Chapter Eleven

“Then I’d say you’ve got your pitch appointment, Chloe. I’m very impressed with what you’ve had to say. If your presentation delivers on the promise of your ideas, it’s something our company will be very excited about.”

Though she had every confidence in her ability to win him over, his enthusiasm gave her a wicked thrill. She was forced to play it cool and smile politely as she thanked him, but on the inside she was doing an insane victory dance. She had phone calls to make. Evan would need to know so they could start preparing. They’d want to do mock-ups of the advertising and have it prominently displayed on the television monitors in the Golden gates reception area. On the day she’d give Timothy her presentation, Golden gates would be all about Packard Enterprises. No one else would exist in the time frame Timothy was present in their offices.

“You have to tell me how you managed to get Bryce Collins to agree to talk to us,” Timothy said as he sipped from his mug and then pushed it aside.

A small smile flirted at the edges of Chloe's mouth and she suppressed the urge to grin broadly. “I can’t reveal all my secrets.” she said.

“You pull this off and you’ll be legendary,” Timothy said. “The man has never so much as been tempted to take a deal.”

Okay, now she felt a little like a fraud. Legendary indeed. While she did love having an ace up her sleeve, she felt a little squeamish over Timothy’s praise. Bryce Collins was a friend, a very close friend, and the truth was, there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for her. Never mind that she’d never asked him for any such favor before. She was this time, and it was the only reason Bryce was contemplating breaking his long-held policy.

“Don’t fawn yet,” she murmured. “He might prove to be too expensive for you.”

Timothy’s eyes glinted with a predatory gleam. He had the look of a man sure of himself and all things. “I’ve not found many things in life that proved to be too expensive. I may not always want to pay the price, but rarely have I found them out of my range.” he said.

She smiled. The confidence he had in himself, she thought. Tim had always been that way. Not that he did it on purpose, but he was always so sure of himself, and sometimes too sure. Maybe he hadn't changed as much as she thought he had.

“I know that, which is why I thought you might be the one Bryce would come to terms with. I think the two of you are probably a lot alike.”

Timothy cocked his head to the side. “Just how well do you know him?” he said, although he knew that that question was kinda out of line, but for some reason he couldn't stop the question from slipping out of his mouth.

Chloe's lips lifted again, but she didn’t answer. Timothy's phone rang and provided the much needed distraction. She didn't want to talk to Timothy about her relationship with Bryce, because she knew that it would involve thinking about Matthew, and she didn't want to do that for some reason.

She tuned into Timothy's conversation when he said her name. He was obviously talking to his dad.

“Yes dad. We talked. Yes, I know. I won’t miss it. We can talk about it at Dinner.”

There was a pause and a frown, after which he added, "Fine. Tell mom that I will let her know."

He hung up and let out a sigh as he dropped the phone on the desk. "My mom is inviting you to dinner at their place, tomorrow night" he said, with a look on his face that suggested that he really didn't like the idea one bit. "They do this thing where they invite people to their place for dinner... Including me. Of course there's no point refusing to come because that will just make my mom upset. Anyways, I told dad to tell her that I will pass the message to you but if you won't be able to come for any reason, it's fine. I can just tell them that you...."

"Oh it's fine" Chloe chipped in. "Of course I would like to see Mrs Packard again. She was always very nice to me when we were ermm.... You know... In school"

Timothy stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face, before he said, "Yeah... Well. Mom is nice to everyone. It's just the way she is"

This was ridiculous, Chloe thought as she watched his reaction. So they were never going to talk and just keep acting like they just met and that there wasn't any kind of history between them? It was ridiculous, and she suddenly had the urge to yell at him, but what would she achieve by doing that? Absolutely nothing, and it wouldn’t do Golden Gates Promotions any favor.

So instead, she stood up and grabbed her clutch which she had dropped on his desk. "I will let you know as soon as we are ready," she said with a forced smile.

All Timothy did was nod, but as Chloe walked out of the room, he couldn't help but stare at her with both awe and admiration. The woman was amazing.... And so brilliant. He couldn't deny that fact. At first he had thought that there was no way she would be able to convince him to choose her agency, but now here he was...and after just one meeting with her.

That was the way Chloe had always been. There was always something about her that separated her from everyone else. She always had something special... Something different and appealing. And her body.... That stunning hourglass figure of hers taunted every red-blooded cell in his body.

He was just staring, he told himself repeatedly. Staring wouldn't hurt anyone. It wasn't like he was ever going to act on it. He could stare....absolutely nothing wrong with that.

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Timothy sat in his parents house during dinner and wondered for the millionth time if he had made a mistake by remaining in the same town with his parents. His sister Deanie was in college, so she only came around for visits, and soon after that, she was gone again. So that just left him in their town with his parents.