herself?
Guilt made her squirm in the chair. She’d lied to Dan. Twice. Although, technically, she hadn’t actually lied about anything. Still, dangling a non-existent lover in his face was a cowardly thing to do. It was frightening to know her half ounce canary, Anthony, was her sole defense against her growing desire for A Touch of Silk & Satin ’s co-owner.
“Tess.” Dan nudged her knee. “Are you ready?”
Of course, she was ready and willing and—
She read the anticipation in his expression, on every face around the conference ta...sweet mercy! “Yes! I’m ready.”
Staring blindly at her notes, she took two breaths to smother her misbehaving hormones, and then launched into a review of her marketing plan, ready to kick off now that her superiors had given her a grudging green light to proceed. Their support could disappear at the first sign of trouble, but she didn’t expect any immediate problems.
Her confidence was ill timed. She’d barely finished speaking when Arnold Sawyer, manager of the shopping center’s largest clothing store, shook his head. “I’m sorry, Tess, my marketing department can’t get around this plan.”
Uneasiness settled into the pit of her stomach. “Arnie, you were the first to agree to the concept.”
“That may be. However, now I have doubts. Some of the scheduled events do not seem...appropriate.”
Was he referring to the week of May Day festivities she expected to draw young and old alike into the common areas? Maybe it was the Renaissance Festival scheduled for summer’s end he didn’t approve. These were only two of the upscale, ambitious programs lined up through August. Her strategy wasn’t particularly new. It simply demanded variety and pizzazz to garner interest for her stores.
She was almost afraid to look at the other merchants seated around the room. “Do any more of you have concerns?”
Laura Beckett, owner of the beauty salon on the first floor, wiggled her long, neon blue fingernails in the air. “A bazaar doesn’t help me. I provide a service, not a product.”
“I never said each event will directly benefit every store. This plan is specifically designed to entice more customers to the mall. Once they’re here, it’s up to you to grab them.”
Support came from an unlikely source when Dan introduced himself. “I haven’t met all of you yet, but I’d like to put my two cents in here, if I may.”
He smiled at Laura, who promptly colored to the dark roots of her cotton candy, blond hair. “Ms. Beckett—”
“Call me Laura.”
‘Call me to bed’ was what she meant! Tess was tempted to throw something, preferably at the beautician’s sickening sweet smile. She’d heard the rumors about the woman’s escapades. If the swift grapevine were to be believed, Laura had dated every single and several far-from-single males in the mall. Thoughts of rescuing Dan, however, faded from Tess’s mind an instant later when he chuckled.
“Laura,” he repeated obediently. “All of us with smaller stores or special interests have the same problem, but we can’t depend solely on our own advertising. We can spend thousands of dollars and never realize the promotional benefits of Ms. Emory’s strategy.”
“You’re sure it will work?”
“Nothing’s sure in this volatile business climate, but, yes, I think it will increase foot traffic and draw customers into our stores.”
Laura’s lips pursed into a pout. “I still can’t use anything like a bazaar.”
Refusing to look too close at her motivation—she certainly didn’t care Dan hadn’t used her given name in that provocative, come-hither tone—Tess broke in. “Of course you can, Laura. Place your retail supplies outside the door. Set up a manicuring table and give customers a special rate. If you want to go all out, raffle off a complete makeover for some lucky woman.”
“Once you bring attention to your services,” Dan agreed, “your customers will come back.”
Laura
Guilt made her squirm in the chair. She’d lied to Dan. Twice. Although, technically, she hadn’t actually lied about anything. Still, dangling a non-existent lover in his face was a cowardly thing to do. It was frightening to know her half ounce canary, Anthony, was her sole defense against her growing desire for A Touch of Silk & Satin ’s co-owner.
“Tess.” Dan nudged her knee. “Are you ready?”
Of course, she was ready and willing and—
She read the anticipation in his expression, on every face around the conference ta...sweet mercy! “Yes! I’m ready.”
Staring blindly at her notes, she took two breaths to smother her misbehaving hormones, and then launched into a review of her marketing plan, ready to kick off now that her superiors had given her a grudging green light to proceed. Their support could disappear at the first sign of trouble, but she didn’t expect any immediate problems.
Her confidence was ill timed. She’d barely finished speaking when Arnold Sawyer, manager of the shopping center’s largest clothing store, shook his head. “I’m sorry, Tess, my marketing department can’t get around this plan.”
Uneasiness settled into the pit of her stomach. “Arnie, you were the first to agree to the concept.”
“That may be. However, now I have doubts. Some of the scheduled events do not seem...appropriate.”
Was he referring to the week of May Day festivities she expected to draw young and old alike into the common areas? Maybe it was the Renaissance Festival scheduled for summer’s end he didn’t approve. These were only two of the upscale, ambitious programs lined up through August. Her strategy wasn’t particularly new. It simply demanded variety and pizzazz to garner interest for her stores.
She was almost afraid to look at the other merchants seated around the room. “Do any more of you have concerns?”
Laura Beckett, owner of the beauty salon on the first floor, wiggled her long, neon blue fingernails in the air. “A bazaar doesn’t help me. I provide a service, not a product.”
“I never said each event will directly benefit every store. This plan is specifically designed to entice more customers to the mall. Once they’re here, it’s up to you to grab them.”
Support came from an unlikely source when Dan introduced himself. “I haven’t met all of you yet, but I’d like to put my two cents in here, if I may.”
He smiled at Laura, who promptly colored to the dark roots of her cotton candy, blond hair. “Ms. Beckett—”
“Call me Laura.”
‘Call me to bed’ was what she meant! Tess was tempted to throw something, preferably at the beautician’s sickening sweet smile. She’d heard the rumors about the woman’s escapades. If the swift grapevine were to be believed, Laura had dated every single and several far-from-single males in the mall. Thoughts of rescuing Dan, however, faded from Tess’s mind an instant later when he chuckled.
“Laura,” he repeated obediently. “All of us with smaller stores or special interests have the same problem, but we can’t depend solely on our own advertising. We can spend thousands of dollars and never realize the promotional benefits of Ms. Emory’s strategy.”
“You’re sure it will work?”
“Nothing’s sure in this volatile business climate, but, yes, I think it will increase foot traffic and draw customers into our stores.”
Laura’s lips pursed into a pout. “I still can’t use anything like a bazaar.”
Refusing to look too close at her motivation—she certainly didn’t care Dan hadn’t used her given name in that provocative, come-hither tone—Tess broke in. “Of course you can, Laura. Place your retail supplies outside the door. Set up a manicuring table and give customers a special rate. If you want to go all out, raffle off a complete makeover for some lucky woman.”
“Once you bring attention to your services,” Dan agreed, “your customers will come back.”
Laura
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