“I liked her,” Leah said, glancing down at the application of the woman who had just left that was still open on the table in front of us. “Isabella Valenti has my vote to move to the shortlist pile.”
“If she’s got your vote, you know she’s got mine too,” I said, closing the folder before picking it up and putting it on my left. “We made good headway today. There are only about three more applicants we need to get through before we’re done.”
She smiled at me, leaning in to plant a soft kiss on my lips while we were alone. “What did you have in mind for later?”
“I have a surprise for you actually.” I ran my nose along the side of her jaw, breathing her in as I spoke against her skin. “Unless you have other plans?”
“Nah.” I felt her cheeks move when she grinned. Then she pulled back to look into my eyes and brought her hand up to play with the short hairs at the nape of my neck. “I’m all for surprises. Pleasant surprises anyway. Can I have a hint?”
“Not a chance.” I kissed her again, but we broke apart when a knock at the door signaled the next applicant was ready to see us.
Leah liked them all, but Isabella still stood out to her. We had one more day in Italy, but I was pretty sure we’d found our girl. Just like Jefferson, Leah had a real feel for casting the right people. If she wanted Isabella, then Isabella it would be.
She was the one who would be leading this team of models. Ultimately, they needed to form a cohesive unit but one that could operate independently when the women were in their own countries. Leah and Jefferson both felt that it could be done with the right people, and they were both quite confident that we were on track to find those people.
With the Beautiful Moments campaign at the top of the list of priorities at Killen at the moment, I was just happy I would still be able to be hands-on with it. Jefferson had handed the reins over to me, which meant I was in charge of the campaign as well.
Since this campaign wasn’t the only thing happening at the company, there had been a few days where I’d been uncertain if I’d be able to keep traveling to find the other models. In the end though, Jefferson himself had insisted that I was part of the search.
Below me in the hierarchy of the company, he’d built up a small team of people he trusted to hold down the fort whenever we hadn’t been there. While I still had to replace myself in said hierarchy, he’d told me to trust the people that were already in place.
I’d known about them, of course. In fact, I’d even helped with the process of putting them together, but it was strange to think they were reporting to me now. Strange, but true.
The handover process from Jefferson to me was going well, though. Better than I’d hoped. The announcement had been made, and while people were curious about why he was retiring, there was a lot of support for both of us out there. All things considered, everything was actually progressing rather smoothly.
The same could be said for my relationship with Leah. There had been one phone call with Rick after she’d spoken to him about us that had left me wondering if I would ever get through being with her with my balls intact, but after he’d made the obligatory threats, he’d said he was happy for us.
It turned out that Rick really did only want his sister to be happy. Since she’d told him that I made her happy, he was okay with us being together. Apparently, while he’d said he refused to think about and never wanted to hear about certain aspects of our relationship, he was also glad he didn’t need to get to know “some new douche.”
Like Jefferson, Rick seemed to think we were going to make it in the long run. I was starting to believe it too. Tonight, however, I planned on taking the first real step to see whether it could be true.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t even that nervous about it. I had everything all set up back at our hotel and I needed to tell her what I needed to tell her. If she didn’t feel the same way, then