definitely needed to set ground rules with the cowboy. He wasn’t in Colorado anymore, and the New York business world ran differently than a horse ranch. His open defiance of her authority had to stop. Otherwise, they’d butt heads constantly and make everyone miserable. An uncomfortable environment bred negativity, which led to poor work performance and an unhappy client.
When she arrived in her office, she found Chloe at her desk, downloading photos. Her friend glanced upward. “I don’t know how you work in this office. It’s too ordered. Doesn’t that stifle your creativity?”
“An orderly work space leads to an orderly mind.” Her grandmother’s pet phrase popped out before Elizabeth could stop it. She slid the chair from in front of her desk to the other side, close to the computer, and threw herself into the seat. “Sleep deprivation’s warping my mind, and turning me into my grandmother.”
“It could be worse.”
“How?”
Chloe shrugged. “I’m not sure. That just sounded like the thing to say. Wait a minute, I’ve got it. The good news is getting sleep will fix the problem.”
“I wish that would work on my problem with Rory. I hope he’s not going to continue to be so difficult.”
“What was with you two, anyway?” Chloe asked. “Playing referee is not in my job description, and if it’s going to be in the future, I want more money.”
“He pushed every one of my buttons today. The man could write a book on how to become the world’s biggest pain in the ass.”
“Apparently the sparks are still flying.”
“Can you believe he refused to take off his shirt? I don’t get what the big deal was. It wasn’t like I was asking him to pose in his underwear.”
“If I could figure guys out, do you think I’d be here?” Chloe pulled up the first set of photos onto the computer screen, the ones of Rory sitting on the hay bale. “No, I wouldn’t. I’d be in the Caribbean living off the money I made from my New York Times bestseller on how to understand men.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Chloe pointed to the monitor. “Check these out.”
Elizabeth stared at the photos. Rory had a presence. Incredible, steamy, make-a-woman’s-insides-tingle-with-a-look presence. “The shots are fantastic, but they don’t showcase the jeans.”
“I agree, but do you want to put one of these in a portfolio to show Devlin how well Rory photographs?”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
Chloe clicked computer keys and a second later the printer hummed to life. “Now, about you and Rory, I wasn’t talking about the arguing type of sparks. I was talking about the making-you-all-hot-and-bothered ones.”
Elizabeth stood and retrieved the photo from the printer. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Good comeback. That’ll make her drop the subject.
She laughed. “You never were a good liar.”
“So, I admit it. The guy drives me crazy.”
Chloe flashed her an annoying best-friend, know-it-all smile.
“I didn’t mean that in a good way,” Elizabeth stated. “He’s stubborn, inflexible, and refuses to take directions or criticism well.”
“One person’s fighting is another person’s dancing.”
“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.” After tossing the photo onto the desk blotter, Elizabeth sank back into her chair. “If you’re trying to say I enjoyed arguing with him today, you’re way off base.”
“You may not have had fun, but he was having a blast seeing your temper flare. Think about what it would be like making up with him. Oooh!”
“You think Rory was being difficult on purpose? Why would he do that?”
Chloe shrugged and pulled up more photos on the computer screen. These of Rory holding the saddle.
“If he was, he has a sick sense of humor,” Elizabeth declared. “A man with self-respect and a decent work ethic wouldn’t enjoy making his boss uncomfortable.” She tapped the monitor. “Print out that one.”
Chloe nodded. “Think about it from his point of view. He’s a strong, assertive man, a lone cowboy. I’m guessing Rory doesn’t take orders from too many people.”
“Then he’s going to have to start learning who’s at the top of the food chain.”
“When Devlin signs the contract and you center the jeans campaign on Rory, you’re going to have to find a way to coexist.”
“It’ll be easy. I plan for this campaign to do major things for my career.” That is, if Rory didn’t drive her completely insane first. Elizabeth paced the length of her office, stopping at her credenza to straighten the silver Effie Award she’d received for the Tug-Ups training pants ad she’d created last year.
Courage and self-esteem bolstered, she reasoned she could work with Rory. After all, she worked with Micah Devlin.
“Saving the Devlin account and creating a nationwide campaign can turn management supervisors into vice presidents. When Rory’s driving me insane, I’ll visualize my new, spacious, vice-presidential office.”
“Ah, yes. Your ten-year plan.”
Elizabeth ignored her friend’s sarcasm. Chloe wasn’t a big believer in planning, preferring to remain open to life’s opportunities because goals stifled her. Elizabeth believed that to achieve what she wanted took goal setting, strategic planning and a lot of visualization.
Chloe leaned forward in her chair and whistled. “Look at these photos. Cowboy here just might take both our careers places.”
Elizabeth gazed at the pictures. Rory stared back at her, his boots firmly planted on the ground, the white shirt pulled taut across his pecs, his biceps bulging as he held the saddle. The man would become the stuff women dreamed of. “Print that one.”
Chloe nodded, and scrolled through more photos. A few seconds later, she clicked on an image to enlarge it, then leaned back in her chair and sighed dreamily. “One of the perks of my job, butt shots of gorgeous men.” She tapped the computer screen with her dark purple nail. “And that man has one fine butt.”
Glancing at the photo, Elizabeth kept her lips pinned together for fear she’d start drooling. Once she had her emotions well under control, she said, “Remember the focus of our campaign is the jeans, not on how good the model’s butt is.”
“Are you saying you disagree with my assessment?”
She’d have to be blind to disagree. Not that she’d admit the fact to Chloe, for fear of eternal taunting. “My job is to focus on how the jeans look.”
“Which is pretty damn good on his butt.”
