Intimate Seduction - Brenda Jackson [64]
“Mr. Steele, Mr. Morgan Steele is here,” his secretary interrupted his thoughts by saying over the intercom.
“Thanks, Sandra, please send him in.”
Donovan turned from the window, and the moment his brother walked in he could tell there was trouble. “What’s going on, Morgan?”
Morgan slumped down in the nearest chair. “There is a spy somewhere, Donovan. Devonshire Manufacturing Company knows too much about Gleeve-Ware not to be getting information from someplace. In Bas’s absence I’m ordering a detailed security report on everyone who has access to the formula. This is serious.”
Donovan nodded. Yes, it was serious. SC had a major product breakthrough on their hands, and others were trying to be the first to claim it before it reached the market. Troubleshooting was Bas’s specialty, but he would be out of the office this week to spend time with his wife and newborn daughter.
“You still have your copy of the report, right?” Morgan asked, reclaiming his attention.
“Yes, but all those formulas are Greek to me.”
“Well, destroy the copy you have since everything has practically been revised, thanks to Juan. We’re keeping an updated version under lock and key, and only the four of us and Juan will have access to it.”
“No problem.”
Morgan turned to leave and then paused and said, “And just so you know, we like Natalie.”
Donovan chuckled. “Thanks, Morgan. I happen to like her, too.”
“So when are you going to tell Donovan what you really do for a living?” Farrah asked at Natalie from across the table. The two had met for lunch, a promise Natalie had made when she’d canceled their plans for the weekend to spend time with Donovan instead.
Natalie shook her head, remembering this past weekend when he’d walked in on her in his office. “I’ll see him later tonight, and I’ll bring it up then—especially since I need to tell him I’m leaving to return home to Princeton tomorrow.”
“Considering how those other guys acted once they discovered you had a working brain, do you think Donovan will have an issue with it?”
Natalie had thought about it a lot. In the beginning a part of her wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, so she had kept the information to herself. But now after spending time with him and getting to know him better, she refused to believe he would feel threatened by her achievements like all the others had. “I really don’t think so.”
Assuming she was a housekeeper, he hadn’t placed much importance on her profession before introducing her to his family. Donovan, she believed, was a man comfortable in his own skin and would have no reason to be intimidated by her career.
“Do you think he’ll be upset that you haven’t been completely truthful to him?” Farrah asked, taking a sip of her tea.
Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know why he would be. I began feeling deep emotions for him the first time we made love. He was so different from Karl. I couldn’t help but acknowledge those differences to myself, but I refused to admit I was falling in love with him.”
“Why?”
“Because in my mind that was a one-night stand, so I didn’t want to put my emotions out there on a lost cause. Karl, as well as those others who felt threatened by my academic achievements, made me wary.”
Farrah reached across the table to take Natalie’s hand in hers. “I like Donovan, and I could tell that night at the café how much he was interested in you. I truly believe things will work out between you two, although I don’t know how he’s going to feel knowing you’ll be returning to Princeton for good in a few weeks.”
“Now that’s the part that scares me,” Natalie said. “I’m not sure he’ll be interested in a long-distance affair.” She inhaled deeply. “We’ll find out his thoughts on everything tonight.”
The Product Trade Show couldn’t get here fast enough, Donovan thought, entering his home that afternoon. He, Chance and Morgan had met with