Chapter Three
Three
Leslie glanced up from the papers on her desk when she heard the buzzer. “Yes, Beverly?”
“Mr. Longshire is here to see you, Ms. Cassidy.”
Leslie scowled. That man was the last person she wanted to see. Just that morning, Stan Middlebury, her company’s attorney, had given her an update, so she knew everything Martin Longshire was up to. The man was intent on taking her company away from her.
She was still catching up on paperwork that had piled up when she’d been out of the office attending Tyler and Keosha’s wedding celebration. Carmen had left yesterday to return to DC, and Leslie was missing her already.
“I don’t recall Mr. Longshire having an appointment, so I’m unable to meet with him today, Beverly.”
“I will let him know.”
Before Leslie could go back to reviewing the documents she’d been reading, she heard Beverly’s loud voice say, “Wait just a minute. You can’t just barge into Ms. Cassidy’s office.” Her door flew open, and Martin Longshire stood there, looking like the monster Leslie thought him to be.
“Do you want me to contact security, Ms. Cassidy?” asked a flustered Beverly Neal, who’d also been Leslie’s father’s personal assistant for years.
Leslie stood and came around her desk. “No, Beverly, that won’t be necessary. I can handle Mr. Longshire.”
Beverly gave her a look that said she wasn’t sure, but she nodded anyway. She was about to turn to leave when Mr. Longshire barked at Beverly, “Start cleaning out your desk. When I take over this company, you will be one of the first people I fire.”
Instead of responding to what the man said, Beverly walked out, but she did not close the door behind her. Martin Longshire angrily slammed it shut. He then turned his attention back to Leslie. “So, you think you can handle me?”
“Don’t you ever talk rudely to my employees again, Mr. Longshire.”
The man had the nerve to smirk. “I do whatever the hell I please, and they won’t be your employees for long. Like I just told the woman, I’m taking over this company, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m sure you’ve heard of my plans by now.”
Leslie drew in a deep breath. She had to believe there was something she could do. She didn’t have the capital to fight him. As a last-ditch effort, her company attorney was working with several banks to see if one would be willing to give her a loan or extend the ones she had.
“You will never own my company,” she said with a lot more confidence than she actually felt.
“We shall see. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays, because they will be the last you’ll have here at Cassidy Cosmetics.” He turned and walked out of her office.
On weak knees, Leslie made it back around her desk to sit down.
She held her head in her hands, but she refused to cry.
Her father had taught her to be stronger than that.
The last time a man had made her cry had been when she had believed Sloan had betrayed her.
At the time, unknowingly, she’d been crying for nothing because he’d been innocent.
“Are you okay, Leslie?”
She glanced up and saw Beverly standing in the doorway with deep concern in her features.
She sat up in her chair. The last thing she wanted was for her employees to think she didn’t have things under control, although, honestly, she didn’t.
Because of his intense dislike of her father, Martin Longshire wanted to destroy her.
“Yes, Beverly, I’m fine. And I regret that Mr. Longshire talked to you that way.”
“He doesn’t scare me any,” Beverly said. “As your father’s personal assistant, I’ve had my run-ins with Martin Longshire before.” She paused. “Is there anything that I can do?”
Leslie shook her head and forced a smile. “No. What I need is a Christmas miracle.”
Beverly nodded. “Well, tomorrow is officially the first of December, so we’re going to hope we get that miracle. We have a month.” Beverly left, closing the door behind her.
Leslie leaned back in her chair. In reality, they had less time than that.
Keeping with the tradition established by her father years ago, Cassidy Cosmetics closed for the holidays on the seventh of December every year and didn’t reopen until the second week of January.
December ninth had been her mother’s birthday, and January fourth had been her father’s.
All the employees enjoyed the time off with pay.
Now according to Mr. Longshire, neither she nor her employees would have a company to return to, since he’d made it known he planned to fire everyone.
Her employees knew the dire straits of the company, but for some reason they believed she would fight and win.
After all, she was her father’s daughter, and he’d been in sticky situations before and managed to get the company out of it.
However, this was more than just a mere sticky situation.
This was a hostile takeover by Longshire Industries.
