She likely thought I was some sort of rich asshole. I had to make her see that there was a lot more to me than protecting my company and my little brother.
I wanted to protect Jenna from anything and everything. I wanted to do something to lower her tight shoulders, to help her relax around me. More than anything, I needed to know if those lips tasted as delicious as they looked.
3
_____
Jenna
Some ladies lunch in fancy restaurants, sipping wine and nibbling on twenty-dollar salads. Since my friends and I were often dragged to company luncheons, we were sick of fancy food. We were the chicks who met in the corner of our local diner for coffee and burgers.
As I walked into Riverview Restaurant, a gloriously preserved bit of almost-tacky history, my friends were already seated in the big corner booth.
The diner had the perfect retro atmosphere without being run down. Teal vinyl seats, round steel-edged tables, and little silk flower arrangements completed the late fifties decor. The servers wore blue and white dresses, and loved giving the regulars a bit of sass with their orders.
Brynn was absentmindedly running her hand through her long auburn hair while she stared intensely at the menu, mouthing the words to the obscure fifties song on the jukebox. Corina looked up and waved.
“Hey! We beat you here for a change,” Corina smiled.
Sliding in beside her, I grinned at both of them, unable to hide my excitement. We’d gone to college together, and been each other’s mentors and sounding boards for at least three years now. Since we were all quiet bookworm types, on the edge of nerdy, we built each other up every chance we had.
They were the only people I could share my big news with.
“Get this – I have my first solo account, and it’s a big one.”
“Let me guess,” Brynn said, “The local bookstore is having a sale, and you have to convince the city that paper books are actually cool again?”
I was slightly surprised that Corina didn’t take her ever-present hardcover from her shoulder bag and smack Brynn with it. The bright blue clips sparkled in her glossy black hair as she shook her head in disgust.
“I met him yesterday,” I continued. “A guy who runs a small but powerful tech company. The details are still confidential, but I need to make him likable and seem like an insider in just six days.”
“That’s a bit nuts,” Brynn said. “
Is it just awareness? Are you going to splatter his face on billboards?”
“If you need a huge graffiti mural instead, I know a guy,” Corina laughed.
“It’s more than that.” I paused while our server poured me a coffee . “Thanks, Anna.” As soon as she was out of earshot, I continued. “He’s sort of an asshole. At least, he comes across that way a bit. Or maybe he just rubs me the wrong way.”
“Is it partially that you’re naturally quiet, and if he’s a businessman, he’s likely a lot louder?” Corina asked thoughtfully.
“No, I don’t think so.”
Brynn was staring at me very strangely. “Say his name out loud, slowly.”
“Andrew Harper.”
She turned to Corina. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah. She likes him. A lot.”
My eyes clamped shut. Of course they could see right through me. After two years studying public relations and communications together in college, with the late nights, energy drink highs, and crushing stress of last-minute projects, these two could read me like a book.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s the most beautiful, sexy man I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s a client, and nothing can happen, and he wouldn’t want that anyway.”
Opening my eyes, I looked at Corina, as she laughed quietly. “You’ve already gotten flirty with him, haven’t you?”
“No. You two are terrible people.”