as far as I can tell your range of clothes isn’t targeted at my age group, the pharmacy chains have much better deals than you do on the perfume and make-up I buy, and I’m not in the market for fine crystal, silverware and porcelain dinner services,’ she said.
Wow. She was the first of their candidates to criticise the store. And he could see that she’d taken Harry and Gina’s breath away, too. ‘So Field’s is too traditional for you?’ He couldn’t resist needling her.
‘Field’s has one hundred and five years of tradition to look back on,’ she said. ‘Which should be a strength; being around for a long time shows your customers that they can rely on you. But it’s also a weakness, because younger customers are going to see Field’s as old-fashioned. As far as they’re concerned, you sell nothing they’d be interested in. This is where their parents shop. Or even their grandparents. And you need to counteract that opinion.’
‘So how would you raise their interest?’ And, heaven help him, she’d already raised his own interest. Her comments were the best thing he’d heard all day. Her criticisms were completely constructive and she’d given solid reasons for her views. Reasons that he’d been thinking of, himself.
‘Taking myself as a prospective customer—if you tempted me into the store by, say, a pop-up shop showcasing a hot new make-up brand I’m interested in, and you set it up next to my favourite designer’s ready-to-wear range, then I’d realise that maybe I’d got the wrong idea about Field’s. I’d be tempted to look around the store. If you sell what I want, at the right price, and your store loyalty scheme’s good enough to tempt me away from my current supplier, then you’ll get my business.’
He really couldn’t fault that.
‘And I’d also take a look at your online presence. Your website needs to be dynamic and involved with social media. Do you have an online community?’
‘Not at the moment,’ Gina said. ‘How would you see one working?’
That was the moment that Alexandra really lit up. Suddenly she was shining, full of enthusiasm and bringing everyone along with her. ‘Forums, hosted maybe by selected members of staff. Not all the time, just five minutes now and then. You could invite customers to be an expert in their field and share their tips. And you definitely need a plan for taking advantage of new media, if you’re looking to attract a younger audience. Look at how they use social media and mobile media, and how you could make that work for Field’s.’ She rattled off a few examples—all practical ones.
Jordan glanced at her CV again. In her last job, she’d been responsible for online marketing, so she knew exactly what she was talking about. He made a mental note to look up her old company’s website to see what she’d done there.
‘Thank you, Ms Bennett. No further questions from me,’ he said.
‘Are there any questions you’d like to ask us?’ Harry asked.
‘Not at this stage,’ Alexandra said with a smile. A polite smile, Jordan noticed, rather than a triumphant one; she clearly wasn’t taking it for granted that her interview had gained her a ticket to the next round.
‘Then thank you, Ms Bennett,’ Gina said. ‘If you’d like to wait outside for a couple of minutes?’
Jordan was aware of every single step Alexandra took as she crossed to the door. And, although he tried hard not to look, he couldn’t help himself. Ten years ago, she’d been sweet and shy, her beauty hidden away; now, she was polished and confident, and any man with red blood in his veins would stand up a little straighter and try to catch her eye. He hated the fact that she could still make him react physically; so it was just as well he wouldn’t have to see her again. Working with her would drive him crazy.
‘She’s by far and away the best of the bunch,’ Harry said when Alexandra had closed the door behind her.
‘Seconded,’ Gina said. ‘She understands our business a lot more than most of the others did. And she’s got some great ideas.’
Which didn’t leave Jordan any room to manoeuvre. If he hadn’t known her in a previous life, he would’ve agreed with them. But he had known her. And that was a problem. Maybe that was the way round this. ‘Unfortunately, I need to tell you there’s a slight conflict of interest. One I wasn’t aware of before the interview.’
Gina frowned. ‘How do you mean?’
‘I knew her. At school.’ He coughed. ‘Under a different name.’
Harry’s eyebrows arched. ‘Neither of you said a thing just now.’
Jordan knew he deserved the rebuke. Either or both of them could’ve acknowledged that they knew each other. But they hadn’t. For exactly the same reason: one that he wasn’t planning to share. He sighed. ‘The middle of an interview’s hardly the place for a reunion.’ Not that he wanted a reunion with her. He’d moved on. And he didn’t have any plans to go back.
‘Her CV doesn’t say she was at your school,’ Harry pointed out.
‘She wasn’t at my school. I met her at a party—a friend of a friend of a friend. Actually, I was at university at the time.’
Harry shrugged. ‘So you didn’t know her that well.’
Well enough, Jordan thought, to make her pregnant. Except, when his mother had refused to pay her an extortionate allowance, she’d cold-bloodedly terminated their unborn child without even so much as discussing it with him. She hadn’t even told him she was pregnant, and he couldn’t forgive her for that.
And then she’d vanished to avoid any fallout. He’d spent weeks trying to find her, to no avail. When he’d finally tracked her down, he’d been gutted to discover that she was married … to someone else. He’d had to face how little he’d really meant to her—otherwise how could she have married another man so quickly after getting rid of his baby?
Not that he was going to tell Harry and Gina about that. It was something he never, ever talked about. To anyone. He’d buried the anger and the hurt, and they were staying buried.
‘She’s what we need,’ Gina said. ‘She can think on her feet, she’s full of ideas, and she’s straight-talking. And she was the only one to mention a budget—she’s grounded in the real world.’
Jordan couldn’t deny any of that. But could he cope with having her back in his life?
Harry clearly sensed the younger man’s reservations, because he asked, ‘Did you clash badly with her, or something?’
Or something. She’d been the first girl Jordan had really fallen in love with. She’d charmed him utterly. To the point where he’d even planned to spend the rest of his life with her.
How stupid he’d been. It would never have worked. Then again, neither had marrying someone he’d been friends with for years, someone who had the same kind of background that he did. He’d failed there, too. So, as far as he was concerned, relationships were best kept short and sweet—and ended before they started to sour.
‘Jordan?’
He made a noncommittal murmur, not wanting to explain.
‘Whatever
