Nicole looked uncomfortable at being the center of everyone’s attention. Or maybe, Jenna speculated, being the new kid on the block, she didn’t think her opinion would hold as much weight as that of the others.
“I-I’m conflicted,” she admitted. “Devon’s family and background are all here. Mine is on the West Coast. A move to New York would take him away from everything he knows, and me even farther away from what I know. I’d talk it over with him before I gave a decision, of course, but if we’re looking for gut reactions, I’d say no to the big networks. Let us stay as we are, where we’re happy doing what we do, or let us go with CWB. Either way, we get to stay in Atlanta.”
Jenna let everyone absorb this for a moment, and then said, “And what about you, Eve? This decision is going to impact you the most. You’re the one bearing the biggest weight, here.”
“Are you hinting that I need to go back to the South Beach Diet?” Eve cracked.
Jenna grinned at her. “Not a chance, girl. Those curves are bringin’ in the male demographic in a big way.”
Eve’s smile dimmed, but didn’t disappear altogether. “I have to say I’m with Jane. The CWB offer has a lot going for it. We’ve built our success in a regional market, and they specialize in that. So what if the big guys have the big markets sewn up-or think they do? We can work up to it. Give ’em a run for their money.” She looked around at everyone, and Jenna saw her straighten her shoulders. “I think we’re ready for the big time, guys. I know I am. We have a good show, a terrific team and a lot to bring to folks outside of Atlanta. I think going with CWB is smart. Not so ambitious we fall on our faces, but still a reach outside of our comfort zone. It’ll stretch us. Make us better, different. We don’t give up anything, and we get a lot. What do you say?”
Jane put up her hand. “CWB.”
So did Cole. “I agree.”
Nicole said, “Me, too.”
“That’s four. Zach?” Eve prompted.
Zach, Jenna thought, had the kind of face that would usually get him what he wanted. But this was bigger than he was. What kind of response would he give?
Zach sighed. “Well, I can’t very well go to New York by myself. Not after everything that happened there. So if you guys are determined to stay, then I’ll stay here, too.”
“Woohoo!” Jane leaped up and gave him a hug, and suddenly it was as if their team had won the hometown game. Everyone hugged the person next to them, and Eve practically disappeared in Cole Crawford’s big embrace.
Only Jenna stood apart, feeling for the first time that tug of absence deep inside. That urge to be a part of something bigger than just family and the horde of girlfriends she went clubbing with on Saturday nights.
When Cole turned toward her and gave her a big kiss, as if she’d had some part in this decision they’d made all on their own, she finally identified the feeling.
She wanted someone of her own to celebrate with. To be a part of. To build something with.
And she wanted that someone to be Kevin Wade.
10
MITCH ALMOST MISSED the call when his cell phone jingled at quarter past six Wednesday afternoon. He backed out of the hotel room’s shower, turned off the water and sprinted over to the bed. The phone vibrated against the glossy veneer of the nightstand.
“Mitchell Hayes.”
“Mitch, it’s Eve.”
It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t control the silly grin that spread over his face at the sound of that husky, musical voice. Good thing there was no one here to see what a goofball he was. He sank onto the coverlet. “Hey, Eve.”
“What could I tell you that would make you really happy right now?”
He paused for a moment to consider several dazzling possibilities. “You’re standing outside my door wrapped in a velvet ribbon and nothing else?”
“You’re lucky I don’t have speakerphone on,” she chided. “Try again.”
“You’re calling to ask me out?”
“Maybe. But before that.”
Maybe? “Before, after, I don’t care. The answer is yes, I’d love to go out. When should I pick you up?”
“Would you listen?” Her voice trembled with laughter. “I’m talking business, here.”
“You said what would make me happy, not the network. Okay, what happened between now and one-fifteen, when we said goodbye in the park?”
“I met with my team and presented our options to them. I told them we could make no changes…stay in Atlanta and go with CWB…or move to New York and go with one of the big networks.”
“And which did they choose?” He dragged his mind off where he might take her tonight-besides his hotel room, that is. He was really in fine shape when seeing her had become more important than the outcome of the deal. And speaking of that, he’d been inches away from packing it in and going back to headquarters to take his lumps. With the arrival of Mackenzie Roussos and Chad Everard and their bottomless pockets, he’d figured CWB wouldn’t have a chance at succeeding.
Money always won. Always.
“They want to stay in Atlanta and become a CWB affiliate,” she told him, triumph in her tone. “It may not get us as big a reach as SBN or CBS, but all of us know that reaching sometimes means overreaching, and that just makes you fall on your face. The ‘enthusiastically conservative’ approach to business has served us well so far. We figure we should just keep doing it that way.”
“I’m…delighted,” he managed from under his amazement. They’d chosen CWB. He’d won. After two failed deals in his immediate history, he didn’t have to go back to New York and face Nelson Berg’s derision. He was going to be able to keep his job-and meet the man’s damn deadline to boot. It was a miracle. “Amazed. Happy. Thank you.”
“There’s one caveat, though,” she said. “I want a guarantee that I can keep my team together. They’ve all agreed in principle to coming on board, and I realize we’ll have to negotiate compensation and all that. But what I don’t want is for the network to lay them off as soon as we sign the contract, and plug its own people in.”
“Fair enough,” he allowed, trying to breathe through the tight feeling in his chest. That feeling that meant he was holding back a shout of triumph. “I’ll present that as part of the deal.”
“I think the fact that we got an agreement at all calls for a celebration,” she said, “and I’m not talking about a walk in the park, either.”
“I can take your whole team to dinner. We’ll max out the network credit card in a show of good faith.”
“I hope you will, but not tonight. Tonight I want it to be just you and me. You’ve helped me so much this week. I wish there were some way to thank you.”
“You already found it,” he said fervently. “But sure. I’d love that. I usually spend the evenings watching the competition and thinking about you anyway.”
This time she laughed. “You know, you really should find a more romantic way to phrase these things.”
He had to smile, too. “Ah, but if I think about you and romance together, I get into trouble. Look what happened the last time, at your uncle’s. And at the Ashmere mansion.”
In his mind’s eye, for the thousandth time, he saw her silhouetted against that ivy-covered wall, her skin pale in the moonlight, her gown hugging the curves he still hungered to touch and taste. And then later, in the car, when she-
His body throbbed at the thought.
She had no idea how difficult it was to see her every day in the park and not beg her to come back to the hotel with him. To sit next to her on the bench and talk about the television business, when all he wanted to do was to lay her down in the grass. To explore the splendid curves revealed by her beaded, sometimes plunging necklines while with each inch of discovery, the chemistry all but ignited between them.
“I remember every second of what happened at the Ashmere mansion.” Her tone dropped to almost a whisper.