His gaze singed hers. “Too bad that doesn’t go both ways.”
She shook her head. “It does, I swear it. This is just…different.”
The furrow in his brow deepened. “Someone’s done a number on you, Bailey.”
How about her life? Did that count?
He made a rough sound in his throat. “We have ten minutes. We should go set up.”
She nodded and found her notes.
* * *
If Jared had expected Bailey to be shaky and off her game in the presentation, he was proven wrong. Something switched on in her brain when she walked into that room. Her survival instincts, he figured. She plowed through her slides with a steely determination and enthusiasm that made everyone at the table catch the spirit and engage. He watched that sharp brain of hers ignite, gather momentum as she fed off the feedback she was getting from the table and push her ideas to an even higher creative level. Not once did she look at Alexander, except to answer his pointed and often challenging questions.
His own strategies had been solid, but they had been lacking the marketing savvy Bailey possessed. Together they made a formidable team.
Don’t fight the exodus from retail, she was counseling now, pointing at the screen. Touch consumers where they work and play, show them what they are missing in a lifestyle setting like a yoga studio that drives it home for them, then sell to them on the spot with the kiosks.
“Intriguing,” Alexander conceded, “if a bit sacrilegious to a retailer like me. You’re asking us to focus our marketing budget outside of the stores?”
“Some of it, yes,” Bailey said, nodding. “It’s a reality that people are moving away from brick-and-mortar retail to the online space. You need to get ahead of the trend now.”
Alexander got to his feet and started pacing the room, a technique Jared figured he used to intimidate. “Yoga is niche, however. How is this really going to impact our bottom line?”
“You replicate it.” Bailey flipped to her next slide. “You train demo staff, send them not just to yoga studios, but to running centers, health and wellness clinics, gyms… You seed the instructors first, make them fall in love with the product, and then you capture their students.”
Alexander didn’t look convinced. Bailey plunged on, undeterred. When she’d finished the last of the slides and Jared had closed with a “why Stone Industries” recap, they wrapped the presentation.
Davide looked at his son. “What do you think?”
“I like it,” Alexander said, nodding. “I think the direct-to-consumer ideas are the strongest, they fit with our strategy, our target markets, but I am skeptical they can be rolled out on a large scale. And,” he added, dropping a file folder on the table in front of Jared, “I am worried from this latest consumer research that you’ve alienated the target female consumer with your manifesto. You’ve dropped ten points in intent to buy with females since it happened.”
Jared eyed the file in disbelief. “They’ll be back up by next week. This is a flash in the pan.” And you know it.
“Perhaps.” Gagnon lifted a brow. “But the fact remains, the female demographic is our most important to capture right now. We can’t afford to partner with a company that’s alienated the market segment.”
“It won’t last,” Jared repeated on a low growl.
“Likely not,” Alexander agreed. “Your ideas are creative and sound. But I’m afraid I’m going to need market research to buy into them. So we’re not all having a little enthusiasm party here that isn’t based on reality.”
Jared folded his hands in front of him, struggling to control his anger. “That will take time.” He had a board meeting in two weeks he needed this deal signed, sealed and delivered for if he wanted to maintain control of his company.
Alexander shrugged. “We’d like you to repitch next week in Paris.” He lifted a brow. “You’re a busy man. If you have other engagements, send Bailey back to Paris with me. I can weigh in with what I know works and we can chew away at it.”
Bailey turned gray. Jared’s blood heated to a dangerous level. So this was Alexander’s game? Taking care of unfinished business with Bailey? Whatever that was…
He looked at Davide but the Frenchman’s expression was one of deference to his son. And Jared had nothing to work with but a botched attempt at humor instigated by a slightly wounded heart and a massive complication between his CMO and Maison’s soon-to-be CEO.
He gathered the papers in front of him together with a viciously efficient movement, refusing to let the fury simmering in his veins find an outlet. “That’s very kind of you. But I have a friend with a villa on the outskirts of Nice. Bailey and I will regroup there, flesh the ideas out, and we’ll present in Paris.”
