Experiments in Love

Chapter 4

Murphy’s Corporate Law of Diminishing Returns

“The amount of time you spend getting ready for a meeting is inversely proportional to how well it will turn out.”

Toni had reviewed her notes four times, and after 20 minutes, Starling still hadn’t appeared. She picked them up to read over again but tossed them in her briefcase, swearing to herself. She suspected he’d learned about the board’s duplicity, and assumed she had a part in it. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t show up. But if he didn’t, it could do more than derail her fast track at Rayaneta. She might be fired out of spite. She clenched her teeth. Get over it, Crenshaw, it’s just part of the corporate world.

The morning clouds had burned away. The May sun shone through the wall of windows at her back, heating the conference room. The sunlight felt good for a while, but now heated her so Toni took off her coat. Unfortunately, there was little reason for air conditioning in Seattle and the blinds had been broken yesterday by a nimrod exec from Hampton yanking on the cords.

There were sounds outside and one of the solid oak double doors opened. Finally! Crystal, Toni’s assistant, ushered Starling into the conference room and asked him if he wanted anything to drink. He said no. Crystal mouthed a silent “good luck” to Toni as she closed the doors behind him. He remained just inside the room unmoving, saying nothing about being late, the schmuck. Or is he making a statement?

“Dr. Starling.” Toni walked over to him, held out her hand, then got a whiff of whatever he’d been working on, and sneezed.

Starling stepped away and stood looking uncomfortable in his ill-fitting sports coat and creased tie. “Sorry,” he said, all seriousness. “I’ve been developing an organic alternative to Limonene.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about the solvent’s problems, legal and chemical.” Toni grimaced mentally as she grabbed a tissue from her briefcase. He continued to remind her of a Mad Scientist in a comedy sketch, complete with the wild hair, shirttail partly untucked, and the odd smells.

“Why don’t you have a seat, and we can discuss your request to the Board,” she said, indicating the chair at the table across from her, facing the sunlight. Any advantage in a shitstorm as Coach Reasner used to say when strategizing in a losing third quarter.

Starling didn’t move, but instead considered the chair as though it was a math problem.

Toni sat down and waited. Finally, she gave him a patient smile and said, “I won’t bite.” He looked at her with a puzzled frown, so she impulsively added, “But if I do, I’ll make sure you enjoy it.” Crenshaw, that was unprofessional. Where that came from, she didn’t know, but his open, tentative expression made her want to tease him some more.

She thought flirting with such an inexperienced man might distract him, perhaps enough to get the agreements she so badly needed. When necessary, Toni didn’t hesitate to use her feminine wiles in negotiations with other lawyers, considering the devious methods, intimidation, and guilt trips men felt free to employ on her as a woman. In this case, that felt on the wrong side of devious. Starling continued to appear an innocent man-child, so she wasn’t convinced such tactics would work in any case. This guy seemed far too distracted already.

After a moment, he smiled and sat down, his back straight, shoulders back, accenting his height, his gaze direct, which struck her as strange considering his usual disheveled appearance and slumped posture when walking. He was always carrying books and reams of readouts, failing to notice those around him. She’d expected him to hunch over, as he must every day at his lab table. Why hadn’t she noticed this incongruity before?

Toni spread out her notes and a copy of the Rayaneta employee manual. Dr. Starling’s side of the tabletop remained bare. He said nothing while he watched her, squinting into the sun. Toni frowned, unsure what he was waiting for. He stood and came around the table to sit next to her.

He waved at the window. “The glare.” Then he gave her an oddly engaging smile and finished, “And I’m within biting distance now.”

Whoa. Toni felt her face flush and abruptly looked away from his penetrating gaze. While open and friendly, she saw something a little too knowing in his expression. This wasn’t going to be easy after all.

She decided she didn’t want him so close. Though broomstick thin, his size, the sharp intelligence in his regard, and this new, unpredictable behavior proved disconcerting. She needed to retain command. She pushed back with her feet, rolling her chair to face him and crossed her legs, her skirt riding up to mid-thigh. His gaze remained steady on her face.

Nope, nix that. No life detected, Captain . She absently wondered if he were gay or perhaps had been chemically neutered in a lab accident. Toni mentally winced. Now she was just being New York catty.

