didn’t comment on what I’d said, but I could see the wheels in her head turning. Instead of focusing on my role in the company, she guided the conversation back to what hers might be.
“So this American Sweetheart you’re looking for will get a place and an office in the city that never sleeps. Is that it?”
“Nope.” I smirked, glancing at Rick before revealing the trump card I’d been holding on to. “You’ll also get paid five hundred thousand dollars for the year, and that’s without certain performance bonuses that will be written into your contract.”
Both of them stared at me like I’d turned into a glittery purple dildo right in front of their very eyes. Rick recovered first, though his gaze still seemed a little unfocused. “What would she have to do for that money?”
“Killen’s vision for the woman who gets the role is simple. She’ll work with us to make the product a success. She’ll be the sweet, wholesome girl people can look up to. She’ll be living the dream and selling it to others. A spritz of the perfume she wears will make anyone feel like anything is possible, because if it happened for her, then why not for them?”
Leah’s eyes had gone wide and she was doing her best to contain her laughter while Rick looked like I’d be able to knock him over with a feather. Eventually, he managed to find his words. “You really want Leah to be that girl?”
“Well, not me. Jefferson, but yes.” I let my gaze drift over to her, taking in the soft lines of her heart-shaped face and the rosy glow on her cheeks. “As far as I recall, you haven’t got the personality he’s looking for. I tried to warn him after he made you the offer, but he says your face is the face. So yes. Depending on how today goes, we want Leah to be that girl.”
“Well, fuck.” Rick sank back into his seat, blinking rapidly while he processed everything I’d said.
Leah kept staring at me in utter disbelief for a few more minutes but eventually turned her gaze toward the window. As we approached the venue where the event was taking place, I saw her features slowly changing. Her expression was softer and more childlike, like she was awed by what she was seeing.
Jefferson’s events were always extravagant, and this one was no exception. The venue was a boutique hotel with fountains and paved paths through beautiful, lush gardens.
Rick started talking about taking their bags as we slowed, but I stopped him. “John will get our things. He’ll have them delivered to our rooms. Don’t worry about it.”
We parked in a designated space right outside, and Leah continued to stare as we walked in.
There were chandeliers hanging overhead and gilded mirrors on the walls. Rick seemed entirely uncomfortable in this setting, his thumbs hooked into his pockets as he hung back, walking beside me instead of with his sister a few paces ahead.
“This is crazy,” he muttered, motioning toward the scores of perfectly dressed women waiting to audition and the people from the venue and the company making sure everything ran smoothly.
I shrugged, glancing at him even though I was having trouble tearing my gaze off Leah’s ass. I couldn’t let him catch me checking out his sister, though. We might not be as close as we once were, but I still respected the hell out of him. I had no idea how he would react if I showed any interest whatsoever in his little sister, but I doubted he’d be happy letting me take her to New York with me if he thought I wanted to get into her pants.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s crazy, but it’s also only just the beginning.”
Chapter 5
LEAH
I’d never been a girly girl. Maybe it was because I’d grown up idolizing my brother and his friends, or maybe it was because I’d just never fallen in with the girly crowd back at school, but whatever gene it was that a made a girl girly, mine was woefully underdeveloped.
Even so, today had blown my mind. The scale of things the Killen people did was just incredible. I hadn’t been expecting to enjoy the day at all, but after spending it shaking hands and meeting people from the company, I had to admit that it really hadn’t been all that bad.
The people I’d met had all been nice, and the passion they had for their respective jobs had been clear. It sounded