The Sinclair Agency had already come perilously close to losing a good portion of its prestige and respect with the initial failure of the Harry Winston campaign, and there was no way in hell I was going to risk repeating something like that. No, I needed to have an extremely talented person working with me on this particular campaign and that was Lilah.
I put a call through to her office, and a slight shudder of nerves shot through me when I heard her voice as she picked up her phone.
“Hi, Asher, what can I do for you?” her tone was professional and no nonsense.
“Could you come to my office, please? There's something important I need to discuss with you regarding the VIV Perfume campaign.”
“Sure. I'll be right over.”
A tingle of anxiety immediately began building inside me as I waited for her to arrive.
“Come on, Asher, be cool, be calm,” I said to myself. “You've got this. Put your personal feelings aside and be professional.”
I breathed in deeply as I heard a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I said.
She walked through the door, and I let slowly out the breath that I'd been holding in through my teeth. She was wearing a pencil skirt and a form-fitting blouse that revealed her curves in a tantalizing manner. I could hardly keep my eyes off her. Still, I forced myself to remain cool, and put on an air of calm indifference.
“Have a seat,” I said.
She walked over to my desk, her hips swaying subtly without effort, and took a seat.
“You're fully committed to the VIV campaign, aren't you?” I asked.
“Absolutely. That’s why you put me on point. I've been doing a lot of research and have put together a few ideas that I think could work really well.”
“Excellent. Well, there's no better place to do research than on the ground, right?”
“That's true, but we're a few thousand miles away from the ground at the moment.”
“Yes, we are. However, tonight you're going to need to go home and haul out a suitcase or three.”
“Why is that?” she asked, a curious eyebrow raised.
“You and I are going to Paris.”
Chapter Twenty
Lilah
I sat in stunned silence for a while and stared at Asher.
“We're going to Paris?” I eventually said.
“Yes,” he replied, with the slightest and subtlest of smiles curving across his lips.
“I, uh . . . can I think about it?”
“Well, Anton has requested an urgent meeting with myself and the second-in-command of this campaign—which is you. So, unless you're willing to relinquish that position, it'd be best if you came along to Paris.”
I nodded. “All right then. I guess I’m packing for Paris.”
“Don't worry,” he added hastily, looking suddenly uncomfortable, “we'll be in separate hotel rooms.”
“Okay. When do we leave?”
“Friday morning before sunrise, so make it an early night on Thursday. I’ll have a car pick you up from your place and take you to my private jet. There won't be any airport lines or any of that stuff to worry about.”