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Laine closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his strong ar with hie boost for her status and for her career One that she ht need, if she were ever to move forward But if she ith hi behind There would be so ood enough for a project of this scale? And ultimately, Laine was afraid that if she went, there would be no escaping falling in love with him

Chapter Six

Laine walked into the staffthe next day with a heart full of anxiety and a head full of ideas She had been thinking over the offer carefully She’d spent an hour on the phone with her father the night before talking about it Of course he’d encouraged Laine to take the job He’d always encouraged his girls in their careers That didn’t ht if she left him all alone, with only the occasional, random visit from Emma

Laine set down her coffee and iPad and settled in She liked being at s early It allowed her to observe people as they came in and prepare herself for the conversations to come

“I saw a little video of our Miss Lainey,” Adrian Ramos said as he entered and sat across the table from her

Laine rolled her eyes “Right From the party”

“Nooo At the club you and I designed together” Adrian leaned forward on the table “Who knew our Lainey could cut it up on the dance floor? And with such a hot guy”

“Hush I ooing a potential client” It was kind of true, now

Adrian looked dubious, but others started to fill in, and he turned to talk to Richards when he walked in Soon Mr Brandt arrived, and thestarted Everyone presented on their current accounts and prospective leads When it was Laine’s turn, she discussed the several smaller accounts that she’d finished up the week before and then went over the various upsells she’d made to the Madison account

“It will take a few ns are finished and approved In the end, the Madison account is going to do very well by us,” Laine concluded

“Nicely done” Mr Brandt bobbed his head “All right From here, I’d like Joel to take over the Madison account Cross the T’s, dot the I’s, ot that?”

Mr Brandt looked to Joel just as Laine did Joel seemed to shrink under the scrutiny, since Mr Brandt was appraising, but Laine’s look was downright murderous