“What is this?” he asked as he cautiously stepped into her office.
“The command center of my social media services,” she explained as she went to her chair. “I just need to send off an email and then we can go.”
He was impressed. He couldn’t remember putting this much effort into anything he had done. Jason was aware that he had been coasting for a few years. He was resting on his reputation as the golden boy. He had also created a job in his family business that played up his strengths. But he also couldn’t remember enjoying working on a project so much that he was willing to put in the hours that Claire did.
“Okay,” she said as she typed something on her keyboard and began to shut down her computer. “I’m ready.”
He spotted the whiteboard designated to Mountain Creek Wine Cellars. The strategy they had argued over and mapped out was written down step-by-step. “You put a lot of time into creating this flowchart.”
“It’s how I work best,” she said as she rose from her chair. “I should make a flowchart for Operation Fake Fling.”
He cast her a sidelong look. “I’m not calling it that.”
“Just as I suspected.” She crossed her arms. “What would you prefer we call it?”
He wanted to call it a trial run. An experiment before they admitted their attraction and fell into bed. Jason wanted to go after Claire and explore the heat that sizzled between them, but she had shown no interest in that.
The kiss had given him hope, but hope, he reminded himself, was a dangerous thing. It made him forget that he needed Claire in a professional capacity. But he was willing to forget about all that at this moment if it meant one more kiss. One more touch. Just more.
Jason forced his attention back to the whiteboard. “Why do you need to work like this? You don’t have to do everything step-by-step in chronological order. I’m sure we could knock off a few steps.”
Claire rushed over to the board, her arms outstretched to block him. “Don’t touch a thing, Jason. This is a system that I’ve perfected over the years.”
It was tempting to tease her and pretend to erase the board with the sweep of his arm but it was obvious how protective she was of her work. “You don’t always need a system. Take last night. We improvised and it worked out fine.”
“Just because it worked once doesn’t mean it’s going to work every time.”
“Claire, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not as studious as you are.”
Claire’s mouth fell open. “Studious?”
When he bumped into her occasionally at the coffee shop, she was reading one business book after another. She was always taking notes when they had meetings and had fully thought-out presentations. He remembered she had been like that when they were younger, spending every spare moment on school projects.
She blinked and jerked her head back. “You think I’m studious?”
Jason gave her a curious look. “It’s not a bad thing.”
She moved her head as if she was giving herself a mental shake. “No, I know...I just haven’t seen myself that way.”
Considering her family, she probably assumed it was normal to study all day, every day. “I’m more hands-on. I need to figure things out as I go along.” He noticed Claire’s expression of horror at the prospect. “That’s why I decided you should go to the tasting room with me tonight and do a practice run.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “What kind of practice run?”
He spread his arms out wide. “Tonight I’m going to get you in the spotlight.”
Claire’s eyes widened and she hunched her shoulders. “No.”
He knew she would reject the idea out of hand. “This party is a small charity event. Lots of tech millionaires and philanthropists. No one from our group, unfortunately.”
“You’re putting me in a room with strangers? Who are going to talk about stuff I don’t know about?” Her voice went high. “What’s next? Are you going to make me give a speech in front of them?”
“No, you just have to stand next to me and smile. There are times when I will have to step away to work, but I won’t leave you if you feel out of your depth.” Jason curled his arm around her tense shoulders. “Trust me, Claire. I will take care of you.”
She stared at him with a blank expression but the tension in her shoulders eased. “Okay, Jason. I’m holding you to that promise.”