“I should add,” Davide interjected, “that Alexander has indicated he’d like to hear from Gehrig Electronics as well.”
Jared felt the earth tilt beneath his feet. “You’re adding another company to the mix?”
Davide nodded. “We feel we need to do due diligence given some product launches we’ve been made aware of.”
Due diligence. Jared felt the fumes rise off him. Gehrig hadn’t been a factor until Alexander Gagnon arrived on the scene. His gaze flickered to Davide’s son, sitting with his elbow on the table, jaw resting in his palm as he watched Jared with the intense interest of a hawk studying its prey. Davide had been right. His son liked to win. Except this had nothing to do with business and everything to do with Bailey.
Frustration clawed at him like a knife. He needed to be back in the States massaging an antsy board. But unless he wanted to muddy the waters with everything he didn’t know, make accusations he wasn’t sure of, he had no choice but to play along.
He forced what he was sure was a poor representation of a smile to his lips and stood up. “We totally understand. No problem, gentlemen. Let the best candidate win.”
They answered a few more questions from the marketing team and made arrangements to pitch in Paris the week after. Then he and Bailey left to pack.
She stopped him outside their rooms, her hand on his arm, her face devoid of color. “I’m so sorry, Jared. This is my fault. I should have taken myself out of the deal.”
He lifted his head. “You heard his reasons. He thinks I’ve alienated the female demographic.”
“Yes, but—” She hesitated, worrying her lip between her teeth.
“He’s playing games, yes,” he growled. “We will talk more in Nice. Much more, Bailey. But if he wants to make this personal? Let him. I don’t intend to lose.”
CHAPTER SIX
BY DAY THREE in Nice, Jared was feeling good about the progress they’d made on the presentation. They were holed up in a villa in the hills overlooking the sea owned by one of his friends, where the outside world was a distant distraction and pretty much everything else could wait.
Bailey had been in charge of scaling the creative ideas and adding in the market research data Alexander had requested. Which had, thankfully, proved them extremely viable. Jared concentrated on countering the intent-to-purchase consumer data Alexander had magically come up with, while also carrying out a full analysis of their competition, Gehrig Electronics, to uncover weak spots they could exploit. Unfortunately, Gehrig was a strong prospect with a rich technological heritage, a company going through a hot streak. And consumers loved buzz.
He tossed his pen down on Hans’s desk. They would beat Gehrig, because although the other manufacturer had good products coming, he had better ones. Inspired ones that would set the world on fire. And although he’d had a whole strategic plan in place to unveil those products to the world, maybe it was time to let the cat out of the bag.
He got up and walked over to the window that overlooked the terrace. Bailey was sitting in a lounge chair in the sunshine, bent over her computer, hard at work as she had been for the past three fifteen-hour days. Invaluable to him. And his ticking time bomb all in one beautiful package.
She wasn’t talking. She refused to address Alexander when he brought him up. It was a problem.
His mobile pealed from the corner of the desk. He walked over and retrieved it. Sam Walters. Great.
“Sam.” He cradled the phone to his ear as he sat down and swung his feet up onto the desk.
“You didn’t call. What’s going on with Maison? I’m getting all sorts of questions I can’t answer.”
Join the crowd. His jaw came together with a resounding crunch. “Davide’s passed the decision to his son, Alexander, who will become CEO next year. Alexander has decided he needs to do due diligence and give Gehrig Electronics a shot at the partnership. We’re revamping the presentation to pitch against them next week.”
“Gehrig? I thought this was a one-horse race?”
“Not anymore. Apparently my manifesto has dropped our brand rating with female consumers.”
There was a long pause. Jared sighed. “Don’t say it, Sam.”
“You know I have to…the next time you get inspired to philosophize, Jared…don’t.”
His lips twisted. “I would heartily agree with you, but that horse is out of the gate. Now we have to win.”