Turn Me On (Man of the Month 7)

"Pleasure to meet you," Derek said, as they shook hands. "Like Amanda said, I appreciate you taking the time."

"Really not a problem. I've been refinishing a chest of drawers behind the office, so sorry about the totally unprofessional attire."

"Well, it is Saturday," Derek pointed out.

"True, but my business is still pretty new, and I'm always looking for clients, whenever they pop up. Or potential clients," she added with a grin. "And I'll always take the time to help a friend. So Amanda said that you're one of her real estate clients, and you have a problem with a commercial deal?"

Derek shot Amanda a quick glance before looking back at Brooke. "That's right."

Amanda exhaled. She'd made that client bit up on the fly. Just because it wasn't anyone's business, even a friend's, who she was dating.

Or, rather, sleeping with. They weren't dating. There was a difference, after all.

She realized with a start that Brooke was peering at her. "I'm sorry. What?"

"I said to come on over to the table. I've got some ideas."

The small office was dominated by a long oak table with a computer at one end, a huge monitor mounted on the wall above it, and a mishmash of blueprints, sample books, and brochures scattered over the tabletop.

"I did a little poking around since you called," Brooke said. "Take a look." She sat in front of her computer, but pointed them to the mounted screen. "I just put this setup in. Cool, huh?"

Amanda had to agree. The monitor flashed on and Amanda and Derek saw a photograph of the motel. "Since I didn't have any of your sketches," she told Derek, "I went a little wild."

The next slide showed the same motel, but cleaned up and modernized though still keeping the retro quality. "Quick and dirty," Brooke said, though Amanda thought it looked pristine and perfect.

"And I found a few images of the interior online. Here ... and here..." She tapped a few more keys and the same before and after shots came up of the lobby and a guest room.

"I didn't have time to do any mockups for the landscaping, but I found a property that has what I think would work great." The image flashed on screen. "And I also found a company that specializes in copying old signage. That way you can keep the look of the old sign and update it with the Winston logo."

She sat back. "So that's pretty much all I had time to do, but--"

Amanda couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out.

"What?"

"We called you barely thirty minutes ago."

A slight blush crept up Brooke's cheeks. "Well, I was intrigued. Once I got going, I couldn't stop."

"It's great," Amanda assured her. "Right?"

Derek nodded, looking a little shell-shocked. "More than great. It's incredible. I'd like to hire you to come with me to the meeting. Once I get it set up, maybe we could put together a video proposal."

"Use some morphing software to show the transformation? Yeah, that sounds great."

They exchanged numbers and made plans to be in touch, and Amanda sat back feeling more than a little smug.

"What?" Derek said once they were in the car.

"I don't know. Usually I'm at the center of a deal. It was fun to watch you two work."

"She's talented."

"She really is," Amanda agreed.

He leaned over to the passenger seat and kissed her. "So are you."

"Watch it," she chided. "She might see."