The Fix Up (First Impressions #1) (7 page)

“You mean for me to write you a check and then have you end up naked on my living room floor?”

She grimaced. “Ouch.”

“Sorry,” he said, wishing he hadn’t tried to be flip. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like prostitution.”

“No, I’m sorry. I feel like I should reciprocate here, and God knows I really,
really
want to—” She shot a look at his crotch. “Really.” He watched her throat move as she swallowed hard. Then she turned and yanked her shirt on. “I feel like I shouldn’t take your money now.” She pulled on her pants, her fingers fumbling with the drawstring. “This whole thing is a little unethical, but you’re right—it’s the money changing hands that makes it really bad.”

“Look, I was just joking. There’s no reason this should interfere with our professional relationship.”

“That’s just it. I can’t go sleeping with a client. That’s like the most unprofessional move in the book.”

“Technically, we didn’t sleep together.”

She rolled her eyes as she cinched the waistband of the cashmere pants, and Ben tried not to take the double knot personally.

“Okay then, we didn’t sleep together, we had sex,” she said. “Let’s not get hung up on semantics.”

“I’m not faulting your word choice. Just observing that no sexual intercourse took place. I went down on you, you came, end of story.”

The flush in her cheeks told him the story was far from over, and Ben was inclined to agree. Still, he pressed on. “Look, we can still maintain a professional relationship here.”

“Ben—”

“Please, Holly. I need you. Having you there coaching me through the event tonight was a godsend. I can’t do this CEO thing without you. Not yet, anyway. I still have a lot of work to do before I’m fit to fill my father’s shoes.”

She frowned, which Ben felt like doing, too, as his own words echoed in his ears. The last thing he wanted was to be his father, but that’s exactly what he was counting on Holly to help him do.

If you’re trying not to emulate the worst of your dad, hooking up with a woman you hired is probably not the best move.

Dammit. Okay, he could still fix this.

“Look, I can be good,” he said.

“No kidding.” A ghost of a smile crossed her features, but she bit her lip and dropped her gaze. “Sorry, not helpful. Also, I’m really sorry about leaving you high and dry. If you want, I could—” Her voice trailed off, but he caught her meaning as her gaze shifted to his crotch.

“It’s okay. You’re right, we should keep things professional between us. Please—let’s give it a shot.”

She looked down into her lap and fiddled with the tie on the front of the cashmere pants. “No more fooling around?”

“Scout’s honor,” he said, raising his hand with his palm toward her, thumb extended, fingers parted between his middle and ring finger.

Holly stared at his hand and frowned. “What the hell kind of Boy Scout were you?”

“I wasn’t. That’s a Vulcan salute.”

“
Star Trek
?”

“Yep. Much more meaningful to a geek than any Boy Scout pledge. As Spock is my witness, I’ll do my very best to keep my hands off you.”

She stared at his hand a few beats, and he wondered if she was pondering the magnitude of his geekiness or remembering how his fingers had felt sliding in and out of her.

At last she raised her hand, moving her fingers into her own version of the Vulcan salute. “Well okay then,” she said. “Live long and prosper and grope no more.”

“Y
ou slept with him?” Miriam raised her palm in a gesture Holly wished didn’t leave her thinking salacious thoughts about Ben’s monster paws and his Vulcan salute. “Come on,” Miriam urged, waving her hand in Holly’s face and jingling the gold bracelet on her wrist. “This calls for a high five.”

“I’m not high-fiving you,” Holly whispered, glancing toward the conference room door. She’d had it soundproofed when she and Miriam first took over the space and had it built out to their specifications, back when they were just starting out with First Impressions. Even so, she didn’t want to take any chances. “Besides, as Ben pointed out—we didn’t technically sleep together.”

“That’s right, he follows the Bill Clinton definition of sex.” Miriam waved her un-high-fived palm dismissively and grinned at Holly. “Come on, this is a big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal, and it’s not happening again,” Holly said, pretty sure she meant it. “Come on, we can’t go knocking boots with our clients any old time we feel like it.”

“We own the company, hon.” Miriam scooped up a spoonful of Greek yogurt while Holly took a nervous sip of her iced tea. “We can pretty much make the rules.”

“Right. And I think the rules of professional conduct are pretty clear on the fact that it’s a bad idea to get romantically involved with someone who’s paying you to rebrand his corporate identity.”

