"No" replied Timothy, finally moving away from the wall, and stepping a little closer. "I have other things to do and I would rather make out some time so we can talk properly, Is that okay? How long are you going to be in town?"
With her seated and him standing, he seemed much taller than he actually was, and more intimidating. Chloe didn't like that at all. The last thing she wanted was to lose her nerve in front of this man, but that was beginning to look really difficult. Timothy Kavell Packard had aged well, and as far as she was concerned, no one should be allowed to look that attractive because he was doing a damn fine job of stealing her breath without even trying.
Chloe placed her hands on her laps and told herself that she was an idiot for feeling lightheaded. He was just a man, flesh and blood... But...what a man!
He was tall, with wide shoulders, long muscular legs and what had to be a washboard stomach under the mint green button-down shirt tucked into a pair of plain black pants. He held a leather jacket in his clenched fist, and hell, his body was off the charts hot, but it was his face that held more of Chloe's attention. With his strong chin and thick stubble, he looked like he belonged in an action movie, like her all-time favorite Hollywood hotties, Gerard Butler and Tom Hardy.
Chloe pulled her eyes off Mr. Delicious and tried to force her brain to focus on what actually mattered. She wasn't a kid anymore and so she had to stop thinking like one. She straightened her spine and told herself to act her age. She saw handsome men all the time, and besides this wasn’t just any man. This was Timothy. The last time she had spoken to him, he had made it very clear to her that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. Although it was a long time ago, It would still be humiliating to let him know how much he affected her.
Meeting those dark eyes under those straight thick brows, a shade lighter than the color of his hair, she felt pinned to the chair, but finally managed to pull a polite smile onto her face. "Yes. Sure it's fine. You just tell me where and when you want the meeting and I will be there. And I will be around for as long as you need me to be, so take your time." she said.
"Good. It's Friday already, so how about Monday in my office?" he asked, his voice as rich as the dark chocolate tart she'd consumed in a restaurant that morning.
"Sure," Chloe replied. "Monday is fine with me. I'll be here by 9 o'clock"
"Great. 9 is fine with me too. See you then." Timothy said, before he turned to his father. "Dad, I will be leaving now. I'm meeting up with Charles. I'll let you know how it goes. "
Without a second glance in Chloe's direction, he walked out of the room, leaving a very awkward silence between Chloe and Jensen. Jensen was the one who finally broke it.
"I'm sorry about that. I know he seems a bit edgy. Trust me, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. He's mad at me, that's all. You know how work can make someone get all tensed up and we really do have a lot going on."
Chloe nodded and managed a smile. "It's okay. I completely understand" she replied, even though she suspected that her presence definitely had something to do with Tim's reaction. The man still hated her and he wasn't even making any effort to hide it.
________________
"Please give me some good news" Evan Reese said eagerly on the phone when he called Chloe that evening. "Please tell me we have this account for real this time. Is Timothy Packard on board?"
Chloe clutched her phone tighter and wished she could just tell him what he wanted to hear. She wanted them to get this account too. The problem was, anytime a big company like Packard Enterprises fired an agency, it became open season. The other agencies circled like sharks. It was a dog-eat-dog world, with everyone shoving themselves down the throat of the company owners, trying to beat competition.
This was the first time Golden gate promotions had gotten a chance to have a shot with a company as big as Packard Enterprises, and she really didn't want to blow it. She was close... so close. She could have gotten it by now.... Well if not for Timothy and his stubborn, stubborn head and bruised ego. So his father left him out of the decision making process, why couldn't he just deal with it and let it go?
She knew why. She knew that no matter how tough Timothy tried to be most of the time, he was also a very sensitive person. He cared a lot about the things that mattered to him, and that was one of the attributes that had attracted her to him. At least, that was the Timothy she knew. Maybe he had changed.
But that still didn't change the fact that he was being a little ridiculous about the whole thing, and now that he knew it was her agency, a part of her suspected that there was no way in hell that he would agree to give her the account now. The spoiled brat! She also couldn’t help but suspect that he was secretly amused by the attention he was getting from all the agencies fighting to get his attention. She was sure of it.
“Chloe, can you hear me? Have you spoken to Packard's son yet?”
Chloe returned her attention to her boss. He sounded so worried and she couldn't blame him. She had to do this. She had assured him that she could.
"Yes I can hear you fine" she replied, "And I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you hear, but I haven't spoken to Timothy Packard yet. I mean, I already met with him today but we didn't really get to talk. He seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere, but I'm meeting with him on Monday to talk about the account ".
Evan grunted in response, and Chloe could see his lips curling in distaste in her mind's eye. He always did that whenever he was upset or worried about something.
