Collin’s arm snaked around the bathroom door, Annie’s clean clothes in hand just as he’d promised.
A humble thank-you almost made it past her lips. But Annie swallowed those words when she realized what Collin had brought for her to wear. “Are you kidding me? Out of my entire closet, you brought me this?”
His head popped around the door. “And you have a problem because?” He pointed to the bundle she held in her hands. “You big silly. I was with you when you bought those adorable hip-hugger khakis. And I personally picked out that to-die-for orange crop-top with the peekaboo off-the-shoulder sleeves. Orange, orange, orange, Annie. I’ve told you a million times, it’s in, in, in.”
“You didn’t stop to think I’d look less provocative if I came downstairs for brunch wearing nothing but this towel?” Annie shook her head in disbelief. “I’m still in the frame of mind to punch Matt out, Collin, not try to turn him on.”
Collin actually looked surprised. “Well, I doubt you have to worry about turning Matt on, Annie.” He kept looking at her as if that were the craziest thing he’d ever heard. “If you walked downstairs buck naked with a six-pack under your arm, then you might turn Matt on.”
Annie pursed her lips in a pout. Collin was probably right, but he didn’t have to say it.
“No,” Collin decided. “Make that buck nekkid, as Matt so crudely pronounces the word, with a six-pack under your arm and duct tape over your mouth.”
“Okay. I didn’t mean to flatter myself.” She looked down and haughtily flipped through the clothes. Clean panties and her favorite pair of sandals were there, although today she would have preferred tennis shoes to hide the blasted “toetoo” she’d spend the rest of her life regretting. “Any particular reason why you didn’t bring me a strapless bra? Other than your sudden boob envy, I mean.”
Collin sent her a mischievous grin. “Sorry. Totally slipped my mind about the bra.” He sent her a cute ta-ta wave and closed the bathroom door.
“Liar,” Annie grumbled. About the bra. About his choice in clothing. And about her ability to turn Matt on, although Collin had no way of knowing that.
The secret night she’d spent with Matt was something she’d never be brainless enough to share with motormouth Collin. She knew Matt evidently felt the same way or everyone in Atlanta and the rest of the free world would have already heard ages ago that she and Matt had done the dirty deed.
Still, Collin didn’t fool her. The little sneak had known exactly what he was doing conveniently forgetting her bra. More of his so-called diversionary tactics, no doubt.
Please.
Annie sighed as she stepped into her panties, then pulled on the khakis that hit her dangerously just above her pelvic bone. Next she struggled into the orange-is-in top with the peekaboo sleeves that were called such for a very good reason. Not only wouldn’t the sleeves stay up, but they weren’t comfortable when they slid down on her arms to rest just above her elbows.
Peek-a-frickety-boo.
She opened the top drawer and rummaged through Collin’s elaborate Victorian-style vanity until she finally found a styling brush, then bent over and took her frustration out on her long, tangled hair.
Brush. Brush. Brush.
Yeow. Yeow. Yeow.
But by the time the painful detangling regimen was completed, Annie had come to a few firm conclusions. First, she was glad Collin had taken the initiative to clear the air between her and Matt before they showed up for business as usual on Monday. Second, she wasn’t going to put Matt on the defensive in any way, shape, or form, regardless of how hard he tried his usual chain-rattling routine. And third, she was going to conduct herself in a totally professional manner.
She was going to prove that she really wasn’t the psycho chick Matt probably thought she was after the stupid stunt she’d pulled with Joe Video. Basically, she was going to try her best—for once—to meet Matt on some kind of common ground.
Common ground. Yes. That’s good.
She would simply point out that while he did deserve one hundred percent of the credit for allowing her to present her idea, Joe Video was still her vision. She’d say she realized he wasn’t keen on the concept. She’d tell Matt she could even see why, from his point of view, he might consider the game one big joke. But she’d also plead to his sense of fair play and ask permission to develop the game for the female audience she had in mind and give the sales record a chance to speak for itself.