“I’m pretty sure there are no rules for that particular arrangement,” Miriam pointed out. “Didn’t you kinda make up that whole thing? It’s not like there’s a user manual for rebranding a
person
.”

Holly sighed. “Hooking up with a client would be bad under the best of circumstances. Hooking up with the one client whose fee is going to get us out of this mess with the bank is just idiotic. I don’t want to blow this.”

“You didn’t blow anything, which is kinda too bad for Ben.” Miriam grinned. “That was very generous of him.”

“You’re impossible.” Holly forked up a bite of her salad, not sure if guilt or lust was winning out in her carousel of moods this morning. Part of her wanted to be ashamed of herself and committed to never, ever getting intimate with a client.

Part of her just wanted Ben’s hands on her body again.

Stop it
.
Remember what happened the last time you let a guy wedge himself in the middle of your career?

“You just made a face like you want to stab something besides that cherry tomato,” Miriam said around a bite of yogurt. “What are you thinking?”

“About Chase,” she admitted.

“Ew. Can we not talk about your ex when I’m eating?”

“Well you were the one who asked.”

“Fair point.” Miriam poked her spoon into the yogurt again. “Why are you thinking about Chase when you’re still wearing that morning-after glow from your evening with Ben?”

Holly sighed. “Because fooling around with a career-obsessed guy is how I got into trouble last time, remember?”

“You think I might have forgotten the dickhead whose name is still on our damn mortgage and who ordered you to quit working and squeeze out his babies?” Miriam shook her head. “Not all guys are like that, Holly. Some even believe in the novel concept that women can have careers
and
husbands
and
families. Imagine that.”

“We’re getting off track here,” Holly said, wishing Miriam’s words didn’t sting so much. “Right now it’s the career I need to focus on, and the fact that this job with Ben is going to help us get my asshole ex off the loan.”

“Fine. At least tell me if Ben was good.”

Holly felt her face grow hot. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Miriam gave her a smug look and licked the back of her spoon. “From what you told me, he did a lot more of the kissing than you did. For the record, there’s nothing hotter than a guy who’s eager to go downtown. Didn’t you tell me once that Chase was so averse to chowing box you practically had to grab him by the ears and push his head between your legs?”

“God, I can’t believe I told you that. Or any of it, really. I just needed someone to talk to about it.”

“As your best friend and business partner, you won’t get any judgment from me. My lips are sealed. Which is more than I can say for yours.” She grinned wider, and Holly wished the ground would swallow her up.

“Miriam—”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop teasing you. I do want to point out that you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re both consenting adults, right?”

“Right.”

If by
consenting,
she meant tearing off her clothes and spreading her legs and begging Ben to put his mouth on her within twelve hours of meeting him. God, what did he think of her? She’d left in a hurry last night, barely remembering to grab her shoes or purse or the loungewear Ben insisted she take with her.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he’d shouted after her as she ran for the elevator like the building was on fire.

Now, Holly glanced at her phone and tried not to notice it was already after two. She’d stayed busy all day, working straight through lunch and resisting the urge to call or text Ben. Though she was still on the fence about whether continuing their professional relationship was a good idea, she’d created a detailed rebranding plan for him. Watching him in action last night—at the event, not on the living room floor—had given her plenty of ideas where Ben could stand to improve his skills.

There was no need for improvement of any kind with his skills on the living room floor.

She’d worked up a detailed SWOT analysis, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats based on her own observations at the event, and on the spreadsheet of information Ben had sent yesterday afternoon. She had a lot to offer him. She could do a lot of good with this assignment, proving to herself and to Ben that she was good at her job. That she took her career seriously.

Chase sure as hell never did.

“Did you have a chance to look at the RFP from Urban Trax?” Miriam asked.

Holly turned her attention back to Miriam, grateful to be talking about business again. At least that was a comforting topic. “Urban Trax,” she repeated. “That’s the chain of outdoor stores?”

“Yes, kinda like REI.”

“Sorry, I’ve been a little out of the loop with that one.”

“Don’t sweat it, I have things covered. Here, check out the preliminary logos I was brainstorming last night.”