“Dr. Starling, the Board considered your request,” she began in her no-nonsense professional voice. “You must know that the company has no policy for sabbaticals and that your work is too important to simply abandon for an entire year. They felt they couldn’t do anything but deny your request.”

Dr. Starling slowly nodded. “I understand. I thought they might say that, but I felt I needed to ask. Rayaneta has been good to me.”

Pokerfaced, Toni winced inside. If you only knew . But she mentally sighed, relieved. It appeared he would accept the Board’s decision and she might not have to negotiate with him.

Starling got up, saying “Thank you for letting me know,” and walked to the doors, but stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He slipped an envelope out of his coat pocket and set it in front of her.

“What’s this?”

As he opened the conference room door, he said, “My resignation.”

Toni’s jaw dropped. Eyeing the letter as though it contained Anthrax, she recovered enough to call out his name before the doors closed. He poked his head back in and said with seeming innocence, “Yes, Ms. Crenshaw?”

She stood and motioned to his empty chair. “Please, let’s talk about this. A five-year partnership deserves some consideration.” He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. When he’d settled in his chair again, Toni leaned forward, an elbow on the table. “Why are you in such a hurry to leave Rayaneta?”

“I’m not. I have personal projects I want to work on,” he explained in a completely reasonable tone. “Until I’m finished, I won’t be of any use to the company.”

Toni knew she looked as mystified as she felt. “What are you talking about?”

“You were the one who pointed it out to me.”

“I did?” Damn, it’s hot in here. She felt sweat damping the bottom of her bra and prayed it hadn’t discolored her blouse.

“Yes.” Gazing into space, he continued, “You said I’ve never seen my perfumes and scents in action.” He spoke like he thought she’d uttered the most profound words of the last century. “You were correct. I don’t know what I’m creating or whether any of them work.” He rubbed his jaw, looking embarrassed. “I’m clueless,” he said, “to use your expression.”

She started at his words. Where in the hell did he hear her say that? His demeanor suggested he’d given his weight in grams, rather than calling her on the mocking description, or had he?

While she struggled to come up with a response, he said, “I want to know what they do, how scents make men and women attractive to the opposite sex.”

Toni smiled. “Come on, Doctor. The perfumes you create are popular. They’re great fragrances, but what else could they do but smell nice? I wore Jungle Night a week ago and you didn’t turn wild because you smelled it on me. That’s just advertising hype.”

“Exactly.”

“What?” Toni laughed at his somber expression. “What do you want to do, make every man who smells your perfume turn feral?”

He smiled at her laugh, an odd expression, one of appreciation rather than shared humor. “No, though that’s what the advertising implies.” He lowered his head, apparently speaking to the carpet, and muttered unhappily to himself, “It’s simply not right to claim qualities for our products that aren’t true.”

She leaned her face down to catch his attention. “Well, don’t worry, it’s a good thing that men aren’t affected like that, at least most of the time.”

He sat up straight again, so tall that he looked down at her. “Yes, but a number of women will be disappointed, if they haven’t been already.”

Surprised that he could deliver that line with a straight face, Toni offered a hesitant, half smile. Did the man make a joke? She wasn’t sure and he didn’t seem to care one way or the other. “Women don’t believe those advertisements any more than the men do.”

“That may be true, but then why does such advertising work? Personally, I have seen indications during college and in the offices here that women want men to be uncontrollably attracted to them. Men seem to want the same from women.” He shrugged at her critical, bemused frown. “I need to see what scents actually do for people, if anything, and then discover what it can do.”

“Can do?” Intrigued, Toni said, “Well, that’s a fascinating line of inquiry, but why can’t you do that research here? It sounds like a reasonable extension of your current work. From what I understand, Rayaneta has always given you a free hand to follow your own muse.”

“Yes, and I appreciate their confidence in me. It’s one reason I came to work here. However, this is something I want to do for myself. And no, this research isn’t about perfume, cologne, or body oils. It’s something else. And I don’t want anyone interfering or bothering me.”

“What do you mean?”

He gave her a long look and then squinted, as though she’d failed a test. “The executives here always want to change something, a new line of research, or they abandon a promising effort because they aren’t interested in paying for the results anymore.”

