The Do It List (The Do It List #1) by Jillian Stone Page B

Midwestern charm, lots of facial hair and a wild, upbeat sense of humor. As odd pairings often do, they played well off each other. Derek elevated Mark’s Hangover movie humor while Mark humanized Derek’s cutting-edge visuals.
    I handed Axel his decaf chai tea.
    “Gracie, I’d like you to meet Brad—”
    “We’ve already met, briefly.” My gaze locked with the new man who, at the moment, stirred milk into his tea. “Hello, Bradley.”
    He appeared pleasantly amused. “Good morning, Gracie.”  
    Axel tilted his head. The man missed nothing and seemed mysteriously pleased with our brief flirtatious moment.
    “All right people, listen up. This may well be the most important pitch we’ll be in all year. Besides the launch of Héros, we’re now looking at all—I repeat—all the personal care products. Hair, skin care, body washes, and a new physics garden line. Tea tree, aloe vera, arnica—already huge in Europe.”
    He made a point of eyeballing me. “Gracie and Sarah are perfect for this. Derek and Mark—we’re going to need humor as well.”
    I held onto the last iced chai latte and settled on the couch between Mark and Sarah. The meeting appeared to be limited to Barking Mad creatives, two account supervisors, Audrey Lacoste and Frank Manning, along with the new head of research.
    “Winner takes all, including—here’s the kicker—”Axel held up both index fingers. “Two Super Bowl spots.”
      That sparked everyone’s interest, even the antisocial art director in the corner looked up from texting.
      “Thirties or sixties?” Derek asked.
    “One of each. Think set-up and payoff. They’ve hired Jordan McQueen as their review consultant. We know he admires our work and he asked specifically for Barking Mad.” Axel scanned the creatives in the room. “I’d like to see something synergistic—Super Bowl spots with a line that goes viral.”  
    I stole a glance at Bradley, whose attention had moved to the art director in the corner. He appeared to be sizing up Derek.  
    Axel nodded to the account team. “Frank and Audrey have been working on some ideas. Anything you’d like to share?”
    “We’ve got several strategies in development, but we’re waiting on research.” The stunning redhead gazed across the room. “We’re looking forward to working with the new director of Insight.”
      Bradley returned Audrey’s gaze with polite, business-friendly interest.
    A queasy unease clenched my solar plexus. I needed to catch my breath. Sarah had once called Audrey a poll dancer trapped in a power suit. And already the feline account executive had my hackles up. I tucked my lower lip under my teeth and bit down hard. Several months ago Audrey had hit on Derek. The fact that he’d slept with her had moved him to part-time fuck buddy.
    In truth, Audrey had saved me some heartache. I should be grateful, but I wasn’t. Not after that once-over ogle she had just given Bradley. Some women you could never trust. And this seductress, with hair color that matched Hannah’s red-headed Barbie, topped the list.
    Axel leaned back on the edge of his desk. “The tough part is always the same with packaged goods clients. They want to test concepts and copy platform.”
    When every creative in the room groaned, Axel nodded. God bless him. “They agreed to let us design the method and mode of the tests. And this time we’ve got the big guns on our side.”  
    Axel’s gaze moved to Bradley. “One of the departments I was most impressed with at Scacchi was their research division, especially the way they tested creative. And since Bradley is here—direct from London—why don’t you explain how you do it?” Axel evaluated the cool looks around the room, including my own. “Just hear him out, you’re going to like this.”
    Bradley cleared his throat and leaned forward. “The idea is to have the client and creative design the emotional message first, then we add in the sell. As long as the creative