Page 22 of The Fix Up

A light went on in the back of Holly’s mind. Sothat’swhat was driving him to mold himself into CEO material. The chance to do good things with a company that clearly had money to burn. It made sense. “I’m sure your mother would be very proud of you.”

“I hope so. How about your parents? Are they supportive of your career?”

“Very. My mom especially. She always stressed how important it was to get an education and be able to support myself without relying on a man.”

“Seems like you’ve been able to do that,” he said. “From what I read online about First Impressions, you’ve been very successful.”

“My career has really taken off in the last few years,” she agreed, not wanting to dwell on her financial woes with the bank, or on the other aspects of her life where she still wished for more. A relationship, maybe a family?—

She cleared her throat. “I feel confident we’ll be able to push your career into the next realm with just a few tweaks. Being here tonight is already giving me plenty of ideas for your personal rebrand. I’ll get to work on writing up a plan first thing in the morning.”

“I can’t wait to hear about it.”

She nodded, glad to be back on safer ground discussing business instead of personal details. Keeping things efficient and detached was going to be key to staying professional with Ben.

“Okay, so I Facebook-stalked some of the Kleinberger execs when I ran to the bathroom earlier,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you evernotworking?”

“Not really. Anyway, you should go strike up a conversation with the CEO about his daughter’s recent admission to Princeton. He lives for his kids, so he’ll appreciate you showing an interest.”

“I can’t decide if that’s creepy or brilliant,” he answered, glancing across the room to where Harold was chatting with several other Kleinberger execs.

“How about we go with brilliant?” she suggested.

“Good idea. What did you find out about any of the other execs?”

“Well, Gerald Weisner’s wife has been posting a lot of Facebook quotes from narcotics anonymous, so I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest you not ask about her fondness for Percocet. Also, it’s possible their VP just got a hair transplant.”

“You found that online?”

“No, just from comparing his 2014 Facebook photos to what he looks like standing over there with that noticeable scar on the back of his head. Also not something you want to mention, by the way.”

“Should I be offended that you think I might use drug addiction and plastic surgery as entrees to conversation?” Ben asked. “I’m socially awkward, but notthatsocially awkward.”

“Earlier you called their COOma’am. His name is Bill.”

“An honest mistake. You’ve gotta admit, the pink shirt is a little effeminate.”

“Go,” she insisted, nudging him toward the Kleinberger execs.

He grinned, clearly not ready to move just yet. “You don’t want to come with me and play the doting arm candy role again?”

She felt a dark bubble well up in her chest, and she forced herself not to react. Playing the role of subservient arm candy wasn’t the same as being asked to fill that role full time.

She shook her head. “I’ll watch from here. It’s important to make sure you can handle these kinds of social situations without a woman hanging on your arm.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

They both watched as Lyle Langley walked up to one of the Kleinberger execs and did some sort of obnoxious shoulder-punch routine with a guy in a dark suit.

“So does your dad expect you to handle the company exactly like he does?” she asked.

“I imagine so,” Ben muttered. He took a sip of his drink, then turned away and began a slow trudge toward the shark tank. “If I’m not back in ten minutes, send out a search party.”

“Will do.”

He strode away, and she watched him go, admiring the broadness of his shoulders and the confidence in his handshake as he greeted the execs one by one. After a few minutes of conversation, he glanced back at her and smiled.

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