name. It sent a chill up her spine and down it again. That chill turned into a full on shudder. Huntington didn’t know why, but every time she heard the name Kevin Carter, she felt that way. She had always been shy around new people, but she’d never truly been intimidated by the people she helped on a daily basis and most were VIPs at some incredibly influential companies. Still, that name…
Arthur watched her with an eyebrow raised, so she rushed on, “I can’t help it. This is taking too long. Please, please, Arthur, let me go back to Operations. I’m unfit to sell. I can recognize my own weakness.” She clasped her palms in the desperate gesture of pleading.
“Not at all possible, Ms. Lewis,” Arthur answered, picking up an amber paperweight from her desk and testing it in his hand. “Besides, they like you. They send you Christmas cards and fruit baskets and tickets to the Opera in Paris. By the by, I still don’t understand why you didn’t go. As we are providing a service and attempting to woo them, it is truly our duty to treat them—”
“They can’t accept gifts from vendors,” she pointed out.
Arthur ignored her. “And let us not forget, they have paid us generously for the various projects you have already completed. The contract will soon be a moot point.”
“Contracts are never a moot point,” she returned mimicking his accent and the very way he’d said the same thing to her on many occasions before. Arthur smiled, acknowledging the quip. Hunny’s eyes grew wide for a moment as something he said finally registered. “Did you just say final meeting? Carter is ready to sign this thing?” Arthur nodded. Huntington breathed a little easier. She rolled her eyes toward heaven and sighed. “Please let this be it.”
Kevin Carter was the CEO of Med Solutions and frequently referred to as The Chemist in tabloids. Sometimes that was coupled with ‘international playboy’, but always The Chemist because of his amazing history as a pharmaceutical genius. Hunny had yet to meet the man who’d requested her services in the first place. That was perfectly normal. She didn’t typically meet CEOs anyway. Usually public relations people, communications specialists, image consultants, marketing directors were the sort of people with whom she spent her time, and who made decisions. The problem was that Carter wasn’t that kind of CEO. He’d set up standing conference calls with her and wanted final word on even the smallest of projects. Extremely hands on. Truth be told, Huntington had enjoyed working with him, over the phone at least. She’d found him to be smart and funny and approachable. And… damn it, she’d come to kind of like him. Which was a very bad thing. She tried to remind herself that although he did seem like a great guy professionally, in every magazine or in spots on the entertainment channel, he was something altogether different. Could he really be that attractive in person?
She groaned and uncrossed her legs. “None of it makes any sense, and I guess that doesn’t matter.” Her thoughts were traveling down a very, very bad path. And that was a problem, too. She hadn’t even met the man. Yet, as of late, she had found herself obsessing over him. Hunny needed to get over this inexplicable mini-infatuation she was developing. Maybe this was a result of the whole sales thing. Maybe she felt this strange attraction because this process really was a little bit like courting. “I’m going home, Arthur. As soon as Med Sol lets me know the travel arrangements, the time frame, and how much material they want presented, I’m outta here. I’ve got a million things to do.”
“The first of which is taking a breath, Ms. Lewis,” Arthur admonished.
“If only,” Huntington breathed as she reached to answer her phone. “Gentry and Associates, this is Huntington.” She listened for a moment and her brow creased slightly before she hung up.
“What is it, Ms. Lewis?” She heard what sounded like concern from above her.
“My good friend Gina Morrow was shrieking at me. Seeing as I am not of the canine persuasion and her pitch was rather high, I didn’t quite catch it all. There is obviously something up. I’m going to Tampa.” She answered without moving.
“Yes, I thought that was the plan, Ms. Lewis.” Though dead pan and serious sounding, the man had humor in the air around him. “Certainly no need for dramatics.”
“Now.” Hunny narrowed her bright gaze at him.
“Now?”
* * * *
“Now.”
Arthur knew better than to say another word to her or to let her see his grin. Instead, he turned and headed out of the office tossing a, “Good Luck,” over his shoulder. That was a statement born more from habit than true sentiment. Huntington Lewis knew what she was about.
From the very beginning, he had been amazed by her work. Ms. Lewis had a way with preserving the integrity and history of a company, yet providing a campaign that was vibrant and youthful. After her five years with the company, Gentry & Associates was actively sought out by established companies struggling to maintain and grow their market share in the Cyber Age. This had established G&A as more than just an ad firm. Still, this company, Med Solutions, was different. It was less than ten years old, already a Fortune 1000 company, and growing faster each day. It was Ms. Lewis’s job to provide them with a stable, professional image. She’d pounced on the job from the very beginning, seeking a new challenge. Unfortunately, that desire to grow had somewhat backfired. She’d expanded her knowledge base, certainly, however she’d also shrunk her portion of sanity. Still, Ms. Lewis persisted in her genius, and Arthur knew that wouldn’t change.
* * * *
Huntington had lived in Alexandria, Virginia, for the past three years. She’d liked the city because it reminded her of her hometown in Alabama, and she could get away from the hustle and bustle of life in Washington D.C. whenever she needed the quiet. Which was why any resident in the row of neat townhouses would have been shocked to see the low-key, amicable all-around good neighbor at that very moment.
She stomped around in her townhouse mumbling to herself about the injustice of client-vendor relationships. She packed exactly one suit, one set of traveling clothes, one additional pair of shoes, and one change of underwear. This trip was not going to take more than one day. She was absolutely certain this trip was not going to take more than one day. This was not going to take more than one day. Huntington exhaled raggedly. This was going to take more than one day.
Gina had been downright vague when discussing her return flight. She didn’t like that. Weekends. That’s what Gina Morrow told her. They were more than willing to pay her travel back on weekends if need be. If—as Arthur had reassured her—they were in the final stages of negotiation, why would she need to be in Tampa long enough to come home on weekends?
And just how much of that time would be spent with Kevin Carter?
Hunny strode back to her closet and packed enough clothes for two weeks...or two months. She packed a formal, a swimsuit, and country club wear. Then she studied her overstuffed bag and frowned. She started taking the additional clothing back out. In mid-stride back to her closet, Hunny turned and threw the clothes back in her bag. Hunny repeated this ritual until she threw the clothes in the middle of the floor and screamed. In a mark of frustration, she fell back on her bed and lay down with her hands over her eyes.
Maybe a few breathing exercises would calm her nerves. She breathed deeply and tried to focus on the vacation she was going to take to the islands once all this was over. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember for the life of her what that silly yoga instructor had told her last month. Arthur had suggested she start the class when he found her yelling at the copy machine for being uncooperative. She’d been furiously brandishing a coffee mug, and Arthur commented that she seemed dangerously close to assaulting the great hulking machine. Now, just breathing increased her frustration. That damned chemist had turned her into a lunatic.
A loud ring interrupted her episode. Hunny growled and opened her eyes. Murder contorted her expression as she glared at her telephone. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone. She wasn’t going to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey,