The Courtship of Dani by Ginna Gray Page A

Jason's assistant, was a pleasant man in his late thirties, with a bony, intelligent face and thinning light brown hair, but like Jason, there was a certain underlying toughness about him that spoke of hard-won success. Dani knew without asking that Arthur had been with Jason from the beginning.
    Bruce Hadley and Sam Engle were vice presidents of Stratter-Lite. Bruce was a portly middleaged man with a shining bald pate and restless eyes that never seemed to light on anything for long. Sam appeared to be in his sixties. He was impeccably groomed and had a distinguished silver mane and an austere face that Dani was sure had intimidated many an adversary.
    Terry Hart, Bob Loman and Janet Anderson made up the team of consultants who would be working under Dani's direction. They had introduced themselves earlier and were sitting quietly as Dani exchanged greetings with Jason's key people. Dani was delighted that Frank had assigned them to this job. She had worked with all of them on large projects before and knew that they were all bright and hard working. And equally important, there wasn't a prima donna among them.
    "As I told you, Ms. Edwards will be in charge of the reorganizing and revamping program," Jason said, leaning back in his chair, addressing the two Stratter-Lite executives. "But for now, I'd like her to explain to you exactly what she plans to do, and how she will go about it."
    For an instant Sam Engle's austere face tightened, and his eyes flared with pure fury. Bruce Hadley shifted uncomfortably, his gaze bouncing from Jason to Dani and then to Sam. Dani noted both reactions and knew that she was going to meet with resistance from Sam Engle. Possibly from Hadley, too, depending on how much he tended to follow the other man's lead.
    "Our goal, of course, is to increase Stratter-Lite's profits." Dani spoke in a calm, controlled voice, her direct gaze switching back and forth between the two men as she talked. But she was acutely aware of Jason. In her peripheral vision she could see him, large and masculine, leaning back at ease in the leather chair, his dark eyes trained intently on her. Her palms grew moist and she felt an unaccustomed fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach, but she ignored both and pressed on doggedly.
    "To accomplish this we are going to have to streamline procedures and operations, in both the office and the factory. That means we will be gathering information on every phase of the business, from the executive offices to the loading docks. Once that is done, we'll study and analyze the information, then, based on our findings, make whatever recommendations we feel will increase productivity and at the same time reduce costs. Where feasible, we will recommend automation. In other areas we will simply recommend changes to strengthen or tighten existing procedures. When our recommendations are approved by Mr. St. Clair we'll install the automated systems, write the programs and documentation and train your people in the use of them." Dani paused to let that soak in then smiled pleasantly. "All of this will take months and, as you gentlemen can see, will require the complete cooperation of everyone."
    Sam Engle gave her a sour look and turned impatiently to Jason. "I can't believe that you're really going to let a bunch of inexperienced outsiders—" he stopped and flicked Dani another scornful glance "—especially one who wasn't even born when I came to work for this company, come in here and take over. What does this... this girl know about running a business?"
    Dani released a long, silent sigh, but it was more of resigned weariness than anger. Sam Engle's reaction was not unusual. Her team often met hostility. It was Dani's job and the job of her team to bring about change, and change was always threatening. And in Sam's case, he probably saw the whole thing as a slur on his past performance.
    A frown drew Jason's brows together, but before he could reply, Dani interceded in a cool,