Steal My Heart (Bachelors & Bridesmaids) (16 page)

She pushed aside Brian's notes and pulled the sketches of Playworld out of her bag. As she looked at her drawings, she suddenly knew exactly what she had to do.

* * *

Michael got to Playworld thirty minutes before his presentation on Thursday was scheduled to begin. He had a slide show ready to go on his laptop, and he'd gone over strategy with Erica and Kent long into the night. He was ready to make his pitch. More than ready. He felt the excitement he normally felt before a football game, and Liz's dad's words rang through his head.
You'd be surprised at what can get your heart pumping.

He was surprised. He'd taken the job with Erica because he honestly hadn't known what else to do and at that point in his life, any job was as good as another. With football off the table, what did it matter what he did?

But it did matter. He didn't want to just mark the days off the calendar. He wanted to live his life, and whatever he was going to do, he wanted to do it well.

He glanced down at his watch, thinking Liz was probably on her way.

He hadn't talked to her since he'd left her at her father's house on Tuesday afternoon. There was nothing more to say until they got this damn competition out from between them. Then he was going to have a lot to say. Unfortunately, what he said would depend on the outcome of this pitch.

If Liz lost, she'd take it hard and probably blame him for ruining her life, but he'd never thrown a game, and he wasn't going to start now. He also knew that Liz didn't want to win by default. She wanted to beat him, and if she did, he'd be the first to congratulate her.

A woman's voice rang out, and he got to his feet. Christa came through the double doors leading into the executive offices. She appeared quite happy. Maybe this competition wasn't just between him and Liz.

"It looks like things went well," he said, noticing that not only had Christa brought some poster boards with her, she was also showing off a lot of cleavage. He couldn't blame her for using every weapon she had. Unfortunately, that weapon was not in his arsenal.

"It went amazingly well," she said. "Charlie is such a flirt. I think he'd really enjoy working with me."

"I imagine a lot of men would like working with you," he said dryly.

"You could always jump ship and join my firm. We could be good together—both in and out of the office."

"That's a tempting offer, but I'm happy where I am."

"Well, good luck. You're going to need it."

"Mr. Stafford?" the receptionist said. "You can go in now."

He nodded and grabbed his materials. He felt like he was going into the playoffs and sudden death. He had one play. Win or lose, there wasn't going to be a second chance.

* * *

Liz felt a lot more relaxed for her second meeting at Playworld than she had for the first, which was surprising, since today was going to determine her future for at least the next year. Instead of grimacing at the childlike atmosphere, she embraced it, talking back to the talking chair and enjoying a fun puzzle on the table in front of her. She wasn't going to stress over her pitch. She knew what she had to do. She had it under control, and it was the first time in a very long time that she'd felt that way.

She looked up as Michael came through the doors. He looked confident but also tired.

His expression brightened when he saw her. "Lizzie."

The nickname only made her smile. She felt more like Lizzie now than she had last week. "Did you knock his socks off?"

"I made my pitch. He seemed receptive, excited at times, but Charlie doesn't give much away. He's definitely listening to every detail though."

"I'm sure you did a good job, Michael. You always do." She took a deep breath. "I guess it's my turn."

"I'm going to wait for you."

"Really?" she asked, surprised by the offer.

"Yes. I want to ride the Ferris wheel with you. You gave me a rain check, remember?"

"All right. You've got a deal."

"And whatever happens—"

"Will happen," she finished.

He grinned. "I was going to say that. You know, you seem remarkably calm."

"I had an epiphany yesterday."

"Care to share?"

"Not right now. I better go."

"Watch out for the quicksand, Lizzie."

"Don't worry. I know exactly where to step."

* * *

While Liz was making her pitch, Michael headed out to the parking lot to drop off his computer and presentation materials. Then he grabbed a coffee on his way back into the park and sat down on a bench outside of the castle. He pulled out his phone to call Erica, knowing she was eagerly awaiting the results of his meeting.

"Tell me it was good, Michael," she said, not bothering to start with
hello
.

"It was good. Charlie liked a lot of our ideas. However, he did question the ability of our young firm to reach the national media."

"But we have
your
connections."

"Which are primarily in sports."

"Do you think it's going to be a deal breaker?"

"I honestly don't know. Charlie and I had a great talk. I understand his vision and how he wants to present himself to the world, and I think we can do a great job for him. But I didn't see the other presentations so I have no idea what we're up against."

"Can you get any information out of Liz?"

"I'm not going to ask her. It doesn't matter what she thinks anyway. It's all up to Charlie."

"Okay. Thanks for all your hard work, Michael. We wouldn't have even been invited to pitch if Charlie hadn't been intrigued by you, so you got us in the door. Whatever happens next, I'll know we did our best. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"See you then." He blew out a breath. Then he dialed another number. "Hank, it's Michael. Call me back when you get a chance. I've made a decision."

He sat down on the bench and opened up his emails. He might as well work on some of the other projects Erica had assigned to him.

An hour later, Liz walked out of the castle. Relief flitted through her eyes when she saw him.

"I thought you might have changed your mind and gone home," she said.

"Not a chance. I just needed to sit someplace where the furniture didn't talk to me."

"Good point." She sat down next to him on the bench and let out a breath. "So that's done."

"Should I ask how it went?"

"I think it went well," she said carefully.

He smiled. "Christa gave me more than that."

"Really? What did Christa say?"

"That Charlie was a big flirt and she thought he'd enjoy working with her. She was dressed to seduce, so he had some interesting scenery to look at."

"Using sex to win seems kind of cheap."

"It might work."

"I don't think so."

"You think you pulled it off, don't you?" he asked, seeing the gleam in her eyes.

"I honestly don't know."

"You seem remarkably serene about it all."

"Well, it's out of my hands now, and—"

"And you had an epiphany. That's what you said before. Are you going to tell me what it was?"

