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decided to do a little investigating of her own between workshops.

    “First you must tell me if you are interested in the business profile or what I know of the family personally.” Nordham smiled as if he’d already guessed the answer. His aristocratic aura lingered in everything from the silver ring he wore bearing an etching of his family crest to the unassuming studs in his French cuffs.

    “Actually, I wonder what you might know of the family personally.” She saw no reason to hedge with a man who’d always expressed open admiration for her mother and her tendency to live life to the fullest.

    “I know more about the younger brother, Joseph, who is apparently the more polished of the pair. When Prestige Scents debuted their new line in London last year, Joseph made the rounds of highend retailers to ensure placement the same time I toured those shops myself.”

    “But this is the first you’ve met Adam?” She hoped the more she found out about Adam and his family, the more relaxed she would be when they spent time together today in Corfu.

    Her last error in romantic judgment had resulted from ignoring warning signs that something was amiss. Fancying herself in love, she’d discounted any rumors she’d heard that suggested Gunther wasn’t all he seemed.

    “I struck up a conversation when I caught him trying to stack the hors d’oeuvre meats into a club sandwich,” Nordham explained. “He claimed he was food deprived after a long flight, but I gathered later that he’d arrived by his family’s private jet so I don’t think the poor chap could have suffered too greatly, do you?” Nordham poured himself more tea from the individual pot. “He has a great fondness for brandy, I discovered. I had to replenish my stock after he joined me for a nip.”

    Danielle hid a smile.

    “So the family must be very wealthy.” She knew many people with money new and old, but private jets were a luxury that traditional wealth couldn’t always afford.

    “Burns Inc. has interests all over the world. Prestige Scents is a moderately sized piece in a vast global pie that makes Adam’s father one of the most successful men in business today.”

    The news sat well with Danielle. Why would Adam attempt some kind of corporate espionage to undermine Les Rêves when his own companies had met such a level of success?

    “How do you think Adam’s prospects are with International Markets? Any better than ours?” She knew Nordham would be pitching to the Dubai retailer, as well.

    “Only six companies have been invited to give a presentation, you know.” Nordham lifted his teacup to the genteel-looking older woman playing the harp who had just paused between songs. “I think contracts will be awarded to at least two of those, so the odds are decent for all of us. Prestige’s advantage is that they bring a lot of star power to the table with all the Hollywood endorsements they seem to garner.”

    Danielle hadn’t really considered that edge, but then she’d been so confident in her own secret weapon that she hadn’t given much thought to scouting the competition. She’d spent weeks analyzing scents native to the region to infuse her fragrances with authentic touches, and her specialty line of Arabian Nights perfumes was going to dazzle the Dubai retailer.

    “How did your meeting go this morning, by the way?” Nordham asked, clearly taken with the harpist. He couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from the elegant, silver-haired woman dressed in crisp white linen.

    “It went well.” Danielle was certain she’d impressed Ahmed with her ideas for the themed line of scents, which would be sold exclusively to International Markets. Even the packaging was a departure from Les Rêves’s signature pink-and-gold boxes. The Arabian Nights fragrances were tentatively slated to sell in jewel-toned bottles with Moorish style boxes, the whole collection as colorful and varied as a walk through a Middle Eastern