Miriam swiped the screen on her iPad and brought up a PDF featuring several impressive mock-ups. She handed the device to Holly, and Holly scrolled through the sample logos, amazed once again at the caliber of talent on the First Impressions team.

“Wow, this one’s amazing.”

“Thanks,” Miriam said. “That’s my favorite, too. It’s a little premature until we land the deal, but I’m confident we will.”

“Keep me posted,” Holly said, forking up another bite of salad. “I should have an update on the Happy Valley account by the end of the day.”

“No rush. I know this Langley Enterprises job is kind of a priority right now.”

Holly nodded, conscious of the heat that spread through her body at the thought of Ben and his company. “Yeah, it is. It’s not just about the CEO rebranding, either.”

“You think there’s potential for more work?”

“I’m hoping. It’s a big opportunity.”

“Exactly how big are we talking?”

Holly’s thoughts veered to images of Ben’s massive hands, his broad shoulders, the impressive bulge she’d felt in the front of his pants—

“Earth to Holly?”

“Sorry,” she said, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. “I was just thinking about our prospects for new business.”

“You were thinking about your prospects for getting in the CEO’s pants,” Miriam said, flashing a salacious grin. “I know you, girl. I can read it all over your face.”

“Right,” Holly said, wondering if working with your best friend was almost as dangerous as sleeping with a client. “Anyway, I do think First Impressions could end up with a lot of business out of this Langley deal. They have corporate offices all over the world, and a budget big enough to make your head spin.”

“Does each division handle their own marketing?”

“It all runs through corporate headquarters, but individual branches have budgets for promotional initiatives and marketing campaigns. Ben sent me a little info about it yesterday, and I couldn’t believe the numbers. If we could get a piece of that—”

She stopped short, waiting for Miriam to point out that she’d already gotten a piece. When she didn’t, it occurred to her that her potty-mouthed pal wasn’t the only one with sex on the brain.

“Anyway,” Holly said. “If things go well with this CEO rebrand, maybe there’s potential for First Impressions to do some work for other Langley divisions.”

All the more reason not to bone your client,
her inner voice pointed out.
You don’t want to screw that up by screwing the CEO.

“Sounds good,” Miriam said, tucking a crumpled napkin and an apple core into her empty yogurt container as she stood up. “I have to run to that meeting for Mountain Medical Group. You want to chat later about the bid for that cable company?”

“Let’s aim for tomorrow. My calendar’s up to date, so just pick a time that works.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Miriam squeezed her shoulder. “Now get out there and bone that CEO.”

“I will do no such thing.”

“Whatever you say.”

As Miriam walked away, Holly crumpled her napkin onto her salad plate and sighed.

She felt confident in her ability to juggle multiple clients and to run this business the way she’d been doing the last couple years. She even felt confident in her ability to rebrand Ben Langley into the sort of alpha male CEO he needed to be.

If only she felt half as confident in her ability to resist him.

Chapter Seven

B
en glanced at his watch for what had to be the hundredth time in the last hour. When he’d emailed Holly the previous afternoon to request a two o’clock meeting the next day, he hadn’t considered the fact that having thirty-six hours pass before seeing her again would feel like an eternity.

It’s strictly business.

Except his brain kept veering to images of her naked and breathless on his living room floor. Maybe this was supposed to be strictly business, but there was a lot more than business on his mind.

He glanced at his watch again. Two minutes until she was due to arrive.

“Dude!”

Ben looked up to see Parker standing in the doorway shaking his head. His best friend wore athletic shorts, a T-shirt from their boxing gym, and a look of intense annoyance.

“You stood us up again.” Parker ambled forward and dropped into the seat Ben had hoped to see cupping Holly’s firm backside in mere seconds.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Ben said. “I’m working around the clock on this new deal and—”

“And becoming your dad with every passing day. Nice suit.”

Ben sighed. “I’m sorry. Seriously, I’d love nothing more than to hit the gym with you guys, but this job is important.”

“You’re aware the rest of us have jobs, too, right? Some of our titles even include words like ‘president’ and ‘chief executive.’”

“You’re clearly a better man than I am.”

Parker shook his head. “Wow, the stress is really getting to you. Did your dad have your sense of humor surgically removed before he granted you a key to the building?”

“Sorry.” Ben raked his hands through his hair. “It’s just—this is my shot, you know? To take the company in a new direction and make up for some of the shit my dad pulled when my mom was still alive.”