She smiled. "I want to tell you about it, but the sun is already setting. Look at the sky. It's purple, pink and orange all at the same time. I think we'll have a better view from the top of the Ferris wheel. And you promised me a ride."

There was definitely something different about Liz, but she was clearly not going to talk until she was ready.

As they walked across the park, he impulsively took Liz's hand in his, and he was happy when she didn't pull away, even happier when she gave him a smile that made his heart beat faster.

The line for the Ferris wheel was short, and within minutes they were entering their own private gondola, ready to take them on a twenty-minute ride on one of the tallest Ferris wheels in the world.

"This ride doesn't bother you?" Michael asked as they sat on opposites sides of the Gondola.

"It goes really slow, and I'm comfortable having all the glass around me."

"Good to hear. So tell me what's going on with you, Liz. You're different, and I want to know why."

She gave him a happy smile. "It's unusual for you
not
to be able to read my mind. I think I like being mysterious."

"Come on, you're killing me here."

"Fine. I realized yesterday when I was going over all the suggestions from my bosses that there was no way I could win the Playworld account and make them happy at the same time. What they wanted wasn't what Charlie wanted."

"But you just said that you gave Charlie a great presentation."

"I did, but in doing so I had to go against what my partners asked me to present. Which means they're not going to be happy that I included points that they asked me to take out."

"They'll be happy if you win. Money can buy a lot of forgiveness."

"Maybe. I didn't really have a choice. They wouldn't listen to me when I told them what kind of campaign Charlie was looking for. And I knew I couldn't waste Charlie's time or my own by presenting what they came up with. So I had to make a decision."

"Which was what?"

"To shoot the moon. I put in everything I thought would make a great campaign. I held nothing back. I even included some of my sketches."

His stomach began to feel a little sick, because it was very clear that Liz had probably outdone herself and given Charlie far beyond what he and Erica had come up with. The truth was Liz had more experience than anyone at Erica's very young company. And she'd learned from her dad, who'd been one of the best.

"Michael?"

He looked into her eyes, realizing he'd drifted off. "Sorry, I was just thinking that you probably won this."

Her gaze turned more somber. "I don't know. I just focused on giving Charlie the best of what I knew. It wasn't about beating you, Michael."

"Hey, you don't have to explain anything. I fully expected you to bring your best game. I would have been disappointed if you hadn't. If I'm going to get beat, I want it to be by the best, and I think that might be you, Liz."

"We'll find out tomorrow. I told Charlie when I was leaving that no matter what he decided, I was really happy he allowed me to spend time in his park and make the pitch, because the last few days have been life-changing. I rediscovered my dreams, my desire to draw and create. I found myself again. And to be honest it wasn't just this park that did that; it was you, too." She paused and gave him a somewhat tender smile that made his heart flip over in his chest. "You made me remember the girl I used to be, and even though there were things about that girl I didn't like, there were a lot of other things I did like. I used to be independent, Michael. I prided myself on not being a follower. But that's what I became when I followed my dad into his company and then I had to follow everyone else after he left. That's why I couldn't give Charlie the presentation that my company wanted me to do. It was time to take a stand."

"Good for you. I kind of wish you'd had your epiphany tomorrow, but…"

She laughed. "You haven't lost yet. I can remember a lot of times when I thought you were going down only to see your name pop up in the win column. So I'm not going to count on anything until we hear from Charlie." She paused, giving him a more serious look. "Will you hate me if I win?"

"Will you hate me?" he countered.

"In high school, I used to try to hate you; it never really worked. Somehow, I doubt this time would be any different."

"Even though the stakes are higher? This win is for your dad as much as it's for you, if not more."

"That's true. But if you win, then you deserve it."

"I feel the same way," he said, but he couldn't help wondering if she'd really have that calm reaction in the end. Right now, she probably thought she had it wrapped up and losing wasn't going to be an issue.

Liz let out a sigh and looked around. "It is beautiful up here."

He followed her gaze as their gondola crested the top peak of the wheel. The amazing colors of the sky painted a bright picture that continued to change as the sun sunk lower in the sky and the moon began to rise. He could see for miles, and he'd always been one to be inspired by a view, by the possibilities.

But he found himself looking away from the landscape and back at the woman who was inspiring him in a lot of other ways.

He got up and sat down next to her.

She grabbed on to the rail with a nervous smile. "Uh, isn't this going to throw us off balance?"

He laughed. "No, but this might." He touched her mouth with his, tenderly at first, wanting to savor her soft lips, her sweet taste, but a rush of desire sent the kiss into overdrive and he was happy when Liz parted her lips and invited him inside. She was sexy and sweet, cool and fiery all at the same time. She was the girl who'd always tempted him to want more, to be better, to think bigger. Their battles had driven him to achieve more than he ever would have achieved on his own. And it was because of her.

His Lizzie
.

He kissed her until their gondola came around for a stop, and then he asked the attendant if they could take another spin. The young woman laughed and said, "Why not?"

"You're crazy," Liz said as they began another ascent.

"You weren't ready to get off this ride, were you?"

She looked back at him. "No, I wasn't. In fact, I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to get off this ride with you, Michael."

His heart jumped again. "I've been wondering the same thing."

Chapter Fifteen

Liz arrived at Playworld's executive offices at noon on Friday. Charlie had called first thing in the morning announcing he was ready to make a decision. Michael was already in the lobby when she walked in. He smiled and walked across the room to give her a hug.

"Hey," he said. "I guess it's the moment of truth."

"I guess so."

She nodded, feeling revved up for a lot of different reasons. After she and Michael had finally gotten off the Ferris wheel the night before, they'd gotten dinner together. They'd talked about nothing important, either instinctively or deliberately staying away from touchy subjects like family and career.