Toni nodded. “I can see how that would bother you.”

“No, that’s interfering. People bother me,” he said a frown. “People continually want to know what I’m doing. When I started leaving at five, everyone at Rayaneta tried to find out what I was up to—including you.”

Toni’s mouth moved, but no words came out.

“You haven’t talked to me since you wrote up my new contract—what, two years ago?”

Finally, she shook her head in denial though her face prickled with heat. “I wasn’t . . . I mean, I didn’t want to . . .” She laughed nervously at her own bumbling.

“So why did you talk to me in the lobby?” He held a polite expression, but his dismissive impatience with the topic and her answers were obvious with his glance at the door.

She sighed and took another tack.

“I’m sorry if I bothered you,” she said, “I was curious.” She added a demure glance accenting the apology in an effort to gain a footing as the negotiations crumbled around her. Anything to avoid his walking out.

“Is there something else?” Starling asked, moving to leave again.

Toni frowned. He should have promptly given an apologetic “You didn’t bother me.” Usually she could pull that kind of courteous response from any man. Apparently, when it came to testosterone, this guy was more than a quart low.

It felt like she’d suddenly discovered she had no money when the mortgage came due. It was a strange feeling, and it gave her pause. Could she be so dependent on men’s responses to her gender in her work? Had she been unaware of how often she used coy come-ons and flirting in her interactions with men?

He stood to go.

“Yes! Yes, there’s something else.” She spoke too quickly, causing her voice to squeak. Crap! That’s bad. She cleared her throat and slowly finished. “We have more to discuss, Doctor.”

Panic curled around her thoughts. She’d be dead meat if she had to tell the Board that Starling quit. She tried to think of how to move the conversation. Through the windows, the sun now baked her back and heated the tabletop. Don’t get distracted, be personable . “Baynard. May I call you Baynard?”

“You have before.” Said without out expression. He could have been reciting the periodic table.

“Yes, I guess I have.” Dumb, Crenshaw, very dumb. What now? “Look, the conference room is getting uncomfortably warm. Have you had lunch?”

He shook his head. Good . “Well, neither have I.” Liar . “How about going to Andiron’s across the street? It’ll be on Rayaneta’s dime,” she whispered conspiratorially. “We can talk about your request over lunch.” She stood and waved toward the door.

Starling didn’t move. “I thought the Board denied my request?”

“Yes, but I don’t think they knew how serious you were.”

“You mean that I’d resign when they said ‘no.’”

Toni rocked her head slowly back and forth for a moment, keeping time with a mental dirge. She caught herself, annoyed she’d reverted to that teenage gesture of embarrassed frustration. Reluctantly she said, “Yes,” and threw all the materials in her briefcase, including the resignation letter. She picked up her jacket and as she pulled it on, she raised an eyebrow in his direction, hoping the unspoken question would motivate him to help her.

The man continued to stand there and watch her, like she represented an interesting chemical reaction instead of a woman. It was beginning to really irritate her.

When she started for the door, he finally opened it for her. She gave him a glance of thanks, but even that gesture irritated her considering his previously clueless , preoccupied behavior. Obviously, his upbringing hadn’t been consistent in the social niceties and gentlemanly behavior department. No, that isn’t fair. Most men didn’t bother opening the door anymore, and women didn’t want them to. The same for helping women with their coats.

~ ~ ~

Neither said a word as they crossed Fifth Avenue to the restaurant. Walking next to him, sans his usual load of books, Toni again became aware of how tall Dr. Starling stood. From a distance, being so thin, he’d always given the impression of being insubstantial, hardly there at all. Standing with him as they waited for a table at Andiron’s, she realized her impression didn’t fit. Even with her five-feet-eleven in heels, he seemed to tower over her, at least six feet four. He remained an unsettling presence, including his smell. She held her nose more than once to keep from sneezing.

After being seated across from her, Starling still didn’t say anything, but examined the menu closely through his thick glasses. His sunken cheeks, smooth white skin, and strong jaw made him look skeletal. She tried to imagine what he’d look like after he’d gained 40 or 50 pounds. She shrugged mentally and asked him if he knew what he wanted.

“I’ve never eaten here before.” He pulled back the corners of his mouth and added, “Actually, I haven’t eaten in a restaurant except when I attended M.I.T. Professor Kaplan took me to dinner a few times.”

“A few times? Let me get this straight. You haven’t eaten in a restaurant at all in the last five years?” Toni sat back amazed.

“Closer to ten.” Without any apparent concern about what she might think of his odd disclosure, Starling asked, “What do you recommend?”

Toni stared at him, but filed away his reveal, and said, “The rack of lamb is excellent. You want it medium rare.”

“I do?”

Toni laughed at the guileless way he asked and nodded when he smiled too.

They ordered but he disappointed her by declining her suggestion of wine and asked for water—no help there. She pulled the notes out of her briefcase along with a copy of his sabbatical request to the Board.

The lights glowed dimly in the quiet of the restaurant. The lunch crowd had long gone. A pianist softly played show tunes somewhere. Their booth at the far end of the main room screened them from the few conversations and the occasional clinking of glasses.

She scanned his sabbatical letter again, and said, “Now, let me understand this. You want a full year’s leave of absence, no pay, but you want to continue the medical? And,” she added on her own, “you’ll promise to return to work at Rayaneta after that?

“That’s correct.”

Whew! So, no resignation . She needed to talk him out of the sabbatical. “You have nearly four months of accumulated vacation time. Why not just take that instead of the sabbatical?”

“I see my research requiring a year. I might find it necessary to take my vacation time too.”

Toni frowned. A year and a half? The Board wouldn’t like that. “But what about the three projects you’re working on now, particularly the individualized perfume?”

He shrugged. “There are plenty of people in Research that can take over. There are more than fifty scientists in the Perfume and Cologne Division alone.”

“Yes, but those are your projects. No one knows them as well as you do.”

“I keep good notes.”

“You realize this could cost Rayaneta millions of dollars in further research expenses and lost revenue with late production.”

“Perhaps, but I am going to take the next year off, regardless.” As an afterthought he finished, “I’m quite willing to pay for the year’s benefits. I want to stay on the company’s plan.”

“Are you wanting to include your accumulated paid vacation time as part of your sabbatical?”

He shook his head.

“Can you afford a whole year without any income?” Toni asked, troubled. He didn’t seem capable of surviving on his own.

“My CPA says I can.”

Just then the waiter came for their orders. The salads arrived soon after and both ate in silence. Starling’s table manners were decent, methodical, and slow, as though he were at his lab bench mixing compounds. Someone taught him about etiquette after all. She could imagine how hard that would have been, as strange as he was.

“Is there anything I can offer to change your mind?” He shook his head in the middle of finishing his salad. He didn’t even look up. Toni frowned. Another innuendo fallen on deaf hormones. “Then you’d be willing to sign an agreement to return to Rayaneta after the year leave?”

He nodded.

Thank God . “A ten-year contract?”

He shook his head.

“A five-year contract?” Again, no. “What then?”

“A two-year contract. I’ve been told that’s standard.” He glanced at Toni. She had said so two years ago.

“But joining us, you signed a three-year contract.” He shrugged and picked a roll to butter.

Toni frowned at his lack of concern, this new side to him. Had someone revealed how he’d been taken advantage of? She doubted it, or he wouldn’t have offered to pay for his own benefits.

Toni persisted. “The Board will want guarantees if they agree to a year’s leave of absence. They’ve made a big investment in your current research, only to watch you walk out the door for a year.”

The main course came, and Starling studied with obvious fascination the artistic arrangement of the paper decorations on the rack of lamb. He took his fork and knife, frowning for a moment, but then dug in. Without looking up, he asked, “What kind of guarantees?”

Toni needed something for the board. “The Board would want first rights to any new discoveries you make during your sabbatical.”

Starling shook his head. With his mouth full of lamb, his expression neared a state of bliss. Toni felt a stab of desperation and put down her silverware. “All right, then how about agreeing that anything you come up with, Rayaneta gets the first opportunity to buy them?”

Starling paused for a moment and then nodded. “The lamb is incredibly good. I like the dill sauce.”

“How do you know it’s dill? The sauce wasn’t listed that way in the menu.”

He gave her that guileless look again. “I work with all sorts of spices. Dill has a tart, tangy smell that many people find pleasant. We used it in the Street Dance cologne.”

