CHAPTER FIVE
As soon as he made his announcement, Pen felt guilty. He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. He'd planned to give her some time to get used to having him around before he told her he'd be there permanently. His guilt deepened when he saw the shocked look on Fern's face.
"You're going to have an office here?"
"Yeah, well, this is the logical place, isn't it? It's our first branch in the region, and it's fairly centrally located." He glanced around the small room. "Of course, I don't intend for us to share the office long term, but ?" He looked up to see Maria at the door.
"Sorry to interrupt." She stepped toward Fern and handed her a stack of small pink slips of paper. "You didn't pick up your phone messages when you came through the office, and Mr. Anderson said he needed to talk to you right away."
"Darn. I was supposed to call him back yesterday, and ? I'll call him right now."
She sat at the end of the desk and Pen slid the phone closer. She read the number from the message slip and dialed.
"Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday, Stan. Things got hectic around here."
Pen strained, but he couldn't hear the man's voice.
"I'm flattered by your invitation. I'll do it-I just hope I don't disappoint you."
She hadn't told him it was a personal call. What invitation? This wasn't the same guy she'd called yesterday. How many men did she have on the string anyway?
When he saw Fern stretching to reach her appointment book, he handed it to her. She opened it and said, "Next Thursday, August twenty-second at eight o'clock. Downtown Sheraton Hotel. Okay, I'll see you then."
He clenched his fists in his pockets and told himself to keep his mouth shut. Her love life wasn't any of his business, after all. As long as she did her job ?
"Isn't that going to be a long wait? That's over a week away." He clamped his mouth shut. Too late, the horse was already out of the barn, or rather, the words were already out of his mouth.
Her brows knitted together. "Huh?"
He recognized the exact moment she understood the implication. Sparks flashed from those incredible green eyes. She stood with her hands on her hips.
"Do you have a dirty mind or what? I'll have you know I've been asked by the Chamber of Commerce to give the keynote speech at a seminar for new business owners. It's an honor, and you, you, you, you ?"
He felt his stomach sinking with guilt when he saw the defiance in her eyes change to despair. Without thinking, he stepped closer to her and grasped her upper arms. "I'm sorry, Fern. That was a crummy thing to say."
"Yes, it was. I don't know where you get your ideas about women, but ? " She lost her concentration as she felt a warm tingle where he was holding his arms. He was barely touching her, but her body reacted as if they were locked in a heated embrace.
Suddenly Pen dropped her arms and stepped back. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't usually, well ?" He stepped over to the small window and looked outside. "I'm not sexist. I have great respect for women. Most of the employees I supervise are female, and I've never had any problems with any of them."
He turned back toward the desk and reached for the briefcase with his computer. He motioned for her to sit and punched the intercom button for Maria.
After he asked the receptionist to gather information about desks, he turned to Fern. "Are you ready to give me an overview of maintenance operations?"
They spent the rest of the morning reviewing the company's operations. Fern silently thanked whatever gods had worked their magic on Pen. He was pure business all morning, asking questions and making comments that revealed he knew more about day-to-day maintenance operations than she had expected.
As he closed the large book of computer printouts, Maria knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Here's the info on the desks that can be delivered today." Pen rose from his chair and reached across the desk to take the papers she held out to him.
After he flipped through the pages, he put most of them on the desk and handed one sheet to Fern. "Good, we can get a desk to match this one." He turned to Maria. "Order the desk and chair and try to have them delivered this afternoon."
Picking up his briefcase, Pen asked Fern, "Shall we go? If we have a one o'clock appointment, we'd better get underway so we have time for lunch."
Was she destined to eat every meal with this man? She didn't remember anything like that in her job description. Of course, it probably came under that catchall phrase at the end: other duties as required.
She took her purse from the desk drawer and followed Pen to the car. As they buckled their seatbelts, Pen turned to her and said, "I don't remember seeing anything about a company car in the books. Who owns this car?"
"It's mine. The only the vehicles the company owns are the truck and the van. I use my own car and get paid mileage, just like the techs." She started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
"The company usually provides company cars for branch managers, but we'll keep things the way they are for now. I'll need a car when I move down here."
"Do you have a company car now?"
"Yeah, but it's several years old-not worth moving. A new regional manager should have a new car, don't you think?"
