today was the one day I couldn’t tell him that straight. “I just try to keep a smile on my face, sir.”
That was as close to the truth as I could get while still keeping my promise to Rick. Besides, I really did always try to keep smiling.
The man nodded before glancing at his son. “Don’t you think she’s America’s Sweetheart material? She’s sweet and beautiful. If she can charm the pants off me, I’m sure she’ll be able to do it to everyone else as well.”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, but it didn’t escape my notice that the hot guy looked just as surprised as I was. Before either of us could say anything, the man turned to me again.
“I have a proposal for you, dear,” he said, peering at me through clear but serious blue eyes. “Come to an interview tomorrow. It’s to be the face of the new Killen perfume ad campaign. I think you’d be perfect.”
Killen perfume? My heart skipped several beats, even if I knew there was no way I’d take him up on it. Killen perfumes were right up there with the best and most famous names of them all. The Killen Cosmetics company had been in the same family for generations and their name had become synonymous with timeless, classic, luxurious products.
There was no way that I, of all people, embodied any one of those things. Nor was I even close to being a sweetheart—regardless of how well I was pretending today.
“Thank you, sir.” I smiled again and considered curtsying before I left their table. “That’s a lovely offer, but I’m afraid I must decline.”
Ducking away and turning before he could respond, I hurried back to the kitchen and giggled as I told Marlee what had just happened. Her eyes grew wider and wider. Then she nearly choked on her own spit when I told her which company the offer had supposedly been from.
“Killen?” she whisper-yelled. “That’s huge. Why aren’t you out there licking his butt, or any other part he might want licked, for that opportunity?”
“Please.” I scoffed. “He wasn’t being serious. If Killen really was looking for the face of a new campaign, I’m pretty sure they’d be searching among supermodels and celebrities. Not in small-town restaurants.”
“Just because you’re not taking this seriously doesn’t mean he wasn’t.” She stuck her head out around me to be able to see their table. “Besides, he looks like a rich guy. It’s the suit and the hands. You can always tell by the suit and the hands. He really could be from Killen and that guy with him might be the male model for the campaign.”
“If there was any way I could spend the next few weeks or months with my hands on him, I’d take it,” I rolled my eyes, “but there’s no way. Shame. I’m sure that man thinks that he’s really looking for someone for a campaign. He certainly seems to believe it, but there’s got to be something wrong with him.”
She made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat before shrugging. “Well, whoever those men are, it seems like your brother knows them.”
Just as she said it, loud noises from the restaurant drew my attention. Marlee and I both took a few steps closer to the edge of the kitchen to give ourselves a better chance at overhearing what they were saying.
It really did seem like Rick knew the hot one. The guy stood when Rick approached their table, embracing him in one of those back-thumping, painful-looking man hugs that were either a sign of intimidation or affection. In this instance, it sure seemed like it was affection.
“Insane Dane,” my brother’s voice drifted over to me. “I can’t believe it, man. What are you doing here? I was sure you’d forgotten we have roads into this town.”
Insane Dane? The nickname made my heart skip a beat. Dane Ashton Oliver had been Rick’s best friend back in high school. Since he’d been my older brother’s best friend, I’d developed the obligatory crush on him shortly after discovering boys didn’t have cooties.
I hadn’t seen the guy since they’d graduated. They were thirty-one now, but I could suddenly see how the hot guy who’d been sitting with the older man could’ve been Dane. The similarities were certainly there, even if all the living I’d done between high school and now never would’ve had me guessing it was him.
Dane’s hair had been a lot more golden blond than this