“Oh.” She studied him for a moment across the table while he happily ate. He looked like a little boy who’d just had his first pony ride. She could only imagine him as a child playing with a chemistry set covered tent-like in an adult’s lab coat. Toni winced mentally and wondered what he’d been like growing up. She struggled to imagine him anywhere outside a lab.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” She ate for a minute. “So, if I wrote up an agreement as we’ve described, you’d be willing to sign it tomorrow?”

Mouth full, Starling gazed at her as he chewed, the picture of contentment. Finally he swallowed and smiled. “Well, my lawyer and I’d have to read it first.” He paused, fork in the air for several seconds, then said, “If I’m going to let them have the first option to buy if I decide to sell, I want them to pay for my medical and benefits for the year in return.”

She made a note. “I’ll ask.”

With a twinkle in his eye, he grinned, his teeth big and white. “I might sign it if we come here for lunch again.”

Toni did a double take. The charming, even sexy, look appeared and disappeared so fast that she wasn’t sure she’d seen it. His normal, colorless expression now sat on his face, a pasty mask, denying any other possibility.

Toni shook herself mentally. “Of course, you want to be careful in signing any agreement, but consider the alternative. Remember, under your current contract, if you resign, you cannot work in the industry for the next three years.”

“I know. That’s all right. I’ll do something else.”

Gobsmacked by the nonchalant statement, Toni blurted out, “Like what?”

Starling set his fork down and wiped his mouth before answering. “Oh, I don’t know. If I couldn’t work with cosmetics and perfumes, I might travel. Maybe I’ll be a cook on a tramp steamer—once I learn the recipe for this lamb.”

He said it with such a direct, light delivery that Toni again didn’t know if he was joking or not. She remained uneasy, not getting a clear bead on him. She was usually good at reading men, but not Starling. He continued to be a skinny doofus, but when she least expected it, he morphed into something else. She’d struck out with every hook she could think of. Failing to avoid Starling’s sabbatical, Rich wasn’t going to be happy. The Board wasn’t going to be happy.

Toni massaged her forehead thinking. Well, screw them. They were the ones who exploited him in the first place. This was the best deal they were going to get.

After watching her add notes to her legal pad, Starling leaned toward her. “Why do you enjoy being a lawyer?”

Defensive, she sat back. “How do you know I do?”

Starling smiled softly. “Because you’re good at it. I’ve never met anyone who was very good at something who didn’t enjoy it.”

“Oh.” Surprised by his conclusion, Toni felt it to be true. Self-conscious over the compliment, she waved at her open briefcase and notes. “So, you think I’m good at all this legal stuff?”

He nodded. “So, do you enjoy it?”

“Yes, I usually do.”

He nodded again and asked, “Why?” He didn’t look like a curious puppy at all. Now, his eyes held the intensity of a cat stalking a bird.

“Seriously? Well . . .” she said, disconcerted by his voracious gaze. “It’s like sports. The legal system has rules, procedures, umpires, and players. You play by the rules and procedures, but you also work the rules to win for your client. Like basketball, there are even times where the best strategy is to break the rules and foul the opponent, or move to be fouled yourself.” She laughed. “Hey, if there’s a jury, it’s even a spectator sport.” He chuckled with her.

She returned Starling’s buoyant smile, rather amazed. She’d never talked about it. No one had ever asked her, not her brothers, not Da, not friends or colleagues, though it seemed an obvious question, “Do you enjoy it?” She broke eye-contact and cut up her lamb. “Huh, how about you? Why do you love slaving long hours over a hot Bunsen burner?”

Putting down his knife and fork again, Starling stared hard at the tabletop for a moment. “I don’t particularly enjoy that part of it.” He sent her a fleeting smile, which landed with another unexpected jolt. “I like the questions, following the clues, teasing out the answers from nature,” he said, gazing out the window, “I’m often amazed by their beauty, and then massaging that beauty.” He raised a hand to her. “ The rules to create something new, something beneficial.” He shrugged. “I guess I enjoy learning new things and solving chemical mysteries.”

Returning his focus to her he said, “You’ve seen basketball players so wonderfully in tune with the ball that they don’t have to think about dribbling or faking? What do they call it, ‘Being one with the ball’?” Toni chuckled and Starling smiled back. “They make the play, like magic, a single dance concentrating fully on what they want to achieve on the court.”