Oh, sure, he gets a new car, but not me. Does this mean I won't be around long enough to need a car? Or does it just mean that Mr. Regional Manager is so much more important than a branch manager that his needs come first? When she realized how tightly she was gripping the steering wheel, she forced herself to relax.
"Where do you want to eat?" she asked.
"Doesn't matter. Let's just grab a burger and fries at the most convenient place between here and the appointment."
"How about Mama's? You can order a burger if that's what you want, but they also have other food. Like meals with real veggies and salads."
Pen made a face. "Not health food, I hope."
"No, just some healthy food. Believe me, they have plenty that isn't healthy too."
"And of course, they're a client of Fern's Fancies," he said.
She was surprised-both that he knew the restaurant was a client and that he said Fern's Fancies instead of Ultimate. "Of course. And the quality of their food is equal to the quality of their plant service."
Pen chuckled. "In that case, it must be fabulous."
Even though she knew he was just going along with her joke, Fern felt a warm glow inside at Pen's flattering words. "It is fabulous," she agreed.
The food and service at the restaurant were excellent, but in Fern's opinion, they were outshone by the conversation. This was the first time she and Pen had carried on a normal conversation without tension arcing between them.
Oh, she still felt that magnetic pull. Her senses were alert to every nuance of his appearance, every move he made. Just watching him chew his food made her mouth water. Hearing him laugh at a silly joke tickled every nerve ending in her body. And looking into those chocolate eyes made her knees turn to pudding.
There was tension all right, but no anger, no hostility. He treated her as an equal. She didn't know what had changed his behavior, but she hoped it lasted.
Pen shook his head as he realized they were actually chatting casually as he would with any business associate. From the moment he'd first seen her, actually from the moment he'd heard that seductive voice on the telephone in Chicago, he'd been too aware of her as a woman to see anything else. She was a woman all right, maybe the most appealing woman he'd ever met. The fact she seemed totally unaware of her charms made her even more desirable.
But this morning he'd seen another side to Fern. He'd seen the savvy businesswoman. She had a great relationship with her employees. Mutual respect and genuine caring were apparent. He'd been amazed at her knowledge of the business. In his experience, most interior landscapers had started in the business because they liked plants and were good at caring for them. They concentrated their attention on what they liked-the horticultural part of the business-and often the business suffered. Fern had achi
eved a balance-she was more knowledgeable in both areas than he'd expected.
That's what happens when you judge a book by its cover, old man, he told himself. But what a cover!
He had relayed several amusing incidents that had happened to him in his travels as a regional manager. She had shared some of the funny things that had happened in her business through the years.
"One time a tech went into a client's office with her bucket of water. The secretary asked what she had in the water. When the tech said it was just plain water, the secretary said, 'You'd better put something in there to make the yellow leaves turn green again. There's some yellow leaves on this plant.'"
He laughed heartily. "You mean she didn't realize we just take off the yellow leaves? She actually thought we brought dead leaves back to life?"
The more they thought about it, the funnier it became. Both of them were doubled over with laughter when the waiter came with the check. Pen didn't even stop laughing as he handed the man his credit card.
Oh, no. Now she was really in trouble. She might be able to resist Pen's great looks, his incredible body, his masculinity, his smell, his eyes, his lopsided grin, his ?
Well, maybe not, but she had a better chance of resisting all that than she did of resisting his humor. She couldn't think of another man who would get so caught up in a silly story that he would laugh as long and hard as she did.
Their laughter gradually subsided. After Pen signed the credit card slip, they left the restaurant quieter than they had been during the meal.
On their drive downtown, they discussed the upcoming appointment. Fern explained her normal proposal process. "Today, I'll try to find out as much as possible about the look he wants, the plants and containers he likes and doesn't like, and the budget. After I work up the design and prices, I'll bring a written proposal back to him in a few days."
"Do you ever fax proposals?" he asked.
"If it's an existing client who wants to add plants, I'll fax the quote because there's no selling involved. But if it's a new prospect, like this attorney today, I always try to present the proposal in person. I've got a much better shot at the sale when I can adjust my presentation to his reactions and focus in on what he wants."
"Good strategy. The fax is great for transmitting information, but, you're right, it's not a salesman. There's no substitute for that personal contact."
