by Tawna Fenske
“Ben. Good to see you again.” Her gaze drifted to Parker, and Ben realized he should probably introduce his oldest pal instead of standing there like an idiot.
“This is Parker,” he offered. “He was just leaving.”
“No I wasn’t,” Parker said, extending a hand to Holly. “You’ll have to excuse my friend. He’s completely devoid of charm and social skill.”
“Which is precisely why Holly’s here,” Ben said. “That’s top secret, by the way. You say a word to my dad and I’ll beat you to death with my paperweight.”
Parker smiled at Holly with renewed interest. “You’re his life coach?”
“I never said life coach,” Ben reminded him. “Holly owns a PR and branding firm. She’s going to rebrand me into a polished, professional CEO.”
Parker laughed and leaned against the doorframe looking amused. “I hope you charged double. You’ve got your work cut out for you with this one.”
Holly smiled at Parker, and Ben tried not to notice the faint burn of jealousy flaring in his gut. “How do you mean?” she asked, glancing from Parker to Ben. “This could actually be pretty helpful to the process, you know—hearing firsthand from your closest friends where your strengths and weaknesses lie.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started on Ben’s weaknesses.” Parker grinned and shot Ben a look he recognized as a subtle request for permission. Parker might joke, but he wasn’t the sort of guy to throw his buddy under the bus.
Ben just shrugged. Parker was right that Holly had her work cut out for her, so she might as well know what she was dealing with.
“Let’s see,” Parker said, pretending to ponder. “There’s the time Ben tried to pick up a woman by offering to defrag her hard drive.”
“She slapped me, if I remember right,” Ben mused.
“Well, it does sound kinda dirty,” Holly pointed out.
“Then there’s the time a couple years ago when none of us had seen him for a week,” Parker said, getting comfortable now. “We went down to the engineering lab and found out he’d been working for ten days straight on some new chemical breakthrough or something. He’d been taking sponge baths in the bathroom sink and eating nothing but carrot sticks and Cool Ranch Doritos.”
“They were Salsa Verde Doritos,” Ben said.
“My mistake.” Parker scratched his chin. “Or how about the time we finally persuaded him to take a break and treat himself to a Hawaii vacation.”
“That sounds nice,” Holly said, and Ben couldn’t help picturing her in a bikini frolicking on the sand.
“Sure it does,” Parker agreed. “Only instead of taking surfing lessons and drinking mai-tais on the beach, Ben spent the whole trip studying the flora and fauna of the islands.”
“I wonder if I still have that research paper. I discovered a new species of fungus.” Ben glanced at Holly, wondering if she was second-guessing her decision to take him on or take off her bra in his house. She smiled at him, and Ben felt his heart dissolve in his chest.
“Ben’s the best guy I know, though,” Parker said. “He’d throw himself in front of a train to save anyone he loves.”
“That doesn’t sound very sensible,” Ben said. “The average velocity of a locomotive is—”
“Shut up, brainiac—I’m trying to sing your praises here.” Parker turned back to Holly. “I met Ben our first year in grad school. I was twenty-three, but Ben was only nineteen. The dude went to college at sixteen and finished in less than three years. Anyway, one night we hooked him up with a fake ID and dragged him out barhopping with us. Sure enough, Ben got busted.”
“What?” Holly looked at him. “You got arrested?”
Ben quirked an eyebrow at her. “That surprises you?”
“Kinda.” She turned back to Parker. “So what happened?”
“The cops were doing this big sting operation trying to break up this ring of guys producing fake IDs. They offered to let Ben go if he told them where he got it, but Ben refused to turn in his friends. Wouldn’t give them any names, not even when they held him in jail for three days and made him miss a test that could screw up his whole GPA.”
“Wow.”
Parker laughed. “I finally went in there and turned myself in so the dumbass wouldn’t rot in jail forever. But he would have, if it had come to it. The guy’s loyal to a fault.”
Holly was giving him an appraising look, which made Ben uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to being the center of attention, which was probably one more thing he’d need to overcome if he wanted to be a CEO. God, the list was getting long.
“Sounds like you’re giving me some nice raw material to work with,” she said. “I’m eager to get started.”
“Have fun with that,” Parker told her, then turned to Ben. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you at the gym tomorrow?”
“I’ll do my best,” Ben said.
“Later,” Parker called, heading out the door. “Take good care of him, Holly.”
“I plan to,” she murmured as she pulled the door closed and turned back to Ben. “That was enlightening.”
“I’m glad you thought so. Have a seat.”
She seemed to hesitate, then sat down on the opposite side of the desk and folded her hands in her lap. “So have you had a chance to look over the rebranding plan I sent over yesterday?”
“I did. You really think we can cover all those bases in time for the presentation?”
“I think so. It might mean a few late nights here and there, but—” She bit her lip, and Ben watched the tips of her ears turn pink. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Late nights and—never mind.” She sighed. “Look, I have to level with you, Ben. This feels awkward.”
