A Mess of a Man (Cruel & Beautiful #2)(46)

The next day, my brain is all over the place and I’m supposed to be bringing Nick up to speed on all the current projects we have taking place. Poor guy. I’m sure at various points during the day, he’s asked himself why he agreed to come to work for me.

“Sam, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry, Nick. I’m fine. I promise I’m not always like this.”

“It’s okay. You do seem a little off.”

“Yeah, that’s an understatement,” I murmur.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks sweetly.

Oh hell to the no on that. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. What I do want is to review everything I have set up to propose to Martin Rhoades at Rhoades Investment Team. He wants to do a corporate outing for the employees and their significant others and he’s offered me the job if I can come up with something that piques his interest. So let me brief you on what I have.”

I review the golf and spa options, down to the smallest detail.

Nick looks up and asks, “What do you think he’ll go for?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know him that well and haven’t ever worked with the company before.”

“When do you present this?”

“On Monday, but I want you there. Take this home over the weekend so you can be familiar with it. Know the ins and outs so if he directs a question to you, you feel comfortable answering. You good with this?” I ask.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

I hand him the folder with all the information. The real reason I want him there is as my shield. Maybe I’m not being fair to him, but I don’t want to take the chance of running into Ben and being alone. Ben is my Achilles heel. If I have Nick with me, I’ll have to act strong and pretend Ben’s only a business acquaintance or possibly a friend and nothing more. Best case scenario would be if I didn’t run into him at all, but the chances of that are next to none.

By the time Monday afternoon hits, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Nick and I head over to Rhoades Investment Team. When we walk into the meeting, Martin is there, along with his admin.

“Samantha, it’s nice to see you again. You remember Trudy?”

“I do. Good to see you two again. This is Nick, my newest team member. He’s going to be my right hand on this event so I thought he should be here.”

After all pleasantries are exchanged, we take our seats. I go over the details of what I’ve planned.

“This is some elaborate corporate picnic you’ve planned, Samantha.”

My pulse has ramped up to a couple hundred beats a minute. Maybe I’ve overdone this.

“It is, Martin. But if I were a betting woman, I would imagine that not all the women here, or the significant others of the men, golf. Would that be an accurate statement?”

Martin chuckles. “Yeah, pretty accurate.”

“So why not offer them an option?”

“Honestly? The reason I haven’t before is because the previous event planners I used never brought it up.”

“Then may I say you were using inferior event planners?” I chuckle to lighten my statement, but he knows I mean business.

“So, golf, spa, evening party, and overnight?”

I remind him of the price points. “It’s just an option, but with the pricing, the overnight is almost a steal since they throw in so much more as an added bonus.”

In the end, after he plays with the figures, over and over, he decides on the overnight option.

“Don’t forget, not everyone will attend. Always expect at least ten to twenty percent to say no. So, I have the sign up sheets here and I can send you an email template you can use. If you want to go with this plan, you can shoot this out to every employee and tell them I need an answer by Friday at the very latest, preferably by Wednesday.”

“Now I understand why you came so highly recommended. And even on short notice, your plan is well thought out. Everything looks great. Where do I sign?”

I can see where Ben gets his charm as Martin’s smile is dazzling. His admin hangs on his every word.

I tap on my phone. “I’ve forwarded you the email template.”

Martin turns to Trudy and says, “Good, when we get it, make Wednesday their deadline. Shoot that out ASAP.”

“Got it, boss.”

“Once you have the list of attendees, I’ll need the names for each of the rooms.”

Trudy chimes in. “I can do that.”

“And the last thing I’ll need is the number of people for golf and the number for the spa.”

We finish up our details, setting up another phone conference for Thursday. Nick and I get up to leave, and Martin walks us into the hall and asks us to wait for Trudy to make copies of the contract. As we stand there, my luck runs out and Ben walks in.

“Sam?”

He glances between Nick and me only to flash back to me with a penetrating stare that makes me feel guilty when I shouldn’t.

“Are you here to see me?” Even his eyebrows are sexy as one lifts with his question.

“I’m handling the corporate picnic, remember? I just had a meeting with your dad.”

“Oh, is that all?” He snaps the question out like I’m there to steal from them or something.

“Of course. Why else would I be here?”