Still, she knew she needed to get herself together and find a flight home. Her purse was sitting there staring at her like a ticking time bomb. All she had to do was open it, pull out her phone, and… Well, then the reality of what she had done yesterday would surely come blasting straight at her in the form of text messages and voice mails.
“And the purse stays put,” she said and walked over to the window. It was another beautiful day in Napa, and as she pulled the curtains open wide, Aubrey couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t imagine being able to wake up to such a spectacular view every day. Not that Raleigh wasn’t a nice place to live, but it didn’t offer views of lush gardens and vineyards like this.
At least, not where she lived.
Knowing staring at the scenery was just a way of delaying the inevitable, she stepped away and went to take a shower. The one the night before had been more about cleaning herself off and washing the day away. This time she intended to make it a long, hot one where she could let herself relax.
Twenty minutes later, Aubrey felt like a new woman. The shower had been exactly what she’d needed. The luxury skin care products were positively decadent. And the white fluffy robe was definitely getting tucked into her luggage to take home! The only downside to what was starting out to be a great morning was her wardrobe.
With the initial plans for the trip focused on business, Aubrey had packed light. Paul had told her they didn’t need any casual clothes because there wouldn’t be any down time during the trip. Their slight detour to Napa had been a spur-of-the-moment addition.
Shuffling through the luggage, she thought about her options. She couldn’t fly home in the bikini, and she’d already worn both the blue and black dresses…so the red dress it was. It wasn’t a bad dress, but right now, she would almost kill for a pair of comfortable jeans and a T-shirt.
After slathering on some body lotion, she pulled on a pair of panties and slipped the dress over her head before getting to work on her hair and makeup. Knowing there was a good chance she’d be spending the bulk of her day traveling, she went with minimal effort on both. Her long, straight hair—once it was dry—got twisted up in a sassy little updo, and with just a bit of mascara and lipstick, she was good to go.
With nothing left to do—and hating how her dress clashed with her luggage—Aubrey looked around the room and made sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Her stomach growled loudly and it made her smile. Checkout could wait until after she grabbed some lunch. Leaving her luggage, she picked up her room key and decided to head over to Lillian’s to get a bite to eat.
Even though she knew she was doing it again—simply delaying the inevitable—she couldn’t force herself to care. At the elevator she thought of Hugh. Was he still upstairs in his suite, or was he well into his workday and already at the office? She had a feeling he was probably in his office and felt a wave of disappointment. He really did seem like a nice guy, and in other circumstances she probably would have pursued the obvious attraction between the two of them.
Unfortunately, this was the wrong place and time.
“Story of my life,” she muttered and stepped into the elevator.
Ten minutes later, she was seated at a lovely table at Lillian’s with a view of a small pond. It was relatively empty and Aubrey figured it was because it was too late for breakfast and maybe too early for lunch for some people. She mentally shrugged. Noon was the perfect time to eat—especially when her stomach was being so vocal about needing food!
“Hey, Runaway Bride! How are you?” Aubrey looked up to see Bill standing next to her table with a big grin on his face. She wanted to be annoyed by the ridiculous nickname, but his infectious smile made it impossible.
“I’m good, Bill. How are you today?” she asked pleasantly.
“Mind if I join you?”
“That depends.”
He looked at her quizzically. “On what?”
“On whether you’re going to call me Runaway Bride all through lunch,” she said saucily and was rewarded with a loud laugh from him.
“Sweetheart, I love a woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind!” He pulled up a chair and got himself situated before he looked at her again. “It’s a pleasure to see you again…Aubrey.”
Her own smile grew. “Thank you.”
They each picked up a menu and began to scan it. “I know I monopolized the conversation last night,” Bill began, “so why don’t you tell me a little about you?”
* * *
Hugh paced his office like a caged animal and checked his watch for the tenth time.
Bill was late.
Where could he be? It wasn’t as if this was an early morning meeting! It was after two in the afternoon, for crying out loud! Marnie was sitting on the sofa with her tablet and seemed perfectly content to wait.
Not Hugh.
With a huff of agitation, he stormed from the office and out to Dorothy’s desk. “Any word from Bellows?” he snapped.
She shook her head. “I’ll call Tim and see if anyone’s seen him around the resort today.”
Rather than go back to his office, Hugh waited while she made the call and listened to her end of the conversation. When she hung up, he looked at her expectantly. “Well?”
“He hasn’t come to the desk for anything, but Tim is sending a couple of the boys out to check all the usual areas—his room, the pool, the lounge, and the restaurants.”
“I can’t believe he would be late for our meeting because he was hanging out by the pool,” Hugh grumbled. “I mean, he’s a businessman. He came here specifically for this meeting!”
“You said he was a little unconventional,” she reminded him. “Maybe he just took your appointed meeting time as a suggestion.” When she noticed the tightness of Hugh’s jaw and the way his face was slightly reddening, she quickly amended, “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation,” she said evenly, clearly doing her best to try to calm her boss down.
“Somehow I doubt it.” Hugh was never late for a meeting. It made a bad impression. And right now, his impression of William Bellows wasn’t particularly favorable. Why couldn’t everyone just be considerate? He’d worked his ass off for this meeting and had spent three hours coaching Marnie on everything. And now they were sitting around waiting.
