“We’re competitors.”
“Like you said, we’re colleagues. The public loves it when brands work together, according to our marketing team.”
Not totally false, if the crossover was properly done. Rhiannon mulled that over. “And what do I and Crush get out of this?”
“You’ll be viewed as an expert on love and dating.”
“Meanwhile, Matchmaker will be cast as a clueless, old-fashioned ingenue in this setup,” she pointed out.
“Matchmaker is old-fashioned. We lean in on that, people wanting love the old-fashioned way. And a lot of our base will identify with a guy who feels bewildered with the way digital dating has changed love. Your base will identify with a woman of the world. You and I know we have a good rapport. This works. For both of us. For Crush and Matchmaker.”
She examined the idea all around, looking for more holes to poke into it. But other than the fact that it was something of a strange concept to craft a joint marketing campaign with your competitor—colleague, whatever—she couldn’t find anything, on its face, to discredit it.
Except for the fact that she’d be with Samson. Again and again. Talking to him about love and dating and then walking away. Priming him to be the perfect date for some other woman.
But those were emotional reasons against doing this thing, and she wasn’t ruled by her emotions. “You came up with this?”
His smile was sly. “Did I tell you my degree is in marketing?”
“You know you didn’t. You haven’t talked to Annabelle yet. She may not like this.”
“She doesn’t usually concern herself with this level of detail. William is happy with the idea, and our marketing people are ecstatic over it. She’ll be fine.”
“I have to talk to my team.”
He nodded. “Why don’t you do that today?”
“Is this time sensitive?”
“Anything meant for the internet is time sensitive, I’ve been told.”
She mulled it over for a long moment. As if he knew she was wavering, he leaned closer and placed his hand on the back of her chair, boxing her in. Her breath caught as he brushed his other hand over hers, where it rested on the arm of her chair. “Come on. It’ll be fun and benefit both of us. We do have good chemistry, Rhi,” he murmured. “You can’t deny that.”
She licked her suddenly dry lips.Rhi.Not the first time he’d used her nickname, but it slid over her ears like silk in his deep, dark voice. His palm was so heavy, the calluses of his thumb rasping over her skin as he rubbed in the tiniest gesture. She wanted to flip her hand over and hold it. “We might.”
“Might?”
His shoulders seemed to grow bigger. What was he, a peacock? If so, she was an animal too, because her heartbeat was responding to whatever mating dance body language he had going on. “I don’t think there’s any question about it.” He straightened away from her, unboxing her body. Forthe first time since he’d walked into the room, his face grew grave and vulnerable. “Look. Let me address the elephant in the room. I clearly like you and am attracted to you, so if something were to develop between us, physically or whatever, it would be fine with me. I’m not going to badger you about it, though, or make you justify your choices if that choice is no. You have my number. You can come to me.”
She tried to summon her voice, to explain the problem to him: she didn’t fuck with the same man twice, especially one who had hurt her before. It was far too risky. She’d been decimated before, and by someone whom she’d thought was on her side. Samson was technically a competitor, and she needed to be careful.
Never again.
She couldn’t force the words out, though.
When she sat silent, he lifted a shoulder. “Don’t stress, Rhi. I have to go meet a friend right now.” He named a downtown bar she was somewhat familiar with. “Someone recommended that place to me. I’ll be there tonight, around eight. Since you like to track me down so much, if you make a decision, come there and let me know if you’re ready to roll.”
She rose to her feet when he did, the words that finally emerged from her mouth blessedly strong and assertive. “Or I’ll call you.”
His look was filled with kind humor, like he knew she’d come find him over calling him. “Whatever you’d like. I’ll be there no matter what.”
She pursed her lips, trying to figure out if there was somedouble meaning behind his words. Was he trying to impress upon her that he was man of his word? Well, too bad. Nothing would help her learn to trust him again except his behavior.
She followed him to the door, and opened it for him. He nodded to her as he left. “I look forward to hearing from you, Rhi.” The intimate use of her nickname made her toes curl. How could such polite words sound like a sexy veiled threat?
She watched him walk away, trying not to stare too hard at his butt, but what else was one supposed to look at when a hot man was walking away from you?
Aw, shit. The truth hit her like a tidal wave.
