Pregnant by the Texan(35)
“It’s a Christmas present for Royal, thanks to you. That’s what that club does. It’s usually to help Lubbock, but Royal is a Texas town that is in desperate need of help. You did a great job and I think I can help you do an even bigger and better one,” he said.
She laughed. “Aaron, please don’t set me up to talk to another group of businesspeople. I’m an administrative assistant, not the mayor.”
“You did fine today and I promise you, I think I can help you do a bit better if you’ll let me.”
“Of course, I’ll let you, but I keep telling you, this is not my deal.”
“You’re taking $12,000 back to Royal. I think you can make a lot more and help people so much.”
“When you put it that way—what do you have in mind?”
“I have lots of contacts in Dallas and across the state. Let me set up some meetings. Not necessarily a group thing like today—what I have in mind is meeting one-on-one or with just two or three company heads who might make some big donations. You can also make presentations to agencies that would be good contacts and can help even more.”
“All right.”
“Good. After your talk today I went ahead and contacted a close friend in Dallas. Through him you may get a brief interview on a local TV show in Fort Worth. Can I say you’ll do it?”
“Yes,” she answered, laughing. “You’re taking charge again, Aaron.”
“Also, if you’ll let me contact them, I think I can get meetings in Dallas with oil and gas and TV executives, as well as some storm recovery experts. The television people will help get out the message that Royal needs help. The oil and gas people may actually make monetary donations. How’s that sound?”
“Terrifying,” she said, and smiled. “Well, maybe not so bad.”
“So I can try to set up the meetings with the various executives?”
She stared at him a moment while she seemed to give thought to his question. “Yes. We need all the help we can get for the people at home.”
“Good,” he said, kissing her lightly.
“Let’s take some time and talk about dealing with the press and interviews. We can talk over dinner. The press is important.”
“I’ll be happy to talk about interviews, but I don’t think that I’ll be giving many more.”
“It’s better to be ready just in case,” he said, gazing into her wide blue eyes.
“Also I sent a text and asked for a salon makeover in Dallas for you. It’s a very nice salon that will really pamper you. Would you object to that?” he asked, thinking he had never known a woman before that would have had to be given a sales pitch to get her to consent to a day at an exclusive Dallas salon.
She laughed. “Aaron, that seems ridiculous. I’m not going into show business. Mercy me. I don’t think I need to go to Dallas to have a makeover and then return to Royal to help clean up debris and hunt through rubble for lost documents at town hall. That seems ridiculous.”
“Stella, we can raise some money for Royal. A lot more than you did today. Trust me on this,” he said, holding back a grin. “I told you that it’s a very nice salon.”