Whoa, where did that come from? But she recognized the experience. She’d felt it on the court and in the courtroom. She nodded, unsure where he was going.

Starling nodded in return. “Well, that’s the way it feels to me, chemicals and the scientific method.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “My game.”

Toni stared at him, identifying with his sports analogy, but blown away by his applying it to lab work. Is that what it’s like to be a science virtuoso? “Wow.”

He grinned at her reaction. “Of course, Rayaneta lets me play with a really expensive chemistry set.” He cocked his head. “And I’m usually working with talented people and creations that smell good.” He offered another engaging grin and went back to eating.

She watched him methodically cut up the lamb, charmed and intrigued by his question to her, his answers, and his fleeting smiles, more than she wanted to admit. How much did he know about basketball, or that she’d played in college? She couldn’t imagine him playing even as tall as he was.

She slowly became aware of the smile she wore and shook herself mentally . She shouldn’t let herself become distracted like that. She sat up and refocused. She had to get a commitment for this year and that might be a way in.

“Well, in that vein, would you enjoy being a consultant during your sabbatical?”

He glanced up from his plate, his expression abruptly unreadable. “I doubt that I’d have time for it.” He finished his water, set his napkin on the table, looked at Toni, and waved a hand. “I’d hate to make promises I know I won’t keep.”

“What if they paid triple for your time?”

“That would be very generous, but I don’t want my time eaten up with consulting.”

Toni inwardly groaned. She was done. Oh, she was so done. She signaled the waiter for the check and made more notes. Then in a tone all-business, she concluded, “So, if the Board were willing to grant your requests and conditions, you’d be willing to sign an agreement covering the things we discussed—to return for a contractual two years at the end of your sabbatical?”

“And I give Rayaneta first option to buy anything I chose to sell.”

Toni nodded but sighed. The agreement remained thin, barely covering what the Board wanted, Starling contractually committed to the company. “How much time will you require to bring the lab staff up to speed on your projects?”

“A week at most. They’re smart people.”

Toni nodded but didn’t say anything. With a successful product score of Starling 17, the 50 “smart people” only 3, the other chemists didn’t appear all that bright. Or it just spoke volumes about the man across from her. She glanced up at his now-distracted, dumb-puppy expression, thinking about their conversation over the last several minutes and wondered for the hundredth time—how smart, how socially aware was he really?

They left Andiron’s with two doggie bags, one for each of them and containing at least half of the main course. When Toni asked him why, if he enjoyed it, he hadn’t finished his lamb, he said, “I usually don’t eat much, so I’d have made myself sick eating it all at once.” He grinned. “I wanted to.” Then he looked at her bag. “It must be the same for you.”

Toni mentally groaned again, feeling stuffed with two lunches in one day. She wondered at his ‘not eating much’ as they crossed the street and walked up the steps toward the entrance to the Rayaneta building, which sat regally gleaming in the bright afternoon light.

She squinted at the sun. Like most Seattleites, a sunny day made her think of taking the afternoon off to enjoy the rare blue skies. Or at least a tanning sun-break up on the roof. She glanced at Starling. Then again, jumping off the roof was another option.

Starling paused before the glass entry of the building and looked at her for a moment. “One more thing. I want Sam Banks to have the same sabbatical agreement I have. He gets a year off, full medical, and comes back on a new contract.”

Toni blinked. “Who?”

“Samuel R. Banks. He’s in Security.”

“You want that as part of your agreement?”

“Yes. Sam is going to be helping me.”

Toni looked at him hard. “You think you’ll need a security guard for your work?”

Starling smiled briefly. “No, he’s going to be helping me.”

Toni cocked her head at the strange request, and asked, “How important is this?”

“It’s a . . .” He hunted for the words, “It’s a deal breaker.” Starling straightened up with a smile, apparently pleased to have found the right phrase.

Toni stiffened in exasperation. More concessions. Damn it to hell! Has he been playing me all along? “What is this? Payback?”

With seemingly genuine confusion, Starling said, “Payback? For what?”

