Page 18 of Love.V2
“Then think about it.” I pushed the latte and breakfast sandwich across her desk. “Take your time, Theresa Lynn. I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 4
Dylan
I gave her as long as I could. Easy to do, since she avoided me like the plague. When she couldn’t squirm out of a meeting we had together, she avoided my eyes just as purposefully.
But after two days, all it took was one innocuous question from Eric to force her hand. “How’s the National Canine Rescue project going?”
One question, and I was back in her office watching her sit ramrod straight in her chair.
“It’s not poisoned.” I nudged the latte closer. She’d been staring at it since I’d placed it on her desk a few minutes ago.
“I know,” she whispered, still looking like she’d never seen a go-cup before. She cleared her throat, straightening her shoulders and sounding stronger when she tried again. “I know. Thank you.”
I had so many questions. Had she thought about what I’d said? Was she considering giving me a chance? Had she texted Lexi about the baby? But she looked so brittle, I felt like I could crack her with the wrong word, and I settled for: “Have you read the brief Eric sent?”
My brief, more accurately, carefully prepared on the plane earlier this week. The national dog rescue organization badly needed a new brand facelift, but hesitated to work with a big corporate machine likeWorther. Yes, the campaign would be worth millions, but it was the ideal project for a company like Jinx. Smaller, with a more wholesome, human-centric image.
At least, that’s what I’d told Henry when I’d poached the project to bring up here. I was still thanking my lucky stars he’d agreed.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been sitting here, across from Tess, watching her contemplate her coffee like it held the secrets of the universe.
Her breath blew the little wisps of hair away from her face. She’d left half of it down, falling in gentle waves down her back. Was it still soft as silk now that it was purple?
“Right.” Her fingers danced across her keyboard, pulling up the document, as well as a presentation deck I’d never seen before. She paused to take a tentative sip of her coffee.
It felt like a win, a concession of some sort, and I wanted to ask her right then and there if she had an answer for me yet. If we could ditch this whole charade and go somewhere andtalkso I could tell her everything I’d been thinking for the last six months. Everything I’d learned about myself and what I missed about her and the person I wanted to be for her.
Her eyes flashed up once, and I could have sworn the wordprofessionalfloated in the air between us like a ghost.
“Right. So. National Canine Rescue.” I sipped my coffee.
“I looked over the brief yesterday. Compiling the information on Jinx’s capabilities and creative process will be easy.” She flicked through a few preliminary slides she’d pulled together. I frowned at the screen.
Technically, Tess was right when she’d told Eric we hadn’t worked closely together. I was high-up in Worther’s echelon and I didn’t work directly with designers.
I knew working there hadn’t fit with her creative style or what she wanted to achieve in her career, but I hadn’t realized Worther had also been holding her back.
As she took me through the slides, voice getting stronger with every minute, memory after memory washed through my mind. Searching. I didn’t recall her ever having this easy grasp on business strategy, but maybe it was a newfound talent.
The thought didn’t sit right. I’d overlooked something, or she’d developed new skills without me. Either way left me feeling empty. And unnecessary.
“You don’t need me for this at all.” Dual feelings of pride and devastation twisted through me. She was so incredible. And I was an idiot.
“It’s pretty standard. I’m not completely sure it will do the trick to advance us to the next round of the business pitch.” Tess frowned at the screen a little too hard, still trying not to look at me, even though she’d loosened up over the last half-hour. “They’ve done the agency thing before, and they’re looking for something different. I’m not sure I have it yet. I hit a wall last night and had to step away.”
She stared at the slides as if they’d magically produce the answers for her. I couldn’t help but think about the Tess I’d known who had dreaded Monday mornings and logged off her computer as soon as she could at five p.m.
“You really do love it here.”
“Yes, I do.” She sounded uncomfortable, and maybe a little defensive, as she navigated through a few more slides, jotting some notes down on a rainbow notepad in front of her.
“Why?” I was dying to know. Why this place? Why now? What made her light up when everything in Nashville had seemed to grind her down?
She frowned, picking at her nails. “We don’t have to get this…personal. We can just go through the slides and be done with it.”
“It’s for the presentation.” I’d never told a bigger lie in my life. “To pitch the company, I need to know how it stands out. Tell me what you like about it.”
