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We switched places, and I crossed my legs under the table as soon as I sat on one of the chairs. I wasn’t watching Winston. I knew the presentation by heart. I was watching the others, trying to read their expressions, to guess what they were writing down.
All the doubts I’d kept at bay while I’d been in the front came crashing into me.
What if they didn’t like the rebrand? I couldn’t imagine the store closing down. It just wasn’t possible.
“Winston, I was hoping to see a more drastic plan, to be honest,” one of them said.
“The charity program could be scrapped completely,” another said. My hackles went up.
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s occupying a prime-time slot in your Christmas program. Replace it with something you can monetize.”
Winston set his jaw, narrowing his eyes. “The charity program is a staple at Statham Stores. It stays.”
It endeared him to me that he was fighting for the charity program, even if he was making life harder for himself.
“Our customers expect it,” I said. “They like the fuzzy feeling of having done something good.”
“The fuzzy feeling factor won’t bring in revenue.”
“People like to know they’re contributing to a cause. I can show you the comments specifically praising the charity program in our customer surveys. It makes them happy. And when they’re happy, they spend more.”
“As long as you have the numbers to back it up.”
“We do,” Winston said confidently.
We went back and forth over several points of the rebranding campaign.
I felt as if someone had placed a ten-pound weight on my shoulders as we stepped back out on the street. Winston looked even worse.
I’d hoped this would go better. Sure, it had just been the interim presentation, but we had practically not agreed on anything. Right... there was plenty of time to worry about this later. At the moment, I had one goal:
take Winston’s mind off the meeting.
“So, mister. I see those frown lines have multiplied. Need to do something about them.”
Winston flashed me a smile. “And what would that be?”
I tapped my chin, wiggling my eyebrows. “Still trying to decide what would be more efficient.”
Winston stopped walking, training his eyes on me. The sheer heat in that look made me squirm. And then he took one step in my direction, closing the distance, wrapping me in his arms.
“Let’s move our flights to tomorrow.”
I blew out a breath. Wow. That was definitely not what I’d been expecting.
“You want to spend another night here?”
He nodded. “I just want you all for me this weekend, Sienna. Just you and me.”
My heart was beating so wildly that I couldn’t focus on my thoughts. I couldn’t focus on anything other than how warm and strong he felt against me.
Emotion flickered in his eyes, and I realized this was a decisive moment. If I said yes, things would shift between us.
Last night, we’d both been driven by impulse and got caught up in the heat of things, but this was... well, different. I could fall for this man in a blink of an eye. What if I got my heart broken? The fear wasn’t enough to deter me from wanting to get completely lost in him. I had to change my plans for tomorrow, but I nodded, happy that I had more time to take his mind off the meeting.
“Perfect. That means I can show you even more of the area than I’d thought.”
