Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
She seemed to think on that for a few moments, her eyes churning. I would’ve drained half my bank account to know exactly what was going on in there, but I knew better than to push her. She would tell me if she needed more assurance when it came to us, or anything at all. I knew that.
Finally, the smallest smile shaped her lips. “Sounds like you might need to hire a second assistant.”
My heart immediately rebelled at the idea, but the logical side of my brain told me she was right. I needed help in the areas Brynn hadn’t been able to cover, but the idea of hiring someone new…it just didn’t feel right. It had been Brynn and me against the world since my father died, and she’d been a key ingredient to helping me not only maintain my inherited empire, but expanding it. How could anyone possibly come close to replacing her?
It’s easy. They wouldn’t. But if it would ease her mind, take more off her mental load, I was more than willing to comply.
“I’ll start searching,” I said. “No one will compare to you, but I know you have more demands in your schedule now. I don’t want you overwhelmed.”
She sighed. “The independent woman in me wants to say I can continue handling both,” she said. “But the exhausted woman in me is telling the other to shut the hell up and take the help.”
I laughed, relishing when she joined in. “We’ll figure it all out,” I assured her.
She nodded, something still churning behind her eyes, but her phone alarm rang before I could ask further.
“Time to go,” she said, kissing me quickly before hopping out of bed and hurrying into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, she came out looking like a damn vision, her business attire firmly in place as she slipped into her pumps.
“You’re heading into the firm while I’m gone right?” she asked, grabbing her packed weekend bag.
“Yes,” I said, wrapping the sheet around my waist as I crossed the room. “Seth has some things he wants to go over with me. And I have to go over the focus group responses for the early test campaigns.”
Brynn’s eyes were firmly on my waist, gazing hungrily over the definition of my abdomen. I made a mental note to add in extra workouts, because the appreciation in her eyes was life.
“I’m sorry,” she said, eyes snapping up to mine. “I didn’t hear a word past yes.”
I laughed, leaning down to steal another kiss. “You’re going to be late,” I said when her hands splayed over my chest. “And as much as I would love to make you late, I want to be supportive.”
“You’re perfect,” she crooned. “Reception out there will be spotty at best, but I’ll try and call when I’m all done,” she said, kissing me one last time before heading out.
I took a quick shower, and the damn smile Brynn put on my face remained the entire fifteen minutes.
I didn’t even try to hide it as I walked into the marketing firm. What would be the point? I was the happiest I’d ever been, and was kicking myself for denying my real feelings for Brynn for so many years.
I settled behind the small desk in my office, drawing up the focus group numbers, and my smile immediately fell. I read over the comments, ensuring I read each one at least twice to make sure I came to the same conclusion as the focus group’s leader.
And I was.
Fuck.
The males in the focus group weren’t responding well to Brynn’s campaign. More than half of them responded negatively to it while the other half were indifferent. Shit, that was half of Nike’s demographic. We couldn’t risk that, even if the females in the focus group gave it high ratings.
But the numbers for males were great for Seth’s version of the campaign, giving it the slight edge in overall percentages.
Which meant we’d have to go with Seth’s proposal for the final.
Something twisted in my gut with the thought. Brynn had busted her ass on her proposal, but then again, Seth was part of her staff, part of the entire team. She likely had a hand in his project, but we’d been so busy I wasn’t sure.
You’re thinking like a boyfriend, not a businessman.
Shit, I was. That’s why I felt torn between the two. And Brynn would hate that. She’d always been the one to tell me not to treat her differently. If she saw these numbers and our roles were reversed, she’d do the same thing.
Still, I fired off an S.O.S text to her in the hopes she’d get it and we could have a quick chat about it, but she’d said reception was bad out there, so who knew when she’d get back to me. Time wasn’t on our side with the Nike reps flying in tomorrow morning, Brynn set to fly in only two hours before they arrived. She’d already made plans to come straight from the airport to the office.