First Impressions: The Fix Up Part 9

"That's right, he follows the Bill Clinton definition of s.e.x." Miriam waved her un-high-fived palm dismissively and grinned at Holly. "Come on, this is a big deal."

"It's not a big deal, and it's not happening again," Holly said, pretty sure she meant it. "Come on, we can't go knocking boots with our clients any old time we feel like it."

"We own the company, hon." Miriam scooped up a spoonful of Greek yogurt while Holly took a nervous sip of her iced tea. "We can pretty much make the rules."

"Right. And I think the rules of professional conduct are pretty clear on the fact that it's a bad idea to get romantically involved with someone who's paying you to rebrand his corporate ident.i.ty."

"I'm pretty sure there are no rules for that particular arrangement," Miriam pointed out. "Didn't you kinda make up that whole thing? It's not like there's a user manual for rebranding a person."

Holly sighed. "Hooking up with a client would be bad under the best of circ.u.mstances. Hooking up with the one client whose fee is going to get us out of this mess with the bank is just idiotic. I don't want to blow this."

"You didn't blow anything, which is kinda too bad for Ben." Miriam grinned. "That was very generous of him."

"You're impossible." Holly forked up a bite of her salad, not sure if guilt or l.u.s.t was winning out in her carousel of moods this morning. Part of her wanted to be ashamed of herself and committed to never, ever getting intimate with a client.

Part of her just wanted Ben's hands on her body again.

Stop it. Remember what happened the last time you let a guy wedge himself in the middle of your career?

"You just made a face like you want to stab something besides that cherry tomato," Miriam said around a bite of yogurt. "What are you thinking?"

"About Chase," she admitted.

"Ew. Can we not talk about your ex when I'm eating?"

"Well you were the one who asked."

"Fair point." Miriam poked her spoon into the yogurt again. "Why are you thinking about Chase when you're still wearing that morning-after glow from your evening with Ben?"

Holly sighed. "Because fooling around with a career-obsessed guy is how I got into trouble last time, remember?"

"You think I might have forgotten the d.i.c.khead whose name is still on our d.a.m.n mortgage and who ordered you to quit working and squeeze out his babies?" Miriam shook her head. "Not all guys are like that, Holly. Some even believe in the novel concept that women can have careers and husbands and families. Imagine that."

"We're getting off track here," Holly said, wis.h.i.+ng Miriam's words didn't sting so much. "Right now it's the career I need to focus on, and the fact that this job with Ben is going to help us get my a.s.shole ex off the loan."

"Fine. At least tell me if Ben was good."

Holly felt her face grow hot. "I don't kiss and tell."

Miriam gave her a smug look and licked the back of her spoon. "From what you told me, he did a lot more of the kissing than you did. For the record, there's nothing hotter than a guy who's eager to go downtown. Didn't you tell me once that Chase was so averse to chowing box you practically had to grab him by the ears and push his head between your legs?"

"G.o.d, I can't believe I told you that. Or any of it, really. I just needed someone to talk to about it."

"As your best friend and business partner, you won't get any judgment from me. My lips are sealed. Which is more than I can say for yours." She grinned wider, and Holly wished the ground would swallow her up.

"Miriam-"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing you. I do want to point out that you didn't do anything wrong. You're both consenting adults, right?"

"Right."

If by consenting, she meant tearing off her clothes and spreading her legs and begging Ben to put his mouth on her within twelve hours of meeting him. G.o.d, what did he think of her? She'd left in a hurry last night, barely remembering to grab her shoes or purse or the loungewear Ben insisted she take with her.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he'd shouted after her as she ran for the elevator like the building was on fire.

Now, Holly glanced at her phone and tried not to notice it was already after two. She'd stayed busy all day, working straight through lunch and resisting the urge to call or text Ben. Though she was still on the fence about whether continuing their professional relations.h.i.+p was a good idea, she'd created a detailed rebranding plan for him. Watching him in action last night-at the event, not on the living room floor-had given her plenty of ideas where Ben could stand to improve his skills.

There was no need for improvement of any kind with his skills on the living room floor.

She'd worked up a detailed SWOT a.n.a.lysis, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats based on her own observations at the event, and on the spreadsheet of information Ben had sent yesterday afternoon. She had a lot to offer him. She could do a lot of good with this a.s.signment, proving to herself and to Ben that she was good at her job. That she took her career seriously.

Chase sure as h.e.l.l never did.

"Did you have a chance to look at the RFP from Urban Trax?" Miriam asked.

Holly turned her attention back to Miriam, grateful to be talking about business again. At least that was a comforting topic. "Urban Trax," she repeated. "That's the chain of outdoor stores?"

"Yes, kinda like REI."

"Sorry, I've been a little out of the loop with that one."

"Don't sweat it, I have things covered. Here, check out the preliminary logos I was brainstorming last night."

Miriam swiped the screen on her iPad and brought up a PDF featuring several impressive mock-ups. She handed the device to Holly, and Holly scrolled through the sample logos, amazed once again at the caliber of talent on the First Impressions team.

"Wow, this one's amazing."

"Thanks," Miriam said. "That's my favorite, too. It's a little premature until we land the deal, but I'm confident we will."

"Keep me posted," Holly said, forking up another bite of salad. "I should have an update on the Happy Valley account by the end of the day."

"No rush. I know this Langley Enterprises job is kind of a priority right now."