“Urgh. Why is it taking so long?” Evan asked impatiently.“I saw that bastard, Felix Greene this morning. I know he is after the account too. I can't risk him taking it away from us. Especially as I already bragged to him about us having it. I really thought we had it after we spoke to Jensen Packard” "You did? You shouldn't have done that" Chloe replied. "But you don't have to worry about him" She added after a slight pause. Though she wouldn’t admit it to Evan, it made her extremely nervous to know that their business rival was also hammering so relentlessly on Packard Enterprises. Felix Greene owned Maddox communications, and not only had Felix lured away a few of Golden gate promotions top clients in recent months, he’d also launched a PR campaign against Golden gate. It was dirty pool, but it in no way surprised Chloe. Felix Greene was ruthless, and he’d do anything to win. "Are you seriously telling me that I shouldn't be concerned about him after everything he has done?" Evan
Her thoughts drifted back to Timothy. It was almost impossible to stop thinking about him. Right now, her body seemed to heat up about five degrees just by the mere thought of him. She shook away her thoughts. If she was going to do this, it had to be done professionally and that sucked, because there was definitely nothing professional about the way her body reacted when she thought about him. _______________ "There you are!" Katherine Kavell-Packard said when she saw her son walk into the room. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come after you promised me that you would. I would have been so upset. Come have a seat. Thankfully the food is still hot. Why are you so late? And please don't tell me you were stuck in the office. I'm tired of hearing that excuse." "I'm sorry, mom," Timothy said as he kissed his mother on the cheek before he sat down. "I was working and lost track of time" Katherine stared at him for a few seconds before she said, "That's a lie" as if she cou
Jensen looked genuinely surprised. "Of course I don't think that," he said quickly. "Believe me, I would never think that. It's the last thing on my mind. I do trust you with the company one hundred percent and If I had any issue regarding the way you handled things, I would let you know immediately not cut you off."“So why didn’t you?”“I guess i was worried that you say no when you found out that Chloe was involved…I know things didn’t really go well for the both of you”Katherine sighed with relief. "Well, wasn't that easier and much better?" she asked. "You both just like to make things unnecessarily harder for each other. It's situations like this that make me wish Deanie was home so I could at least get a little break from the both of you. I will never be able to understand you men. I miss my little girl"Jensen smiled at his wife and leaned back in his chair, then said to Tim, "So are you going to ask me the question you really want to ask? Or are we just going to ignore the f
The structure gleamed beautifully against the rays of the sun. At night, Lights from within and those reflected from surrounding buildings bathed it in a stunning silhouette that drew awed gasps. But this morning, his pride and joy paled in comparison to his interest in the silver car idling in the designated parking space beneath the wide double portico of the building.Parked a dozen feet behind it, Timothy watched Chloe Gilbert step out, her long, shapely legs extending in that way that only models and trained dancers could execute without appearing pretentious or awkward. Her heels were a shiny rose-gold color that drew attention to her delicate ankles.He suddenly had this wild image of gripping those ankles, spreading her thighs and baring her wet pussy to his hungry gaze. Years ago when they were together, they had never gone past kissing and making out... Neither of them had been ready for more back then, but now.....His thoughts had taken a crazy turn, and he knew he should s
The doors opened and, relieved, Timothy stepped out and led her down the hallway and finally, to his office where he offered her a chair before walking to the other side of the office where he poured himself a cup of coffee."Coffee?" he asked her.“Yeah sure. We can drink and talk,” she said. “I’m not using props or anything, and I planned it to be more conversational than a formal presentation.”He nodded approvingly, and moved to his chair in front of her. “Great. Let's get started then.”There was a moment of transition where they sipped their coffee in silence before Chloe shut off everything but the task at hand. This was her career and she knew she was damn good at it. She hadn’t gotten to where she was and survived the pitfalls without the ability to put her game face on in the face of adversity.“I studied your last ad campaign, and I believe your company is missing a huge segment of its target audience.” she began.Timothy blinked, set his mug down and stared across at her.
“Then I’d say you’ve got your pitch appointment, Chloe. I’m very impressed with what you’ve had to say. If your presentation delivers on the promise of your ideas, it’s something our company will be very excited about.”Though she had every confidence in her ability to win him over, his enthusiasm gave her a wicked thrill. She was forced to play it cool and smile politely as she thanked him, but on the inside she was doing an insane victory dance. She had phone calls to make. Evan would need to know so they could start preparing. They’d want to do mock-ups of the advertising and have it prominently displayed on the television monitors in the Golden gates reception area. On the day she’d give Timothy her presentation, Golden gates would be all about Packard Enterprises. No one else would exist in the time frame Timothy was present in their offices.“You have to tell me how you managed to get Bryce Collins to agree to talk to us,” Timothy said as he sipped from his mug and then pushed i
It wasn't that he regretted staying, He didn't. He loved his family and just didn't want to go too far away from them, but there were times when his parents... Especially his mother, could be a bit meddlesome. Just like she was doing right now. This was like the hundredth time this evening, that she had mentioned how close he and Chloe used to be, and she wouldn't stop going on and on about it. Not that he was still upset with Chloe, he wasn't, but that didn't mean that he wanted to be reminded that once upon a time, he had loved her.The fact that it had happened a long time ago didn't change the fact that he had been terribly Hurt after their relationship had ended. Back then he had been naive, open, inexperienced and soft. Realizing that his high school sweetheart and best friend hadn't cared as much as he did about their relationship had been almost too much to take, and he sincerely wished his mother would stop talking about how cute they were together. Of course they were cute.
Chloe rolled her eyes, still angry about what had happened inside the house. She knew she had to leave before she said something she would regret. The last thing she wanted was to lose the account she just got with Packard Enterprises because she lost her temper..... But hell, she had a lot to say and she would spill if she didn't leave now."I'm sorry" Timothy said again.She didn't reply. As far as she was concerned, he could take his apology and go straight to hell, but despite her ignoring him, he still didn't leave."I'm sorry" Timothy repeated. "That was way out of line and I shouldn't have said it."She turned to look at him, her face expressionless. She wouldn't let him know how much his actions affected her. She wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. "Apology accepted," she replied. "Can I leave now or do you have more hurtful things to say?"He didn't move. "You are still mad," he said softly. "I already apologized"This was the part where she was supposed to shut up, a