Bad Boys Box Set – Part 1-3

Chapter 2

Part 1: Love Campaign

A Contemporary Romance

Chapter 1

Allie

I walked into the office just after eight and sat down at my desk. The office smelled like cleaning detergent, freshly applied perfume and coffee.

“You’re late,” Lori teased.

“Two minutes,” I replied.

Lori turned in her chair and smiled at me. “You wild thing.”

I rolled my eyes at her but I couldn’t help smiling. So, I was known in the office for always being exactly on time. Lori had gotten three tardy notes from Nina in the past two months. It was important to me not to be late. I kicked off my kitten heels. The industrial carpet was rough underneath my stockinged feet. I retrieved a pair of slippers from the bottom drawer and slid my toes into them.

Lori pulled her dark hair up into a bun and stuck a pencil into it. Strands fell back into her face, defeating the purpose.

Lori’s desk was diagonally opposite to mine. The open plan office was spacious, allowing each of us to have enough space for larger desks and cubicle walls that we could stick things onto. It was still open plan – I wasn’t in my own office just yet – but I preferred it being communal. I enjoyed working in an environment where I could hear and feel the life teeming around me.

“So, office gossip,” Lori said.

“That’s what I miss out on when I’m late,” I joked.

Lori smiled. “I heard it from Janine in HR last night after you left,” she said. “You know how she is, unable to keep her mouth shut.”

“Seems to be the trend around here.”

Lori pulled a face. “If I kept my mouth shut you wouldn’t know a thing that was going on,” she said.

I shrugged. It was true, I owed all the gossip and secondhand information to Lori who kept her eyes and ears open always and told me everything she saw and heard, no matter how credible.

“Brisk Insurance wants to vamp up their act. They need a new campaign and they’re hiring.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Brisk is big.” I reached into my bag and pulled out a yogurt cup and a plastic spoon.

Lori nodded. “Wonderworks is one of the companies up for consideration,” she said

“That’s big.” I peeled open the yogurt and licked the foil before dumping it in my waste basket. “Did the gossip mention who was going to get the job?”

Lori shook her head. “No, but we do know that ImSo has also been mentioned.”

I groaned around the plastic spoon in my mouth. Imagine Solutions was a huge company, a shark in the marketing world that ate small companies like Wonderworks for breakfast. They got most of the campaigns they tendered for, working on a large-scale and focused on quick turnaround and instant gratification. They were the exact opposite from Wonderworks.

I’d been with Wonderworks for almost four years. I’d worked with a cutthroat company like ImSo before and it hadn’t been my thing – I preferred the personal touch and the heart that went into our work.

“You know they’ll put Daniel on it,” Lori said.

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t expect anything else.” I scooped more yogurt out of my cup.

“He’s such an ass,” Lori said.

“So, I hear.”

I was one of the few people in our industry who hadn’t had the misfortune of meeting Daniel yet. I was happy keeping it that way if anything I’d heard about him was true.

“Anyway,” Lori said. “We’ll find out what’s happening soon enough. I have other news, too. A favor to ask, actually.”

I glanced up at Lori. Her favors weren’t simple.

“What is it?”

Lori smiled. “Shane’s looking for a date for the charity thing he needs to sort out.”

I pulled a face.

“And you want me to do it?”

Lori nodded. “You know he’s too shy to ask you himself. You’re so intimidating.”

I laughed. “Me? Sure.”

“Really,” Lori said. “You’re successful and confident and all those nice traits a woman should have.”

I chuckled. “Wonderful compliments,” I said sarcastically.

“And he needs someone to make those PR cows jealous. You know how they get.”

I scraped out the last bit of my yogurt and sucked off the spoon before throwing it all away.

“So, you want me to act like I’m his girlfriend so I can make him look better in front of them because they think he’s gay.”

Lori sighed. “Basically. You know how different he is. They’re giving him hell.”

Shane was Lori’s cousin and he worked on the second floor of our building. He was involved in PR – one of the few men in Wonderworks who employed largely women – and he wasn’t the manliest man out there. He lacked the oozing testosterone and absolute disregard for women’s feelings that most men had and that made him a target. Go figure.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll do it if he comes to talk to me himself,” I said.

Lori grinned. “You’re a star,” she said.

I turned to my desk and rolled my eyes. I wasn’t a star. I was a sad sap who helped people because I couldn’t bear to say no. It wouldn’t be so bad, though. What would one night hurt just to show the PR bitches a thing or two? They really were a hard bunch to please – I got irritated when I was around them during lunch. I couldn’t imagine what working with them would be like.

“Nina alert,” Lori said in a low voice without turning around and we pretended to be working.

“Allison,” Nina called from the other side of the floor. “In my office, please.”

I nodded and kicked off my slippers to put my heels on again. I glanced at Lori who rolled her eyes. Nina insisted on Allison even when everyone else called me Allie. I hated being called by my full name.

I walked to Nina’s office and knocked before entering.

Nina’s office was a home away from home. She spent so much time at work she hardly needed any of her stuff at home.

In the corner, an elliptical machine stood gleaming and proud. Nina had her own coffee machine, a clothing rack with more dress suits in case she needed to change on the fly for an important meeting and an angora rug that I wanted to curl my naked toes into.

“Sit down, please,” Nina said and gestured to one of the armchairs. I sat down and waited. Nina walked around her desk and sat down in the other. Without the desk between us, it gave the idea of equality and friendship, but it was only an illusion. Nina was above the rest of us and she was not a friend.

