Be Mine(6)

She unstoppered the bottle and slid the black crystal stopper into the V of her blouse again.

He turned away. “Will you stop that?”

“Sorry. I know. Too much perfume can make you gag. I just had an idea...”

“What?”

She leaned forward across the table, and she saw his eyes drop to the V of her blouse. “I’m sorry about the perfume. I’ll wash it off, but listen. Suppose we put something in this stuff to make it really sizzle?”

“Sizzle?”

“You know.” She frowned in frustration. “Tingle. Only with heat. A woman wears perfume on the warmest parts of her body—the pulse points. Suppose when she touched the perfume to those places she felt a subtle heat and tingle. It would make her feel excited. Exciting. It would feel like...”

“Foreplay.” Richard grinned, taking Emily’s breath away for a moment. “Well, you’ve got my attention.”

She smiled back, taken with her new idea. “We could call it Sizzle. We’ll get it a product placement in the next really hot movie, something with an electric sex scene. We can package samples with other sexy products for women...”

“Such as?”

“Seamed hose, lace garter belts...” She broke off when she saw him laughing. She sat back and gritted her teeth. “You don’t like the idea?”

“No, no. It’s great. It’s just you. You’re so intense, talking about lace underwear.”

“My intensity is what makes me a success,” she said evenly. “You’d take this perfume, call it ‘Night in the Boardroom’ and sell three bottles of it.”

“Probably,” Richard agreed.

“So don’t patronize me.” Emily looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t deserve it.”

“I apologize again.” He leaned toward her, sincerely sorry. “I really do. Listen, let me make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner tonight.” He smiled, and she lost her breath again.

“Come on, Emily.” Richard coaxed her with his eyes. He had amazing eyes. “You’ve got all that perfume on—you really should go somewhere in it.”

He has eyes like the sky, she thought. I love the way he says my name. And then she thought, no. I don’t need this. I don’t even like him.

“Please.” He smiled that earnest killer smile at her.

Don’t do that, she thought.

“Strictly business. We can talk about the account. About seven?”

I really don’t like him, smile or no smile, but I bet he has a great body under that suit. Not that it matters. “All right.” Emily took a deep breath. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll send a memo to the lab and to the advertising people on this.”

“Fine.” Richard sat back and picked up his notes, obviously pleased she’d agreed, the human in him fast receding behind the businessman. “Although we’ll probably have to scale down some of your ideas.”

“Which ones?” Emily asked coldly.

He was back into his reports and he didn’t hear the chill. “Well, the product placement will be a fortune. We’ll reach more people with print.”

“But not the same way.” Emily leaned forward. “In a movie, they’ll see someone beautiful stroke herself with the perfume, use the stuff against her skin and then go out and have incredible sex with some gorgeous guy. If we get really lucky,” she added thoughtfully, “it will be a very explicit scene, and the audience will get another look at all the places she put the perfume.”

“And if the movie flops?”

“It flops.” She shrugged. “Life’s a gamble.”

“Not with company funds.” Richard shook his pencil at her. “You’ll stay inside the budget this time.”

She ignored the pencil. “If we get this stuff placed in the right movie, it could be bigger than Paradise.”

“And if we get it placed in the wrong movie, we’ll go to executive hell.” He turned back to his papers.

She took a deep breath. Calm. Courteous and cooperative. “I’m still going to suggest it in the memo.”

He didn’t look up. “Just as long as you realize I’m probably still going to reject it in the budget.”

“Fine,” she said, and slammed her portfolio shut.

“Fine,” he said, and looked up and smiled. “See you at seven.”

* * *

“I’VE GOT A DINNER DATE with the executive Hun,” Emily said to Jane as she passed her desk. Jane rose and followed her into the office.

“Tell me everything.”

“It’s a toss-up.” Emily slumped into her chair. “His face is still beautiful, but he also still has a narrow, little cost-effective mind.”

“Which means he disagreed with you.”

“Oh, please.”

“So where are you going?”

“I have no idea. He, of course, will decide.” Emily frowned. “What do you want to bet he orders for me?”

“Why do you care? You can sit and look at him all night.”

“A pretty face isn’t everything,” Emily told her primly.

“Forget the face.” Jane sank into her chair. “The body is to die for.”

“How can you tell? The man is always in a suit. I bet he sleeps in a tie.”

“Karen went in to give him some papers, and he was changing his shirt. He’d spilled coffee on it, and he keeps a spare for emergencies.”

“He would.”

“She saw him with his shirt off.”

“And?”

“She’s still speechless.”

“I doubt he’ll take his shirt off at dinner.”

“No, but if you play your cards right...”

“Don’t you ever think of anything but sex?”

“Frequently. But let’s face it, here. You’re not going to dinner to work on Perfume X. You’re attracted to him.”

“Sizzle.”

“Pardon?”

“Perfume X is now Sizzle.”

“And does it?”

“It will. I’m on my way to R & D.”

“Well, this should be an interesting campaign. What are you going to wear?”

“For what?”

“For dinner, dummy. I suggest you wear something sexy. Drive him wild.”

“The only thing I do that drives Richard Parker wild is spend company money. Which reminds me, will you get me Laura in Los Angeles? We need a product placement.”

“Big bucks. Did we get the Hun’s okay to spend the money?”

“No, we’re going to surprise him.” Emily smiled evilly. “That man positively needs more surprises in his life.”

* * *

“HEY, EM. WHAT’S NEW?” Laura said when Emily was put through to her.

“Perfume. A hot new perfume called Sizzle. We need a product placement. Something very sexy.”

“Is this the next Paradise?”

“If I have anything to say about it, it will be.”

“Then it will be.” Laura laughed. “You always have something to say about it. I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks. How’s Gary?”

“Gone,” Laura said cheerfully.

“Good. I never liked him.”

“He never liked you, either. Thought you were a suit.”

“He was right. You don’t sound too unhappy about this.”

“Oh, he was always just a filler. Only a desperate woman would take Gary seriously.”

“Only a desperate woman would take any man seriously.”

“And you’re the woman marketing Sizzle?”

“I said ‘seriously.’ I’ve decided you don’t have to take a man seriously to have sex.” Emily visualized Richard as a cheap pickup to be thrown away like a worn-out glove after a meaningless but passionate fling.

It was a new approach for her, but she liked the idea.

“My sentiments exactly about Gary,” Laura said. “I’ll get back with you ASAP.”

After she hung up, Emily thought about Richard. Sex with Richard. Meaningless though it might be, it would probably be great because he was gorgeous. And intelligent. And he did have a body to die for.

And I’m having dinner with him tonight.

Maybe Jane’s right, she thought.

Jane buzzed her. “You told me to remind you about R & D.”

“On my way.” Emily hesitated. “Hey, while I’m gone, I need you to run an errand.”

“Anything, my leader.”

“I need some black lace underwear.”

“Now you’re talking. I won’t fail you.”