Bewitching You(9)

Linden was as old-school as they came. Gray wondered if the man would even own a computer if he didn’t have to accept incoming email from clients. He also wondered how this place stayed in business if Linden refused to accept change.

Updating the technology was the first thing Gray planned to do once he got his promotion. Until then, he was stuck with these damn poster boards.

One week… That was all the time Linden had given him to find a way to make this crap seem tempting enough to eat.

Lord only knew how it would digest.

As always, Gray found it hard to believe in the product he was trying so hard to make appealing to other people. Just as long as Bud B. likes it enough. Then he knew Linden would have to give him the promotion to Director. Not that that job was any more tolerable, merely a step up the food chain.

If his life had turned out differently, would he even be here? Would he be striving to get a promotion in a career he was growing to loathe?

The answer was irrelevant. In a perfect world, Gray would be on a boat with Hayes, sailing along the California coast. That was what they’d been planning since they were in grade school, and they’d been well on their way to accomplishing it.

With their lifetime savings, Hayes had gotten on an airplane, met with a realtor, and with Gray’s approval, purchased a two-bedroom loft in the San Francisco bay area. They’d planned on meeting there to start looking at sailboats…before Hayes died.

The world wasn’t perfect, Gray had found out. It was downright cruel. Now he didn’t want anything to do with that alternate universe, the one where it didn’t hurt to think of a carefree life.

He set the boards gently against the wall to take another look at the finished product. The photos he’d gotten of the so-called guilt-free fast food were horrendous, so he’d taken it upon himself to design a few pictures to go with the whole ad campaign, which would plaster billboards all over Indiana and the rest of the continental United States. Hopefully.

Think positive, Gray. He didn’t simply want this promotion; he needed it.

The door swung open as Gray leaned down to check out a small smudge he hadn’t noticed before, and his colleague—the only competition for the promotion—walked in. Patrick Beaver had slicked back blond hair, a large white-toothed smile, and an impressive collection of pastel colored silk ties. He had a homely, nonthreatening-looking wife who brought in brownies every week and knew how to make small talk with Linden and his homely wife.

Yeah, Patrick Beaver was somewhat of a threat and anything but a friend.

“Phillips,” he said with that idiotic toothy smile, “you ready for the big presentation?”

Gray stood to his full height and jutted out his chin. “Absolutely. Couldn’t be more ready.”

“Excellent.” Beaver gave a nod as he arched his brow. “Is that it?”

“It is.” Gray crossed his arms in front of him, daring him to say anything else.

Beaver yawned excessively and shrugged. “Good luck, then. You’re going to need it. I’ve heard Bud B. isn’t easily impressed.” He winked and shut the door behind him before Gray could respond.

Nice tactic, f*cker. It had worked. Patrick Beaver had successfully made Gray more nervous, if that were possible. He rolled his head from side to side to relieve some tension.

Get it together, Phillips. You can do this.

Just then, the speakerphone beeped and the creative department’s assistant said, “Mr. Phillips, Ms. Rachel Spencer is on line two for you.”

“Thank you, Sandy,” Gray called out. This was odd. Rachel hardly ever called him at home, much less at work. Maybe something was wrong with the wedding planning. Hell, maybe she’d come to her senses and wanted to call it off altogether.

Gray held his breath and pressed the button that lit up line two. He didn’t want to think about the reasons why he was more worried about being late for his presentation than the possible demise of his relationship with his fiancée.

“Rachel?”

“Hi, Grayson,” she said in soft, shaky voice. “I know you have that presentation, but I really need to talk to you.”

“It can’t wait?”

“I’d like to talk about it now, if you don’t mind?” She paused for a moment, probably waiting for Gray to give her his permission to go on, but he remained quiet, waiting to hear what she had to say next.

“Um,” she continued. “I was thinking about Hayes.”

“Hayes?” Gray hadn’t heard his brother’s name from her mouth since before his twin’s funeral, and he sure the hell didn’t want to hear it now, from anyone.

“You called me to talk about Hayes?”

“Yes.” She paused again. “Maybe right now isn’t a good time to talk about this after all.”

“Maybe not.”

“I’m sorry I bothered you at work.”

“No bother, but you know that he’s not exactly my favorite topic of conversation.”

“I know. I’ll see you this evening for dinner?” she asked, her voice still shaky.

“Yes, and be prepared for good news.”

“Can’t wait.”

Gray hung up the phone and leaned on his desk. The clock on the wall said he had less than ten minutes to get to the presentation room and set up. Time to focus. He took another once-over at his boards and carefully picked them up. The speech and slogan he’d prepared rolled through his mind, but didn’t have that punch they had the last time he’d read them.

Oh, f*ck.

“Focus, Gray,” he whispered to himself.

His phone beeped again as he reached for the doorknob. “Mr. Phillips, there’s a Sofia Good here to see you,” Sandy said through the speaker. “She doesn’t have an appointment but she insists it’s important. Would you like me to send her back?”

Gray clenched his eyes shut and tried not to get a mental image of her...all of her.

What the hell did she want from him?





Chapter Five



“Go right in,” the perky blonde said to Sofia, as she pointed to a door flanked by two windows.

Gray was frowning through one of them as he shut the blinds.

That probably wasn’t a good sign for what was to come. Too bad she couldn’t have dreamed of this, so she could prepare herself.

What was the worst that could happen? Well, other than ruining her own destiny. She rubbed her clammy hands together, ignored the tight uncomfortable knot in her stomach, and briskly walked to the door, giving it two hard knocks.

He opened it right away and gestured for her to walk in. Sofia smelled his musky, smooth cologne as she brushed by him, since he hadn’t given her much room to walk through. He looked impressive in his charcoal suit and striped navy and red tie. Sofia supposed it would have to be professionally tailored, since he was such a big guy.

Tall and muscled like an athlete. From head to… She shook the familiar naked image of him out of her head.

His office was typical with a desk, a computer, a small bookcase to the side filled with nonfiction marketing and advertising books, a picture of his stupid fiancée on his desk, and sadly, no windows to let in any sunlight. How depressing.

Fluorescent lights lit up the room, and Sofia wondered if this were partly why he was such a butthead. A vitamin D deficiency could do that to a person, ya know?

“What do you want, Sofia?” he asked.

“You’re not very polite,” Sofia muttered under her breath. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked anywhere but into his cold eyes. Poster boards were sitting against the wall decorated with sketches of weird looking hamburgers and French fries.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“Did you draw those?”

“What do you want?” he repeated, not making any effort to answer her.

“I draw too. And paint.”

His lips twitched to what might have been a start of a smile, but then flattened out again.

“Listen. I’m sorry if I was the reason you were fired from your job. Is that why you’re here? Do you want some sort of compensation?”

“What?” She finally met his dark, gloomy gaze and saw only a stranger. “No, I thought maybe we could become friends, since we have something in common.”

“Do you mean the dreams?” He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing in on her.

Sofia crossed hers tighter. Two could play at that game. “Yes, I’m assuming you have them as well. Is that right?”

“I do, and I want them to stop. I’m getting married in a month, and I don’t need or want to be dreaming of a woman who isn’t in my future.”

Don’t roll your eyes, Sofe. If he only knew.

“How can I say this?” She pondered for a moment whether to tell him about her gift, but thought not. Gray didn’t seem to be the open-minded type. But she wasn’t sure how else to get her point across, or how she could convince him to spend more time with her so he could fall in love with her… If that were even possible.