Needing to switch her mind off Martin Longshire, she thought of Sloan Outlaw. At least she had apologized for believing Sarah’s lies, and she felt good about that. A weight had been lifted off her chest.
So why had she been thinking about him a lot since the wedding?
Well, one reason could be that seeing him again had made her realize what not trusting him had cost her.
Being in his presence had pushed a lot of her passion points, ones she’d thought dead and gone.
His look alone had made heat settle all through her.
Now she felt her stomach flutter at the memory.
But she couldn’t indulge in fantasies. Knowing she had plenty of work to do, Leslie turned her attention back to the documents on her desk.
Sloan entered the building that housed Cassidy Cosmetics. The first time he’d come here had been to meet Leslie’s father. It had been her first year at the university, and her father had asked her to come home to accompany him to a benefit being held in her mother’s honor.
She’d told him on the plane flight from Anchorage to Wasilla that her mother, who had passed away of cancer when Leslie was fourteen, had been active in a number of community and charitable events, and the city of Wasilla would be giving her the recognition she deserved.
By the end of the weekend, he’d mentally compared Leslie’s father with his own and seen how vastly different the two men were.
Where Bart had a brash countenance, it was easy to see Lester Cassidy had been a people person, and he had made Sloan feel right at home.
He’d even made Sloan comfortable while being interrogated.
The older man had wanted to get to know Sloan since he would be a part of his daughter’s life.
As Sloan stepped into the elevator, his thoughts shifted to his first job at Outlaw Freight Lines—a company researcher.
He’d put his skill to work to investigate not only Longshire but also Cassidy Cosmetics.
He’d wanted to come up with the best plan to protect Leslie’s company against Martin Longshire’s hostile takeover.
The proposal he would offer Leslie was a fair one.
But would she accept it with the condition he’d attached?
Bottom line, he wasn’t giving her a choice in the matter if she wanted to save her company.
Besides, she owed him. She might have forgotten about it, but he hadn’t.
And if she had forgotten, now was a good time to refresh her memory.
He got off the elevator on the fifth floor, and it seemed he had walked straight into a Christmas wonderland.
The lit tree was beautifully decorated, and there were candy canes hanging from the ceiling.
A huge replica of Santa was surrounded by nearly life-size reindeer.
All eight of them. Santa was carrying a huge silver case that advertised Cassidy Cosmetics.
The display was right on point for the holidays and the company’s seasonal promotions.
From the research he’d done, it appeared Leslie had done a good job of handling things since taking over.
Her employees loved and respected her. It seemed her only problem was Martin Longshire, who was making an ass of himself.
Sloan doubted Leslie was aware of all the underhanded things the man was doing.
Well, Sloan was prepared to throw a monkey wrench in those plans if Leslie agreed with his proposal. The decision would be hers.
“May I help you?”
He smiled at the older woman sitting at the desk. “Yes. I’m here to see Leslie Cassidy.”
“And who are you, sir?”
“Sloan Outlaw.”
The woman studied him curiously, and Sloan had a feeling that just like Helen, their personal assistant at Outlaw Freight Lines who’d worked for them for years, this woman had also taken on the role of guard dog. “Please have a seat, Mr. Outlaw. I’ll see if Ms. Cassidy is free to see you.”
Sloan nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs across the room. His gaze stayed glued to the woman as she picked up the phone and began speaking. Before she could disconnect the line, the door with Leslie’s name flew open. A look of total surprise was on her face. “Sloan?”
He stood. “Yes?”
His gaze traveled over her. If he thought she’d looked good when he’d seen her at the wedding celebration, she looked doubly so now.
She was wearing a midi-length green dress with a belt that hugged her small waist. The hem of her dress swished around a pair of black suede boots when she walked.
His gaze went back to her short hair again.
The more he saw the style on her, the more he liked it.
“What are you doing here?”
Sloan was about to answer, but he glanced over at the woman sitting behind the desk, who wasn’t even pretending not to listen to their conversation. He then looked back at Leslie. “I need to speak with you privately.”
She held his gaze for a long moment before nodding. “Please come into my office.”