I have a stellar marketing department to thank for that, but I'll take credit. "Thanks, Rob."
"I should call the client we talked about, Maya." He reaches to squeeze her hand. "I'll meet you here at noon."
She nods as he wanders off with his phone in his palm.
"Can I get you a drink?" Maya motions toward the kitchen where a man dressed in a tuxedo is serving glasses of champagne on a tray.
"No, but thank you." I take a moment to look around the room. "I'm impressed. You've brought out a lot of people, Maya."
"They all work for Carvel." She rests her hip against the wall. "Every agent and broker has their list of contacts, so they're all putting out feelers to see if they have interested buyers."
I want her to sell the penthouse not only because of the monetary benefit to Bishop Hotels but for the sole reason that she deserves a chance to shine.
"I'd like to meet with you early tomorrow afternoon to talk about those brochures you had printed that are now in every room of all the Bishop hotels in this city. It's a brilliant approach to sell the penthouse."
I was in awe when one was placed on my desk earlier today. It's a tasteful brochure with vivid images of the interior of the penthouse and a brief rundown of all the benefits of owning it. Her contact details are front and center along with photo credits to Falon Shaw.
I have no idea when she managed to pull it all together. I do know that she spoke to the director of marketing who gave her the go-ahead to distribute the brochures to our hotels in Manhattan.
"Thank you." She runs her finger over her bottom lip. "Let me guess. You want to meet me right after the private showing I have with Rob and his client. You overhead our conversation, didn't you?"
"One o'clock in the restaurant downstairs, Maya. I'll be the one with the smile on my face."
"For the record, I wasn't going to have lunch with him."
I lean forward to whisper against the shell of her ear. "For the record, you smell incredible."
That brings a bubble of laughter from deep within her. "Flirt."
"Enjoy your evening, Maya." I inch back so I can look into her eyes.
"My rules haven't changed, Julian."
My jaw twitches as I fight the urge to kiss her. "Yet, Maya. Your rules haven't changed, yet."
She turns away from me as someone calls her name from the kitchen. "I need to get back to work. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, it is," I reply as she walks away without looking back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Maya
I lookacross the penthouse to the man standing near the corridor that leads in from the private elevator. I can't believe my eyes.
"Charlie?" I turn to where he's standing next to me. "I don't know how you pulled this off, but I'm forever grateful."
He smiles softly, his index finger nudging his glasses up his nose. "We're friends, right?"
I nod. We are. We established that last night during a text exchange.
Charlie sent me a text after the broker's open house to congratulate me on its success. I didn't know he was there, but he said he was and that he'd met someone. It's a woman who works in accounting. She tagged along with one of the sales agents to get a glimpse of the penthouse.
She's new, blonde and much more his type than I'll ever be.
They hit it off, and he wanted to let me down easy.
He did. He was kind, gentle and assured me that our breakup, as he called it, wouldn't impact my contract with his dad to sell his place.