Satisfied that her game plan was solidly in place, Annie opened several other vanity drawers before she finally found the Advil and popped more than the recommended dosage into her mouth. She might have pushed the envelope, but Matt had been the one who literally pushed her off the ledge to sink or swim.
Annie smiled. He had no way of knowing she’d been the captain of her eighth-grade swim team.
CHAPTER 5
The second Collin opened the door to Magnolia Haven—the name of the house, according to Inman Park’s Historical Society register—Matt asked, “Well? Is Cruella—I mean Tequila De Vil awake and moving around yet?”
Collin sent him a drop-the-attitude look. The little ankle-biter perched in the crook of Collin’s arm wrinkled his nose and growled low and mean.
Matt growled back.
Collin pursed his lips and stepped aside, allowing Matt to enter. “Do you have to start irritating Elton John before you even walk through the door? You know being a latchkey dog keeps his nerves on edge.”
“Me?” Matt sent a mean look at the tiny terror who had nailed him with those needle-sharp teeth too many times to still be alive. “Face it, Collin. The mutt hates me. Why don’t you let me get you a real dog?”
“And why don’t you refrain from mentioning the most hated villain known to modern dog in front of Elton John?”
“Right. The dog knows exactly who Cruella De Vil is.”
In rebuttal, the latchkey canine threw his head back and let out a long, woeful howl.
“And you were saying?” Collin challenged.
Matt sent Elton John a suspicious look. “I was asking whether or not Annie was more alive than dead today.”
Collin ignored his question and motioned for him to follow. Matt obediently fell in behind his host. He followed Collin through the impressive foyer with the classic Gone with the Wind staircase. Then they headed down a hallway to the left, adorned with antique frames and pictures of relatives a long time dead.
A few more steps and they walked into the large kitchen that still had turn-of-the-century-charm but was fully equipped with the most up-to-date cooking utensils and appliances available. Finally, they passed through what Collin called old-world French cottage doors and out onto a climate-controlled gazebo-style sunporch.
Even Matt had to admit that the view of Collin’s blue ribbon first-place garden—named such by the Inman Park Garden Club for several years in a row—was spectacular. He wasn’t surprised that, like the garden’s twenty-thousand-dollar sparkling waterfall, Collin had gone overboard in what he would insist were only “simple” preparations.
The spread was laid out upper-crust Southern style with tons of sterling silver, Collin’s treasured bone china, and crisp linen napkins the same color as the plush emerald cushions of the antique white wicker chairs. Matt made his way to the chair where Collin indicated he should sit, and Collin took a seat across from him, placing the damnable yapster on his lap.
Elton John instantly bared his teeth and so did Matt. They stared each other down across the large white wicker table.
Only then did Collin decide to answer Matt’s original question. “Yes, Annie is awake,” he said. “She’s getting dressed, and should be down in a minute.”
“And the hangover?”
“Not severe enough that you can push her around, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
Again, Matt protested. “Me?”
Collin rolled his eyes. “Don’t pretend you weren’t hoping Annie’s hangover might give you some kind of an edge.
You’re talking to me, Matt. I know you inside and out.”
Smart-ass, Matt thought. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Collin raised an eyebrow. “Really? No particular reason why you were so eager to come over and make amends with Annie? No hidden agenda, maybe? No urgency to win Annie over to your way of thinking after your big celebration dinner with J.B. last night?”
Make that arrogant smart-ass.
But before Matt could come up with another pointless lie, Annie strolled through the old-world French cottage doors and out onto the sunporch.
Swallowing a big gulp, Matt stifled a painful moan when her sexy walk toward the table reminded him he could almost fit his hands around the tiny waist that was fully exposed between her neon orange top and the nonexistent waistband of her hip-hugger khakis.