“That’s an awful lot of weight to put on your shoulders.”

Ben shrugged. “It is what it is.”

“Fine. We’ll cut you some slack for now, but if you start growing ear hair and slapping people on the back like your dad, we’re hosting an intervention.” Parker grinned. “It’ll be like that time in college when you wanted to go to that insect convention and we had to kidnap you so you’d come with us for spring break in Cancun.”

“And I missed out on seeing a rare Dryococelus Australis.”

“Yeah, but the margaritas were outstanding.”

“I did have a good time,” Ben admitted, glancing at his watch again. “Speaking of time, I have an important meeting starting any second now.”

As if on cue, the intercom buzzed on his desk. “Holly Colvin is here to see you?”

Parker raised an eyebrow, and Ben tried to ignore him. “Thanks, Carol,” he said. “You can send her in.”

He looked at Parker, who was shooting him a knowing grin. “What?” Ben asked. “My meeting happens to be with a woman.”

“Who happens to make you grin like you just won a gift certificate from the blowjob-of-the-month club.”

“Very nice. You can go now.”

Parker stood up just as Holly strode through the door looking flushed and beautiful in a slim skirt with a crisp green blouse that looked like it would be silky to touch.

Stop thinking about touching her.

Ben stood up and stepped around his desk to greet her. “Holly,” he said, extending his hand. He realized belatedly that offering a handshake to a woman he’d seen naked thirty-six hours ago was the most socially awkward greeting he could have managed, but she met him with a firm grip and a smile.

“Ben. Good to see you again.” Her gaze drifted to Parker, and Ben realized he should probably introduce his oldest pal instead of standing there like an idiot.

“This is Parker,” he offered. “He was just leaving.”

“No I wasn’t,” Parker said, extending a hand to Holly. “You’ll have to excuse my friend. He’s completely devoid of charm and social skill.”

“Which is precisely why Holly’s here,” Ben said. “That’s top secret, by the way. You say a word to my dad and I’ll beat you to death with my paperweight.”

Parker smiled at Holly with renewed interest. “You’re his life coach?”

“I never said life coach,” Ben reminded him. “Holly owns a PR and branding firm. She’s going to rebrand me into a polished, professional CEO.”

Parker laughed and leaned against the doorframe looking amused. “I hope you charged double. You’ve got your work cut out for you with this one.”

Holly smiled at Parker, and Ben tried not to notice the faint burn of jealousy flaring in his gut. “How do you mean?” she asked, glancing from Parker to Ben. “This could actually be pretty helpful to the process, you know—hearing firsthand from your closest friends where your strengths and weaknesses lie.”

“Oh, don’t even get me started on Ben’s weaknesses.” Parker grinned and shot Ben a look he recognized as a subtle request for permission. Parker might joke, but he wasn’t the sort of guy to throw his buddy under the bus.

Ben just shrugged. Parker was right that Holly had her work cut out for her, so she might as well know what she was dealing with.

“Let’s see,” Parker said, pretending to ponder. “There’s the time Ben tried to pick up a woman by offering to defrag her hard drive.”

“She slapped me, if I remember right,” Ben mused.

“Well, it does sound kinda dirty,” Holly pointed out.

“Then there’s the time a couple years ago when none of us had seen him for a week,” Parker said, getting comfortable now. “We went down to the engineering lab and found out he’d been working for ten days straight on some new chemical breakthrough or something. He’d been taking sponge baths in the bathroom sink and eating nothing but carrot sticks and Cool Ranch Doritos.”

“They were Salsa Verde Doritos,” Ben said.

“My mistake.” Parker scratched his chin. “Or how about the time we finally persuaded him to take a break and treat himself to a Hawaii vacation.”

“That sounds nice,” Holly said, and Ben couldn’t help picturing her in a bikini frolicking on the sand.

“Sure it does,” Parker agreed. “Only instead of taking surfing lessons and drinking mai-tais on the beach, Ben spent the whole trip studying the flora and fauna of the islands.”

“I wonder if I still have that research paper. I discovered a new species of fungus.” Ben glanced at Holly, wondering if she was second-guessing her decision to take him on or take off her bra in his house. She smiled at him, and Ben felt his heart dissolve in his chest.

