Page 20 of Sack

“No!”

“Because that’s what it sounded like.” He was giving her a hard time. He couldn’t help it. He loved to watch her squirm.

“I didn’t mean you as a jock.”

He raised a brow. “So you just meant me in general?”

“No! Oh, poodoo. I’m shutting up now.”

He decided to put her out of her misery. “Relax, I know what you meant.”

“Maybe it’s a good idea if I get started on my presentation. You know, talk about something I’ve actually rehearsed so I don’t stick my foot in my mouth again.”

He chuckled and swept an arm toward the couch. “Is here okay?”

“Yes.” She pulled her laptop from her bag and set it on the coffee table.

Colt sat on the couch and after a second’s hesitation, Ivy sat on the cushion next to him. She reached over and opened her laptop.

After a minute passed, she apologized, “Sorry, it’s a little slow.”

“No problem.” He also noticed one of the keys was missing.

She double-clicked on an icon and tapped a couple more keys. A PowerPoint presentation popped up.

He paid close attention as she went through her spiel, talking to him about revamping his logo and tagline for better impact, using eye-catching colors for the website, utilizing other forms of social media, and a few other things that, Colt had to admit, were a really good idea. He realized hiring a professional should have been one of his first priorities and was kicking himself for not doing it sooner. If even half of what she proposed panned out, he could reach a much broader audience.

“You said you do charity fundraisers. I checked online. There are very few photos of you interacting at those events. I’d like to change that. People respond to positive visual stimuli.”

“It just so happens we’re having one next Saturday at our center. It’s the last major event before football season starts. Feel free to come and hang out.”

“That’s perfect. I can get some great shots to add to your social media.”

They went over a few more things, nailed down the colors to use for the website, and brainstormed ideas to revamp the branding.

She closed her laptop. “Let me go home and start working on this. I’ll have more to show you tomorrow if you have time to look at it.”

“Why don’t you just work on it here?” He surprised himself as much as her. “I mean, wouldn’t that be easier? That way if you had any questions or wanted to run an idea by me, I’m right here.”

“Yes, having you around would be handy, but I don’t want to occupy your whole day.”

“I planned to hang out at home anyway. Come on, I’ll show you where you can set up.”

He took her to his office.

She stepped inside, her eyes zeroing in on his top-of-the-line desktop. She walked over and fingered the keyboard. “Wow. Is it okay if I use this?” She looked a bit guilty. “I’ll need to save a couple of programs to your hard drive. Would that be okay?”

“Sure. I rarely use it. Make yourself at home.”

She felt along the side of the monitor and clicked the start button before taking a seat in the leather chair. The computer blinked to life.

He lost her attention.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Shout out if you need me.”

She gave him a preoccupied nod, and he backed out of the office to leave her be to play with her new toy.

Colt must have walked by his closed office door at least twenty times in the past hour, trying to think of an excuse to enter.

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