grew up in Minnesota, in a tiny town called Small Harbor.” Let him imagine a Natalie-style Craftsman with a big wide open porch and iced tea with the neighbors. “You’re looking at Lake County’s junior target shooting champion of 2005.”
“Impressive.” He clinked his champagne glass to hers. “Are your family still there?”
“They are. My parents and older sister and her family. Two nieces and a nephew.”
“Do you see them often?”
“I was just there last week.” True. She didn’t lie. Not even for big contracts.
“Do you miss it? Small town life?”
“I miss not seeing my nieces and nephew grow up.” A pang traveled down her spine. Was her sister ever going to forgive her? Let her be part of the kids’ lives beyond Christmas and birthday presents and the occasional photo?
“Maybe we could work Small Harbor, Minnesota, in our book tour schedule.” His hand landed on her arm and lingered there for a second.
“Maybe.” She added a lilt to her voice, so it sounded receptive, but not quite flirtatious. Ninety percent of the people in her hometown lived within a stone’s throw of the poverty line. An appearance from people like Brad and Natalie would be odder than a Presidential visit. The people of Small Harbor didn’t buy thirty dollar glossy hardcover coffee table books for coffee tables they didn’t own.
“Michelle is talking about a big nationwide book tour. Possibly a bus with our faces plastered along the sides of it. What do you think of that?”
“We’d want to take careful stock of all your obligations when deciding a release date. Especially the filming ones for your show. And Natalie’s family obligations. A nationwide bus tour is a huge time commitment.” Brad and Natalie might be two of the few people left with the crowd-pulling power to make it profitable.
“So, if you were our publicist, we’d spend quite a lot of time together in close quarters.” His hand ran down her arm, and a seeing-eye dog couldn’t have missed the way his gaze dropped to her lips, then lower.
She smothered a sigh. Dang it, Bradley O’Donnell was a creep. And she usually had an excellent radar for picking them. She kept her smile fixed firmly on her face. This was nothing she hadn’t dealt with before. She’d dealt with far worse and managed to both put them in their place and land the pitch. “Unfortunately, my commitments to other authors would mean I wouldn’t be able to travel on the bus with you. That would be one of my team. I’d meet you at strategic locations and events.” A male member of her team. She made a mental note.
Something in Brad’s gaze shifted, though his arm didn’t. “This book is a big deal for us. It will be important to Natalie and me that the core members of our team are with us most of the time. They need to be just as committed to its success as we are.”
Lacey stilled, her mind sifting through a range of possibilities and calculating her next move. She had to keep Brad on the line to get to Natalie. If she could get to Natalie, she had no doubt she could sell her team.
“Langham and Co’s strength is in our publicity team. While I would be the lead, of course, a book this big with its extensive publicity needs will need at least three people on the team. And I promise you, I’m far more valuable to your efforts in the flight deck, not on the tour bus.”
Something in his gaze glinted. “Natalie and I are very good at deciding where people are the most valuable to us. It’s one of the reasons for our success.”
Keep him on the line, Lacey. All you have to do is keep him on the line so you can get to Natalie. Land this account and Meredith will have to put you in the executive suite. But nothing came out of her mouth.
Brad gazed at her, a smile tilting his lips. “I’ve had a look at your portfolio of clients. You have some very impressive people there. Some of them are acquaintances of mine. They were highly complimentary regarding your services.” His voice lingered on the last word, and this time there was no possible way of mistaking his meaning.
Lacey’s hand gripped her glass. Either he was telling her a bald-faced lie, or one of her previous clients had fed him one. She hadn’t made the mistake of getting involved with a client in over eight years.