She even had her hair down again, which was always a big distraction for him. Every time Annie wore her hair down, Matt couldn’t keep himself from remembering how those long, silky strands had fallen across his face that night when he’d pulled her magnificent body on top of his, put his hands around that tiny waist of hers, and . . .
Stop!
His eyes locked with hers for a brief second.
And then Annie pulled the dirtiest trick of all.
She seated her bod made for sin in the chair next to his and disarmed him completely with a heart-stealing grin.
Annie stuck her hand out. “Truce?”
She was still trying to interpret the weird look on Matt’s face. Not a grimace, exactly. But not relief that she was trying to be cordial, either. More surprise with a dab of anguish, as Collin would put it.
Drat.
Maybe she should have just punched him out and gotten it over with.
Matt finally made a skeptical reach for her hand, but Collin called out, “Nothing doing. A trivial handshake isn’t enough.”
He scooted his chair back, placed Elton John on the cushion, and was standing behind them before Annie could protest. “This truce calls for a hug.” He grabbed each of them under the arm, pulled them to their feet, and pushed them together.
The hug was forced and awkward. But for a fleeting moment Annie felt Matt hug her back. And, no—having Matt’s arms around her didn’t produce any of those romance book reactions. Electricity didn’t instantly surge through her body. No tingling chills ran up and down the full length of her spine. She didn’t even feel a white-hot heat spreading straight to the center of her quivering loins.
Her reaction was much more subtle.
Having Matt’s arms around her was nothing but a sad reminder that they would never be anything more than semi-good friends.
Alrighty, then, Annie thought when everyone was seated at the table again. She removed the celery stick from the Bloody Mary sitting in front of her. Munched on the celery. But she wisely left the Bloody Mary alone.
She said, “I’m really glad you were willing to come for brunch, Matt. I wanted to tell you myself I’m not upset. About anything. You gave me the opportunity to present my idea, and you deserved the credit for doing that. You are, after all, the head of our department. And that’s something I won’t forget again.”
He was still staring at her with that goofy look on his face. Maybe, Annie decided, he needed more proof that she was being sincere.
“I also owe you an apology for acting like a spoiled two-year-old with her lip pooched out for the last few months,” she admitted. “And I don’t blame you for doubting I was ready to run with my own game idea.”
Still no response.
“In fact, you should have fired me on the spot for going behind your back with Joe Video. I’m grateful that you didn’t, of course,” Annie added quickly, “especially since J.B. really seemed to like the idea. I just hope we can reach some kind of common ground when it comes to the marketing strategy.”
The lights seemed to be on.
Was anybody home?
Hell-oooooooooo? Annie felt like screaming.
Collin saved her the trouble. “Scotty? Could you beam Matt up, please?” he said. “The poor boy seems to be lost in another galaxy.”
Collin’s sarcastic comment snapped Matt out of his Annie-induced trance. Damn. The second Annie strolled through the door his own reality check had bounced. Then Collin’s stupid hug idea had caused a different muscle in his groin to throb to attention. And to top things off, Annie had quickly taken control of the conversation more effectively than if she’d been holding him captive with a multi-round Uzi under her arm.
Matt almost wished she did have a machine gun.
He’d beg for mercy and ask her to put him out of his misery. Especially since those sleeves of her skimpy top kept playing havoc with his concentration every time she pushed them up only to let them slide seductively off her slender shoulders again.
Focus, he told himself and reached for his Bloody Mary. He ignored the celery stick that poked him in the eye and practically drained the glass with one long gulp. Collin frowned at his table manners and pointed to his napkin, as if Matt would be uncouth enough to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand.
To annoy Collin, that’s exactly what he did.
His two cohorts were still staring at him as if he needed to quit wasting oxygen. What had happened to his usual razor-sharp edge? He was used to dealing with disgruntled employee Annie. But had anyone ever met a gruntled employee before?
