Nancy Lavo - A Whirlwind...Makeover

Nice trick, Maddie thought. She wouldn’t be opposed to trying it herself, but at five-eleven there were precious few men she could look up at.

“Welcome to Cue Communications,” Crystal purred.

Maddie saw his smile widen in appreciation and two dimples appeared in his chiseled cheeks. Uh-oh. Afraid she’d lose him before she’d won him, Maddie hustled Colton along to the second point on the tour.

A familiar sense of pride filled her as she led him down the plush gray-carpeted hall. Cue Communications, with its sleek Art Deco décor was the top advertising agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Once a dining-room-table enterprise of two visionary young men, Cue now comprised the entire thirty-second floor of the prestigious Tower Building in downtown Fort Worth.

“This is the graphics department. Nick Hodges is our art director.”

Nick stepped away from the table where he was constructing a storyboard. “Hi. What can I do for you?”

Colton stuck out his hand. “Colton Hartley. I just signed on with Cue. Molly here is showing me around.”

“Maddie,” she corrected.

“Right. Maddie,” he said, with the briefest glance toward her.

Nick and Colton spoke for a few minutes about advertising and music and football. Maddie couldn’t tell by the conversation whether Colton knew what he was talking about, but it was obvious he was a natural schmoozer. He had Nick eating out of his hand in no time.

“I’ll let you get back to work, Nick. Molly and I should continue on the grand tour.”

“It’s Maddie,” she said.

He looked startled, then apologetic. “Sure. Sorry. See ya around, Nick.”

Maddie took him to the big conference room at the far end of the hall where they held staff functions and important client meetings. She took him to the production rooms and introduced him to the people on the creative team.

Wherever they went the response was the same. Colton Hartley knocked them dead. Every square inch of his perfect six-foot-three-inch frame oozed charisma. He had only to smile at the ladies and talk sports with the men, and they were putty in his well-manicured hands. If the man ever decided to try his hand at politics, no office in the land would be out of his reach.

Even more amazing than his power over humankind was the fact that he was currently assigned to Maddie’s care. Maddie could hardly believe her luck. The couple of days they would have together while he became acclimated to the firm would surely give her the inside track. Working side by side, he’d recognize her charm and intelligence and fall under her as-yet-undiscovered spell.

Whoa, girl. Maddie mentally halted her galloping imagination before she had them married with two kids, a dog and a mortgage.

First things first. She had to get him away from the crowd currently fluttering around him like moths to a porch light so she could get in some quality one-on-one time with him.

“I think you’ve seen all the highlights,” Maddie said. “Are you ready to head back to your office?”

Colton looked up from his throng of admirers. “Sure.”

Colton had been given one of the coveted offices with a window overlooking downtown Fort Worth. Unlike Maddie’s cramped office with scarcely enough room for a desk and credenza, Colton’s office was furnished with a large desk, two credenzas and a cozy grouping of two high-back leather chairs separated by a small round table.

As Colton sat at his desk, sunlight streamed through the window to bathe him with a golden aura. Maddie scooted one of the heavy chairs up close to his desk and sat. She allowed herself a moment to admire his now-radiant beauty before getting started.

“I don’t know if Jack spoke with you about our current bid to retain the Swanson Shoes account?”

Colton smiled and lifted the manila folder from the center of his desk. “We discussed it briefly. He gave me this file to review.”

“Oh.” Drat. She’d wanted to be the one to introduce him to the situation. To dazzle him with her insight.

Colton flipped open the file and began to read.

Maddie shifted forward to rest her elbows on the desktop and propped her chin in her hands to watch. He was magnificent. His heavily lashed blue eyes darted across the typed notes. As he turned the page he reached a long-fingered hand to his mouth. When he absently stroked his lower lip with his fingertip, Maddie sighed.

Colton looked up as if surprised she was still there. “Don’t let me keep you,” he said. “I’ve got it from here.”

Her heart sank. “Are you sure?”

He nodded and stood. “This report seems pretty thorough. I’ll call you if I have any questions.”

She couldn’t very well stay after he’d so obviously dismissed her. She stood. “If you’re sure…”

He smiled. “I think I can handle it.” He walked around the desk and placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for this morning’s tour, Mandy. I really appreciated it.”

She didn’t correct him. She couldn’t. She could hardly breathe. Not when he was smiling as though she was the most important person in the world.

Dazed, she moved toward the door. Before exiting, she paused to say, “I’ll come by your office about noon to show you where everybody goes for lunch.”

He’d already reseated himself and was studying the report. He didn’t look up. “Fine.”

Maddie floated to her office and closed the door to day-dream in privacy. There was no way she could concentrate on the Swanson Shoes account when she had a lunch date with the most beautiful man in the world.

At 11:45 a.m. Maddie grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer of her file cabinet and headed to the ladies’ room for a little prelunch primping. Her conscience nagged her about quitting work so early, but she silenced it with the knowledge that she hadn’t accomplished anything all morning anyway. Who could concentrate on clients when the man of her dreams occupied the office three doors down?

She had the elegant gold-and-ivory powder room to herself. She stopped in front of the first sink under the lighted wall-long mirror and got started. From the large black leather tote bag that did double duty as her purse she pulled out a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. After a thorough scrubbing she gargled a mouthful of the mouth-wash she carried for emergencies.

As she rinsed the residue down the drain she studied her reflection. For a change, her long curly hair hadn’t escaped the two dozen pins and half bottle of hair spray that secured it to her head. It didn’t look great, but it was neat, so she opted to leave it alone.

She wasn’t a big makeup enthusiast so all that was left was to reapply her lipstick. She carefully filled in her upper and lower lip with the tube of rosy-pink gloss she found wedged in the bottom corner of her bag. She smacked her lips together and stepped back from the mirror to get the full effect.

Hmm. No point in kidding herself. Miss America she wasn’t. Unlike her five-foot-three-inch blond sister, who’d had the good sense to take after their beautiful petite mother, Maddie was the spitting image of her dad.

Her smile faded. Though he’d been gone five years now, the still-sharp pain of losing him brought tears to her eyes.

Her dad had been a great big teddy bear—the classic gentle giant. He had stood an impressive six and a half feet tall and weighed in at 290 pounds. Though his size had certainly attracted attention, it was his kind heart and easy-going nature that had endeared him to everyone.

Maddie liked to think she’d inherited his character traits—his incurable optimism and ability to see beyond the surface to the beauty beneath—but she fervently wished that she’d physically favored her mom.

Inner beauty was a fine thing, but it was external beauty that snared the men. It was great to have people say she was the nicest person they knew, but she’d cheerfully forgo the compliment just once for an honest-to-goodness date.