Flash

It was owned by one man, Rollie Chantry. The fact that he employed most of his relatives at one time or another, is beside the point. None of them own any shares in the company."
    "Correction," she retorted smoothly. "I now own half of Glow."
    "The last time I checked my calculator, forty-nine percent did not equal half of anything."
    "Let's get something straight here, Mr. Sloan—"
    "Good idea." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. He linked his fingers loosely together and watched her very steadily. "You're a businesswoman, Ms. Chantry. Try to step back and look at the situation logically."
    "Whose logic do you propose we use? Yours or mine?"
    He sighed. "Look, you know as well as I do that in order to take advantage of the recent expansion, Glow will need experienced management and guidance from a CEO who has a long-term vision for the company and a knowledge of the marketplace in which it must compete."
    She gave him a politely skeptical look "You?"
    "Me."
    She hesitated, obviously searching for another tactic. Jasper knew the instant she found it because a glint appeared in her eyes.
    "There's no reason that we can't arrange to share the responsibilities of management," she said crisply. "You might be very useful. After all, I am pretty busy with my responsibilities here at Light Fantastic…"
    "Forget it. I don't believe in consensus management. Only one of us can be in charge of the day-to-day operation of the firm. You already have a full-time job running your own company."
    "While you, on the other hand, are conveniently free to take over Glow," she retorted.
    "Not only am I free to assume the task of leading Glow, I'm better qualified than you are to do it. I've had more than ten years' experience overseeing technology companies as they moved through periods of growth and expansion."
    "I've had a great deal of experience in business, myself."
    "Is that a fact?" He raised his brows. "Let's take a look at your qualifications for running Glow, Inc. I've done some checking. Your sole business experience appears to be limited to owning and operating Light Fantastic."
    "So?"
    "So, your expertise is confined to running an event production company. Basically, Ms. Chantry, you put on very large parties."
    Outrage had an interesting effect on the color of her eyes. They turned very green. He watched, intrigued, as she quickly regained her self-control.
    Very coolly she removed her glasses and set them on the desk. "There is a vast difference between putting on a party, as you term it, Mr. Sloan, and producing a major event for several hundred or several thousand people."
    He gave her his best shot at an innocent expression. "Is there?"
    "The logistics of dealing with everything from city permits and health regulations to crowd control and public relations would challenge any CEO," she said through her teeth. "To say nothing of coordinating vendors and suppliers. And then there is the artistic and design side of the business."
    He shrugged. "I'll take your word for it. But even if what you say is true, your background, extensive though it may be, is in a somewhat different field than my own. To put it bluntly, I've had a lot of direct experience with high-tech firms. You haven't."
    Her eyes were no longer cool. They were cold. "Let's get to the bottom line here."
    "Fine by me."
    "Uncle Rollie fully intended that Glow should descend down through the Chantry family. He left as large an interest in it as possible to me because he wanted me to take care of it for the sake of the present and future generations."
    "I understand. Rollie was always very clear about his plans for Glow. I realize that he thought of it as a Chantry family asset."
    "Exactly." She brightened. "My uncle never intended that you would take over Glow. He planned to pay you back and get you out of the picture."
    "That's the funny thing about life, isn't it? It often doesn't turn out the way you plan it." He sat back slowly. "I don't want to argue about this."
    "Really?" She shoved her glasses back on her nose and gave him another steely smile. "You seem to be doing a very good job of it."
    "I realize your chief concern is that I will sell or merge Glow. I give you my word that I have no intention of doing either."
    "Your word?" she repeated in a very neutral voice.
    "Yes. Ask around, Ms. Chantry. Anyone who has ever done business with me will tell you that my word is my bond."
    She was silent for a long moment
    "I don't have a lot of