“You’ve left me speechless, Annie,” Matt finally said. He sent her a friendly smile. “Here I was, dreading coming over here because I was afraid you were going to scratch my eyes out, and instead you’ve blown me away with your incredible insight. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’ve already thought this whole situation through from start to finish.”
He wasn’t sure she was buying it, but she sent him a semi-friendly smile back.
“Especially the part about me being the department head. And that you’ll never forget it again.”
Oops. There goes the smile.
“Chain of command,” Matt said, deciding maybe he could salvage his original speech after all. “That’s something we all have to be reminded of now and then.”
Fading, fading. Outta here!
“Like last night at dinner with J.B., for instance,” Matt said. “The longer he talked about the outrageous marketing idea he has in mind for Joe Video, the more I had to keep reminding myself that J.B. was the boss. That he signed my paycheck. And that unless I wanted to let ten years of hard work at Paragon go right down the drain, I was going to have to carry out his orders whether I agreed with them or not.”
He paused, giving Annie a chance to absorb his statement.
She didn’t hesitate to ask, “Exactly what kind of ridiculous marketing idea are you talking about?”
Matt sent her a sympathetic look. “You aren’t going to like it, Annie. Not one little bit.”
Her chin came up. “Try me.”
Matt hiked his shoulder up in a you-asked-for-it shrug. “J.B. is smart enough to realize this game concept is going to need a custom-made marketing campaign. The female audience you want to target doesn’t subscribe to the video trade magazines. The male audience that does depend on our usual ads in trade magazines wouldn’t get past the first line of a blurb announcing the perfect man on DVD. I’m sorry, Annie, but J.B. could care less about the game itself. It’s the buzz factor he’s so excited about.”
“Buzz factor?”
Matt nodded. “J.B.’s convinced the key to this game’s success is going to be the age-old controversy between man and woman. He believes if we get the buzz started as soon as possible, we’ll have orders pouring in for Joe Video before we even start production.”
Collin held his hand up like a student in a classroom. “Excuse me? Do you mind filling the clueless homo in on this age-old man versus woman controversy? I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
Matt laughed. “Do the names Adam and Eve ring a bell?”
“Oh please,” Annie s
aid. “Bringing up Adam and Eve is a big stretch in anyone’s imagination.”
“I was referring to man and woman and sex in general,” Matt said. “Man spends half of his time thinking about sex. And he spends the other half begging woman to have sex with him. If that’s not controversy, I don’t know what is.”
“Good point,” Collin said.
Matt said, “Joe Video is going to be in your face with one big Mars and Venus standoff. And unless your head is in Uranus, you have to admit it’s a brilliant marketing strategy.”
Cute, Annie thought, frowning at Matt’s little play on words. Yet something told her the worst was yet to come. “So? What type of in-your-face advertising does J.B. have in mind?”
The look on Matt’s face told her she wasn’t going to like it. “For starters,” he said, “ever hear of a local morning television program called City Singles?”
“I love that show!” Collin exclaimed.
“I’ve seen it a few times,” Annie admitted.
Matt held her gaze. “That’s where the old man wants to start.”
Annie forced herself to ask, “And the catch?”
Matt finally dropped the bomb. “It’s going to be me and you, Annie. He said, she said. On local TV. In front of Atlanta’s three million-plus viewing audience.”
Collin burst out laughing.
Annie didn’t. “That is so not funny, Matt.”
“Do you see me laughing?” He shook his head. “I told J.B. up front I wasn’t interested in appearing on TV and I knew you would feel the same way. But being the shrewd businessman that he is, J.B. upped the stakes.”
Annie braced herself. “Meaning he’ll fire us if we refuse,” she said matter-of-factly.
Matt shook his head. “J.B. has too much integrity to threaten his employees.” He leaned back in his chair, his expression serious when he looked at Annie and said, “If we can make Joe Video the huge success J.B. thinks it can be, he’ll promote me to executive vice president in charge of production. And he’ll promote you to the head of the creative department.”
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