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She shook her head. “I got a hundred for one of Romeo’s.”
“Ha!” Grayson punched the air. “I knew I was seventy-five percent better than you, big brother.”
“Only because you had doodled a naked model on it,” Kelly said. “The art dealer I sold it to was ecstatic to get it for a hundred. Especially when your nude paintings are going for thousands.”
“Wait a minute,” Deacon said. “You’re selling our used coffee cups on eBay?”
Kelly shrugged. “Did I not just tell you that my wedding has gotten completely out of hand? And unless I want to live on the streets, I’ve been forced to take extreme measures. But don’t worry, boss. I’m not selling yours. No one seems to be interested in the married Beaumont’s coffee cups. Of course, they might’ve heard about your wife trying to hijack an airplane and they’re scared she’ll fly into a jealous rage and murder them in their sleep with her lemon juicer.”
“I did not try to hijack a plane.” Olivia breezed in the open door wearing a flirty little purple polka-dotted dress along with the signature purple high heels that all female employees wore. Since Nash had always liked a woman in heels, he was all for the company dress code—at least, the female company dress code. Whenever possible, he ignored the male company dress code of gray suits and purple ties.
“That entire hijacking incident was blown completely out of proportion,” Olivia continued. “I was just making sure that the plane didn’t leave.”
Deacon came around the desk and pulled his wife into his arms. “You mean you were just making sure that I didn’t leave.”
“You are extremely arrogant for a man whose coffee cups won’t sell on eBay,” she said before she gave him a quick kiss. “Now why did you pull me away from the design studio?”
Deacon placed a hand on her stomach. “You need to be pulled away from the design studio more often. In fact, you should be at home resting.”
Olivia covered his hand with hers. “We’ve been over this before, Deacon. I’m pregnant, not an invalid. And I want to work for as long as I can before the baby gets here.”
There were few people on the face of the earth that Deacon would concede to. His wife seemed to be one of them. “Fine, but stop wearing those damned high heels. I’m a nervous wreck that you’re going to fall.” He released her and then pulled out his chair and waited for her to sit down. “Nash has a good idea about doing a survey for the new bra line to see what people think of it.”
A frown marred her forehead. “So sales are still down?” When Deacon nodded, she released a sigh. “I blame myself. I was so busy working on the Legendary Lovers Line that I didn’t pay much attention to the new bra line. I just thought that Samuel had it under control. I should’ve realized that he was depressed and done something to help him.”
Deacon sent her a warning look as he leaned on the edge of his desk. “You’re not still thinking about matchmaking, are you?”
“I just think that if Samuel had a partner—”
He cut her off. “Samuel’s personal life is his own, Livy. And unless he asks for your help, you need to stay out of it. Besides, I don’t think it’s the design of the bras that’s the problem—something I think we’ll discover when we get the results of our survey.” He clapped his hands. “So let’s get started.”
With Olivia and Kelly’s help, it didn’t take long to pull together some questions for the questionnaire. When Deacon was satisfied, he called an end to the meeting and took Olivia to lunch. Grayson headed to a design meeting for the new catalog, leaving Nash to finish up with Kelly.
Since he had gotten little sleep the night before, he stretched out on the leather couch while Kelly sat at Deacon’s desk and finished inputting the questions on her laptop.
“Times have certainly changed,” she said as her nails clicked on the keyboard. “In my grandmother’s time, it was the woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Now it’s the men.”
“I’m not being auctioned off. I’m simply taking the winner to dinner.”
“Are you going to include sex in the deal?” Kelly asked. When Nash opened his eyes and sent her a dubious look, she shrugged. “I know, I’m not supposed to talk about sex at work, but since I can’t have it, it’s the only enjoyment I get.”
“So Jason’s sticking to his celibacy before marriage pledge?”
She closed her laptop. “The man has the willpower of a Buddhist priest. Jason says he wants our wedding night to be special, but what’s so special about ripped clothing and premature ejaculation?” She got up and started collecting coffee cups. “I mean, wouldn’t it be better if we weren’t so primed and ready?”
One of Nash’s biggest attributes was knowing when to keep his mouth shut. He stretched before he got to his feet. “Well, thanks, Kelly. I think we should get it up on the website tomorrow, then follow with a social media blitz.”
“The media blitz is all yours. All you need to do is tweet it. Every woman who has a phone or computer is following you. And speaking of phones…” She walked over and bent down. “Whose is this?” She held up the escort’s phone, and Nash felt his heart drop to his feet.
“I found it.” He reached for the phone, but she turned away and tapped the screen.
“And you didn’t check to see if you could figure out who it belongs to?”
Oh, he’d checked. He’d spent most of the night trying to figure out the passcode. He hadn’t had any luck. Kelly, on the other hand, figured it out in three tries.
“People don’t usually think up complicated passcodes,” she explained at his look of surprise.
“Great. Thanks. I’ll take it from here.” He held out a hand, but she ignored it.
