Ship of Dreams (Dreams Come True Series Book 2) (17 page)

“Nine, but who’s counting?”

“Apparently you are.”

Laura rolled her eyes. “And what exactly is monkey sex, anyway?” She lifted the glass of ice water to her mouth.

“And didn’t tell him what you did for a living?” Darcy continued, ignoring Laura’s rhetorical question.

Laura shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”

Darcy snorted.

“We were busy having sex.” Laura smirked.

The waiter chose that moment to walk up to the table. “Ahem, should I come back?”

“No,” Laura said.

“Yes,” Darcy interrupted.

He raised a brow, before beating a hasty retreat.

“So it was a lie by omission,” Darcy pointed out after the waiter left. “And clearly he omitted what he did for a living, or he wouldn’t have taken you by surprise.”

“No. He
lied
about what he did.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he was in corporate relations.”

“So, Ms. Armstrong”—Darcy folded her arms on the table—“as an ad agency executive, is corporate relations not part of your job?”

“You’ve been spending too much time with the Shyster.”

“Just answer the question.”

“Yes,” Laura muttered.

“Then he didn’t exactly lie.”

“Fine. I hate when you turn all lawyer-like on me.”

“Did I tell you my new hero is a litigator? Josh has been instructing me on the fine art of cross-examination. Comes in handy.”

“Perfect. Can we just order, and forget about The Spy?”

“The Spy?” Darcy set her menu down again. “You think he intentionally spied on you?”

“What else could explain the chance encounter in front of Imperial’s offices, and then his appearance on the ship?” Laura had been giving this some thought. Nathan thought
she
was spying on
him
, but she thought he said that just to throw her off.

“I thought you got your heel stuck in a sidewalk seam. Are you saying he orchestrated that?”

“No. It just worked to his advantage, that’s all. I was a sitting duck.”

“And how would he know which ship and which itinerary you’d chosen?”

Damn, she hated it when Darcy got all logical. She counted on her more ditzy side in conversations like this.

“I don’t know. How does any spy find out . . . things? Anyway, let’s talk about something else. I had dinner with Jack Jeffries last night.”

“Imperial’s Crown Prince? Isn’t that some sort of conflict of interest for him . . . or you?”

“Pfft. We’re not lawyers. Besides, we’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“And as I recall, you had a crush on him in tenth grade.”

“I did not. Besides, he only had eyes for Miss New York.”

The waiter returned to take their order.

After he walked away, Darcy said, “So how was it? Your date with Jack?”

Laura hesitated. She couldn’t share Jack’s secret, even with Darcy.

“You didn’t sleep with him, did you?” Darcy whispered across the table.

“No.” Though not for lack of trying.

“Well, that’s good. All you need is for the competition to think you slept your way to the account.”

“No chance of that. There’s just no spark there.”
And, oh yeah, he’s gay.
More’s the pity.

Laura was convinced that if she slept with someone else, she’d forget Nathan Maxwell. Trouble was, other than Jack, no one floated her boat, and he’d barely floated her boat above the minimum draft.

“Moving on. How was your trip to California Wine Country?”

Bright and early the following Friday morning, Laura smoothed her hands over her skirt as she walked
down Imperial’s carpeted hall. She’d gone with a classic white silk blouse, black pencil skirt, black patent Louboutin platform pumps, and simple silver jewelry. Professional and poised, with a hint of sexy.
Eat your heart out, Nathan Maxwell.

Taking a deep breath, she entered Imperial’s boardroom for the pre-pitch meeting. It wasn’t the meeting that had her nerves on edge. It was seeing Nathan for the first time since Naples.

Ridiculous. He was just a man.

But what a man.
Nathan already sat at the table with a couple of other members of the Hawk Media team, including Hawk himself. Nathan chuckled at something the woman said. His eyes crinkled at the corners and Laura’s stomach did a back dive off the Empire State Building.

Light-gray suit, white shirt, navy tie. She remembered with startling clarity what the superb cut of that Italian suit covered.

Ever polite, he nodded a curt greeting to her.

She studiously ignored him, turning to Celeste, the head of the creative team who’d be working on the pitch. “Laugh.”

“What?” Celeste looked up in confusion.

