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didn’t do that in the early stages of the construction work.”
    He approached her and his masculine smell hit her right into her stomach. Her legs turned to mush and she had difficulties steadying herself. For a short moment, she saw something deep and soft in his eyes, but they quickly turned to business mode, when he said to her, “Please call me Douglas.”
    Her throat was dry as sandpaper and she had no idea how she managed to press an, “Okay, Mr. Douglas” from her lips.
    On the way to the construction site she questioned him about this little field trip, and he answered with an innocent face. “I’m a hands-on guy, I like to get my hands dirty. There’s nothing like being right where the action is.”
    I ’d love you to get your hands dirty with me. Heat coiled low in her belly and she had to suck in tiny breaths, while her mind took a little side trip. Stop it! He’s your client. You don’t even like him. Remember? You don’t even like him.
    At the site, Douglas greeted and spoke with all of the workers, further surprising her. In Asia, she was used to the important people not treating the ‘lower’ ranks well. Those who owned companies and had money didn’t associate with those beneath them.
    She personally hated that aspect of this culture, but this is how all their Asian customers behaved. Surprisingly, most of her US customers acted the same way once they knew it would be tolerated.
    One more reason to like Douglas. He’s such a fine man. Hey, I’m not liking him. This is just business. Remember?

Chapter 7
    Douglas was going over some papers when Toni appeared in his door. Like always, his heart took a jump when he saw her. He’d tried his best to ignore is attraction for her, but his body wouldn’t listen to him.
    “Hi, Douglas. Do you have a minute?”
    “Sure, come in. What is it?”
    She lingered in the door, as if afraid to come inside. “I wanted to go over some basic rules for the meeting with Wang Li and his wife Yin Yue tonight. Half an hour would do.”
    That woman had nerves. He was in the middle of some difficult paperwork and she wanted to give him instructions on how to behave. Was he a kindergartener or what?
    “Look, I’m very busy, and if you haven’t noticed, this is not my first business meeting.”
    “I know, but I want to make sure everything goes fine. This is a very important meet and greet for your company.” She rolled her eyes.
    Douglas voice took on an annoyed tone. “I’ve had thousands of business meetings. I’m sure I’ll know how to behave. Thank you.”
    She ignored his annoyed answer and said in a patient voice that made him only angrier. “You aren’t meeting with a normal business owner in the States. Things are different here.”
    He shook his head, he wasn’t in the mood to argue with her. “People are people. I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
    Toni cast a heated stare at him. “Mr. Armstrong. Yes, you will be fine because I’m going to tell you what to expect and how not to offend the man who hired you to build his skyscraper.”
    Oh, now she’s back to calling me Mr. Armstrong? She did that only when she was pretty annoyed with him and wanted to show him his place. Mr. Armstrong was her secret word of telling him that she had the last word on every decision in this project. He wanted to strangle her for that. But then, it made her even more attractive to him. A woman who didn’t back up when he confronted her.
    If he was honest with himself, he enjoyed the way she was measuring forces with him. Still, he wasn’t some greenhorn in the business.
    “I would never offend a client—”
    “Not knowingly, Douglas,” she interrupted. “I know that. But you have to remember that Mr. Wang is of Chinese heritage. In China, the oldest person in the room always speaks first. Always. It is their way of showing respect. Mr. Wang Li is seventy-two. That means he is older than you or I.”
    “How old is his wife?” Douglas asked, thinking about what