Now he was praising her work. She was lost. She surely couldn't resist the most attractive man she'd ever met when he had a sense of humor she loved and he even respected her work. But he was her boss. He's probably wasn't interested in her anyway, but his position as her boss put him totally out of the picture for romance.
Fern was glad to reach downtown. She parked in a garage, and they took the elevator to the client's office. When she introduced herself and Pen, he said, "I'm just learning the operations of this branch, since it's new to our company. Do you mind if I tag along?"
The client didn't mind, and Fern knew it didn't matter if she minded. At first, she was aware of Pen's presence. Soon, however, she was so engrossed in her presentation that she almost forgot he was there. Her attention was totally focused on the client and how she could improve his office.
When she had the information she needed, the client walked them to the door. "I called you because the interior decorator said I needed plants as well as furniture and artwork. I didn't know plants would actually help clean the air in the office."
"Most people don't." She smiled. "That's why I'm excited about putting plants in your office. They'll improve the air quality as well as improve the appearance."
After they left the attorney's office, Fern drove them to another office building. She explained as she drove. "We took over the plant maintenance at City Center from one of our competitors several months ago. The mealybugs were so bad you could actually see white masses fifteen feet up in the ficus trees."
"How were they treating the problem?"
"They weren't. The client won't allow anyone to work in the lobby during business hours because of the heavy traffic. So they tried one time to spray at night, but there's not enough light in the atrium. They just gave up."
"Never heard of weekends, huh?"
"Guess not. Anyway, we've made several Saturday trips to wash and spray the trees. Even though there's been some improvement, we still have a serious problem."
Soon they were at the building and entering the lobby. Pen sauntered across the lobby to the atrium area. He looked up into the five ficus trees and down at the low under planting beneath the trees. "You're right. It's a serious problem, but I think we can bring it under control with beneficial insects. Do we need to talk to the contact person?"
Fern took Pen up to the fifth floor and led him into the management office. She greeted the receptionist, introduced Pen, and asked to see the property manager.
When the property manager stepped out to meet them, Fern saw her eyes widen in appreciation at the sight of Pen. The woman positively ogled him. Hadn't she ever seen an attractive man before? Besides, doesn't she know how to act toward a business associate? Pen is the vendor, for heaven's sake, not the merchandise. Fern had always liked and respected this woman. Now she wondered why. Anyone who couldn't control her hormones any better than that ?
Omigosh. Had she been acting this way? She hid her attraction to Pen better than that, didn't she? Her face flamed red as she imagined other people watching her ogle Pen the way this client was doing.
Pen didn't seem to notice. He shook hands with the property manager and said, "A pleasure to meet you."
They followed the client into her office. Fern explained they wanted to discuss using biological insect control. The client admitted she had no idea what they were talking about. Pen explained that predator insects ate other insects.
"We'll release beneficial insects-I call 'em 'the good guys' into the atrium at regular intervals. They eat the insects that damage the plants-the ones I call 'the bad guys'-but they don't harm plants. Or people or anything else for that matter."
"Will they be noticeable?"
A lopsided grin appeared on his face before his answer. "You'll hardly know they're there. The ones we'll use here are visible to the naked eye at certain stages of development, but they're so small few people will notice them. Some beneficial insects are larger, but most people think ladybugs are cute. They're beneficial insects."
The client smiled and asked a few more questions. Pen explained the insects had to be released at regular intervals to maintain an adequate supply to consume the harmful insects.
"If we don't keep enough of the good guys supplied all the time, the bad guys multiply-very fast, I might add-and the problem is out of control again. But as long as we release enough new beneficial insects to replace the ones that die, we'll keep the problem under control."
The property manager agreed to the plan. "When do you want to do this?" she asked.
"As soon as the insects arrive in a week or two," he answered.
"Do you need the hydraulic lift?" the client asked.
"Yes; we have to reach into the tops of the trees. Fern will call you to schedule. Okay?"
Sure, Fern will call to schedule. Will Fern have anything to do with this project? Will Fern get a chance to learn about biological controls, something she'd wanted to study? Will Fern get to do anything but call to schedule?
She had been surprised at Pen's technical knowledge. She remembered her thought that he'd probably never watered a plant in his life. She was glad she'd been wrong about his experience, but she wondered if she'd have the opportunity to learn from his experience.