happy to have Miles Mercer with us while Bill is away on leave. While Bill is gone, the powers that be and I thought it might be a good idea to try some new approaches. As you know, Catering to Dallas’s first ratings aren’t where we’d hoped they’d be. Since it’s crucial that we have as little interruption to the shooting schedule as possible, Bill is completely on board with Miles’s new vision for the show.”
New vision? That might be a bit of a stretch at this point, Miles thought. He had some ideas, such as featuring Sydney, but he wouldn’t necessarily classify what he’d come up with so far as a vision. After he’d accepted the gig, he’d done some boning up on reality TV, since it wasn’t the type of program he usually watched. He’d studied some of the popular reality shows and reviewed the Catering to Dallas dailies and episodes that had already been produced. So he felt like he had a pretty good handle on the show, but he’d decided he needed to meet the cast before he could come up with a vision and determine the direction in which he’d lead them.
He had to hand it to the ladies. They all had class and style. But he also had to admit that he had a particular leaning toward the brunette with the stunning green eyes: Sydney James. In her role as the marketer and publicist for Celebrations, Inc., she was the most unassuming of the cast members. Yet, as he’d watched the footage that Aiden had sent him, she was the one who stood out. He was drawn to her, and always found himself wanting to see more of her on the screen.
“So without further ado, I will turn the floor over to Miles.”
There was a smattering of applause, which caught him by surprise and pulled him out of his thoughts. Before, though, the old adage about faking it until you make it flitted through his head. “Thank you. I hope you’ll still applaud once you hear my ideas.” He laughed, and everyone chuckled along with him.
That was a good start.
“First, I want to apologize if we got off on the wrong foot this morning,” he said. “I realize that I’m the new guy on the set, but I do like to run a pretty tight ship. All I ask is that you’re prompt and professional and we will all get along just fine.”
He didn’t want to single out Sydney. So he didn’t look at her. When they’d talked earlier, she’d been a good sport. Now, as he addressed the group, she wasn’t making his request for punctuality personal like so many Hollywood starlets he’d worked with might have done. He detested people who caused drama for drama’s sake. He got a completely different vibe from Sydney. It was refreshing.
“So what are we cooking up this afternoon?” he asked, changing the subject.
That time he did direct the question to Sydney, but A.J. answered.
“We have a wedding we’re prepping for next month. It’s a pretty big deal among Dallas society. The only daughter of cattle baron Rick Ronstead is getting married. Everything has to be first class all the way. So we have a lot of work to do to get ready for the event itself, in addition to shooting the footage for the show.”
“The television show has added an interesting dimension to our work,” Sydney chimed in. “Because even though we’re filming for television, we still have to keep our clients’ best interests at heart. Celebrations, Inc. is a catering company first. We’re television personalities second. We have to keep in mind that this event is Tasha Ronstead’s wedding and we must make sure that we do our part to make her day—and every event, for that matter—as special as it can be. We can’t sacrifice our clients for the sake of good TV.”
Miles found himself nodding and thinking that she was smart as well as beautiful, and judging by how protective she was of Celebrations, Inc.’s client base, she was obviously passionate about her work.
Who could argue with passion? Maybe he wouldn’t argue, but he could test her a bit.
“That makes sense, but the challenge we face is balancing the need to create interesting TV and remain true to your clients. Surely they realize what they’re signing up for when they agree to be part of the show?”
He held her gaze as he had when he’d glanced up and caught her looking at him across the room before they met. Only this time her eyes flashed in a way that kept his gaze from dropping down to her lips.
“Our clients do understand what they’re getting themselves into,” she said. “Believe me, the show has added an entirely new element to my job. Not only do Pepper and I have to publicize the company and book our events, but it’s our duty to make sure clients know precisely what they’re getting themselves into when they agree to be on the show. We could never ruin a special event all in the name of making a scene that would be interesting for television.”
“And have we filmed you in that capacity?” Miles asked. “In the client-relations arena?”
The question, which he’d delivered in all sincerity, seemed to take her by surprise. She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Well, no…. Not directly, I suppose,” she said as if the possibility hadn’t occurred to her before now. “I’m support staff, and I’m perfectly fine to remain in the background doing my job.”
He loved her accent, but he refrained from asking her what part of the U.K. she was from. That seemed too personal—
“Do you know about the cookbook idea Sydney came up with?” asked Pepper, pulling Miles out of his reverie. “It’s called Single Ladies. It’s all about single-serving recipes. That might be a fun reason to bring her into the spotlight.”
Sydney shot Pepper a scathing look and shook her head.
“Well, really, it’s a collaborative effort,” Sydney said. “A.J. and Caroline are reconfiguring the recipes and Pepper and I are writing them up and putting everything together in publishable form. It would be nice if we could feature the cookbook on the show, but it’s not simply about me.”
That wasn’t something that would spike the ratings, but it was fresh and different. An idea he could run with for a start. “How close are you to publication?”
“We have publisher interest,” Sydney offered. “But we’re still developing new recipes—even if they don’t make it into this edition. I foresee a Single Ladies empire.”
“Is that so?” Miles asked.
“Absolutely,” Sydney insisted. “A Single Ladies empire could only help the show. Don’t you agree? It will speak to a segment of the population we’re trying to attract as our audience.”
“Absolutely,” Miles said. “We could do something with that.”
“As long as you don’t solely attribute it to me,” she warned. “This is a four-way partnership.”
He nodded rather than pointing out that the current split of airtime wasn’t at all equitable with her mostly in the background. Now wasn’t the time to drive home that point. Not in front of everyone. He would use much more subtle means to accomplish that goal.
“But I do have an idea I’d like to share,” she said. “If you will permit me to do so?”
“Of course,” Miles answered. When she talked it gave him a valid excuse to stare at her unabashedly, at her wide-set green eyes and the way her full lips formed a perfect cupid’s bow.
“Perhaps it would be a good idea if Celebrations,
