across the colleagues she remembered being there. At least a couple would have been all in at Bradley O’Donnell flirting with them, book deal or not. She felt an unexpected need to defend her brethren. “You know that him being good-looking, unmarried, and basically all the best things of the stereotypical All-American man is half of your success. I guarantee the majority of single heterosexual women who have watched your show have had more than G-rated thoughts about your brother.”
Natalie’s face crinkled. “Ew.”
So said the woman pregnant with her fourth child.
Bradley shifted on the couch and cleared his throat. Interesting. Most men would have lapped up her description.
“Moving on, Nat and I would like you—and your team, of course—to do our book. If you’re interested.”
Lacey didn’t know if she was interested or not. Not when she’d got the offer via some bizarre form of reverse honey trap. “I’ll need to talk to Michelle and see what Schnell & Cohen are looking for. Then I’ll take a look at what we’ve already got in the pipeline.”
She assumed she would be in a position to do so. But this all had to be in her favor. Otherwise, she would have returned from the wedding to a box waiting for her at reception. And if she wasn’t about to get handed what she deserved, well, Bradley and Natalie could be her first freelance clients.
Natalie pushed herself up off the couch. “We’re off to meet with Michelle now, so she’ll be calling you straight after that. Name your terms.”
Spoken like someone who didn’t need to worry about whether or not the book made money. Michelle’s position at Schnell & Cohen, on the other hand, would be relying on this book achieving everything she’d promised the pub board when she convinced them to bid a low seven-figure advance.
Bradley also stood. “You’ve never said if you accept my apology.”
“I don’t seem to remember you apologizing. Unless you’re counting your sister saying you owed me one.”
“Touché.” Bradley walked around, so he stood next to where she sat, forcing her to stand so she didn’t have to crane her neck to look up at him. “Well, truth be told, I’m not actually sorry.”
His green eyes had flecks of gold in them. The way they studied her without apology almost made her forget that Meredith and Natalie were mere feet away. Three months ago, he may have had her regretting her no-crossing-professional-boundaries-with-clients rule.
But he wasn’t Victor. He wasn’t the person who had skipped stones with her on a Minnesota lake. He wasn’t the man who had known all she could handle was silence after her sister broke her heart again. He didn’t make her want to close the space between them and see if her head fitted into the crook of his neck like she imagined it did.
She ignored his pointed comment. “It was lovely to meet you, Natalie.”
“You too, Lacey. You’re even better than I imagined.”
“Let me show you out.” Meredith’s patience for niceties had clearly run out, as she ushered Bradley and Natalie out the door in less than ten seconds.
Meredith glanced at her watch as she strode back across the room, diverting past the large desk and picking up a black leather folio. Lacey sat back down on the couch.
“I’m assuming you’ve worked out why you’re here.” Meredith perched the glasses on her nose and unzipped the folio, manicured fingers flipping through the sheath of papers inside.
Time to put all her cards on the table. Go for what she had earned and deserved. “Head of Publicity and PR.” That was the title in the empty box at the top of her group. The one that came with a seat on the US senior management team.
Meredith peered over her glasses at her. “No.”
It took all of Lacey’s strength to keep her posture rigid, her expression neutral. Her mind raced through the ways she could decline whatever more junior position she was about to be offered. She couldn’t afford to burn the bridge, as tempting as it was to make some dramatic exit. If she freelanced, the new company could be a potential client one day.
“Talk to me about the tent in the canoe.”
Lacey stiffened, even though she’d always known it would come back to haunt her in this very process. “There’s not a lot to talk about. I got distracted securing it, I didn’t check it properly. I have no excuse.”
A flicker of a smile passed Meredith’s lips. “You secured that tent just fine, Lacey.”