“Ms. Westbrook? Ms. Patterson?”
They both nodded.
“I’m Jeremy, an intern in the marketing department.” He handed them two plastic ID badges. “You’ll need to wear these while you’re here, if you don’t mind. Everyone’s waiting for you in the boardroom, if you’ll just follow me?”
He led them down a long carpeted corridor ending at two mahogany doors. Jeremy opened them to expose a sea of corporate faces gathered around a table nearly as long as the corridor.
Julia tried to catalog them quickly, knowing Claire did the same. There were at least fifteen people, some dressed in corporate attire, some in athletic gear. They were divided about half and half between male and female. Sometimes that was good, sometimes bad. Women often wanted to flex their muscle in front of their male counterparts, and men often needed to let the women know how much smarter they were.
Out of the corner of her eye, Julia glimpsed one person, a man in a navy sports jacket and grey slacks, standing at the coffee urn with his back turned. Something about him drew her attention, but then an older man in a dark grey suit came forward, distracting her.
“Thank you for coming.” He shook their hands. “I’m Alan Wilson, CEO of Connell Wilson. I’ll introduce everyone here but please don’t think we expect you to remember their names.”
“Oh, we’ll manage.” Claire answered, with her usual brashness.
“So Hey You will do just fine if you need to speak to someone.” He smiled easily and Julia relaxed a bit. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Wilson went around the table, identifying each person by name and position. Julia noticed Claire quietly turn on her pocket recorder so she could write everything down later.
“The gentleman hogging the coffee machine joined us only recently. We were lucky enough to steal him away from his previous position. We call him our senior whiz kid, and he’s the real impetus for your invitation.” The man turned and Julia nearly fainted. “Let me introduce our new corporate vice president, Luke Buchanan.”
Julia felt as if a vacuum suddenly sucked every bit of breath out of her. Her body turned icy cold but her face felt hot, flushed. Her heart thundered and her pulse beat a jungle tattoo. For a desperate moment, she thought she might throw up. She curled her hands into fists to keep them from shaking, praying her legs would not collapse under her. Luke! She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. He still could ignite her with just his presence.
All the nights she’d lain in bed keeping his image close to her, remembering the feel of his hands on her body and the hot press of his mouth. The way he’d brought her to climax over and over again and made her feel wanted and desirable.
Not a day went by that she didn’t regret the circumstance that forced her to walk away from him, full of despair that she’d never see him again.
She noted how well he’d aged, his body only slightly thicker, his dark brown hair attractively tinged with grey. His face showed a few more lines, and there was a new tension in his body. But he was still wonderful Luke, the man who would always own her heart.
I love you.
His words were permanently imprinted on her brain. On the bad, awful nights, she’d hugged them to her like a lifeline.
He came over to her now, hand outstretched. “Nice to see you again, Julia.” His face was impassive but his eyes were speaking volumes to her.
“Nice to see you again, too, Luke.” She didn’t know where she found the voice to answer him. At the touch of his hand, her body went on full alert. Oh God, how could she do this?
Beside her, Claire did her level best to be unflappable, but Julia knew she was taking in every detail and nuance.
“Alan went along with my suggestion to give you a shot at this before we make a decision on an agency.” His gaze was boring into her. “I explained what a good job you’d done for us at Hot Ticket and how well that turned out.”
“Thank you.” She was afraid she might faint. Her hand, when she retrieved it, tingled from his touch, and her whole body threatened to melt.
“Thanks for asking us in, Luke.” Claire extended her hand. “Nice seeing you again after such a long time.”
“You too, Claire.” They exchanged grins.
Somehow, Julia pulled herself together and she and Claire set up the materials. Despite the shock that threatened to immobilize her, regardless of Claire’s burning curiosity that was almost a living thing, they managed to put on a powerful presentation. Each person at the table asked specific questions. Claire recorded everything so they could get information later for whatever they couldn’t answer now.
At noon, staff from the corporate kitchen delivered and served lunch at the boardroom table. Julia, like Claire, did her best to chat informally with as many people as possible. She noticed Luke carefully kept his distance, letting her do her thing.
At last it was over, and they began packing up their things to leave.
“I have to say I’m impressed,” Alan Wilson told them. “I didn’t know what to expect when Luke recommended you. We’ve pretty much stuck to the same two or three agencies for our work.”
“We appreciate the opportunity,” Claire said.
“Well, like everything else he’s suggested since he came on board, your work is both interesting and exciting. Quite an innovative marketing plan.”
“Thank you,” Julia murmured.
“You came up with terrific suggestions for the product name change, too.” He thought for a minute. “I’ll need to go over this with my executive committee and digest your presentation. And of course, Luke will have the final say. But I think I can safely say you’ll be getting a call for further discussion.”
Tired and tense as she was, Julia still
