Rock my world - By Cindi Myers Page 0,29

the store was closed. She said the show was promoting promiscuity.”

“Promiscuity isn’t something you have to promote,” Adam said. “It’s one of those things that sells itself.”

Carl ignored him. “From what I gather, the powers-that-be weren’t too upset about it. Then somebody came across a photo of Erica someone posted on a city Web site.”

“A photo of me?” She raised up on her knees. “What was wrong with the photograph?”

“Apparently someone at corporate thinks the outfit you’re wearing is too suggestive.”

She looked down at the see-through harem pants and cropped top. Of course this getup was suggestive. That was the whole point.

“So she’ll put on some different clothes and we’ll keep Nick off the air until this is done,” Adam said.

Carl shook his head. “They say to pull the whole thing. We’ve got thirteen thousand dollars for the shelter, Max has his publicity. It’s time to call it quits.”

“But we can’t do that,” Erica said. “We have to finish what we’ve started. Besides, if we quit now, we won’t get the ten thousand Max promised.”

“Have you talked to Max about this?” Adam said. “What does he say?”

“I haven’t talked to him, but I know he won’t like it. I can’t say as I blame him. We advertised we’d be here for seventy-five hours.”

“If he’s upset about us quitting early, he for sure won’t make the donation,” Erica said.

“If he’s mad enough, he might pull his ads,” Adam said.

“I’ll talk him out of that.” Carl rubbed the back of his neck and nodded toward the bed. “You two get dressed. Everybody else, pack up.”

“Carl, no.” Erica jumped out of bed and ran after him. “You heard the Salvation Army captain who was here this morning. That ten thousand dollars means a lot to them.”

“My job means a lot to me.”

“Advertisers mean a lot, too,” Adam said. “Tell corporate Mattress Max threatened to sue you for backing out of an agreement. Tell them he’s one of our biggest advertisers. They wouldn’t want to lose all that money, I know.”

“It’s advertisers they’re worried about. Ones besides Mattress Max.”

“Tell them we’ll tone it down,” Erica said. “I’ll wear something less revealing. And no more off-color remarks.”

“It’s only one more night and morning,” Adam said. “If we quit early, it would only stir up more controversy and rumors. I’m sure corporate doesn’t want that.”

“All right.” He frowned at Erica. “You get some clothes on. And I don’t want even one little slipup from either one of you. We’ve got to come out of this looking good.”

“We will, I promise.” She ran back to the bed and grabbed up her duffel. So she wasn’t thrilled about returning to her flannel pjs. And their new vigilance probably meant the chances of any more hanky-panky with Adam—at least for the rest of their stay at the furniture gallery—was out of the question.

But getting the money for the shelter was important, and so was proving she could do a good job. If she and Adam had to adopt a hands-off policy, so be it. At least they could spend the night talking. And when this gig was over, they could expand on what they’d started last night. The mattress at her apartment wasn’t as deluxe as this one, but by the time they were naked again, alone, she doubted Adam would have any objections.

7

THE RAIN CONTINUED to pour into the evening. Even inside the showroom, Erica could hear the steady rumble of thunder and see the occasional flash of lightning. She was almost glad for her flannel pajamas by the time the security guard locked the front door and dimmed the showroom lights. The bad weather had put a definite chill in the air. Or maybe it was their reprimand from corporate. Despite the positive spin she’d put on the news earlier, now that she’d had a few hours to think about it, the more her anger and hurt grew.

“I can’t believe they were worried about a few suggestive comments and a perfectly acceptable pair of pajamas,” she said.

“That’s the climate these days.” Adam tucked the covers across his lap. “Advertisers are skittish. It’s easy to push the envelope too far and they start pulling away.”

“It just seems so unfair—getting in such a snit about such little things.”

“They have to draw the line somewhere.” He settled back against a stack of pillows. “And be honest. Didn’t you tell me when you first heard about this stunt, you thought it was sleazy?”

She nodded. “KROK is sort of known for its