At Your Service - A.C. Arthur Page 0,5
again, he was staring at her ass.
This really was a totally different feeling for Nina. Back in York there’d been no suave and debonair businessman who could make her feel desired and wanted—on a business and a personal front. Not that she’d craved this type of attention; relationships weren’t on her radar because they could abruptly leave a trail of pain that lingered. No, she was just fine focusing on work and her family. But, as strange as these new physical reactions were, they were exhilarating, too.
“How do you plan to enjoy the city?” he asked when they stood in front of a bank of elevators. “Catch a Broadway play? Visit the museums? Go shopping?”
“I actually don’t have a plan, but all of your suggestions sound fun. It’s almost five now, so I don’t have much time, but once I get to the hotel I’ll figure it out.”
“Which hotel are you staying at?”
“The Hilton Midtown.” She was giving him a ton of information that at any other time may have been considered unsafe. There was no explanation for why she didn’t think that was the case now.
“Not too far from here,” he said with another nod.
What was he thinking?
He’d tucked her business card into his inside jacket pocket and still stood abnormally close to her for someone she’d just met.
The elevator dinged and the door opened. Nina stepped into the car and leaned to the side to push the lobby button. She gave him another smile before saying, “Thanks again for your time. I hope to hear from you soon about the project.”
His response was a broader smile. “Oh, you’ll definitely be hearing from me very soon.”
* * *
“You want to do what?”
Major ignored the shock lacing RJ’s tone and stared directly at Desta Henner, the marketing director who was working closely with Maurice, the company’s public relations manager, and his team. Desta stared back at Major with expressive dark brown eyes, arms crossed and resting on her desk.
“Let me get this straight. You’re suggesting we bring this woman, whom we haven’t decided to do other business with, into a meeting regarding a secret marketing strategy and use her as your fake fiancée?” Desta raised a perfectly arched brow in what was known as her signature questioning glare.
Major had seen that look many times before in the five years Desta had worked for RGF. He pushed on regardless.
“She’s perfect,” he said, feeling those words take on a very different meaning inside his head than what he’d meant to convey to everyone seated in the room. He cleared his throat. “A fresh face. She’s not a model, which was your idea. And neither is she an actress, my first idea. Instead, she’s a woman from York, Pennsylvania, that no one in the fashion industry has ever seen before. That makes her just like every other woman in the world, precisely who the Golden Bride Collection was created for. A career-focused woman earning a paycheck she hopes can cover the amount of her dream wedding gown.”
“And she’s never been seen with Major before,” Maurice chimed in.
Major shot a quick look in his brother’s direction but held back the “Thanks for your support.”
Desta immediately glanced in Maurice’s direction, as well. “Pot calling the kettle...” she quipped with a half grin. “But I think I see where you’re going with this. If we’re going to have Major plan a fake wedding so we can generate buzz and promote the Golden Bride Collection, using a fresh face as his fake fiancée does make sense.”
“What he’s not saying is that she’s created an app she wants us to sign a contract to work with,” RJ said.
Major had thought about that on the elevator ride up to Desta’s office. The immediate physical draw he’d felt toward Nina still puzzled him. As a thirty-three-year-old man with a sizable bank account and high visibility in the fashion industry, Major had been on his share of dates and had had a number of lovers. None of them had ever hit him like a bulldozer the second they’d bent over in a tight skirt. But what had really impressed him about the woman was the way she’d confidently stood in that conference room and made a slam dunk presentation just minutes after touching his hard dick.
Desta sat back in her chair, rubbing a finger over her chin. “You want to make a bargain with her that concerns her app and this marketing plan, don’t you?”
Major slipped both hands into the front