The desk phone beeped and Dorothy quickly answered. A minute later she hung up and looked at Hugh. “He’s over at Lillian’s. Do you want them to remind him of your meeting?”
Hugh cursed under his breath. “No. I’ll go over there myself and see what’s going on. Thanks.” Without a word to Marnie, he stalked from the outer office and made his way to the restaurant, fuming the entire way.
When he stepped into the restaurant, the hostess took one look at him and almost shrank back. “Can I help you, Mr. Shaughnessy?” she asked nervously.
He was about to answer when he heard Bellows’s laughter. “Son of a…” he muttered, looking at the hostess and forcing a smile. “No, thank you. I think I found who I’m looking for.”
Walking across the restaurant, he found Bill sitting at a corner table.
“So the next thing you know,” he was saying, “I’m standing on the top shelf in the warehouse and the guy drives off with the pallet truck!”
Then Hugh registered the female laughter.
Aubrey.
What the…?
“Hugh!” Aubrey said with surprise when she spotted him. “How are you?”
How was he? He was furious! This was supposed to be one of the biggest meetings for his resorts and it wasn’t happening because Bill was having lunch with Aubrey? He wasn’t sure who he was angrier with!
“Hey, Hugh!” Bill said as he stood and shook Hugh’s hand. “We’re supposed to meet up in a little while, right?”
“Actually,” Hugh began, “we were supposed to meet thirty minutes ago.”
>
“What?” Bill said loudly. “Seriously?” He looked at his watch and at least had the good sense to look embarrassed. “Sorry, man. I completely lost track of the time.”
Now wasn’t the time to argue, so Hugh plastered a smile on his face and said, “It’s all right. Why don’t we head over to my office and…?”
“No need,” Bill said and gestured for Hugh to take a seat and join them.
“Maybe I should go,” Aubrey said.
“No, no,” Bill said, stopping her. “You need to be here for this.”
Hugh sat down and looked quizzically from one to the other. “I don’t see why.”
“The reason I lost track of the time is because this young lady is a genius,” Bill began, soldiering on before Hugh could speak. “I ran into Aubrey, invited myself to join her for lunch, and we got to talking. I asked her what she did for a living and got to know her a little. Turns out, she’s exactly what you and I need.”
“Excuse me?” Hugh sputtered. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I told her about our meeting and all the things we’d been discussing, and Aubrey had some fabulous ideas.”
“Really?” Hugh asked with a hint of sarcasm as he looked at Aubrey and back at Bill. “I’m sure she did, but if we can go back to my office, Marnie and I have some great ideas for how we can launch your products at our resorts and—”
“You’re not listening, Hugh. I’m telling you what Aubrey suggested is what I want. And…I want her handling it.”
“What!?” Hugh cried as he stood up. “She doesn’t work for me, Bill! Hell, before yesterday—when she broke into my office—I didn’t even know her!”
Bill laughed and looked at Aubrey. “You broke into his office?”
She shrugged, looking more than a little embarrassed. “It’s a long story, but basically, he stole my luggage and I went in to get it.”
“I did not steal your luggage. It was in the middle of the lawn and sticking out like a sore thumb!”
“And I told you I was handling it!” she snapped back.
“And how was I supposed to know that? It’s not every day someone tosses their ugly suitcase out the window and shimmies out after it!”
“Okay, kids,” Bill interrupted. “Time out. I can see this is a sore subject for you both. Why don’t we just skip over what happened yesterday and focus on the here and now. And the future.” He put his focus on Hugh. “I’m telling you, Hugh, the girl’s a genius. I’ve been racking my brain for weeks on what I wanted to accomplish with you, and in a matter of minutes, Aubrey had a plan that hit the nail on the head!”
Hugh glared at Aubrey for a moment before returning his attention to Bill. “Tell you what, why don’t you come with me to my office and talk with me and Marnie, and we’ll try to incorporate some of Aubrey’s ideas.”
Bill studied him hard for a solid minute. “Hugh, do you know how many resorts, hotels, and restaurants I deal with?”
Shit. Hugh knew right then and there he was very close to losing Bill. “I do,” he said calmly.
“I deal with big companies and small ones, but do you know what they all have in common?”
Hugh shook his head, suddenly feeling very nervous.
“I handpicked them all. If I don’t like them, I don’t do business with them.” Bill’s earlier jovial tone was gone and now he was almost deadly calm. “I’ve been approached by some of the biggest resorts in the country—in the world—because I can get wines no one else can, thanks to my exclusive contracts with so many vineyards and wineries. So when I sit here and tell you if you want my business, this is the way I want it, you need to pay close attention and listen.”
His gut instinct was to tell Bill Bellows to take his wine and his exclusive contracts and shove them, but unfortunately, Hugh couldn’t do it. This deal was the final thing he wanted for his existing resorts. It was the icing on the cake.
He just wanted to ink the deal on his own terms.
Swallowing hard, he put a smile back on his face. “Okay,” he said evenly. “I’m all ears. Tell me what the two of you have come up with.”
