Scandalizing the CEO

“Agreed,” she said.

“Should we shake hands and have a contract drawn up?” he asked. “What?”

“For our dinner. You make it sound like an all-day meeting you’re dreading. I think that dinner with me will be enjoyable.”

He was confident and she remembered his charm only too well. “Do you think so? Can you guarantee it?”

“Indeed I can.”

Her BlackBerry buzzed crazily with text messages and e-mail notifications. She glanced down at the screen. At least three fires demanded her attention. “When and where for dinner?”

She motioned for Davis’s assistant to come over.

“Nine. I’ll pick you up.”

“That’s not necessary. I’d rather drive myself.”

“I’m not sure where I can get a reservation with this late notice. Give me your address,” he said.

She realized that Steven was used to getting his way, which was interesting because she was, too. She thought about digging her heels in on this issue, but time was money and they’d lost enough today waiting for someone to clean up this mess.

“Fine. You can pick me up at my office,” she said, and then rattled off the address.

“See you then,” he said and turned to leave. She watched him walk away, admiring the swagger in his step. He was a fine-looking man from the back, she thought, noticing the way his dress pants cupped his butt when he took a step.

“Are we okay to work?” Joanie asked. Joanie was Ainsley’s age and had been working for Davis for the last ten years. She was slim and tall and her striking features made Ainsley think that Joanie could have been a model. But the other woman preferred to work behind the camera instead of in front of it.

“I believe we are.”

“Great. I’ll go get Jon back into makeup and let Davis know,” Joanie said. “This was about to be one expensive mistake.”

Ainsley needed no reminding. She waved over Danielle Bridges, the editor in charge of this article. Ainsley was here for star management and she was very glad she’d been here today. Danielle was new on their staff and Ainsley had yet to determine if she could hold her own.

“I am so sorry about this. I spoke to the manager several times to confirm the details,” Danielle said.

The other woman had been apologizing all morning. “We can talk about this later. The issue has been resolved and we are going to get some great photos to go with the fabulous article you edited,” Ainsley said. She believed that most people rose to challenges when they felt their superiors believed in them. And she also believed in reprimanding people in private.

“Thanks,” Danielle said.

A minute later a twenty-something girl with stick-straight blond hair walked up to her. “Mr. Devonshire asked that I assist you in whatever you need. I’m Anne.”

“You can work with Joanie.”

Ainsley and Danielle stood off to the side, with Ainsley answering e-mails on her BlackBerry and waiting until she was sure the photo shoot was underway. Then she left the store to go back to her office.

Frederick VonHauser was waiting in her office. He was on her staff but also a trusted friend. Freddie and she had met when they’d both been attending Northwestern. Back then Freddie had been Larry Murphy. But he’d decided that he needed a new name for his new college life and had changed it their junior year.

“Everything settled?”

“Yes. Steven Devonshire was there.”

“No kidding. Did he remember you?”

“Nope. Not even a flicker of recognition. Should I fire Danielle? She didn’t follow up and Davis and Jon stood around for over an hour with nothing to do. It was a complete mess.”

“Darling, I know you too well to let you change the subject. Are you sure he didn’t recognize you?”

“Yes. And that doesn’t matter. I’m having dinner with him later this evening.”

“Ains, you sneaky girl. So you were going to keep that to yourself?”

“I was. Because my underling shouldn’t know every detail of my life.”

“Underling? I prefer esteemed colleague.”

“You are. Now about Danielle…”

“She’s young. And the article she wrote is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. But she’s not going to learn if we don’t push her.”

“She cost me hundreds of thousands today, Freddie. I can’t keep her on.”

He looked as if he wanted to argue but didn’t. She put her pen down and thought about the articles she’d agreed to run in the magazine.

“I need someone who can handle sports stars and royals.”

“For what?”

“A series of articles on the Devonshire heirs and their mothers. I want to showcase all three separately and then I need someone with a connection to Malcolm Devonshire. I want to do a sit-down with all three of his sons and him. I want the angle to be on mothering.”