“We’ve been awarded the opportunity to tender for Brisk Insurance’s new campaign,” she said. “They want something new, something fresh that will tug at the hearts of those who witness it to buy their insurance. You know how it goes.”

I nodded. I’d been in this industry for nearly six years – I knew exactly how it went.

“I want you on the campaign,” she said.

“Alone?” I asked.

Nina nodded. “I think it’s about time you proved your worth to this company. I’m sure you can handle this.”

It wasn’t a compliment, it was a threat. I understood Nina’s ways of speaking. I nodded.

“Of course,” I said. I could show her what I was worth.

“Good,” Nina said. “You’re meeting with Harold Dunn at three. We’ve been shortlisted but you’re still going to have to beat the others. I expect big things, Allison.”

I frowned. “Three o’clock this afternoon?” I asked.

Nina nodded, glancing down at a piece of paper in her hand.

“Yes, three. Their main offices are in Lower Manhattan. I trust you’ll find it.”

I swallowed. I had virtually no time to prepare if she wanted me to face Mr. Dunn from Brisk Insurance at three this afternoon.

“That’s all. Go on, make me proud.”

I got up and thanked Nina for the opportunity before leaving the office.

“I got it,” I said when I got back to my desk. “The Brisk interview.”

Lori squealed and rolled her chair to my desk.

“It’s today,” I added. “I have no idea what to prepare.”

Lori shook her head. “You’ll be fine. You just need a rough idea to present to Dunn and you’ll be fine. You should rather worry about Daniel Bowen. He’s going to be there and you don’t want him to charm Mr. Dunn into his own pocket.”

I flipped my hair over my shoulder.

“If there’s one thing I can do it's competing with Daniel Bowen. Dunn needs a women’s touch on this and I can show him that. It’s why Nina employs so many women.”

Lori nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get that. But you’re not prepared for Bowen himself. He’ll charm you out of your panties before you know it. I’m not worried about you impressing Dunn, I’m worried about you being in the same room with Daniel Bowen.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s just a man, Lori. Sure, I hear he’s an ass, but how bad can it be?”

The office of Brisk Insurance was a jewel of a building sandwiched between equally shiny buildings that had all their sights set on business. I looked up at the towering buildings above me.

“Beautiful view, isn’t it?” a voice said behind me. When I turned around I stared into emerald eyes. They were smiling.

“It is,” I said. “I live here and I still can’t get enough of it.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets and chuckled. I looked at him. He had messy sandy hair, styled to look windblown, and high cheekbones that gave him an almost Slavic look. His eyes were amused. He wore a tie loosely around his neck, the first button undone. It looked like he was headed home after a long day.

He nodded a greeting at me and headed toward the front door. A moment later, I followed him. My meeting was in fifteen minutes. When I stepped into the lobby, Mr. Windblown leaned against the reception desk, one hand in his pocket, one elbow on the desk. He was smiling at the receptionist. She blushed. Whatever he’d said to her, it had caught her attention. Her eyes were glued to him.

“Excuse me,” I said when she didn’t acknowledge me. She looked at me, almost irritated. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face, her ponytail tighter than it needed to be. “I have an appointment with Mr. Dunn at three.”

She glanced down at her book and back up at me, her eyes dull.

“Ms. Snyder?”

I nodded.

“You can go up. He’s expecting you. Fifth floor, you’ll find it.”

I glanced at Windblown again. He had a cocky grin on his face, his eyes boring into mine. I was immediately irritated. I couldn’t stand men who flirted their way through life.

I rode the elevator to the fifth floor. A redheaded receptionist greeted me and pointed me to a heavy mahogany door with Mr. Dunn’s details printed in gold on it.

“Miss Snyder,” Mr. Dunn said when I entered his office. He was graying at the temples, his eyes black. He had a warm smile and it made me feel at ease. He was the kind of person I would want to deal with if I had a claim, although I doubted he handled any claims directly. But the big desk, the impeccable office, his three-piece suit of which he’d only taken off the blazer, wasn’t intimidating at all.

“Can I offer you something to drink?” he asked. I smiled and declined politely.

Mr. Dunn looked at his wristwatch.

“We’re just waiting for Mr. Bowen,” he said and smiled at me. “He’s fashionably late.”

Or rude, I thought, but I didn’t say it. I sat down in the seat Mr. Dunn pointed to and crossed my legs at the knee. I folded my hands in my lap and waited.

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, about what you do, while we wait?” Mr. Dunn asked.

I started with a short summary of my qualifications and experiences. I wanted Dunn to know I was cut out for the job.

“That’s impressive,” Dunn said when I finished. “But tell me about you, who you are as a person.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I didn’t get a chance to. The door opened and Windblown swept in.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, walking to Mr. Dunn with an extended hand. “I was held up.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Held up by the brunette downstairs? He glanced at me and smiled.

I was irritated.

“It happens to the best of us, Mr. Bowen,” Mr. Dunn said.

This was Daniel Bowen?

I was suddenly angry. The nerve! He flashed another charming smile at me, the kind that would make a woman blush without introduction.

I wasn’t blushing.

“Let’s get this started, shall we?” Mr. Dunn said. Was it only the two of us? “I want to explain to you what I want. Then I want to hear what you have in mind, and lastly, I want to know why you think I should hire you for the job.”