Momentary Marriage(18)

J.T.’s narrow, rumpled figure stood outlined by the light from the window behind him, emphasizing his sallow skin and bad haircut. For a man in the business of promotion, he did a lousy job of promoting himself, appearance-wise. As far as actual function went, however, J.T. was as clever as they came. It was an honor to work with the man.

Despite her best efforts this morning, though, Kelsey could not drag her attention away from Jared Barrett. It had been hard enough to concentrate on work after her difficult conversation with Doug, who now sat across the table from her, his brooding gaze fixed in her direction. But ignoring Jared was taxing her even more.

He sat next to her, lolling back in his chair with great ease, his hand resting on the table mere inches away from hers. She’d never really thought much about men’s hands, but her peripheral vision lovingly detailed Jared’s in sensuous detail. Strong and square with blunt-tipped fingers. The kind of hands to cup a woman’s face and caress her cheek as he bent closer to kiss—

Kelsey straightened suddenly in her chair, drawing in a deep breath and redoubling her efforts to pay attention to what was being said. Across the table, Doug busily filled his own pad with notes, occasionally looking her way.

“…we can’t push up the ad campaign date,” J.T. responded, “if we want to get prime space in New England Travel and Metropolitan Monthly. It’s too bad because hotel space in the city is booking up at record rates…”

Jared leaned toward her, the sleeve of his suit jacket brushing her bare arm.

“How can you,” his warm breath caressed her ear, “actually pay attention to a guy with hair like that?”

Looking at the odd collection of tufts on J.T.’s head, Kelsey felt a bubble of laughter rising in her throat and sternly repressed it.

“Do you think he paid someone for that haircut? Or did he end up in the gutter after partying all night and a rat chewed on his head?”

Biting her lip, she kept her gaze glued on J.T. She couldn’t burst out laughing in the middle of her boss’ presentation!

She must have made some small, stifled sound, though, because Doug glanced her direction sharply before J.T. grabbed his attention again.

“You’re such a good, conscientious employee,” Jared murmured before shifting back in his chair.

“…and since the Millennium New Year celebration got such international coverage demonstrating New York is, once again, the place to be. It would be ideal, of course, to have The Meriton’s grand opening as soon as possible—”

“Then why don’t we?” Jared interrupted, his brain apparently still clicking on the subject at hand despite his attempt to distract her.

J.T. paused, giving the question calm consideration. “Well, as I said, it’s too late to get prime space in—“

“New England Travel?”

“Yes,” Doug said. “They have a longer lead time. We could manage some of the others—“

“And you said Metro Monthly?” Jared asked J.T.

“Yes.” J.T. waited.

Still leaning back indolently in his chair next to her, Jared smiled. “I know Lon Thomas.”

“The publisher of N.E. Travel?” J.T. nodded, his shrewd eyes watchful. “Yes, I know him, too.”

“We serve on a board together,” Jared said calmly. “I’m sure he could find a way to work with us on this campaign…in order to keep our business.”

“And Metro?” Doug asked, his mind visibly clicking as he considered Jared’s suggestion. “I suppose we could make do without them, but they have a large readership in our target demographic—“

Jared laughed, the sound rich and confidant. “Don’t worry about Metro.”

Watching him, Kelsey noted the sardonic smile, the ease with which he considered completely reworking the timetable on a multi-million dollar advertising campaign. Businesses rose and fell, depending on the effectiveness of their publicity.

“You may not have heard about it, but Metro screwed up our ads two years ago when we used another firm to launch The SeaCrest. That was part of the reason we switched agencies. But I got their IOU back then, in lieu of other compensation.” Jared shrugged. “It’s just a matter of reminding them.”

“Good,” J.T. said immediately. “I do remember that, now that you mention it.”

“Of course, we don’t have to push the launch up,” Doug said. “The Meriton is going to be phenomenally successful, one way or the other. It isn’t like this is our only window of opportunity.”

“No,” Jared agreed negligently, “but we might as well maximize our position if we’ve nothing to lose by doing so. Get the power. Use the power.”