Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
But I can’t bring myself to seriously consider it.
This burning inside won’t let me.
“What if he hates it?” I go on.
“Then you’ll know you need to find another client,” Anna says. “Either way, you’ll be able to take a positive step in the right direction. Sorry. That sounded like a motivational poster.”
I chuckle. “Maybe we all need a motivational quote from time to time.”
“I think you should send it,” Anna says. “I know you want to, but you might not without me here to…uh, encourage you.”
I smile, taking out my phone, bothered by my trembling hands. Even the thought of Damien has me wanting to yell just to relieve some of the pressure. And that’s after he’s ignored me over the weekend.
Looking down at the long text message saved as a draft, I hold my thumb over the send button.
What if he really does hate it?
I’ve done solid work, especially this morning when my boss was nice enough to allow me to delegate a couple of stat-finding tasks. But that doesn’t mean he’ll like it.
“Dee?”
Taking a breath, I quickly hit send.
I place my phone on the table so quickly it makes a loud noise, then I sit back, no longer interested in my coffee. The caffeine will make my heart pound even more and then cause more sweat to rise on my skin and slide down my forehead.
Dabbing my face with a clean napkin, I grin over at Anna.
“This feels way more difficult than it should.”
“It’s a big deal, Dee. If you land Damien Drake as a client…it could really get the ball rolling with your career.”
“Do you think people will judge me if they know he’s my Dad’s friend?”
Anna makes a tsk noise, waving her hand. “So what if they do? The proof will be in the product. Once you do a great job – which you will – nobody will be able to doubt you. Plus, countless successful people have had a little helping hand here and there. This is an opportunity, anyway, not a handout.”
Her words bolster me.
But then I think about how doing that job will require seeing Damien in person, sooner or later.
I haven’t physically seen him since he returned.
My body thrums at the thought as if getting ready…but getting ready for what?
Just because he’s single, just because we had some banter about our ages which could’ve been him hinting that he doesn’t mind how young I am, doesn’t mean I’ll be able to go all the way and give him what he wants.
I laugh at the thought.
As if I know what Damien wants.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Damien
I sit at my desk, telling myself this is it now, the way our relationship will go forward.
And hell, even relationship is too far – our working arrangement.
There’s nothing romantic between this woman and me, I tell myself as I read through her message.
A smile – or as close as – touches my lips when I read over the start again.
My firm was able to provide some relatively recent market research. Much of my suggestions are based on that.
I think you have three main groups to target with advertising and marketing. You will, of course, have fans of your TV show who will come for the sheer thrill of eating at a Damien Drake restaurant, married women who will persuade their husbands to visit, and single men who will want to impress women by taking them on dates there.
My lips don’t change shape as I scan the text again.
She’s laid out suggestions for how I can help market but has kept them mostly limited to the restaurant so I won’t have to take too much time out of my schedule. She’s created a provisional advertising campaign, including data on who she’ll target.
Social media competitions. Possible viral videos that may garner attention. Suggestions for items on the restaurant’s menu that would make people more likely to return.
We have to be careful with this last one. Your brand is professional, high-quality, luxurious dining. So, we can’t give people reward cards like at Starbucks. But we can create a ‘returning members club’ or something similar that will add to the prestige.
This is all dependent upon the restaurant being busy, which is our main goal.
She writes so well when she’s talking about marketing. It causes great pride to course through me, my lips widening even more, though I know the pride isn’t mine.
Or it shouldn’t be, at least.
She’s a potential business associate. That’s all.
But that doesn’t stop the pride from expanding fiercely or the voice growling through my mind.
She’s going to make an excellent mother.
Standing, I walk over to the office window. I’ve been looking out at the city a lot since we started texting, looking past it toward the burbs.
It would be so easy for me to drive over there to wait until Danielle gets home, then approach her with the lust pulsing within me.