construction on-track, and made sure the show went off without a hitch.
Usually, he spent very little time in the office, which made his appearance today more than a little suspicious.
Was he only here to hassle me?
Maybe.
But I couldn't exactly blame the guy. I'd shoveled quite a bit of shit his way, too, especially last year when he'd come down with a case of love-sickness – a fatal case, as it turned out, considering that he was on the verge of getting married.
Hey, better him than me.
In my office, he was leaning his ass against the same conference table where Mina had made her presentation.
In reply to his question about her level of craziness, I gave a loose shrug. "Eh, hard to say."
He laughed. "What, you don't know?"
It was embarrassing as hell, but my brother had the gist of it. The truth was, Mina had come across as reasonably sane. And her proposal had some merit.
She'd ended her presentation with a list of a hundred Midwestern Festivals that would welcome the sponsorship of Blast Tools.
When I'd pressed her on the issue of commitments, she'd told me that she'd secure them personally if she needed to.
I doubted that.
It was a big project, and although she'd done a decent job of making her case, I couldn't see her doing a hundred times the work for no benefit to herself. Plus, she was thinking too small.
She'd said nothing about TV or social media coverage. And instead of wrapping it up into a larger campaign, she'd mentioned only the festivals.
But me? I was thinking bigger.
When I made no reply, Brody said, "And why'd you walk her down yourself?"
I was still thinking. "Down where?"
"To the lobby," he said. "When I stopped by, that's where Erin said you were." He grinned, "So you're offering escort service now?"
I didn't know what I was doing.
It was a strange sensation. Normally, I knew what I wanted, and how to get it. But with Mina, I knew neither of these things.
It had been a long time since I hadn't been able to figure someone out. This was the third time I'd seen her, and I was starting to wonder if I'd gotten her wrong from the get-go.
As far as her proposal, I'd told her only that I'd give her an answer soon.
When she'd asked how soon, I'd been vague in my reply.
I wasn't giving her the runaround. But I was giving myself time to decide on our level of commitment. As it stood, the campaign wouldn't cost much money, only half a million total.
This amount was only a fraction of what I'd paid for a single thirty-second spot during the last Super Bowl.
If I played my cards right – which I always did – I'd get more bang for my buck with the festival thing.
In reply to Brody's question on why I'd escorted Mina down to the lobby, I said, "Hey, I couldn’t let her run loose, could I?"
"Not if she's crazy," he said. "But you didn't have to walk her out yourself."
He was right.
And yet, I had. In fact, I'd escorted her both ways – in and out. I'd never done this before and hadn't planned on it today.
But I'd done it regardless.
I still wasn't sure why.
What was that about?
When I made no reply, Brody said, "And you never answered the question."
"What question?"
"Scale of one to ten, how crazy?" He chuckled. "C'mon, give it your best shot."
As I considered the question, I wandered to the nearest window and looked out over the city. I did a double-take when I spotted Mina down below.
She was on a narrow side street, maybe five blocks away from our building.
She wasn't facing me. She wasn't facing anyone. But it was definitely her.
I could tell by the hair and the dress – and the fact she was doing something I'd never seen.
Considering that I'd seen pretty much everything, this was truly saying something.
From behind me, Brody said, "C'mon, give me a number."
"Scale of one to ten, huh?" I kept my eyes on Mina. "Eleven."
Chapter 19
Mina
Un-freaking-believable.
I'd left Blast Tools just ten minutes ago – without an answer, by the way – only to discover that I'd accidentally locked my keys in my car.
I knew why, too. I'd been so stupidly nervous that it was a small miracle I hadn't forgotten my own shoes.
And speaking of shoes, it was unfortunate that I'd worn high heels today, because I knew exactly how to get into my car, and the method wasn't heel-friendly.
As I stood on the city curb,