Bill relaxed back in his seat and grinned at Aubrey. “You’re on, sweetheart.”
Hugh looked over at Aubrey and forced his smile to stay in place. “Yes, please, sweetheart. I’m anxious to hear all about your ideas.”
Aubrey squirmed in her seat. “Um…I really didn’t think it would come to this,” she began nervously, looking at Bill for assistance. “I’m not good at presentations and…”
“Nonsense,” Bill said. “Just say it like you said it to me.”
She took a steadying breath. “Okay.” Turning, she faced Hugh. “Bill told me about you wanting to put his wines in all of your resorts.”
“That’s right,” Hugh said.
“And you were planning a launch event here in Napa.”
Hugh nodded.
“I think it’s a bad idea.”
His gaze narrowed, hardened. “Why?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“You’re in wine country. One of the things I’m sure your guests love about this particular resort is how you showcase local wineries and vineyards. By making a big production out of acquiring new wines from Bill, you’re essentially thumbing your nose at the very people who have made this resort so successful.”
She had a point, but Hugh kept silent and let her go on.
“My idea is that you don’t do one launch, you launch at each resort. You make it an event where you invite your VIP guests, the media, trade magazines and newspapers. You create a special menu showcasing the wines Bill is bringing to the table. You do heavy marketing and PR and make sure each event is different. You go with the geography—what’s popular in the area—so it also draws in the locals without making it seem hokey or clichéd.” She looked at Bill and smiled.
But when she looked at Hugh, her smile fell. He was not amused, and it must have shown.
Bill broke the silence. “We’ve already started talking about ideas for some of the locations. If it’s all right with you, we’ll save Napa for near the end. Like Aubrey said, we don’t want to offend anyone, and I think we’ll generate more buzz with your other resorts.” He paused and took a drink. “I’m telling you, Hugh, I think this is going to be very beneficial for both of us. None of my other clients turned our contract into an event. We’d be putting both of our businesses on the map in a big way.”
Hugh worried it might be too big. He didn’t want to be forced to grow. He liked the way his resorts operated now. Small. Intimate. Private. Would this campaign ruin that for them?
“You don’t look convinced,” Bill said finally. “Is it because this isn’t your idea, or do you have other concerns?”
“Honestly, I think it all sounds great. I think it’s completely doable.”
“But…?”
“But,” Hugh began, “the appeal of my resorts is their intimate settings. The privacy. What we’re suggesting could be a media circus.”
“No, no, no,” Aubrey interrupted. “We can totally keep it small and intimate. We can control the guest list and if anything, by keeping it exclusive, it will make people more interested in getting a reservation—even for a later date. I think you’ll find in the weeks if not months afterward, you’ll have an increase in reservations and occupancy.”
“I want final approval on all ad campaigns and guest lists,” Hugh said.
“Done,” Bill replied. “Once we agree on a few key things, the ball is in your court on that end. We can hammer out products and dates together as we go so they fit with each resort’s needs. But the campaign itself, I want you and Aubrey to handle. It’s not my area of expertise or interest. Just make it lucrative for the both of us and I’m happy.”
“Bill, I’m sure Aubrey has a job back home—”
“She doesn’t.”
>
Hugh looked at Aubrey skeptically. “Do you have any experience with this sort of thing? I mean, basically I’m being asked to hire you because you had an idea. It doesn’t mean you know how to carry it all out.”
She looked hurt by his words and tone. “I can assure you I’ve done this sort of thing dozens of times before. I’ve been organizing fund-raisers and charity events since I was a teenager.”
“And yet you currently don’t have a job,” Hugh said mildly.
Now it was her turn to glare. “Let’s just say I’m in between jobs right now.”
“Does it have anything to do with your impromptu wedding yesterday?” he asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Aubrey turned and looked at Bill. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea. I’m sure Hugh has a staff who is perfectly capable of handling this. I can go over our ideas with them and be on a plane by tonight.”
“You still haven’t booked your flight home?” Hugh interrupted. “I thought you would have by now.”
Ignoring his question, Aubrey stayed focused on Bill. “I appreciate your wanting to help me, but I don’t think working with Hugh is going to work.”
“Nonsense. You can still work with his staff, but I like the way you think,” Bill said. “You managed to do what no one else I’ve been working with has. You got in my brain and pulled out the ideas I couldn’t communicate. You’re the perfect person for this job.” Then he turned to Hugh. “You’ll make this work, right?”
With only a slight hesitation, Hugh nodded.
“Okay then,” Bill said, standing. “I’m going to relax by the pool. Hugh, I want you to work on a list of what products you want for each resort and the dates you want to start shipping. Once we get that out of the way, we’ll get our legal teams working on the contracts. Keep me posted on the progress of the campaigns and the launch event dates, and whether you’ll need any promotional material from me.”
“Bill, I really think we should go back to my office and discuss all of this together and—”
“I think we’re off to a good start here and we don’t need to beat it to death. I’m here through the weekend. Why don’t we have dinner tonight after you’ve had a chance to talk with Aubrey, and the three of us can chat about this some more?”
Love Walks In Page 6
