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Ryder grinned as Sophie squared her shoulders, shot him a “you’d better behave or you’re a dead man” glare, and opened her oversized iPad pro. It didn’t surprise him that she had the latest and greatest technology. She was that kind of woman.
Yes, this was business, but she looked so good he wanted to rip her dress off her. She drove him crazy. So crazy he bit her. Unable to help himself, his gaze skimmed down to settle on her neck. He wanted to bite her again. Somewhere everyone could see it.
But he had to play it cool. Griffin was his friend and the city project was his baby. He’d been excited over the opportunity to hire Sophie, hoping she’d bring fresh ideas and a big-city perspective.
Ryder was going to take a wild guess and assume Griffin most likely wouldn’t appreciate his behavior toward her these last couple of days. Especially when Ryder had known they’d be working closely together.
She flipped the screen toward Ryder and Griffin, showing them a map of Revival, focusing on the river section of town.
“I think it’s a great idea,” she began in a rock-solid professional voice. “It has a lot of potential, but your problem right now is opportunity. You don’t have any resorts or places people wanting a break from the city would want to stay.” She circled three houses on the map. “These are for sale.” She drew arrows to two. “But these are smack in the middle of the residential section of the river. Families live here because this is a small town and they get to leave their doors unlocked and know all their neighbors. They’re not going to want to have some strangers renting out the house next to them to party all weekend.”
Damn. Ryder was impressed. She’d done her homework. As a group, they’d been focused on the town square and the events that would follow, figuring they’d pay attention to the how later.
On the other hand, Sophie had done significant research.
She glanced at them to ensure she had their attention. She pointed to the house at the other end of the map. “This house has potential, but the house next to it has been in the same family for over a hundred years, which limits possible expansion.” She slid her finger over the screen and recentered the image. “But this land might work. It’s big and undeveloped. It has room for a small resort that would allow people to get away from it all.” She flashed them a smile. “It’s a great mix of riverbed and forests.”
She sat back in her chair, and Ryder glanced at Griffin, who looked like he might jump out of his skin with excitement.
She gave Ryder a smug look, twirling her pen. “The land would need to be rezoned, but it’s doable. You’ll have a better pulse on how the citizens of Revival will take it. But assuming they are on board, that leads us to the next problem on the list: investors. You’re asking them to take a risk on an idea, on the potential of the town.”
Griffin nodded. “And you don’t think they’ll go for it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a trend, that’s for sure. People are tired and they want to get away. But why come here instead of Lake Geneva?”
Captivated by her, Ryder interjected. “Lake Geneva is a hell of a lot more crowded.”
She pointed at him. “Exactly.” She sat forward. “So here’s what we need to do. We need to build a story. We need to come up with a campaign that will sell Revival as the anti-Wisconsin lake town. Then we need to invite people to Revival and test the story. Once we do that, we’ll know what we’re dealing with.”
Ryder could only stare at her in wonder. In the past four days—Christ, had it only been four days?—he’d lusted after her body, her face, her quick wit, biting tongue, and sassy retorts. He’d been impressed by her banter, her comebacks, and her lack of fear. He’d known she was intelligent, but he’d had no idea how off-the-charts smart she was.
This woman knew her shit. It wasn’t that Griffin had never talked about this stuff. He had. They knew they didn’t have actual places for people to visit, but they’d been focused on building up the town, driving business and community. Those were in the final phases, and it was time to start looking at the next piece of the puzzle.
Sophie had made it concrete and actionable.
Ryder had no doubt in his mind if Griffin decided to sic Sophie on this, she’d move faster than anyone else in this town ever dared.
Griffin sat back in his chair. “Wow.”
“Thank you,” Sophie said, grinning ear to ear. “In addition to this, I have plans that could work to help grow the town. You sent me the town’s current initiatives, so I developed the beginning outlines for each of the projects.”
“I’m impressed,” Griffin said.
“That’s what you’re paying me for.” She shrugged, as though it wasn’t a big deal, but Ryder wasn’t fooled. She was well aware she’d just hit a home run.
“And worth every penny, I see,” Griffin said, his voice amused.
The truth was they’d never had anyone this good before. At the last meeting, someone suggested a direct mail campaign. Even Ryder, who knew virtually nothing about public relations and marketing, knew that was a shitty, outdated idea.
“I’m glad you’re happy,” she said graciously, although Ryder would bet a hundred dollars she was thinking you bet your ass I am.
“Hey,” Griffin said, breaking Ryder from his thoughts. “My wife, Darcy, is very active in the community, but she actually spent a lot of years living in New York. Not only would she love to meet you, but she’d love to hear the ideas as well. She’s a good sounding board for stuff like this. I know this is your first week in town and it’s probably crazy, but maybe you’d have dinner with us next week once you’re settled in?”
Sophie beamed and folded her hands. “That would be lovely. I’d love to meet her.”
“Great.” Griffin turned to Ryder. “Can you make it too?”
