The Weekend Proposition - Ella Jade Page 0,44
You’re right.” She hugged her mom. “I agreed to his deal. I shouldn’t have gotten offended when he paid me.”
“Explain to him how you felt. Be honest with him.”
“I will.”
“How much money are we talking?” her mom asked. “Out of curiosity.”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“Holy shit!”
“I know.” She laughed. “The man is crazy and knows how to get what he wants.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine that much money.”
“I can’t wait to tell you all about the wedding. It was unbelievable.” She pulled some clothes out of her closet. “I need to get showered and head over to the agency.”
“You do what your heart tells you. If the two of you are meant to have a future, things will work out.”
“I hope so.” She headed for the bathroom. “I had lobster.”
“How was it?”
“Good, but not as delicious as the champagne.” She hoped she had a chance to taste that again. “That was to die for.”
Chapter 13
“Ava’s gone too far.” Spencer threw the tabloid onto the conference room table. “You better get her under control, Pierce.”
His grandfather shook his head as he quoted from the article. “What’s to become of the future of Cannon and Carrington now that Spencer has cheated on his fiancée, Ava Carrington?”
“They were never engaged,” Tyler said. “Spencer didn’t cheat on Ava. They were broken up.”
“Pierce,” his grandfather said. “This is absurd.”
“I’m sorry,” Pierce said. “I never thought she’d go this low. I don’t know what’s gotten into my granddaughter, but I can assure you she’ll be dealt with.”
“I don’t care what this rag reports,” Spencer said. “I’m used to the media. Coda isn’t.” Spencer rubbed his temples. If he’d never taken Coda to Connecticut none of this would be happening right now. But if he had never approached her, he would have missed out on the best weekend of his life.
“This will die down,” his grandfather said. “Coda is tough. She’ll be fine.”
“Right now we have ten minutes before the client gets here,” Pierce said.
“I don’t give a shit about the client.” Spencer banged his fist on the table. “I have more important things to deal with.”
“I’m sure Coda will understand,” his grandfather said. “You’ll call her and explain it to her after this meeting.”
“No,” Spencer said. “I’m going to Brooklyn right now and apologizing to Coda on behalf of my delusional ex-nightmare.” Hopefully Dakota hadn’t seen the article. It was still early enough that she could still be at home.
“You can get in touch with Coda?” Vince asked as he entered the conference room with a stack of sketches. “I need to talk to you about her.”
“What are those?” Pierce asked.
“The new logos but I need the artist to sign off. I can’t get in touch with her and up until a few minutes ago, I didn’t know you could either, Spencer.”
“What are you talking about?” Spencer said as he flipped through the artwork. “These are spectacular.”
“Are they from the new artist you mentioned?” Tyler asked. “When did we contract a freelance job?”
“What new artist?” Spencer continued to look at the designs. They were just as Coda had described. These were her idea. “Who did these?”
“Coda,” Vince said. “I’ve been working with her in the evenings. She has a knack for logos. She takes the client’s direction and does exactly what they want.”
“Why is she here in the evenings?” his grandfather asked.
“She cleans the office,” Spencer said. “That’s how I met her.”
“Really.” The old man grinned. “She was resourceful enough to come in at the bottom level. Very impressive.”
Spencer should have known Jack Cannon would appreciate Coda’s tactics. She was a go-getter. Exactly the kind of employee he sought out.
“Why didn’t you present these designs before today?” Pierce asked.
“In all of our early meetings, Tyler said no to simplicity. We said we wanted a flashier campaign,” Vince offered. “Coda designed these after we had agreed to move forward on what we had discussed as a team. She was just playing with the design. We used these logos so I could teach her a new computer program.”
“I wouldn’t have made that call if I had seen these,” Tyler said. “Huh, Coda?” He rubbed his jaw. “Did you call her?”
“I’ve tried all morning,” Vince said. “It wasn’t until I saw that horrible article in that rancid paper did I realize that you even knew her, Spencer.”
“Are you calling her from the main number?” Spencer asked.
“Yeah, but now I know why she might not be picking up.” He glanced at