Tapping on her phone, Ilko nodded. “Just sent it. Don’t take long. We’re meant to go wide with this in twenty-four hours.”
“Not leaving me much room.” Leo lifted an eyebrow. “Expecting me to say yes?”
“You’re a businessman,” Ilko said. “We expected you’d want to do whatever was best for the product and would get the most sales.”
This app wasn’t Ilko’s first rodeo. Since she was a profit participant too, she had clearly thought about exactly what words to say to get Leo to say yes, to earn her and Todd the most dollars.
“Got me there. I’ll look at the campaign and call you later today.”
“Text.” Todd stood. “We never answer our phones.”
“Text, right.” This dynamic duo not answering their phones was the sole thing he disliked about working with them. No matter what the question or the conversation, you had to text them or meet them in person. There were no phone calls.
“Okay, we’re out. Didgeridoo lesson in twenty.” Todd took Ilko’s hand and they nearly skipped from his office.
Leo’s computer dinged. He opened Ilko’s email and clicked on the images. The pictures had been taken in the fall. Him in a suit with an unbuttoned collar and his shirt sleeves rolled up. In the best one, the photographer, Lizzy, had captured his grin just as he’d started to laugh at a joke she’d told. Good shot and a solid campaign. Ilko would have numbers to back up her request—she and Todd always had numbers to back up everything. If they said his face, his smile, his lifestyle would sell the Convenient Arrangement app, he had no doubt they were right. So why the hesitation?
He didn’t want to admit the reason to himself, and he definitely wouldn’t to Ilko and Todd or anyone else, but the marketing campaign made him uncomfortable because of Gwen. He’d just thrown away his convenient arrangement rules for her, had asked her on a date instead of walking away when it was clear she wanted more than just great sex with no strings. Maybe after a decade of convenient arrangements he wanted something more, something new, something with substance.
His eyes refocused on the pictures on his computer screen. This campaign, these pictures, the Convenient Arrangement app: this was business. And even though he was willing to explore a new type of relationship with Gwen, he wasn’t going to forget about business. His business now was selling the hell out of this app, by the best method possible.
He clicked reply and dashed off an email to Todd and Ilko, giving his okay. Their analytics said this campaign was the best way to launch a Convenient Arrangement, so he was ready for his picture, these pictures, to hit the world. Regardless of what was going on between him and Gwen, Leo Travati was now the poster boy for the single-man lifestyle.
Chapter 9
“Buddy, I’m hoping this goes off without a hitch.” Leo opened the oven door and peered in at the chicken piccata and the rosemary potatoes he’d removed from their delivery containers and placed into white dishes that claimed to be oven-to-table. Hopefully those words meant exactly what the box said. “Smells good.”
He looked at Renley, who dutifully sat beside the oven looking up at Leo, super surprised that they were using the shiny kitchen appliances that, before tonight, were only for show.
Leo shut the door and cranked up the oven. “Better hot than cold, right? Hope she likes Italian food.” He selected a bottle of wine and pulled out the cork. He still had five minutes, but women were always late, weren’t they? How many times had he sat and waited for a woman? Too many to count. He decanted the wine, took the carafe in one hand, and scooped up two wine glasses in the other, moving everything into the living room. The catering company had delivered a cheese tray, which he’d set on the table in front of the couch. Why was he trying so hard? Maybe to prove that he could try, or to see Gwen’s smile, maybe to—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Renley’s tail thumped against the floor.
“Showtime, buddy.” Leo rubbed his palms down the front of his jeans. Nerves? When was the last time he’d been nervous about seeing a woman? Adrenaline, sure, but nerves? Renley sat politely beside the door, thumping his tail harder and harder. “Okay, buddy, are we ready?” Renley seemed to nod, as if to say, I gotcha, boss, we’re totally covered.
Leo opened the door.
Breathe.
He had to remind himself to friggin’ breathe, because there in the hall outside his condo stood the cutest lady, wearing a bright pink stocking cap with a fuzzy ball at the end, her cheeks flushed from the cold, her nose a tiny bit red. Her hair, which he’d seen down maybe twice, flamed across her shoulders in giant curls, framing her smile. The smile that had caused him to throw away his rules about relationships and necessary convenient arrangements.