Chloe found herself laughing at Kyra’s enthusiasm and logic. The truth of the matter was, Bollito would be perfect. But Bollito was not the problem.
“If it makes you feel better, I’m working on a proposal to send to Kevin.”
“You need to talk to Kevin. I can’t imagine him saying no. He better not.” Kyra brightened suddenly. “You know what? I’m going to call him right now and set it up.”
Despite Kyra’s small size it was clear to Chloe that Hollington had chosen well in making her the director of PR. She had exactly what the job needed. Not taking no for an answer but with charm and good humor.
“Hi. This is Kyra Dixon. I’m PR director for Hollington College.”
Chloe stared down at her hands, feigning indifference but listening to every word of the one-way conversation.
“Is Kevin available?…Oh…Will he be back soon?…You’re not sure.”
Suddenly, Chloe reached over the desk and, to Kyra’s obvious surprise, took the phone out of her hand.
“Hi. I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m Chloe Jackson, president of RSVP. I’m an event planner here in Atlanta. Perhaps I should be asking about Mr. Stayton, although I appreciate Ms. Dixon making the call. I understand he’s not in, but I’m hoping he’ll spare me some time this afternoon. Tell him—” she glanced at Kyra “—tell Kevin that I have a business proposition for him. It’s about our homecoming weekend in October. We graduated from Hollington the same year…Yes, yes, that is kind of funny, isn’t it?”
Chloe looked at Kyra and found her rolling her eyes. She had to grin.
“I’m hoping that Kevin can see me this afternoon…Yes, I know how busy he is. The man practically supports the economy of Atlanta all by himself. But, this is important, and I know Kevin would want to be in on the discussions. Why don’t I come over in say…” She looked at her watch. “About an hour?…No, I won’t stay long. This is just a getting-back-in-touch meeting. Yes, I really appreciate your assistance.”
Sensing that the call was about to end, Kyra snatched back the phone.
“Now, don’t let Kevin yell at you because you messed with his schedule this afternoon.” She smiled and laughed into her phone. Winking at Chloe she gave her a thumbs-up.
“This is so kind of you. Ms. Jackson will be over within the hour. Bye.”
“Well, that wasn’t very businesslike,” Chloe mused. “I probably should have asked to stop by tomorrow, give myself more time to prepare.”
“Girl, you don’t need any more time. You need to get over to Kevin’s office, tell him we want to use his club for a party and send him a contract. And tell him if he’s going to be difficult he’ll have to deal with me!”
Chloe decided that however Kevin Stayton managed his multimillion-dollar enterprise, Stayton Investments, he certainly didn’t stand on ceremony. Upon arriving at Kevin’s office his assistant, Peg, didn’t hesitate to show her directly into his office and leave her on her own. Unasked, Peg had returned five minutes later with a bottle of chilled mineral water, a cut Baccarat crystal glass and a linen cocktail napkin on a glass tray. Chloe’s eyebrows had shot up in surprise and appreciation. The offering showed a lot of class.
Kevin’s offices turned out to be a full floor with several rooms and a comfortable, if small, reception area. It was above Flavor, the first restaurant he’d opened in Atlanta. It was the business that had put him on the map, built his customer base and garnered regional reviews. Chloe was surprised by how modest, but attractive, professional and efficient the office was. It wasn’t at all what she’d expected from someone with Kevin’s level of success.
Left alone Chloe remained standing, pacing and looking around. The office was comfortable with a good modern desk and chair. Against an adjacent wall was a leather love seat, a glass-and-chrome coffee table and two more side chairs to create a more informal area to receive guests. Just above the back of the love seat was a gallery of framed photographs, most taken of Kevin with, Chloe could see, entertainment royalty. She recognized Alicia Keys, Jesse Jackson, Adam Sandler, Scarlett Johansson, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.
The office was neat and orderly; “a place for everything, and everything in its place” went through her mind. There were contracts, delivery receipts and inventory lists on his desk. There was a window-ledge-high bookcase behind Kevin’s chair organized with business magazines. At the base, strangely out of place, was a pair of soft leather loafers. A number of fancy glass and silver awards sat on his desk. With irreverence two were being used as paperweights. That made Chloe grin, and she attempted to relax. But she was ever mindful of the last time she and Kevin Stayton had seen one another. Without conscious thought her fingers touched her lips and she briefly enjoyed a memory that held steadfast and refused to go away.
The door suddenly opened, making Chloe start, and a man stood in the doorway clearly surprised at her presence. It was Kevin Stayton, dressed in running shorts, a sleeveless athletic tank top, a bandanna tied around his forehead and perspiration wet and shiny on his handsome face.
Dressed as he was it was easy to see Kevin was in superb shape. He hadn’t let his body go to fat as often happened in post-college years. If anything Kevin was even more handsome than the image that had been stored ten years in her memory bank. She started to speak, but Kevin turned in the doorway and called out.
“Peg? I don’t recall a meeting this…”
“You didn’t have one planned,” Chloe said, having recaptured her poise and confidence. “I’m sorry if I caught you—”
“Undressed?” Kevin said with an unexpected show of humor.
“Unprepared. I understood you were expecting me.”
“You’re right. I probably forgot. Sorry for showing up hot and sweaty and in need of something cold to drink.”
Chloe blinked at him. He sounded more amused than annoyed by her appearance. And she reacted instinctively to his comment. She reached for the bottled water on the tray, opened it and held it out.
Kevin, whose gaze had barely left her face since he entered the room, glanced briefly at the water before accepting it. He took a swig that emptied half the contents. As Chloe watched, fascinated, the water rushed down his throat as was evident by his swallowing muscles. He let out a short satisfied sigh of repletion and ran his forearm along his chin to wipe the sweat away.
“Thanks.”
He turned in the open door to speak to someone waiting in the reception area—someone Chloe could not see.
“That’s it, CB. I’m cool. I’ll catch you later.”
Kevin turned back to Chloe, his gaze again openly studying her.
“I’m Chloe Jackson,” she announced, holding out her slender hand to him. It was a little disconcerting to have Kevin stare so blatantly at her. Immediately, however, she could tell her name meant nothing to him. He took the hand but rather than shake it, he simply held it.
“Hello, Chloe Jackson.”
“Kyra Dixon and I called earlier and spoke to your assistant who arranged for me to stop by. Kyra and I had lunch together. I assumed your assistant would have told you…I can see now this is not a good time.”
Kevin let her hand go, indicated a chair she was to sit in and closed his office door.
“I decided to go for a run. Not her fault I’m meeting you like this. Kind of funky.” He flapped his elbows up and down and grinned broadly.
“I’m not offended,” Chloe said carefully.