Winner Takes All (6 page)

“All right,” he said, surprising her. “Let’s do it.”

She threw her arms around him. “You are so not going to regret this. Just wait and see. Ruth will be putty in your hands before the end of the year.”

He laughed. “I don’t know about that, but it’s worth a try.”

“Excellent. We’ll get started right away.”

“But what about you?” he asked.

Eva looked at him over her spoon. The consommé was wonderful. “What about me?”

“Is there anybody who might get upset with our flirting?”

Reed’s face flashed through Eva’s mind. She knew it was stupid—he wasn’t anything to her—and she refused to think about it. “Nope,” she said, with a superbright smile.

Mark wasn’t fooled. “Tell me about him.”

He eyes were wide and innocent. “About whom?”

“Butler, I’m a reporter, for God’s sake. It’s my job to notice when heads of state are lying. You’re amateur city.”

She paused for a moment, and deciding it would feel good to tell someone about her day, she said, “Do you know Coleman Hammond Jr.?”

“Of course. The media mogul. Hammond Communications publishes
World Events,
the best newsmagazine out there.”

“I had a meeting with him today.”

“Uh-oh.”

This was not the response Eva was expecting. “Uh-oh?”

“Stay away from him. He’s a player. If there is indeed a broken heart for every light on Broadway, then half of them are thanks to Hammond.”

Eva laughed. “I appreciate the warning, my friend, but it’s completely unnecessary. My meeting with the great Hammond never happened. I couldn’t get past the gatekeeper.” The look of relief on Mark’s face was almost comical. “Relax, even if I were interested in the media mogul himself, I could handle it. Trust me, I’m a big girl now.”

Mark didn’t look convinced, but he let it go. “So if not Hammond, then who?”

“One of his underlings. From the cut of his suit, I’d say an executive vice president something or other. We had lunch to discuss Wyndham’s bid for the Hammond art collection. It was just lunch, but I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s been a long time since I’ve met a man who interests me this much. He’s seems too perfect to be real: handsome, intelligent, great sense of humor, knows how to listen.” Eva closed her eyes and sighed. “God, listen to me. I sound like a besotted schoolgirl.”

He smiled wryly. “Join the club. So what are
you
going to do about it?”

Fearing that her friend was about to break into a lecture about taking risks and seizing the moment, she held up her hand. “Don’t even think it. Our situations are completely different. If I’m still pining for this guy in ten years, then we can talk about what I’m going to do. In the meantime, let’s concentrate on what you’re going to do.”

But Mark wasn’t ready to move on. “Why don’t you call him and set up another business lunch? Mention something about details you need to clear up. It’s my favorite strategy for arranging follow-up interviews.”

“That would seem desperate,” she said, before mumbling unintelligibly another excuse.

“What was that?”

“I don’t have his number. I don’t even have his name. If I want to see him again I’m going to have to stand in front of the Hammond Communications building and surreptitiously check out every single male who enters.”

Mark nodded. “Sounds like a plan. When do we get started?”

Eva was not amused. “Ha ha.”

“Just trying to help, ma’am.”

“I’m not so sure about that. Regardless, all of that is to say, no, I’m not seeing anyone right now, so there’s nothing to stand in the way of our plan.”

He considered her for a long moment. “All right. How do we start?”

“We share a cab home.”

“But that makes no sense,” he said. “You’re in the Village and Ruth and I live in Hell’s Kitchen.”

Sometimes, Eva thought, Mark could be so thick. “Exactly. It makes no sense so it’ll start Ruth wondering. Ten bucks says I get a telephone call from her tomorrow asking what was up with that.”

“Okay, cab ride home. What else?”

Eva was as new to scheming as Mark was, so she needed a moment to mull it over. “We’ll go out Friday night. Ruth will probably call me or you to see what we’re doing and we’ll say we already have plans. That’ll get her.”

Mark imagined Ruth sitting at home on a Friday night because she had nobody to play with. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Faint heart never won fair lady,” she countered.

“But isn’t it cruel for all her friends to desert her at once?”

“Pshaw!” she dismissed. “A little cruelty now, a whole lot of happiness later.”

He paled at the thought. “Maybe we shouldn’t do—”

“Mark, you really have to chill. It’s going to work beautifully. And I was just kidding. What we’re doing isn’t cruel. Ruth does have other friends. She’ll be fine.”

