would help. Hang on.” He heard the clicking of her fingernails over her keyboard and then she came back on the line. “One minute for radio, five minutes for television. That’s what we’ve done in the past and I see no reason to deviate from that.”
“Got it, thanks.”
Hanging up, he went to work crafting the message. This was one of his favorite parts of his job, figuring out exactly what should and shouldn’t be said to bring about the desired result. After a solid couple of hours of work and several consultations with Val, he had a working script for both spots, in several different iterations so they wouldn’t all sound the same. By the time he finished, his stomach was rumbling like a thunderstorm in July. Rising from his chair, he closed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. He’d removed his suit coat earlier to concentrate on his writing and it felt good to be less constricted. When he opened his eyes again, Val was standing in the doorway to his office, staring at him.
Nate fought to keep a triumphant smile off his face as he asked, “Did you need something from me?”
“N-no. I was just–” She motioned behind her. “Going to the cafeteria to grab some lunch.” She blew out a breath that ruffled her bangs and it was getting more and more difficult to maintain a straight face. “Anyway, did you want me to grab you something?”
I’ve got something for you to grab.
Nate considered voicing that opinion, but decided that wouldn’t help his case.
“I’ll come with.” He glanced up at her after grabbing his suit coat off the back of the chair. “If that’s okay.” He had a freakish need to keep this woman off-balance.
“Of course.”
“I’ll grab the printout of the talking points and we can go over them while we eat.”
Val nodded and he couldn’t stop himself from squeezing her shoulder as he passed her on the way to the department’s printer. More than anything else, he wanted to sweep her into his arms again and show her exactly how much he wanted her. But that would have to wait until later. Not much later, though. He wasn’t going to be around forever. She could hide like a scared kitten now, but he’d coax her out soon. All he needed was the proper bait, and he had a feeling more of those kisses they’d shared might be it.
They walked down to the cafeteria, bought their lunches, and then found a table off to the side. As he sliced into his chicken a la king, he took a moment to let his gaze rove over Val. Today she wore a long, black, suede skirt with black heels. Val wore a lot of black, but it complemented her coloring. On top she wore a red V-neck sweater. He knew from their kiss earlier that the material was soft as a lamb’s wool and his fingers itched to stroke it and, by extension, her again. Shaking his head to clear it, he began to speak.
“I feel like I should expound a little more about my relationship with Doug.”
Val looked down and then back up at him, biting her lip. “You don’t have to. It’s really none of my business.”
“That’s true, but since it seems to have colored your perception of me I want to set the record straight.” He took a breath. “I grew up in the Philadelphia area. My dad founded a business arranging private travel for executives.”
“Wow, so you must’ve done a lot of traveling then, huh?”
“Not really. He and my mom traveled. They left me home—said schoolwork was more important.”
“Well, I can’t really argue with them there.”
“No, neither can I, except they were gone for weeks at a time and left me with a nanny.”
“That must’ve been tough.”
“It was, especially when I was little and wondered why they never wanted to be with me. Turns out they’d never wanted children, but Mom got pregnant and they decided not to abort me. My old nanny finally told me that when I entered high school. In my teens it didn’t matter as much, but after my first semester of college, I came home for
“Got it, thanks.”
Hanging up, he went to work crafting the message. This was one of his favorite parts of his job, figuring out exactly what should and shouldn’t be said to bring about the desired result. After a solid couple of hours of work and several consultations with Val, he had a working script for both spots, in several different iterations so they wouldn’t all sound the same. By the time he finished, his stomach was rumbling like a thunderstorm in July. Rising from his chair, he closed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. He’d removed his suit coat earlier to concentrate on his writing and it felt good to be less constricted. When he opened his eyes again, Val was standing in the doorway to his office, staring at him.
Nate fought to keep a triumphant smile off his face as he asked, “Did you need something from me?”
“N-no. I was just–” She motioned behind her. “Going to the cafeteria to grab some lunch.” She blew out a breath that ruffled her bangs and it was getting more and more difficult to maintain a straight face. “Anyway, did you want me to grab you something?”
I’ve got something for you to grab.
Nate considered voicing that opinion, but decided that wouldn’t help his case.
“I’ll come with.” He glanced up at her after grabbing his suit coat off the back of the chair. “If that’s okay.” He had a freakish need to keep this woman off-balance.
“Of course.”
“I’ll grab the printout of the talking points and we can go over them while we eat.”
Val nodded and he couldn’t stop himself from squeezing her shoulder as he passed her on the way to the department’s printer. More than anything else, he wanted to sweep her into his arms again and show her exactly how much he wanted her. But that would have to wait until later. Not much later, though. He wasn’t going to be around forever. She could hide like a scared kitten now, but he’d coax her out soon. All he needed was the proper bait, and he had a feeling more of those kisses they’d shared might be it.
They walked down to the cafeteria, bought their lunches, and then found a table off to the side. As he sliced into his chicken a la king, he took a moment to let his gaze rove over Val. Today she wore a long, black, suede skirt with black heels. Val wore a lot of black, but it complemented her coloring. On top she wore a red V-neck sweater. He knew from their kiss earlier that the material was soft as a lamb’s wool and his fingers itched to stroke it and, by extension, her again. Shaking his head to clear it, he began to speak.
“I feel like I should expound a little more about my relationship with Doug.”
Val looked down and then back up at him, biting her lip. “You don’t have to. It’s really none of my business.”
“That’s true, but since it seems to have colored your perception of me I want to set the record straight.” He took a breath. “I grew up in the Philadelphia area. My dad founded a business arranging private travel for executives.”
“Wow, so you must’ve done a lot of traveling then, huh?”
“Not really. He and my mom traveled. They left me home—said schoolwork was more important.”
“Well, I can’t really argue with them there.”
“No, neither can I, except they were gone for weeks at a time and left me with a nanny.”
“That must’ve been tough.”
“It was, especially when I was little and wondered why they never wanted to be with me. Turns out they’d never wanted children, but Mom got pregnant and they decided not to abort me. My old nanny finally told me that when I entered high school. In my teens it didn’t matter as much, but after my first semester of college, I came home for
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