She studied him for a moment. “Never mind.” To avoid saying anything more, certainly not about her teasing him a week ago, or the Board significantly underpaying him, she turned and walked quickly into the building, Starling trotting to catch up. Was Starling testing her with a spur-of-the-moment scheme, or had Banks been ready to follow Starling and resign too?

In the lobby, Toni stopped and waited for Starling, tapping her foot, next to the multi-tiered fountain, its gurgling cascade of water sounding too much like mocking laughter. Starling couldn’t have done better if he’d been an experienced negotiator, and she knew he wasn’t. Annoying her further, she’d let the meeting get away from her, revealing more about her personally than was comfortable. She needed more concessions.

She never played the ‘poor me’ card, trying for a sympathy concession, but she had just so many moves left in her bag of tricks. She would end ‘the meeting’ here because they both had to walk back to the elevators, and when he walked with her, he would feel inclined to continue the conversation with an attractive woman as though his initiative, hopefully which would lead to further contract additions. It had worked many times in the past and she needed Starling to concede something .

Starling came to a halt in front of her, uncertainty on his face. Fine, let him guess what irritated her. The walk to the restaurant seemed to have dispelled whatever smell had clung to Starling, so she took a step closer, a hand extended to seal the deal. He didn’t take her palm and continued to look at her.

“You’ll want to start your sabbatical soon, so I’ll get the agreement to you tomorrow—including the one for Samuel Banks—for both of you and your lawyers to go over. The actual signing won’t take long. We can do that tomorrow afternoon in my office.”

Without thinking, she smiled and cocked her head in a flirty manner. The absence of any reaction made her more aware of how she unconsciously worked her wiles. Damn. She caught herself frowning, then relaxed her face and met his gaze. He continued to look at her. No admiration, no infatuation, no objections, not even a smile, just apparent examination. And after the pleasant personal sharing over lunch, g eesh. He still hadn’t taken her hand to shake.

“I’ll call you tomorrow morning for a final go around and then signing. Will that do, Baynard?” She tried one more time to schmooze him, but all he did was nod. Usually, if she told a man she ‘will call them,’ the phrase alone induced fantasies that played out behind their eyes.

Well, for most it did, but not for Starling. There were no fantasies to be seen dancing behind those thick glasses. She wrinkled her nose in frustration. Those massive goggles weren’t the only thick things about him. Her hand being held out the entire time, her arm muscles were starting to ache.

Finally, Starling shook it once, a solemn set to his mouth. He had big, soft hands as expected, but his grip felt firm and warm, his eye contact steady. Their first physical touch produced no response from the man that she could see. In the same bland voice, he said, “That would be fine. Thank you for lunch, Ms. Crenshaw. It was another one of your revelations.” Before Toni could ask what the hell he meant by that, he turned and walked toward the elevators, saying over his shoulder, “I hope you can get the Board to agree to our sabbatical arrangements.”

Toni glared at his retreating back, now unsure what he did or didn’t know. It didn’t seem to occur to him that they both would use the elevator. She stood waiting, mouth pursed, hands on her hips. Hey, jackass, what do you think I’m going to do—hike up the stairs to the 37 th floor? She saw no glance back, nothing.

Damn ! She snorted indelicately. Bizarre . Apart from opening the door for her, and his response to her biting comment, she’d seen no indication he’d noticed she was a woman. Insulting on a primal level. It also stung that he was either a surprisingly gifted negotiator or simply didn’t give a damn about the consequences.

Or maybe she’d been routed by sheer ignorance. There’s a happy thought . Had she barely saved the Hampton merger with Starling’s new contract or simply given in to everything Starling had wanted all along? Crap! She hated such self-doubt. She couldn’t afford it.

Toni stared at the silver elevator doors as they closed on Dr. Baynard J. Starling, still wondering which it was. Apart from the Seattle street crazies, he remained the strangest male-type person she’d ever had to deal with. She walked to the elevators, mentally preparing to face Rich with the agreement. It did contain the one item the board needed, Starling agreeing to a two-year contract with Rayaneta. That would hopefully save her, though Starling wasn’t going ‘back to work’ as the Board insisted—and they would all blame her for that. Still, he hadn’t quit, but with one bizarre inspiration, Starling threatened to dismantle her carefully crafted career. Damn it all!