“You’re right,” he said, finishing off the last bite of his salad. “I know you’re right. Okay, we go out Friday night. And after that?”

Eva couldn’t strategize that far in advance. “Let’s see what happens on Friday and then play it by ear. I don’t know how all the details are going to play out, but don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.”

Mark laughed.

“Hey, what’s so funny?”

“Let’s be honest here, Eva. I’m willing to go along with your insane scheme and I’m willing to run the risk of alienating Ruth, but don’t expect me to believe you know what you’re doing any better than I.”

Although Eva thought this was a reasonable enough thing to believe, she didn’t press the point. She extended her hand. “So we have a deal?”

He shook on it. “We have a deal.”

“What deal?” asked Ruth, looking pointedly at their clasped hands.

Eva winked at Mark before whispering in his ear. “This is going to be cake.”

***

The party broke up a little before midnight, and fifteen minutes later an exhausted Eva climbed the last step of the sixty-two steps to her floor and let herself into her apartment. She dumped her mail on a small table in the kitchen, tossed herself onto the couch and kicked off her heels. God, her feet were killing her. When would she start wearing sensible shoes? She couldn’t recall where she had last seen her jacket but didn’t have enough energy to be concerned. In all likelihood it was sitting on the back of her chair at the office.

The thought of work made Eva cringe. She would have to go in early the next day to finish the letter. She had known that all along. The second she’d realized that she had blanked completely on Jenny’s birthday party, she had known she would have to get to work at the crack of dawn. She’d told Reed the proposal would be delivered first thing in the morning, and she intended to make sure it was. Now wasn’t the time to drop the ball, not when her association with Hammond Communications showed signs of prospering.

And I
will
finish it, she thought, pushing herself off the couch. She’d had several hours to get over her fascination with Reed and she would not repeat the mistakes of earlier. Time was of the essence, and she wouldn’t waste another second sitting at her desk daydreaming about a man she would never see again. Work was more important, she reminded herself as she unbuttoned her silk blouse. Getting the Hammond account could very well ensure her future at Wyndham’s. Certainly that was more important than an embarrassing schoolgirl crush.

After brushing her teeth, Eva climbed into bed, set her alarm and closed her eyes. It felt so wonderful to lie down. The emotional roller coaster she had been on ever since meeting Reed had drained her thoroughly, and she was looking forward to five solid hours of sleep. She would have preferred to sleep to her usual seven-thirty, but she wanted to be at her desk typing by then. She would write up her proposal, send it to Coleman Hammond and hope for the best. Maybe Mrs. Hemingway would call to reschedule her appointment. Maybe she wouldn’t. But there was nothing wrong with hoping for the best. At least not as far as innocuous business associations were concerned. But she wouldn’t hope for Reed to call.

That would be futile and completely useless and a total waste of time. And besides, it would be just plain dumb, and Eva Butler hated being dumb.

CHAPTER THREE

When Cole Reed
Hammond stepped off the elevator after lunch with the representative from Wyndham’s, he wasn’t at all surprised to find his efficient admin staring at him with stony eyes. Eva had sized up Mrs. Amelia Hemingway to a T. She
was
a gatekeeper, and she hated when anyone—even someone he had endorsed—slipped through without her sanction.

When she wasn’t feeling thwarted or gotten around, Mrs. Hemingway always asked Cole how his meeting went. Now she just looked through him as he approached her desk.

Cole wasn’t put off. “Mrs. Hemingway, please call my mother and see if she’s available for dinner. Make a reservation at the Four Seasons if she is. Also, tell Philip Knight that I’d like to see him in my office right away.”

“You have a dinner engagement, sir, with Ms. Wingate for eight,” she reminded him stiffly.

He had completely forgotten about Lucy. “Cancel it.”

“Should I reschedule, sir?”

Cole said nothing for a moment. He didn’t want to reschedule. In recent weeks, spending time with Lucy had become more chore than pleasure. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why. She was beautiful, intelligent, well traveled, and excellent at tennis, but something was missing. Despite her accomplishments—or perhaps because of them—she had started to bore him.

“Sir, should I reschedule Ms. Wingate?” Mrs. Hemingway asked again.

