Page 63 of Pure Recklessness

I tried not to look, but bloody hell. The sight of his bicep flexing and the sweat dripping from his immaculate body were too hard to resist.

Before I’d said I wanted to be a sweat droplet, but now I reckoned the towel had the better part of the deal.

Then I remembered Mr Devlin was waiting for my suggestions and snapped out of my illicit thoughts.

‘It’s difficult because I don’t know a lot about lingerie, but I’m sure there are loads of other manufacturers who’d jump at the chance to work with Sated. You just have to find one or preferably multiple manufacturers that are reliable so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket in the future. And ask the PR team to get ahead of the story before it breaks.’

‘No shit, Sherlock.’ He rolled his eyes.

‘No need to be rude!’ I shot back. ‘I’m trying to help!’

‘That’s sweet, but we’re already researching alternative manufacturers and we’ll be briefing Calista on a crisis management campaign. But we need to do more.’

‘I’m thinking off the cuff here,’ I paused, ‘but whilst you’re dealing with the issues with your current manufacturer, maybe you could try doing a limited-edition range with a high-end, more boutique lingerie brand whose values align with Sated’s. Having a new collection would give you something fresh to talk about to create excitement and take the focus away from your existing supplier. Then if it goes well, you could give them more work in the future. And whilst you’re doing that, maybe you could leverage other products to boost revenue.’

‘Go on.’ He stood up straighter and I forced myself to focus on his face and not his perfectly sculpted arms.

‘So maybe do some kind of bookish events in your shops. You could create a different theme in-store every month. For example, hot billionaires or forbidden romances.’ I swallowed hard, hoping that he wouldn’t know that I was thinking about him. ‘So for that month, the store’s interior would have a dark, sexy aesthetic, shining a spotlight on the toys and books that fit the theme. And you could have different authors who write those books doing a reading. Normally signings and events are done for new books. But why not promote books from your back catalogue too?’

Mr Devlin nodded slowly like he was considering it. I took that as a sign to continue.

‘Just like I suggested for the app, hosting events would be a great opportunity for more cross promotion. So if you buy a book, you can get a toy for a special price. But make it so the offer is only available in-store, not online. That way you’re driving traffic into the store. Oh and to attend the event, people would have to pay for a ticket in advance so you get the money upfront. Maybe they can redeem the cost against a purchase of a toy or item from the shop? Or the ticket price includes a gift?’

It was hard to think of what would work best off the top of my head, but either could be good.

At least I thought so.

Mr Devlin didn’t say anything. He just stared at me.

His face was blank. I couldn’t read his expression so I had no idea whether he hated my idea or not.

They’d probably tried all of this stuff before though.

The silence stretched for what felt like hours.

‘I like it,’ he said. ‘It’s simple. Easy to execute and it needn’t be expensive. It wouldn’t compare to the revenue we generate from lingerie, but it could boost book sales and in-store revenue and give Oscar’s division something new to talk about whilst we sort through this mess with our current manufacturer.’

My shoulders loosened and I exhaled.

He liked my idea.

‘Thanks.’ I smiled.

Our eyes locked and tingles erupted between my legs.

I was trying not to be affected by him, but it was difficult.

He had annoyingly beautiful eyes.

I really should leave right now.

All I had to do was turn around, put one foot in front of the other and continue until I got to the changing room. Then I should get changed and focus on my workout.

But just like when I saw him in the shower, it was as if my feet were immersed in concrete. I couldn’t move.

The shower.

Now all I could think about was him. Naked.