Steal My Heart (Bachelors & Bridesmaids) (2 page)

He shook his head at the memory. This potential job was getting more interesting by the minute.

In truth, he wasn't as confident about getting the account as he'd let on to Liz. He was still learning the PR game, and there was a big part of him who thought his older sister had bit off more than she could chew by opening a firm with only a few years of experience under her belt. But Erica had pulled him out of a dark place by inviting him to be her partner, and he had always liked a challenge. Maybe his dream hadn't been to run a PR firm, but sometimes dreams died.

Shaking off the gloomy thought, he walked down the hall and out of the building, then took out his phone. Erica was waiting for a report. If they could snag the Playworld account, they'd be set. They could hire more people, invest in bigger office space, really build up the firm, but first, they had to win over Charlie Hayward, and that might just take a Hail Mary.

One advantage he had was that Charlie was a big football fan, and he liked the idea of a celebrity leading the charge for his amusement park. That was one advantage Michael had over the other firms, and he intended to use it.

"How did it go?" Erica asked as she picked up the phone.

"Not bad. Hayward spent a lot of time talking about some of my big plays."

"That's good news. Live off the glory days as long as you can, Michael. Did you find out who we're competing with?"

"Hayward didn't tell me, but I ran into one of our rivals on my way out the door, Liz Palmer from Damien, Falks and Palmer."

Erica groaned. "Really? I didn't think they'd go for an amusement park. It's not really their style."

"They'll change their style for a multi-million dollar account."

"Who did you say was representing them?"

"Liz Palmer."

"Didn't you—"

"Go to high school with her? Yes. Her dad was one of the founding partners of the firm, and from what I know of Liz, she's going to fight hard to get this account. That woman does not know how to quit."

"But you know how to beat her, right?"

He thought about that for a second. "I used to have a good idea of her weaknesses, but we're not in high school anymore."

"Then it may be time to renew your friendship."

"I wouldn't say we had a friendship. We were more enemies than anything else. At any rate, Charlie wants me to get up close and personal with his amusement park. I'm going to need to spend the next few days riding every ride in the park."

"Well, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it," she said dryly.

"You could have made the pitch with me."

"No, you're our front guy. You're good at meetings, I'm better at the actual work."

"I'll be back in the office in a couple of hours, and we'll go over our strategy. I really want to get this account, Erica."

"It would be a tremendous win," Erica agreed.

As he hung up the phone, he couldn't help thinking that Liz Palmer had always brought out the best in him, pushed him harder than he pushed himself. Beating her would make the win that much sweeter.

* * *

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Liz asked, realizing she'd lost track of what Charlie was saying. Her mind had drifted back to the unexpected meeting with Michael. She could not let him distract her.

Charlie Hayward gave her a contemplative look. "Something on your mind, Miss Palmer?"

"No. I just want to make sure I know exactly what you want."

"What I want is for you to get to know my amusement park—ride every ride, eat at every concession, visit every gift shop and exhibit. Only then, will I trust you to put together a promotional plan. You know I built this place for my wife. We dreamed up this park when we first got married, and it took us forty years to make it happen."

The passion he had for his park was evident in his voice and in his brown eyes. Charlie was in his mid-sixties, balding and freckled from the sun, his waist showing a beer gut, but right now he looked like a kid in a candy store. She was touched by his commitment to a dream he'd had his entire life. How many people worked that hard and that long to make something amazing happen?

"We want to see the park packed by Memorial Day weekend," he continued. "That gives you a little over six months to make sure the world knows the kind of magic we have here."

She was happy that he was gearing up for the next summer season. While Internet promotional opportunities were abundant immediately, the more time they had, the more exposure they would be able to get in the print publications. "I completely understand, and I'm excited to put together a campaign for you."

"Good. As I said before, I want the people who work for me to really understand this place. That didn't happen with the last company we worked with, but I was too busy getting everything working and open that I didn't pay enough attention to what they were doing. That changes now. I want this year to be all about promotion."

