He released a long breath. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“There’s a park on the other side of the apartment complex behind us. Be there with something for her at noon. And have her back by one-fifteen. No later.”
Mitch gave him his cell phone number in case something went wrong, and rang off. He didn’t have any ammunition up his sleeve to counter SBN’s offer.
But he could certainly spike their guns with the help of a club sandwich.
So, at noon sharp, armed with two paper bags filled with the most appetizing lunch the deli at a nearby strip mall could provide, he stationed himself on a wrought-iron-and-cedar bench between two huge flowering bushes that gave him a good view up the street.
At five minutes past, he saw Eve Best striding down the sidewalk. She looked absolutely mouthwatering in a pair of skinny black jeans and a gauzy crimson top that tied with an oversize bow under her breasts. She also looked as though she could tear the bark off a tree with her teeth.
She hadn’t seen him yet. Pausing in the middle of the sidewalk near the rock wall that formed the park’s boundary, she fisted both hands on her hips and scanned the area. He stood up and waved.
Her mouth opened in a soundless O and it suddenly occurred to him that he didn’t know what kind of story Dylan Moore had told her to get her down here.
Obviously, it hadn’t been the truth.
Unexpectedly, she laughed, and the anger went out of her body. “Well, you’re a big improvement on the person I was expecting,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m your lunch date.” He held up a hand, palm out. “Scout’s honor. Dylan and I set you up.”
“You sure did.” She swung a leg over the stone wall and joined him. “He told me one of Jane’s ex-boyfriends was down here, wanting me to help get them back together.”
“And you believed him?” He handed her a sandwich and a tall paper cup filled with a lime-and-kiwi smoothie. The counter guy had insisted that Eve Best came in there all the time, and that was her favorite. With a grimace, Mitch had bought it and ordered a tall bottle of water for himself. He was discovering that if you spent more than fifteen minutes outside in the Atlanta heat, you’d need it.
“Sure I believed him. Despite the fact that she’s crazy about Perry, an ex of Jane’s has been surprisingly persistent since the news broke about the lottery.” She bit into the sandwich as though it was someone’s neck. “And before this I’ve never had a reason not to trust anything Dylan told me.”
“It wasn’t his fault. We conspired to get you out of there for a break.”
“I’m glad you did. My calendar probably won’t be, but I’ll let Dylan take care of that.”
“Smoothie okay?”
She took a sip and nodded. “Dylan told you to go to Scarlett’s, didn’t he?”
“No. I wound up there on my own. But the counter guy said you liked those.”
She sighed and put her drink on the ground. “That was nice of you. This whole idea is nice. I have to admit I’m not having the best day.”
Mitch smothered his smile in a bite of his pastrami sandwich. “No problem. I know from experience that Mac the Knife can be a handful.”
A smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. “Word travels fast. Is that what the people in New York call her?”
“Not to her face. It’s Ms. Roussos then. I’m betting she pitched you an offer you couldn’t refuse.”
Eve began to relax against the wood slats of the bench back. A cluster of pink flowers from the bush nodded over her shoulder.
What was it about her that seemed to attract flowers? Her roses seemed to press against her door. Strange bushes cuddled up to her in the middle of the day. What next? An adoring dandelion wrapped around her ankle?
He resisted the urge to check.
No, he was probably just projecting his own desires onto innocent plants. It wouldn’t take much for him to press up against her door, begging for entry, or to nuzzle the bit of shoulder left bare by her sleeveless top. Or even, if it came to that, to press a kiss on the inside of that delectable ankle.
In fact, he’d love to press any number of kisses on any skin he could-
“Yep,” she said in answer to his question. “And surprise, surprise, my boss thinks I should take it.”
He blinked and focused abruptly. What left field had that come out of? “Take it? Isn’t he the one who benefits most if you stay?”
“Not if our happy little independent becomes an SBN affiliate.” She bit into her sandwich again. “Which-gee, how did I not know this?-has been his ambition for years. He has big plans for his production company, apparently.”
“Don’t tell me.” Mitch toasted her with his water bottle. “Part of the reason he gave you his support despite all odds was because he knew he was on to a good thing? A show that could get him the attention he wanted from the networks?”
“Bingo.” A sip of the green smoothie and another bite. “You’re a lot quicker off the draw than I was. It took me a good half hour to get it. And then when I did, there was your friend Mackenzie Roussos standing there with a fistful of dollars, waving them in my face like they were supposed to get my attention.” She snorted. “I just won the lottery, for God’s sake. Money is not going to get my attention right now. A really good financial planner, maybe. Not money. I should have known something was up the minute I heard she was meeting with him before she talked to me.”
“I’m glad I didn’t meet with him first, then. Or I’d have been suspect.”
She shot him a glance, and he saw the sunlight flicker on her smooth skin, lighting tiny spangles of auburn in her hair. Did she have any idea that she looked like an elemental goddess, made of crimson and fire, wrapped around with flowers?
Probably not. And he’d better stop thinking about throwing himself on that fire and breathing in the scent of crushed flowers, if he knew what was good for him.
“Suspect?” she repeated. “No. In fact…” Her voice trailed away. “It’s weird. I have no idea why I’m blabbing all this about your competitor. There must be some sort of unfair competition law I’m breaking.”
“I doubt it. But how many people do you know who would understand? Dan Phillips? Your friends?”
“They would sympathize, but there’s a lot to grasp here. The risks. The consequences.”
“Especially when some of them are going to be affected by the results, no matter what your decision is.”
Eve nodded. “I’ve been chasing that in my head, and I’m no closer to a decision than I was when you left my office on Friday.”
“How can that be? You said no.”
“I did. And then I started to think. What if I said yes? What would change? Can I keep my team? What would be best for everyone?”
“Why don’t you call a meeting and ask them?”
She looked at him with a wry expression. “At the rate we’re going, they’ll all have resigned before I can schedule it. It’s this damned lottery.” She waved a hand, as if Atlanta were somehow responsible. “We haven’t seen the money, and we won’t until this lawsuit is settled. Despite that, everyone wants to quit and make huge life changes on the prospect of it alone. I feel like that kid with his finger in the dam. Every time I convince someone to hang in there and stay, I hear someone else is reconsidering the options.”
“That’s got to be tough. It’s hard to make a decision that will benefit everyone if they leave. It becomes moot.”
“See, there’s your strategy.” Another bite of the sandwich. “You can talk my team into resigning, and then you’ll only have me to convince to come to the network. Not that you’ll have any vestige of a show once that happens, of course.”
He watched her finish her sandwich, crumple the wrapper and toss it back in the bag. “You really care about these people, don’t you? You want to make the right decision for them, not yourself.”