“How do you mean?”
“You’re a smart guy. Is that a real question?”
“Not really,” he admitted, grinning. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“Fine. I’ll say it. Having you make me come my brains out was mind-blowing, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. But that’s the problem.”
“How is that a problem?” he asked, trying not to gloat.
“Because I need to be focusing on how to make you a better CEO. You hired me to do a job, and it behooves us both to stay focused on the task.”
“What about the point you made about unleashing my inner ‘strategic-thinking, alpha male businessman?’” he asked, and watched her flush again. “I think what happened between us was very helpful toward that goal.”
“Right. I can’t argue with that. You definitely showed some—initiative.”
Ben rested his palms on the desk and watched Holly’s blush deepen as her gaze dropped to his hands. “Initiative,” he said. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“Ben, seriously—”
“Hey, I’m just reminding you what you said about me needing to become a take-charge sort of guy.” He grinned, reveling in the chance to banter like this. It wasn’t often he voiced his thoughts so clearly. Holly was a good influence in more ways than one. “The bedroom’s a pretty good place to practice. Or the living room floor. Or up against a kitchen counter. Or—”
“I don’t disagree, Ben,” she said, clearing her throat. “And yeah, I enjoyed it. A lot. But I’m here to do a job.” She held up a hand. “And before you say it, I’m not talking about hand jobs or blowjobs.”
He laughed. “I wasn’t going to go there, but now that you have—”
“My career is important to me,” she said. “Handling this rebranding process effectively and professionally is important to me. You can understand that, can’t you?”
“I can,” he admitted, trying not to be too disappointed at the prospect of being thrown over for her job. He had to respect her position, even if he wished he could explore a lot of other positions with her.
Crap, he had to stop thinking like that. Maybe he was going a little too far with this alpha male thing.
“I un
derstand,” he said at last. “This is important to me, too. I know we both need to focus our full attention on it.”
“I’m glad we cleared that up.”
“Me, too,” Ben said, not feeling so glad. “So do you want to review the plan?”
She smiled, then nodded. “Let’s get to work.”
Chapter Eight
“Ben, my boy!”
He tried not to grit his teeth as his dad marched into his office without knocking, interrupting him for what had to be the hundredth time that day.
Ben pasted on his most cheerful grin, remembering Holly’s suggestion that he make eye contact and think about something that made him happy so his smile reached his eyes even when the rest of him felt like yawning or screaming in frustration.
His brain locked onto an image of Holly spread naked and warm on his living room floor, and he found himself smiling a lot wider than he wanted to. He forced himself to dial it back a notch, pretty sure that wasn’t the image he needed in his brain while he was dealing with his dad.
“What can I do for you, Dad?”
“Well, son, it looks like things are getting serious with the Kleinberger account.”
“Wow, that’s great.” Ben picked up a fountain pen from the corner of his desk, not sure if he intended to take notes or just needed something to do with his hands. “I thought Kleinberger wasn’t planning to make a decision until the end of the month.”
“That was the plan, but they’re speeding things along. Apparently, they got their budget pushed through a little earlier than they expected, so they want to get a jump on things. I told ’em you’d be happy to throw together a special presentation for them. You know, do a little razzle-dazzle for the execs who haven’t seen what we’re about yet.”
“Me?” Ben swallowed, hating the petulance in his voice almost as much as he hated the thought of taking on yet another schmoozy project when his desk was overflowing with spreadsheets and business plans. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Obviously, I planned to be involved with the presentation, but I wasn’t expecting to deliver it. Besides, I thought it wasn’t happening until the end of the month.”
Lyle frowned. “Well, things have changed, and you need a chance to demonstrate your oral presentation skills.”
“I’ve been working on my oral presentation skills,” he said, his mind straying to thoughts of burying his face between Holly’s thighs. “And honing my skills as a strategic-thinking, alpha male businessman.”
His dad looked at him like he’d just spoken Swahili, and Ben figured it was best if he refrained from admitting just how he’d been honing his skills.
“I know I usually take the lead on the sales side of things, but it’s time you start stepping up and getting your feet wet.” Lyle folded his arms over his chest. “You need to take on a more active role when it comes to the sales side of the job. You know, really get in there and make yourself familiar with the showmanship aspect of this company’s leadership.” Lyle frowned again. “Also, they might have asked for you.”
“What?”
Lyle’s scowl deepened. “Yes. Well, apparently the Kleinberger execs enjoyed talking with you the other night at the event. They thought your no-nonsense, numbers-driven approach was ‘refreshing,’ and they wanted you to do the presentation so you could answer some of their questions about all the numbers and science mumbo jumbo.”
Lyle had put “refreshing” in air quotes that made it clear exactly what he thought of the company’s choice to request Ben for the presentation. Still, it was a vote of confidence that felt pretty good. A sign that his plan to steer Langley into the next generation of business wasn’t so far off the mark.
“I’m flattered,” Ben said. “And honored.”
