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“I think our first plan of attack has to be on your turf, so to speak. By that I mean we need traditional glossy ads in educational journals, magazines and catalogs. We need targeted social media ads visited by administrators and executive, plus search ads based on our keyword algorithm.” Skylar took a deep breath and threw him a disarming smile and started again. “Then we need to hit conventions and fairs where your development manager will get a chance to speak with decision-makers. Pretty much phase one is to infiltrate the education community so they can’t open a magazine or catalog or Facebook page without seeing an ETI product.”
Ryder was struck by the extent of her beauty when her face was relaxed in a smile. Her copper hair looked like flames licking the space around her heart shaped face and drawing attention to her sharp cheekbones and pouty lips. He couldn’t take his eyes off her until she called his name several times. “Thank you Ms. Morris,” he stood and straightened his tie unnecessarily. “Your presentation was fantastic, exactly the combination of traditional and modern that we need right now.”
The man’s demeanor could use some work but he knew how to say all the right words. “I’m so glad to hear that Mr. Tompkins becau—”
“Ryder. Call me Ryder since we’ll be working together a lot for at least the next six months.” This time her smile was intoxicating and he felt sucked right in to her web.
“I’m glad to hear you say that Ryder because that was our goal when my partner and I started Innovative Marketing Strategies four years ago.” Skylar sucked in a breath at the sight of his smile, completely spontaneous and captivating. Without the cloak of his icy demeanor, the man was a sight to behold. She’d initially pegged him as the serious sort, which he was. That was unfortunate because he was sexy as hell but appeared to be lacking a sense of humor, which she needed in any love interest of hers. Not that she was considering him for the part, just you know, in general. Besides Ryder would technically be her boss, well her client but the end result was the same. He was completely and totally off-limits.
The brothers made great eye candy for a girl on a guy hiatus, but that’s all they would ever be.
“I’ll have the contract couriered over to you later today. You impressed me today Ms. Morris and that rarely happens.”
“Please call me Skylar. And thank you. I’ll get to work on some ads for you to look at next week.” He guided her to the elevator and Skylar had to stop her mind from wandering to the heat his body emanated and the way her own body responded to him. Dammit. It felt like the end of a date and she knew it wasn’t so she needed to get her mind back to business. “Bye Ryder.”
“Bye Skylar.”
A few floors down Hunter waited for the elevator, a charming smile on his face when the doors opened to reveal the sexy redhead from earlier. “Hello beautiful. I’m Hunter, the fun and sexy brother.”
She laughed at his introduction and accepted his handshake. “I’m Skylar. Marketing.” Hunter was handsome but his problem was he knew it and that was a major turn-off. What he didn’t realize was that his brother Ryder could give him a run for his money.
“So Skylar, can I interest you in dinner tonight? I have a standing reservation at Rafaelli’s.”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing at him. That charming smile and confident lean probably had the ladies dropping at his feet. She shook her head at him. “No sorry, I have plans.” He didn’t know her plans included Pad Thai and catching up on the last season of House of Cards.
Hunter slid in closer, invading her space because he could and because his big body had been known to get a woman hot and bothered. “How about tomorrow night? Or even better, how about dinner and dancing on Friday?”
She smiled but it wasn’t flirty. “You’re relentless, aren’t you?”
He leaned in, his smile on full wattage to dazzle. “When I see something I want Skylar, I stop at nothing to get it.” His finger traced her jaw line. “And Skylar? I want you. Bad.”
She looked deep into those killer green eyes and laughed. “Does that line actually work for you?”
He shrugged, playing up his boyish charm. “Most of the time. But I guess I need to up my game when it comes to a smart woman like you.”
Oh, he’s good. “Maybe so.” She stepped off the elevator and turned to get one last glimpse of the glossy blond. “It was nice meeting you Hunter. I’ll see you around.”
His smile was predatory. “Count on it.”
Skylar laughed as she walked out of the Tompkins-Cross Building. The brothers were totally different. Both handsome and driven but that was where the similarities ended. She shook off all thoughts of both men and high-tailed it back to her office to share the good news.
***
“I should be working with the marketing girl Ryder, not you.” Hunter barged into his step brother’s office and interrupted his phone call, towering over him with his arms crossed.
Ryder as usual, was not rattled and just held up a finger to stop his brother’s rant. He listened with a small smile to his head programmer as he explained how the glitches had been fixed in the latest program to help dyslexic learners. “That sounds good Josh. Keep up the good work.” He hung up the phone and typed a few notes into his calendar before finally turning his attention to Hunter. “What can I do for you Hunter?”
Hunter didn’t miss the slightly irritated pitch of his voice. “I said I should be working with the marketing girl.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. Hunter was transparent. It was obvious he’d targeted Skylar as his next conquest. “Marketing girl, really? Tell me Hunter, what exactly do you know about marketing to make you think that?”
“I know enough.” His green eyes bore into Ryder, who was still unaffected.
“Enough to get in her pants? I don’t think so Hunter. We need her to do her job, not quit in the middle because you get bored. Besides you’re booked for an educational conference in Chicago next week.”
Hunter slumped down in his chair. “Come on, Ry. I hate those things.”
Ryder held back a smile. Hunter hated them because education was a long-term career choice and he’d plowed through the available women pretty early on, no pun intended. “Well you need to do something to make up for past two quarters and there are some new faces thanks to a community college initiative set up by the new Governor.” It was poised to help the business and he needed Hunter there. Wanted him there.
