“You brought a date to this meeting, you fuckwit?” he said with a laugh.
Cameron’s growl rolled through his chest. “Max Jensen, meet Jackson McAllister. And, yes, he’s always this charming.”
Max sizedher up with new appreciation, and his smile grew wider. He stood up and stuck out his hand. “Welcome to Sydney, Ms. McAllister. I trust Cameron’s made you feel welcome.”
There was no good way to answer that comment. She shook his hand and gave him a neutral smile. “Nice to meet you.”
The other two stood up.
A dark-haired man with stunning green eyes extended his hand next. “Simon Rodriguez,”he said.
The last man stepped forward, the one who was pictured with his wife. This guy was the biggest of the group, probably a Pacific Islander, and he was by far the most relaxed. “Derek Latu,” he said, reaching out his hand. She shook it, and they all sat down.
The table was silent. Right. Best to get straight to the point.
“I’m sure you’re all thrilled to have me here,” she said.
The three men chuckled.
“I didn’t come to tell you all what to do,” she continued. “The numbers suggest you’re doing a great job running this business. But after some recent press, the board wants an image adjustment. I’m here to help with that.”
She looked around the table for reactions. They were all looking between her and Cameron. So she hazarded a glance at him, too. He was sittingstraight up in his chair, arms crossed, with a rock-hard expression on his face. A flush crept up his neck, and she wondered how a man this easily provoked could make it in the security business. She almost laughed.
“Mr. Blackmore, did you want to add something?” she asked calmly.
He shook his head. Derek smirked.
The waitress appeared, and Jackson let out her breath. The woman setdown a round of beers in front of the men. Cameron took a long drink from the bottle, finishing half before he set it down.
“What would you like to drink, ma’am?”
Should she order wine? Nope, probably not a good idea. Jackson was going to need all her wits about her for this meeting, especially if Cameron was already this worked up.
“Just water please,” she said.
The waitress leftin silence. This was going to be painful. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pad of paper.
“Let’s take care of this,” she said and turned back to the other three. “I’m here to test a couple key public relations opportunities to see what works best and plan accordingly. So as per the board’s instructions, I’ll spend a few days tailing Mr. Blackmore. I’ll shadow one of your jobs—”
“What?” Cameron snapped.
Jackson raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was clear.”
“This isn’t a sporting event, Ms. McAllister.” His voice held contempt. “It’s private security that has the potential to be dangerous for everyone involved. It’s not for spectators, no matter what the board says.” He rubbed his forehead and muttered, “What the hell are they thinking?”
Cameron had a point.What the hellwasthe board thinking? The Blackmore Inc. team was supposed to do their job and make sure Jackson got a good view? From what she’d heard of this board from her colleagues at the PR firm, this sounded like another one of their armchair decisions that had little to do with reality. It wouldn’t be the first. Or maybe this was Harlan Blackmore’s more personal directive, aimed to takeCameron down a notch. Perhaps Cameron deserved some sympathy... She might have felt bad for him if he wasn’t still sneering in her direction. She met his glare and tipped up her chin at him. “The board is thinking that I can take care of myself just fine, Mr. Blackmore,” she said slowly, as if she were explaining this to a child.
Cameron clamped his jaw shut and Jackson fought not to rollher eyes. Enough of Cameron Blackmore’s caveman tantrums. She had to get out of here and regain her composure.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said and headed for the ladies’ room.
