her desk and crossed one leg over the other, showing a peek of her ankle and the five-inch red stilettos. “Please have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thank you.” I forced a polite smile and took a seat in front of her desk.
She remained where she was and continued to smile at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. I was no stranger to some clients hitting on me, but this time it caused a boulder to drop into my gut. When it came to who had the upper hand in this case, it was her.
And she knew it.
“Shall we get started, then?” I asked, steering the discussion in the right direction.
“Of course.” Finally, she walked back around and sat at her desk. “I should have you know, I’m meeting with another agency tomorrow morning. Whatever you have to say, it better be good, Mr. Sawyer.”
“That’s the plan, Mrs. Parks.”
“Ms.” she said. “I’m divorced.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Oh, I’m not. The bastard had it coming. Now. Show me why I should hire your agency. What do you have that no one else does?”
“It’s all right here,” I said, handing over the pages that outlined our plan before pulling out my laptop and opening it up to the PowerPoint Reed had helped me put together.
“I’m a busy woman, Mr. Sawyer,” Vivian said, tossing the pages onto her desk without even looking at them. “Tell me why you’re the best. I don’t want to read pages and pages of statistics and other nonsense.”
“Very well.” Damn, she was even tougher than I suspected. “We’re the best because we care about the client. Each plan is specifically tailored to fit each client’s needs. We’ve gone beyond expectations of profit and audience reach. If you give me just a moment of your time to show you the plans we have for your resort, I know you won’t regret it.”
Vivian tapped her long nails on the top of the desk, saying nothing for several moments. “You have my attention. Go on.”
I clicked to the first slide of the PowerPoint. “It begins with this…”
Chapter Five
Reed
An hour later, my ass started to go numb from sitting in the same spot for so long, so I stood and walked around the lobby.
Jamie sat at the counter scrolling on her phone, then snapped a few duck-lipped selfies.
“Do you like working here?” I asked.
“I don’t work here,” she said, not nearly as friendly as she’d been when greeting us earlier. “And no, I hate it.”
“Oh. That’s… unfortunate.”
A door opened from down the hall.
“Thank you so much for your time and consideration, Ms. Parks,” I heard Daniel say.
I quickly rushed back over to the plushy chair and popped a squat, pretending like I’d been there the whole time. I didn’t want them to think I’d been wandering around like a child who couldn’t sit still. They came around the corner seconds later.
A stab of jealousy touched my chest at seeing the beautiful blonde standing awfully close to my boss, smiling at him like he was a sexy plaything.
“I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow,” Blonde Hussy said, lightly touching his arm. “I appreciate you coming all this way.”
I shook my head at my own ridiculousness. I had no claim over Daniel Sawyer. But it made me wonder what exactly had gone on in that damn office.
“I look forward to your answer,” Daniel said before pressing his lips together in a tight smile. He then shook her hand and walked over to me. “Let’s go. The snow’s picking up.”
I hadn’t paid much attention to what was happening outside for the past hour, but he was right. Big flakes fell from the sky, adding to the snow already covering every inch of the grass and concrete.
My heart jolted when I felt his hand at my lower back as he guided me to the exit. It took away all worries about the weather. I was sure we could make things nice and steamy if it got too cold.
I’m such a slut.
“I’ll check the roads to see if we’re good to drive,” I said, pulling out my phone once we were in my car. The weather report mentioned a few slick areas, but it was nothing I hadn’t driven through before. “It says the salt trucks have already been out on the roads, so if we’re careful, we should be good.”
“Excellent.” Daniel dropped his gaze to his phone as he opened his email and responded to one. A strand of his dark