At Cindy's first dramatic meeting with Stuart Newman in the Queen City, she sensed a kind of ruthlessness about him - ruthlessness of touch, manner and determination in that nothing should or would stand in his way.
He was a man who took what he wanted regardless and not counting the cost. And Cindy knew that he wanted her. But she had no illusions about the reasons for Stuart's advances to her. "What are you trying to do, Mr. Newman," she asked him, "boost that trampled masculine pride of yours? For I presume it has been trampled by that woman in the photograph. Do you want to use me to assure yourself that your charm hasn't lost its effect over the female?"
Stuart's friend Paul bet Stuart that Stuart could not get Cindy to fall for him within one month - one month "to conquer your respectable backblock secretary". Who would win?