“Laugh. I want the Hawk Media team to think we’re just as relaxed as they are.”

“But—”

“Just laugh,” Laura ground out.

“All right. Sheesh.” Celeste obliged with a cackle.

Great.
She’d forgotten Celeste’s laugh sounded like the Wicked Witch of the West. Taking a seat opposite Hawk, she opened her iPad case, and tried to quell her bouncing leg.

Jackson Jeffries entered the room, followed by Jack. After the men circled the room, shaking hands with everyone, they took seats, Jack at the head of the table.

“I’d like to thank everyone for coming.” Jack began, nodding to everyone in the room. “Why don’t we get started?”

Nathan tried to keep his head in the game, but he found himself all too aware of Laura’s presence. Hair in her u
sual ponytail, conservative blouse, black skirt. But those oh, so sexy legs and those skyscraper pumps blew that prim image right out of the water. She rocked the sexy secretary look, and then some.

She took notes on her iPad, glancing up at Jack with interest. Jack glanced her way and smiled as he explained what the cruise line was seeking in its agency and in its campaign.

The purpose of the pre-pitch meeting was to help focus the pitch and campaign planning.

“I don’t have to tell you, we don’t hire an idea, we hire an agency,” Jack continued.

The meeting took about an hour, and after an opportunity to ask questions, everyone packed up their belongings. Nathan noticed that Laura hung back.

He reluctantly followed Hawk and Julia, the head of the creative team, out into Imperial’s Lobby.

“Julia, do you mind if I have a word with Nathan alone?” It was phrased as a question, but was more of a command.

Julia frowned a moment. “No. I’ll just catch a cab and meet you back at the office.”

“Thank you.” Hawk waited until Julia stepped into the elevator, before pressing the button for another one. Once on the elevator alone, Hawk turned to Nathan. “You and Laura know one another?”

Nathan hesitated a moment wondering how Hawk knew.

“You couldn’t keep your eyes off one another,” Hawk supplied.

Well damn.
Time to face the music. “You could say that.” In the biblical sense. “We were on the cruise together.”

“You’re dating a woman heading up our competition and took her on the cruise with you?”

“No. Of course not. She happened to be on the same cruise as me—a reconnaissance mission like mine—only I didn’t know that until Rome.”

“And Rome was at the
end
of the cruise?”

“Yes.”

“And just how did you find out?”

“I, uh, saw a text on her phone.”

“How would you have seen a text on her phone?”

“It was on the table . . . by her bed.” Best to come clean before it leaked out.

Hawk stumbled back. “Ho-ly hell! You slept with our competition?”

“No. I mean yes. I mean I slept with her but I didn’t know she was the competition at the time. As soon as I found out, I ended the affair.”

“I should hope so. Exactly how long did this affair last?”

“Nine days.”

“Nine! Jesus, Nathan. You didn’t share any state secrets with her?”

“Of course not.” Nathan tugged at the collar of his dress shirt.

“You do know who she is, right?”

Nathan didn’t have a good feeling about where this conversation was headed. “She’s Laura Danforth, obviously the account executive handling the pitch for Giddings-Rose.”

Hawk gave him a strange look. “She’s Laura Danforth
Armstrong
.

“What?” Nathan’s question came out as a strained whisper.

“She’s Milton Armstrong’s daughter.”

Nathan took the sucker punch straight to the gut. When he regained his breath, he scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Armstrong. As in Milton Armstrong? As in Great Lakes Shipyard Armstrong? One of the world’s richest men? Builder of the very ship we were on, not to mention all the other ships in the Imperial line?”

He paced away in the tight space of the elevator. “Priceless. Absolutely priceless.” Paced back. She’d conveniently left out that little tidbit. But then again, she’d left out a lot.

Thunderclouds built in Hawk’s usually placid eyes. “And her father is Jackson Jeffries’ good friend.”

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Nathan ground out. He felt as if his pants were down around his ankles.

“Add to that, she’s one of the top account executives in New York. She’s played an instrumental role in landing some of the agency’s biggest accounts.”

Nathan scrubbed a hand through his hair again. “Christ, Hawk. I didn’t know.”

“I should take you off the account.”

