Page 68 of My Ruthless Opponent

He sighs and shakes his head before continuing. “My team knows I never do mushy things like sending flowers or going on dates. Yes, I have been photographed with them in restaurants and bars. But those weren’t dates. We are humans and we require food so I have gone out for dinners. But that’s about it. I gave you flowers. This might be a small thing for you, but not for my team. Hell, Summer is going to blast me if she got wind of this.”

My heart squeezes in my chest and I absolutely hate it when I can’t stop myself from blurting out, “Summer?”

“My best friend.” He smiles and it reaches his eyes.

Best friend. A girl.

Why is it affecting me so much? I have Archer. But we are platonic. He is like my brother. What is this girl to him? She might be significant to him.

A mere mention of her name got him smiling. A genuine smile. Nothing like the sarcastic ones he gives me.

“Anyway, this was a base of our backstory. Let’s plan the story before we move on to the main reason for our meeting.”

“The main reason?”

“You had asked who would get the promotion if we both worked for it. I have a strategy. But first, let’s get this story out of the way.”

After a full hour of arguments, we finally came up with a plausible story.

It took an immeasurable amount of patience while Raleigh kept suggesting ludicrous scenarios about our first meeting.

I was confused whether he was joking or he actually meant what he was saying. Because who goes to a strip club on their first date?

Yes, that was his first suggestion. And it just got colorful as the seconds ticked by.

Thankfully, he co-operated when I devised a story. Co-operated meaning he objected at least fifteen times about changing his entry scene.

Yes. He thinks we are working on a screenplay of a film.

“Now that that’s out of the way, can we get to the part where you’ll explain the plan, strategy, or… whatever it is you’re calling it?”

I am tired. I need to pee. I need a shower. But first of all, I want to get out of the work clothes. Sadly, I can’t do any of those things until Raleigh is out the door.

While there’s no evidence as such in my apartment that could reveal my secrets, he is not above digging around.

“We have plenty of experience when it comes to taking trips for overseas contracts. And we’ll have to fly to Maui for this contract too.”

I know that. We are promoting their resort. We’ll need our teams there too. While we work as a creative department and supply ideas, it’s them who work their magic.

“This time will be no different. We’ll have our teams with us in the resort.”

“But how are we going to work this out with two teams working on the same project?”

“You’re talking as if this is our first time doing this.” He grins and I frown.

“I came up with an advertising campaign consisting of three rounds. As I proposed the idea of a fairytale wedding, these rounds are based on it.

“Round One, Round Two, and Round Three. Round one is Dreamy Date Night. Round Two is The Grand Proposal and Round Three is The Wedding.

“Both of our teams will come up with unique ideas about all the three rounds. All of these events will be captured on camera. We’ll submit the end results to Mr. Smith. Like we used to do to Archer.”

“Wait! Please. I am damn confused and I think my mind is going to explode. I have so many questions.” I raise my palms.

He patiently asks, “I’ll be surprised if you didn’t. Go ahead and ask me what’s confusing you.”

“You’re telling me that we are going to continue our war in Hawaii?”

“Exactly. Think about it. It is a brilliant plan. There’s a reason I created three rounds. Suppose, if your team’s idea gets selected for Round One by Mr. Smith, that means you win that round. Whoever wins maximum rounds will be the clear-cut winner and gets the promotion.”

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