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“Excuse me?”
She shook the blond curls from her shoulders. “You seriously want me to believe that you are both so enthralled with the livelihood and well-being of children that you’re setting up a foundation?”
“That’s exactly what we’ve done. The Vegas trip in two weeks is when we are announcing it to our shareholders and to the public. We are anticipating a high media presence. They are going to expect us to roll out a new product, but instead they are going to get this. And we hope the foundation gets a lot of support. What better way to kick off a campaign?”
“I really don’t know what to say.”
“Do you think you have enough information to start the design work? You’re running on a short time table. The other artists we have consulted certainly have a head start on you.”
“Th-this is huge,” Abby stuttered.
“Are you up for it?”
She nodded. “I-I have to be, don’t I?”
He smiled. “That’s up to you. You don’t have to take the assignment, Abby. Deacon’s not going to be easy on you. He has an art background. He knows his stuff. He has the final say.”
“And if I don’t then I sit around the office all day while you two work and wait for you to walk me home.”
“I didn’t say that. I’m sure we could find another position for you. This was your negation.”
She sat back in her chair. For a moment, he thought she might reconsider. She might pull her offer to design the brand.
“I want the job.” She pulled her shoulders back. “If there is one thing I know, it’s how much children need a foundation like this. I’m going to produce the winning design.”
“Good.” He pushed off from the chair. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”
“It’s going to be the Vegas design.”
Cole paused in the doorway. He could see the determination in her eyes. Feel the defiance dripping off her. She was beautiful and smart. And every time he saw her she was getting under his skin more and more. He wanted to clear everything off her desk and kiss her until she screamed his name. Abby was more than he ever could have imagined.
“If it is, then I guess Vegas will be our last weekend together.” He said the words slowly. He didn’t want that to happen. But he wanted her to win. He wanted her to feel that kind of satisfaction from proving her work and her art.
He was torn, wanting to keep her, and wanting her to be successful enough she freed herself.
“Then Vegas it is.” She grinned triumphantly. “Thank you for the information, Cole. I know what I need to do now.”
“Glad I could help.” He tapped the doorframe. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
“Right. Dinner.”
He walked out of Abby’s office.
9
Abby
Cole walked out of her office and Abby still didn’t know how to take what he had told her. All this time she thought she was going to design their latest million-dollar product, when in fact they were trying to launch the most amazing foundation she had ever heard of. It was going to change lives. Make families whole. Help children and parents when they needed it most.
Who were these men?
She tapped her pen on the desk. They had given her a corner office that most people worked their entire lives to earn.
She didn’t want to think she had pegged them wrong. That they gave because maybe they were generous, not because they were trying to seduce her. Maybe they gave because that’s how they showed they cared. They gave because it made them feel good.
She twisted her lips together, confused more than before Cole’s visit. What if there was something good about Cole and Deacon buried underneath their sexy exteriors? What if they were capable of caring beyond their global domination? What if they were good men and she had judged them because of something stupid Cal did?
Her head spun with the possibilities. But Abby did what she always did when things were complicated. She walked to the new design table and picked up a charcoal pencil. There was one place where she could get lost. One place where everything else faded away and nothing else mattered. Her art.