Hawk’s statement hit him like another punch to the gut. “No, you shouldn’t.” Not that he blamed Hawk. He’d do the same thing if he were in Hawk’s shoes. But he couldn’t lose the bonus. He couldn’t stand by as his sister was turned out of her home.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t”

“Because I’m the best man for the job. You thought so, too, or you wouldn’t have hired me. Wouldn’t have given the account to me.”

“You’re right. But no one is indispensable.”

Nathan looked Hawk in the eye. “I’ll get the job done.”

“Then, for God’s sake, keep it in your pants.”

Chapter 15

After a day from hell, Nathan stripped off his sweat-soaked T-shirt and climbed into the shower. Even the balls-to-the-wall workout he’d just put himself through didn’t ease the tension.

He pressed his hands against the shower wall and let the spray pound his head.

With everything he’d been up against growing up, he’d never believed his efforts were futile. But this time, the odds were not in his favor. In fact, the outcome was almost a forgone conclusion.

How could he compete when Laura
Armstrong
had an ‘in’ to the whole business? He ticked off the list of things weighing heavily in her favor.

The daughter of the shipbuilding magnate who built, and continued to build, Imperial’s ships, headed up the pitch team.

Her father, that same shipbuilding magnate, also happened to be Imperial’s CEO’s best friend.

Check. And check.

What more leverage did she need?

The follo
wing Monday, ten sets of eyes stared at Nathan waiting for his report and his directions for the various teams working on the pitch. One pair of eyes in particular unnerved him a little: Hawk’s.

He’d spent the entire weekend working on the presentation, developing the angle, distilling his thoughts into manageable sound bites, something his teams could take back to their desks and work with.

“After hearing what Imperial wants in a campaign and an agency, and after my experience aboard the
Nave dei Sogni
, I’m proposing an overhaul of Imperial’s public image, starting with their latest ship. A new line, a new name, one that appeals to their target demographic. I’ll entertain ideas from anyone who has one—this isn’t just the creative team’s domain. So, start thinking about that.”

Nathan clicked his laptop and a photo of a bright green Braniff Airways plane displayed on the screen behind him. “The Braniff ‘End of the Plain Plane’ campaign was revolutionary in its scope and in its results. For those of you fuzzy on this particular feat of advertising creativity, Jack Tinker and Partners, through their account leader, Mary Wells, hired an architect, a fashion designer, and a shoe designer to overhaul Braniff’s tired image. The result—a revolutionary turnaround for a failing airline.

“I contacted Great Lakes Shipbuilding. Since the building is still in the early-stages, we can look at revising the deck plans, and nothing has been done with interior design at this point, so it’s a blank slate.”

Nathan continued, “I’m recommending we hire a top interior designer and space consultant. Like their other ships, this should be an all-suite ship. No cramped cabins.” He let that sink in a moment.

“We’re targeting those with deep pockets, but not deep enough to afford their own private yachts. The point is to make the demographic feel as if they were on their own yacht. Spacious accommodations, the highest space per passenger ratio available.” The nodding heads around the table offered encouragement.

“A completely non-structured cruise, optional private land-based tours. And for dining, special requests are welcome. We cater to the vegan, the dairy-free, the gluten-free, and everything in-between. Want something specific for your scheduled cruise? Prefer Evian bottled water? Add it to your profile and Imperial will get it for you.”

He glanced at Hawk to gauge his reaction so far. He was furiously taking notes. His
boss
was taking notes! Either he loved it, or he was listing the reasons to fire him.

“Speaking of profiles. Guests complete an online profile with all their preferences. Everything from food and beverages to music and bath products.”

“And because the size of the ship is much smaller than the rest of the fleet, Imperial will be able to offer interesting ports-of-call. Ports off the beaten path that much larger ships can’t access.”

“The campaign will flow from the ship’s design, the offerings, the
feel
of the cruise experience that Imperial will offer its guests.”

“Now, with only four weeks to the pitch, we’re up against the wall for a campaign of this magnitude, so time is of the essence. I’d like to hear some ideas by end-of-day tomorrow. If you have any issues or questions, my door is always open.” Nathan stood, signaling the end of the meeting. As he gathered his notes, Hawk came up to him. He slapped a hand on Nathan’s back. “That’s an ambitious campaign.”