As much as Cole wanted to, he couldn’t very well have his assistant break up with the woman he was seeing. “No, leave Ms. Wingate to me. I’ll give her a call.” Because he knew she was still annoyed at him, he looked her mildly in the eye and asked if there was anything else.

He could tell that she wanted to take him to task for overstepping his authority earlier, but she reined herself in. “No, sir. Nothing else.”

“I’ll be in my office. Hold all my calls, unless from my mother or Ms. Butler.”

This last was said to be deliberately provoking, and as he brushed by her desk, he heard his admin mumbling beneath her breath. Cole smiled. He loved when Mrs. Hemingway mumbled. It was so undignified and beneath her, yet she couldn’t seem to help herself.

He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “Did you say something?”

She swiveled in her chair. “No, sir.”

“Are you sure? I could have sworn I heard you say something.”

“No, sir, I didn’t say a word. But if I had, perhaps it would have been something about how I don’t make the rules around here, I just follow them. And that if you want to meet with random strangers off the street who fail to make appointments, perhaps you should set aside an hour each week, like the pope or the queen.” She turned back to her computer. “But of course I didn’t say a word, so I wouldn’t know a thing about it.”

Cole laughed as he opened the door to his office. “Mrs. Hemingway, you are a jewel.”

She harrumphed without conviction. “That’s what your dad used to say.”

“He was a wise man.”

Once in his office, Cole took off his tie and threw it on the couch. Sitting at his desk, he stared at the marketing report, which was right on the top of his pile. He had promised his marketing people a final decision on their new advertising campaign for
Style X,
Hammond’s high-end fashion magazine, but he hadn’t even glanced at the file yet. His had intended to read it the second he got out of the budget meeting that afternoon, but then he’d heard Eva arguing with Mrs. Hemingway and his intentions flew out the window. At first, he had only been amused by her predicament and the way she had dealt with it, but then she'd handed Mrs. Hemingway the pen and insisted she record the appointment in ink. At that moment, Eva Butler became irresistible to Cole Reed Hammond.

He’d assumed she would recognize him the moment he made his presence known and had been unusually pleased to see nothing but a flicker of pure female interest in her appraisal. The feeling, and interest, were definitely mutual—he couldn’t remember the last time he had been so aware of a woman—and before he knew it, he was insisting she join him for lunch.

And what an entertaining experience that had been. He had been reluctant for it to come to an end, which was extremely novel for him. Usually it was he who kept looking at his watch and insisting that it was time to return to the office. But he would see her again, that he knew, even if she was in doubt of it. He could tell as he helped her get out of the cab that she was disappointed he’d made no mention of further plans. It had been on the tip of his tongue to suggest dinner again, but he held back. He knew she was hesitant. She was obviously disconcerted by the attraction she felt toward him. That was fine. He’d give her a little time to get used to it.

Cole opened the file and began reviewing ad mockups. Although the two campaigns were decidedly different, they both optimized the celebrities who appeared regularly in the magazine and on its website.

A knock on the door disturbed his concentration. “Come in,” he called, closing the folder.

His right-hand man, Philip Knight, entered. “You wanted to see me?”

He gestured to a seat. “I wanted a status report on the Hammond collection. Have we picked an auction house yet?”

Philip sat down in the plush leather chair and leaned forward, surprised by his boss’s interest. From the very beginning Cole had said that he wanted nothing to do with it. “No decision yet but your mother is leaning toward Davidge’s. She met with Ardmore Cartwright himself and was very impressed with his presentation. Brooks’s also made a strong pitch but they sent a senior VP, not the CEO like Davidge’s.”

Cole nodded. “That’s what I thought. All right, here’s what I want you to do. I’m expecting a proposal to arrive tomorrow from Wyndham’s. When it does, you’re going to look it over with a fine-tooth comb and tell me what you think. Also, find out all you can about Eva Butler.”

Philip cocked his head. “Eva Butler?”

“Yes, she’s representing Wyndham’s,” he explained casually, as if the interest weren’t personal. And it wasn’t entirely, he assured himself. “I had lunch with her today, and she made a very good case for her firm. As you know, I’ve been trying to stay out of this, but my mother has been passing along details. If I’m recalling the facts correctly, then Wyndham’s might make the most sense.”