The Bachelor Chronicles. Lissa Manley

      “Maybe.”

      That single word sent concern skipping through Jared like a flat rock on water. Frowning, Jared picked up the file and flipped it open. A few minutes later he’d finished scanning the figures. Mark was right. Sales had fallen off over the past six months.

      He turned to Mark. “What’s causing this?”

      Mark shrugged his suit-jacketed shoulders. Despite Warfield’s casual-dress policy, he still wore a suit to work every day. “It’s hard to say. Could just be the natural business cycle. But my gut feeling is it’s the competition, which is keen right now. Luckily that bachelor article will be out soon. A free bit of publicity could help.”

      Shifting uneasily, Jared picked up a paper clip and bent it out of shape. A sharp needle of guilt joined the concern roiling in his gut. “I canceled the interview.”

      Mark laughed under his breath. “You’re kidding, right?” He jerked his tie loose and unbuttoned the top button on his dress shirt.

      “Nope. The reporter they sent was rude.” Eye candy, but still rude.

      “So you backed out?”

      He glared at Mark and mentally dug in his heels, remembering Allison. “Yeah, I backed out. I never wanted to do the interview to begin with, and they wanted me to go on some date.”

      Mark leaned forward. “Jared, we need this publicity. I think you should reconsider the interview.”

      Jared scowled and twisted the paper clip. “We’ve been over this, Mark. I don’t think the interview is necessary.”

      “Even after you’ve seen those sales figures?”

      Jared hesitated and clenched his jaw tight, hating being pressured to do something that could blow up in his face. “The timing’s bad,” he muttered, looking for an excuse to back out.

      “Nothing has changed. Publicity is publicity, any way you look at it, even if it involves a perfunctory date.” Mark leaned back in his chair. “We can’t afford to pass this up. What if they go for Ryan Cavanaugh? Then Java Joint gets the exposure. Is that what you want?”

      Jared considered Mark’s words. Cavanaugh was a bachelor and very eligible. And he’d probably love to get the jump on Warfield’s and snag the interview and publicity. Could Jared afford to take that chance? Though he hated to admit it, the decision had been taken out of his hands. He’d have to be sure to leave Allison out of the interview and hope Ms. James hadn’t dug deep enough to discover he’d adopted his niece. He would worry about the date later. He’d definitely find a way to get out of that part of the agreement.

      “All right,” he conceded. “I’ll do the interview. But I don’t like this one bit.”

      Mark smiled and rose. “How bad can it be? Just give the reporter a few tidbits, show up for the date, and that will be it.”

      He raised a brow as Mark left, then roughly adjusted his watch on his wrist. Tidbits? Somehow he doubted Erin James would be satisfied with mere tidbits. She seemed pretty desperate to get the interview, probably because she hadn’t had a fresh kill lately. And the whole pick-a-date concept rubbed him the wrong way. He would decide when he went on a date with a woman, not some newspaper editor looking to increase readership with cheesy features.

      But Mark was right. Warfield’s needed the publicity. He’d throw Erin a bone and leave it at that. How difficult could it be?

      Jared turned his attention to some paperwork without addressing that particular question. In his gut he knew he wouldn’t like the answer.