And terrified. And a little sick to my stomach.
“So can you pull this off?” his dad asked.
“How soon?”
“Friday afternoon. The agenda’s already been circulated. You just have to show up and give the spiel, then work your magic. You know, turn on the ol’ charm.”
“Charm,” Ben repeated, trying not to feel glum. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Lyle grinned and elbowed Ben in the ribs. “Too bad you can’t bring that new girlfriend of yours. She seems like she could charm the pants off just about anyone.”
“Holly?”
“Yeah, was that her name? Cute little gal. Not as busty as I like ’em, but great legs.”
Ben felt his blood pressure starting to rise, but he held his temper in check and picked up his letter opener. “She’s a very intelligent and accomplished woman,” Ben said.
“I’m sure she is.”
“I admire her intellect and business acumen.”
“Of course you do. Is that how you ended up with her lipstick all over your fly the other night?”
Ben gripped his pen a little tighter, trying to come up with a response that sounded more believable than a story of a broken zipper in the dressing room. He was still working on it when his dad laughed and elbowed him again.
“Be there on Friday. I’ll tell the boys at Kleinberger to expect you at eleven.”
With that, Lyle marched out of the room, leaving Ben with the sinking feeling that this was all happening much too fast.
The presentation, or your relationship with Holly?
He shook his head, reminding himself there was no relationship. It was purely professional.
What part of geeky movies, thumb wrestling, and oral sex did you find professional?
Okay, fine. He might have crossed the line with Holly the other night. A few lines, really. His brain flooded with the memory of her spread open on his living room floor, warm and willing and gasping with pleasure. Pleasure he’d been the one to deliver. The memory of it made him feel a lot more accomplished than any deal with Kleinberger could.
Focus.
He reached for the phone and dialed Holly’s number. He knew from her bio that she had extensive experience in public speaking. She did media training for corporate executives, and even created podcasts on how to give effective public presentations. She was the right woman for the job, period.
Never mind that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, or that he desperately, urgently wanted to see her again and—
“Hello?”
“Hey, Holly, it’s Ben. Langley? Of Langley Ent—”
“Hi, Ben. Of course, it’s good to hear from you again.”
Christ, why were they talking to each other like strangers? He knew what kind of panties she wore and how she made this soft little mewling sound right before she came.
Don’t think about that, don’t think about that, don’t think about—
“Listen, Holly. You know that Kleinberger presentation I told you about?”
“Of course.”
“The timeline just changed, and so did my role in it.”
“How do you mean?”
“Instead of just preparing the presentation, I now have to give it. As in public speaking. Not my favorite thing.”
“Ah,” she said, her voice warm and soothing. “Did you know that for most people, a fear of public speaking ranks above fear of death, spiders, heights, and confined spaces?”
“So you’re saying most people would rather be trapped in a casket full of spiders and hoisted onto a rooftop than give this presentation I just got asked to deliver?”
Holly laughed, and Ben pictured the soft dimple in her right cheek, the one that only appeared when she smiled really wide. He loved that damn dimple.
“So tell me about this presentation,” she said, clearing her throat. “What’s the topic?”
“Razzle-dazzle, apparently. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to throw glitter or juggle sparklers.”
“Let’s save those for the end of the presentation. Is there a topic?”
“The main focus is on some new products we manufacture that would be perfect for this client.”
“You have data to back that up?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think you’ve got passionate delivery nailed.”
Ben blinked, surprised by her boldness. Apparently, Holly was surprised, too, since the next words out of her mouth were a stammered jumble of syllables.
“I, uh—I didn’t—I mean, that came out wrong. I meant the other night.”
“Right,” Ben said as he felt a slow smile creep across his face.
“At the event,” she said, rushing her words together. “I heard you talking with the VP of human resources about your proposal to donate a portion of the company’s proceeds to the American Cancer Society, and you sounded very passionate about that. And about Langley’s bioengineering division. And about bad sci-fi movies. You were very passionate about all that.”
Ben pictured her sitting at her desk with her dark hair pinned on top of her head and her odd lavender-gray eyes darting around as she tried to regain her professional composure. He should probably throw her a rope, but listening to her fumble was almost as endearing as knowing damn well she’d been thinking about the other night as much as he had.
“I’m passionate about some things,” Ben said. “The things that matter. The things that give me a good reason to perfect my technique.”
“Right. Um, when did you want to meet? I have an opening next Monday around three.”
“Yeah, see, that’s the problem. They moved up the timeline.”
“How soon?”
“The presentation is Friday.”
“Wow. Okay—um, how much public speaking have you done?”
“Do you want to count the acceptance speech I gave when I won the national chess tournament at age eight?”
“Sure.”
“Then once.”
“Oh.” She was quiet a moment, and Ben wondered if she was consulting her schedule or pondering the magnitude of his geekery. Maybe both.
She cleared her throat. “Okay, if I reschedule my four o’clock and skip out on tonight’s team dinner—”