"I understand."

"I hope so. Frankly, I wouldn't have invited your firm to participate if it wasn't for your father. We were in Rotary together for years, and I was always impressed with his intelligence and vision. I was sorry to hear he was ill. I hope he's feeling better."

"He's hanging in there."

"Well, hopefully your father passed on some of his creative ideas to you."

"He taught me a lot," she said.

"Good. But your father isn't making the pitch you are, so you have to believe in this place as much as I do. Then you have to convince me." Charlie leaned back in his chair. "There are three other firms that will also be giving me a bid. You each have something different to offer. Your company is very well known, highly respected and solid. But you're also expensive, so I'm going to take a look at the discount firm represented by Ed Hoffman. Christa Blake's firm specializes in amusement and hotel facilities, but they may not have the connections I want with the press. And finally Michael Stafford is new, hungry and has a celebrated name. You'll have a battle ahead of you."

"I'm not afraid to fight."

"Excellent. I've arranged to have you all stay at the hotel next door for the weekend. You'll be provided with a week's worth of passes to the park. I'd like to hear your initial proposal next Thursday."

It was only a week, but she could make that work. "I'll plan to move into the hotel tomorrow morning."

"Perfect. Check with the receptionist out front. She'll give you the passes and anything else you need." He stood up. "I'll give you one tip, Miss Palmer. Be creative, be bold and take risks. I don't like to play it safe."

"I'll keep that in mind." She paused as she got to her feet. "Are there any other surprises I should be looking for on the way out? More quicksand, perhaps?"

Charlie laughed. "If I told you what they were, they wouldn't be surprises."

Chapter Two

Three hours later, Liz walked into her small office at Damien, Falks and Palmer. Her father had founded the company almost forty years ago with his friends Howard Damien and Bill Falks. Since then the firm had grown into a huge business and occupied two floors on the thirty-first and thirty-second floor of one of the tallest skyscrapers in San Francisco. However, while Howard, Bill and numerous other account executives occupied the luxurious floor above hers, she'd been relegated to a windowless office by the bathrooms eight months earlier when her father had decided to retire. His latest bout of chemotherapy had left him too weak to keep working. His partners had made no secret of the fact that with her father gone, they were interested in taking the firm in a new direction—a direction that might not include her.

But Damien and Falks needed a reason to fire her, and she did not intend to give them one. She had promised her father she would protect his interests in the company he loved so much. And she would have a much easier time of actually keeping that promise if she could bring in the Playworld account. Thankfully, because of his relationship with her dad, Charlie Hayward had been unwilling to deal with anyone at the firm but her, so she had an edge there. But she was going to need more than an edge. She was going to need a win. If she could bring the account to the agency, the partners would not be able to ignore her.

Her cell phone rang and she smiled as Andrea Blain's name flashed across the screen. Andrea was one of her closest friends and several weeks ago, her normally career-obsessed friend had fallen in love. Tonight they were all getting together to celebrate Andrea's birthday.

"Hi Andrea, what's up? You're not calling to cancel, are you?"

"No, just to change the venue," Andrea replied. "I was thinking pizza party at my place."

"Really? You don't want to do anything more fancy for your birthday?"

"No. What I really want to do is spend time with my girls, and we never have enough time to talk in a crowded restaurant. Laurel is bringing the pizza, Kate and Julie are bringing wine, and Isabella is going to do a salad."

"What can I bring?"

"Veggies or chips and dip…whatever you want. I don't think Maggie will be able to make it. They're shorthanded at the hotel, and Friday nights are tough for her to get away."

"That's too bad. I'm a little surprised you don't want to spend your birthday with Alex though."

"He's taking me away tomorrow for the weekend," Andrea said happily. "Knowing Alex, it's going to be spectacular and over the top."

"I agree. I think you found yourself a good one, Andrea."

