Page 33 of Love You
“What are you getting?” he asked, his lips hovering less than an inch from her ear. “I want pancakes and an omelet, so let’s share.”
She drilled him with a look but the truth was she was hungry enough to eat both meals all by herself but didn’t want to make a pig out of herself in front of everyone. “Fine, but I want the waffle instead of the pancakes.”
“Done!” Under the table he touched her knee. “You did great this morning.”
She turned sideways in her seat to see if he was joking.Great? Not only had she complained the entire way, she’d held up the group with her constant breaks. Even Remy and Sue had more stamina than she did. But she saw no sign of sarcasm in his expression, only animation as he gave an extensive background lesson on the area. His audience sat rapt as he described Glory Junction’s first settlers and told stories of the Gold Rush. Who knew Win was a history buff?
What he wasn’t was a man who could keep to a schedule. By the time they left the Morning Glory they were supposed to be finishing up their tour of GA. That was why they were here in the first place—to sell the company.
But nooooo, Win decided they should go on a bike ride.
No way in hell was she suffering through that. Both her ass and feet rebelled at the same time. She was considering how to bow out tactfully when Win told everyone that she’d planned a picnic at the end of the ride, near the lake. No, she hadn’t. And there was no time to set up something like that now. She glared at him as they pulled the van into GA’s back lot to collect the bikes.
“Are you purposely trying to sabotage me?” she asked when she got him alone. TJ had come out to meet the group and was taking them on a tour of the building.
“What are you talking about? Just go call Rachel at Tart Me Up and have her deliver a spread to TJ’s house. We’ll do it there.”
She knew his home was less than ten minutes from a public bike trail that ran alongside the water.
Teeth clenched, she hissed, “If you haven’t noticed Rachel runs a thriving business. She needs notice to pull off something like this. I had us booked at Old Glory but you screwed that up.”
“Fine, I’ll handle it. You load the bikes.” He started inside.
“Oh, no you don’t.” She raced in front of him. “This bike ride is your idea, you load the bikes.”
He turned around. “Try not to be so difficult.”
“I don’t understand why you have to change everything. I planned this down to the minute so that we’d look professional . . . organized.”
He tugged her into a corner and pinned her against the wall. “Did you even take the time to read Remy’s, Sue’s, and Russell’s bios?”
Of course she had. She’d been the one to provide him the damn things. So what was his point? “What about them?”
“These people make high achievers look like slackers. They spend most of their time behind a computer, trying to outdo one another. Their sole goal in life is to be the best. The smartest. The most successful. A tour of GA isn’t going to cut it, Darcy. Folks like Remy, Sue, and Russell need to be challenged to the breaking point. That’s what they thrive on. That’s why I changed things up. It wasn’t to mess with you and your schedule, it was to get the account. Because believe it or not, I know what I’m doing. And I actually have a strategy.” He walked away, leaving her feeling stupid because he was right. Win had read their prospective clients better than she had.
Despite her pride, she had to fall in line and work with him.
After ten minutes of Darcy begging and finally promising to pay twice what Tart Me Up normally charged, Rachel agreed to set up a picnic at TJ’s. Even if it would be way past lunchtime when they finished Win’s bike ride.
After meeting Remy, Sue, and Russell and schmoozing with them while Win loaded the bikes, TJ came to the front desk to find her. “I thought we were doing a rock-climbing demonstration.”
“Win thinks we need to spend more time outdoors, doing activities.” She shrugged. “They seem to enjoy it so Win’s decided to take them on a bike ride.”
“Okay. Whatever makes them happy because if they sign I’m happy.” A not so discreet reminder that they better seal the deal. TJ was a great many things, but subtle wasn’t one of them.
“Gotcha,” she said.
“How do you think it’s going so far?”
“Good.” At least she thought so. They’d survived the hike and seemed to have enjoyed breakfast—or brunch. And who wouldn’t like three nights at the Four Seasons?
“Where are they now?” She felt like she should be with them, networking or whatever you were supposed to do. This was the first time she’d ever had this much contact with clients. Working with Lewis, she’d always been the silent partner, though the wordpartnerwas overstating it. And at GA she talked to people on the phone all day but rarely met them in person as they typically met their guides off site.
“Using the bathroom and taking advantage of the locker rooms to clean up. Deb gave them all Garner Adventure cycling jerseys.”
Smart, which reminded her about the swag bags. “I planned to give them the gift baskets Deb made up on the last day.”
“Sounds good.” He gave her wilted appearance a once-over. “You want a jersey?”
