Page 5 of Snowbound in Her Boss's Bed

CHAPTER TWO

“ACARDIGAN?”HEASKED incredulously, adding, “You thought it was a good idea to wear a cardigan on a business trip to Colorado in November?”

Exasperation was just one of many emotions Benjamin Silver felt upon laying eyes on Ms. Miriam Howard. Among the surge, however, exasperation was the most straightforward and direct.

He preferred communication that was clear and to the point.

Therefore, he made it clear what he thought of the cardigan.

While the snow was just a light blanket over the ground this early in the year, it was, nonetheless, snow.

Closing his eyes, he exhaled through his nose, allowing himself a respite from the effort of not devouring her with his eyes.

Her appearance had somewhat stunned him.

When he focused on the cardigan, however, rather than the fact that her figure and face would have made the proud subjects of a sensual oil painting, he could handle himself.

She stood above average height, which appealed to him as a tall man, and had glowing skin that looked soft enough to touch.

And she wore a cardigan to Colorado in November, he reminded himself.

And in what should have been a more compelling fact, she was his subordinate.

Ms. Howard had been an emergency hire. This was their first meeting.

His reaction was inappropriate.

But she was nothing like what he had expected.

A cardigan, he repeated mentally.

Taking her in, he wondered if the foundation had simply added fuel to the fire that was this year’s gala in selecting her for the position of events director.

She looked incredibly young, her clear brown skin bright and dewy, even in the crisp dry mountain air of Colorado.

She certainly did not present the kind of mild-mannered mid-career executive image that would have reassured their supporters that the JCF had left its sexy and salacious days behind it.

She was the sexiest woman he had ever encountered.

Even in budget business attire, she gave the impression of lushness.

Shaking himself, he wrestled his mind back to the cardigan.

And, young though she might look, it wasn’t a naive newbie who answered him when she finally spoke. Her irritation obvious in the words that squeezed through her clenched teeth, she said, “I was under the impression that we would be meeting inside.”

She might be inexperienced, he acknowledged, but she has spine.

She revealed it now, as she had when they’d spoken on the phone the day before.

If anyone knew how far spine could take a person in this world, it was him.

He’d built an empire on spine.

If she possessed enough of it, she might even be able to deliver on the bold promises she had made to the hiring committee.

Her cardigan, however, did not convey spine.

It conveyed poor planning, and planning was her job.

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