, and some problems we have to iron out.”
Counting to ten was becoming difficult. Jess dragged a hand through hair that had been tossed forward in a slight breeze, and smoothed it back from her face. The nip of winter in the air helped cool her scorched cheeks.
Before she could form a rational answer, he echoed her own frustrated thought. “Mrs. Glen, let’s be reasonable about this—”
“I’m trying,” she retorted, then stopped herself and closed her eyes, struggling for patience. “Mr. Brand,” she began again, “when you offered to take over the Mr. Niceguy Thanksgiving Dinner and Retreat, you made a commitment. I don’t doubt that you have a big business deal in the works. I don’t doubt that you always have a big business deal in the works, but right now, you have a Thanksgiving dinner to plan. It’s supposed to be a ‘family atmosphere’ type dinner, with everybody pitching in. A happy, full day of activity and good memories,” she reminded. “Most of these kids have never known family togetherness. We’re trying to show these kids a better way, a way they can live, if they want it badly enough. Can’t you see the importance of doing it according to Mr. Roxbury’s wishes?”
His eyes burned through her, but he didn’t speak. She knew he was trying to intimidate her with that stare, and she wondered if he could tell he was succeeding. But she couldn’t let him. This was too important. For once, she had to be strong, be assertive and stand up to a bullying egotist. He’d made a promise to Mr. Roxbury and for some unfathomable reason, Norman thought the sun rose and set for this man. So for her sweet boss’s sake, she was going to be reasonable and assertive. She was going to show Lucas Brand in a cool-headed manner, why he needed to do this right. She would do it if it killed her! Or he killed her, a nagging voice in her brain hastened to add.
With a thin-lipped grimace, the closest she could come to a smile, Jess motioned toward a seating area. “Why don’t we get more comfortable? I’m sure we can come to an agreement.” Turning away without waiting for a reply, she took a seat in a high-back wicker chair. She crossed her legs in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner before she dared face him. He hadn’t moved. She felt a rush of depression about that, but knew that if he had, she’d have lapsed into a coma from the shock.
She was at a total loss about how she was going to wheedle the man into a nearby seat. Besides, she wasn’t any good at manipulation, and Lucas Brand was a master of it. Who was kidding whom, here? She couldn’t beat him in a psychological battle of wits if she tried for a billion years. With a sigh, she gave him a direct, honest look. “What, exactly, is techno-bull?” she asked, not quite sure why she was bringing it up. But the word had bothered her ever since he’d used it earlier on the phone.
He exhibited no reaction to her question at all. She continued to watch him cautiously, wondering what was going on behind that guarded look he was leveling at her.
“What the hell sort of question is that?” he finally asked.
She feared she was getting off the “reasonable-and-assertive” track, but somehow she had a feeling she’d sparked his interest for the very first time. He was really looking at her now, and she sensed he wasn’t quite sure what to think. Flying blind, she went with her