"I know I did. I'll see you at seven, Liz."

"See you then."

As Liz ended the call, a knock came at her door, and Bill Falks walked into the room. She got to her feet, preferring to deal with the partners at eye level, not that she even came close to meeting Bill's eyes. He was at least six-foot-four, and since she was barely five-five, he had almost a foot on her. She had no doubt that he loved to use his height as an advantage.

"Hello, Bill," she said, her tone cool. "What brings you down here?"

"How did your meeting at Playworld go?"

"Quite well. I'll be putting the proposal together over the next few days."

"Howard and I think you might be able to use some help on that."

"I'm good. I know exactly what Charlie Hayward wants."

Bill stared back at her. He knew as well as she did that the firm didn't have a chance in hell of getting the account if it weren't for her father's previous relationship with Hayward. "Liz, this doesn't have to be a fight."

They were talking about more than Playworld; she knew that. She didn't flinch from his hard gaze. "I agree. I just want to do my job and bring the firm a great client."

"That's what Howard and I want as well. I know you think we've been hard on your father, but he's a stubborn man. He sticks to old ideas that have no bearing in this new technological world."

"My father is as technologically savvy as you and Howard are," she said. "I don't know why you were so eager to shove him out when he got sick, but he didn't deserve that."

"We didn't shove him out; he retired. I had no idea you were so angry, Liz."

"Really? You thought moving me downstairs and isolating me from the other senior account executives would make me happy?"

"You weren't the only one to be moved."

No, but the other associates who had been moved had all been at the firm less than a year while she'd been working there for six years, and that didn't count the years in college when she'd been an intern doing every menial task in the company. But she wasn't going to get into all that with Bill; it was pointless.

"Well, I'm sure we'll be able to move you back upstairs once we finish the remodel," Bill said, clearing his throat. "At any rate, let me know if I can be of assistance on the Playworld pitch."

"I'll do that."

As Bill left, she sank down in her chair and blew out a breath. She was twenty-seven years old and Bill had thirty years on her, but she'd held her own. Unfortunately, just holding her own wasn't going to be good enough. She had to get the Playworld account, or her next relocation would probably be out of the building entirely.

* * *

Several hours later, Liz knocked on the door of Andrea's apartment with a veggie tray she'd picked up at the market and a bottle of cabernet. She was about fifteen minutes late, and she could hear laughter and conversation within. Just the sound of those female voices made her feel less stressed. These women were so important to her. They'd met their freshman year in college, sharing a common bathroom in the dorm, and since then had become best friends.

She was expecting Andrea to open the door, but it was Kate Marlowe's sparkling blue eyes that met hers. Kate was a pretty brunette with one of the warmest smiles in the group. A wedding planner, Kate was also the most romantic.

"Liz," she said happily, giving her a hug. "Glad you could make it."

"Me, too," she said, following Kate into the room.

Andrea was on the couch with her twin sister Laurel, a bunch of photographs spread out on the coffee table in front of them. While they were twins, Andrea and Laurel were opposite in appearance. Andrea had long blonde hair and Laurel had light brown hair that fell just to her shoulders.

Across from Andrea and Laurel was Julie Michaels, another attractive brunette. Liz had met Julie in high school and they had been roommates in college. Julie now worked in fundraising for a children's charity, and Liz's firm had actually sponsored one of their recent events, so their professional lives often mixed with their personal lives.

"Hi Liz," Julie said, her mouth pull of pizza. "Sorry, we didn't wait for you to start eating."

"Don't worry. I'll catch up."

"Hey, Liz," Andrea said, getting up from the couch.

"I figured you might need more wine," she said, holding out the bottle.

"Always," Andrea said with a laugh. "And you know I love red."

Liz set the veggies on the coffee table, then followed Andrea into the small kitchen. There were two large pizzas on the counter as well as a big bowl of salad.

As Andrea opened the bottle of wine, Liz aid, "Sorry I'm late."