“Ben’s the best guy I know, though,” Parker said. “He’d throw himself in front of a train to save anyone he loves.”

“That doesn’t sound very sensible,” Ben said. “The average velocity of a locomotive is—”

“Shut up, brainiac—I’m trying to sing your praises here.” Parker turned back to Holly. “I met Ben our first year in grad school. I was twenty-three, but Ben was only nineteen. The dude went to college at sixteen and finished in less than three years. Anyway, one night we hooked him up with a fake ID and dragged him out barhopping with us. Sure enough, Ben got busted.”

“What?” Holly looked at him. “You got arrested?”

Ben quirked an eyebrow at her. “That surprises you?”

“Kinda.” She turned back to Parker. “So what happened?”

“The cops were doing this big sting operation trying to break up this ring of guys producing fake IDs. They offered to let Ben go if he told them where he got it, but Ben refused to turn in his friends. Wouldn’t give them any names, not even when they held him in jail for three days and made him miss a test that could screw up his whole GPA.”

“Wow.”

Parker laughed. “I finally went in there and turned
myself
in so the dumbass wouldn’t rot in jail forever. But he would have, if it had come to it. The guy’s loyal to a fault.”

Holly was giving him an appraising look, which made Ben uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to being the center of attention, which was probably one more thing he’d need to overcome if he wanted to be a CEO. God, the list was getting long.

“Sounds like you’re giving me some nice raw material to work with,” she said. “I’m eager to get started.”

“Have fun with that,” Parker told her, then turned to Ben. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you at the gym tomorrow?”

“I’ll do my best,” Ben said.

“Later,” Parker called, heading out the door. “Take good care of him, Holly.”

“I plan to,” she murmured as she pulled the door closed and turned back to Ben. “That was enlightening.”

“I’m glad you thought so. Have a seat.”

She seemed to hesitate, then sat down on the opposite side of the desk and folded her hands in her lap. “So have you had a chance to look over the rebranding plan I sent over yesterday?”

“I did. You really think we can cover all those bases in time for the presentation?”

“I think so. It might mean a few late nights here and there, but—” She bit her lip, and Ben watched the tips of her ears turn pink. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Late nights and—never mind.” She sighed. “Look, I have to level with you, Ben. This feels awkward.”

“How do you mean?”

“You’re a smart guy. Is that a real question?”

“Not really,” he admitted, grinning. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

“Fine. I’ll say it. Having you make me come my brains out was mind-blowing, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. But that’s the problem.”

“How is that a problem?” he asked, trying not to gloat.

“Because I need to be focusing on how to make you a better CEO. You hired me to do a job, and it behooves us both to stay focused on the task.”

“What about the point you made about unleashing my inner ‘strategic-thinking, alpha male businessman?’” he asked, and watched her flush again. “I think what happened between us was very helpful toward that goal.”

“Right. I can’t argue with that. You definitely showed some—initiative.”

Ben rested his palms on the desk and watched Holly’s blush deepen as her gaze dropped to his hands. “Initiative,” he said. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Ben, seriously—”

“Hey, I’m just reminding you what you said about me needing to become a take-charge sort of guy.” He grinned, reveling in the chance to banter like this. It wasn’t often he voiced his thoughts so clearly. Holly was a good influence in more ways than one. “The bedroom’s a pretty good place to practice. Or the living room floor. Or up against a kitchen counter. Or—”

“I don’t disagree, Ben,” she said, clearing her throat. “And yeah, I enjoyed it.
A lot.
But I’m here to do a job.” She held up a hand. “And before you say it, I’m not talking about hand jobs or blowjobs.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t going to go there, but now that you have—”

“My career is important to me,” she said. “Handling this rebranding process effectively and professionally is important to me. You can understand that, can’t you?”

“I can,” he admitted, trying not to be too disappointed at the prospect of being thrown over for her job. He had to respect her position, even if he wished he could explore a lot of other positions with her.

Crap, he had to stop thinking like that. Maybe he was going a little too far with this alpha male thing.

“I understand,” he said at last. “This is important to me, too. I know we both need to focus our full attention on it.”

“I’m glad we cleared that up.”

“Me, too,” Ben said, not feeling so glad. “So do you want to review the plan?”

She smiled, then nodded. “Let’s get to work.”