Blitz: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Blast Brothers Book 3), стр. 38
Still, the point remained the same. I'd gotten Blast Tools plenty of exposure for their money.
In Chase's office, I spent the next few minutes explaining all of this to him in great detail until he cut me off by saying, "Pretend you're a guy. Are you gonna be hot for a cakewalk?"
Hot? Seriously? "Hey, plenty of guys like cakes, too, you know."
"Not as much as they like bikinis."
Obviously, he'd never seen my dad devour a chocolate fudge cake. Stubbornly, I replied, "Well maybe it depends on the guy. Or the cake."
Chase gave me a long inscrutable look before saying. "Or the bikini."
"So, what are you saying? You want me to propose some bikini-related events?" I hesitated. "Because I've got to be honest with you, I don't think the festival planners would go for it. And I can't exactly blame them."
"Forget the bikinis," he said. "That's not what I'm asking for."
"Then what are you asking for?"
"Well, not a cakewalk, I can tell you that. Think of your target audience."
I saw what he meant, but in my own defense, there were only two cakewalks on the whole list. And neither one had been my idea.
Rather they'd been something personally requested by the festival planners.
To Chase, I said, "Just look at the list again. They're not all cakewalks. What about the T-shirt giveaway? Or the sponsored barbecue?" As I spoke, I reached out and nudged the printout closer to Chase's side of the desk.
He didn't even glance at it.
Instead, he steepled his fingers and said, "What about the demolition derby?"
I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "There is no demolition derby, or least not one sponsored by Blast Tools."
"Yeah, but there should be."
I considered all of my hard work, which apparently, had been a total waste. "If you wanted a demolition derby, why didn't you say so?"
"I guess I forgot you were a chick."
At this, I felt my teeth literally grind together. "A chick?"
I wasn't even sure what was more insulting. That he'd called me a chick, or that he'd actually forgotten I was female at all.
Obviously, he really did find me repugnant.
Across from me, he said, "Tell me. When's the last time you purchased a tool?"
I knew exactly what he was getting at, and I refused to give him the satisfaction. "Just a few weeks ago." My chin lifted. So there.
"Oh yeah? What was it?"
"A screwdriver. And I'll have you know, I use it all the time."
The words had barely left my lips when I recalled that he'd actually seen me using the screwdriver only a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I'd been using it not on a screw, but to pry open my sunroof, which wasn't exactly a standard use of the thing.
Quickly, I added, "And I don't only use it on my sunroof."
"Good to know."
"Oh, and I also bought a foldable shovel just six months ago. I keep that in the trunk." I hesitated. "Meaning the trunk of my car, not a trunk-trunk."
He studied my face for a long moment before asking, "And what about the crown?"
Huh? "What crown?"
"You keep one of those in your car?"
What kind of question was that? "No. Why would I?"
"You tell me."
I laughed. "I can't tell you, because I don't do it."
His eyebrows lifted. "Alright. A tiara then."
I gave him a perplexed look. "I don't keep one of those in my car either."
Looking less than convinced, he asked, "You sure about that?"
"Of course I’m sure. I think I'd know if…" My words trailed off as I realized something totally awful. "Oh, my God." I winced. "You saw that?"
Chapter 34
Chase
I'd seen it, alright. So had my brothers. And they'd been giving me shit ever since.
In reply to her question, I said, "That depends."
Mina's cheeks were flushed, and she was shifting uneasily in her seat. "On what?"
I replied, "On what you think I saw."
She shifted again. "Well…if I had to guess, you probably saw me acting like a Tomato Queen." She winced. "I mean, like a pageant queen, riding in a parade."
Yup. That was the gist of it.
I was still watching her. She was cute when she was flustered, but that didn't make her any less crazy.
I'd be smart to remember that.
I asked, "So…you do that a lot?"
"No," she scoffed. "Do you?"
"Hey, I wasn't the one waving."
At this, she literally cringed. "You saw me wave?" She lowered her face into her hands and groaned, "Oh, my God." But then, she looked up, and her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. Where were you?"
I flicked my head toward Mason's office, just a couple of doors to my left. "In my brother's office."
"So you saw me from up here? In the building?" Abruptly, she stood and strode to the nearest window. She looked out through the glass and cursed so quietly, I might've missed it, if only she didn't have my full attention.
I'd swiveled in my chair to keep an eye on her. I kept watching as she gazed out the window, looking unhappy with whatever she saw.
But me? I wasn't unhappy.
My view wasn't half-bad.
Mina had a nice profile, even when she frowned. With her attention elsewhere, I took a long moment to appreciate it. Her hair was long and loose, just the way I liked it, and she was wearing a tailored cream dress and matching heels – not high, but not flats either.
She had nice legs, and they weren't the only things I liked. Her body was slim with soft curves in all the right places. As I studied some of those curves, I had to remind myself that I'd given up on crazy chicks for a reason.
They weren't worth the hassle.
In case I ever forgot, Angelique's book was a good reminder.
But Mina – she was crazy in a different way. What way, I still didn't know.
But I was interested in finding out.
Too