Holly nodded, conscious of the heat that spread through her body at the thought of Ben and his company. "Yeah, it is. It's not just about the CEO rebranding, either."

"You think there's potential for more work?"

"I'm hoping. It's a big opportunity."

"Exactly how big are we talking?"

Holly's thoughts veered to images of Ben's ma.s.sive hands, his broad shoulders, the impressive bulge she'd felt in the front of his pants- "Earth to Holly?"

"Sorry," she said, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "I was just thinking about our prospects for new business."

"You were thinking about your prospects for getting in the CEO's pants," Miriam said, flas.h.i.+ng a salacious grin. "I know you, girl. I can read it all over your face."

"Right," Holly said, wondering if working with your best friend was almost as dangerous as sleeping with a client. "Anyway, I do think First Impressions could end up with a lot of business out of this Langley deal. They have corporate offices all over the world, and a budget big enough to make your head spin."

"Does each division handle their own marketing?"

"It all runs through corporate headquarters, but individual branches have budgets for promotional initiatives and marketing campaigns. Ben sent me a little info about it yesterday, and I couldn't believe the numbers. If we could get a piece of that-"

She stopped short, waiting for Miriam to point out that she'd already gotten a piece. When she didn't, it occurred to her that her potty-mouthed pal wasn't the only one with s.e.x on the brain.

"Anyway," Holly said. "If things go well with this CEO rebrand, maybe there's potential for First Impressions to do some work for other Langley divisions."

All the more reason not to bone your client, her inner voice pointed out. You don't want to screw that up by s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the CEO.

"Sounds good," Miriam said, tucking a crumpled napkin and an apple core into her empty yogurt container as she stood up. "I have to run to that meeting for Mountain Medical Group. You want to chat later about the bid for that cable company?"

"Let's aim for tomorrow. My calendar's up to date, so just pick a time that works."

"Sounds like a plan." Miriam squeezed her shoulder. "Now get out there and bone that CEO."

"I will do no such thing."

"Whatever you say."

As Miriam walked away, Holly crumpled her napkin onto her salad plate and sighed.

She felt confident in her ability to juggle multiple clients and to run this business the way she'd been doing the last couple years. She even felt confident in her ability to rebrand Ben Langley into the sort of alpha male CEO he needed to be.

If only she felt half as confident in her ability to resist him.

Chapter Seven.

Ben glanced at his watch for what had to be the hundredth time in the last hour. When he'd emailed Holly the previous afternoon to request a two o'clock meeting the next day, he hadn't considered the fact that having thirty-six hours pa.s.s before seeing her again would feel like an eternity.

It's strictly business.

Except his brain kept veering to images of her naked and breathless on his living room floor. Maybe this was supposed to be strictly business, but there was a lot more than business on his mind.

He glanced at his watch again. Two minutes until she was due to arrive.

"Dude!"

Ben looked up to see Parker standing in the doorway shaking his head. His best friend wore athletic shorts, a T-s.h.i.+rt from their boxing gym, and a look of intense annoyance.

"You stood us up again." Parker ambled forward and dropped into the seat Ben had hoped to see cupping Holly's firm backside in mere seconds.

"s.h.i.+t, I'm sorry," Ben said. "I'm working around the clock on this new deal and-"

"And becoming your dad with every pa.s.sing day. Nice suit."

Ben sighed. "I'm sorry. Seriously, I'd love nothing more than to hit the gym with you guys, but this job is important."

"You're aware the rest of us have jobs, too, right? Some of our t.i.tles even include words like president' and chief executive.'"

"You're clearly a better man than I am."

Parker shook his head. "Wow, the stress is really getting to you. Did your dad have your sense of humor surgically removed before he granted you a key to the building?"

"Sorry." Ben raked his hands through his hair. "It's just-this is my shot, you know? To take the company in a new direction and make up for some of the s.h.i.+t my dad pulled when my mom was still alive."

"That's an awful lot of weight to put on your shoulders."

Ben shrugged. "It is what it is."

"Fine. We'll cut you some slack for now, but if you start growing ear hair and slapping people on the back like your dad, we're hosting an intervention." Parker grinned. "It'll be like that time in college when you wanted to go to that insect convention and we had to kidnap you so you'd come with us for spring break in Cancun."

"And I missed out on seeing a rare Dryococelus Australis."

"Yeah, but the margaritas were outstanding."

"I did have a good time," Ben admitted, glancing at his watch again. "Speaking of time, I have an important meeting starting any second now."

As if on cue, the intercom buzzed on his desk. "Holly Colvin is here to see you?"

Parker raised an eyebrow, and Ben tried to ignore him. "Thanks, Carol," he said. "You can send her in."

He looked at Parker, who was shooting him a knowing grin. "What?" Ben asked. "My meeting happens to be with a woman."

"Who happens to make you grin like you just won a gift certificate from the b.l.o.w.j.o.b-of-the-month club."

"Very nice. You can go now."

Parker stood up just as Holly strode through the door looking flushed and beautiful in a slim skirt with a crisp green blouse that looked like it would be silky to touch.

Stop thinking about touching her.

Ben stood up and stepped around his desk to greet her. "Holly," he said, extending his hand. He realized belatedly that offering a handshake to a woman he'd seen naked thirty-six hours ago was the most socially awkward greeting he could have managed, but she met him with a firm grip and a smile.

"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?"