Tawny Weber – The Night Before Christmas: Naughty Christmas Nights / The Nightshift Before Christmas / 'Twas the Week Before Christmas (страница 17)

“It really comes down to messaging,” she wound up. “What message do you want to send women, and what message do you think women will respond best to? I think you’ll find that romance, with its empowering belief in love and happy results, will be a stronger selling point.”

Pleased with her speech, and that she could sit back down and pretend she wasn’t nervous enough to hurl, Hailey offered Rudy and Cherry a warm smile. Then, her body boneless, she slid into the chair next to Gage’s. As soon as she did, he stood. Clearly he wanted to erase her impression as quickly as possible from the others’ minds.

“Since it’s just the four of us, let’s be honest,” Gage said in a persuasively amused tone. “We all know what sells. Especially when it comes to lingerie.”

“And that is?” Cherry asked, clearly not willing to let him take the easy way through his pitch.

“Sex. Empowerment and emotions are all great between the pages of a book or at a self-help seminar. But nobody thinks that when they are buying lingerie. What women, and more importantly men, are thinking about when they look for lingerie is sex.”

Hailey’s mouth dropped open. It took her a solid five seconds to force it closed.

He’d thrown her under the bus. For the first time since she’d seen him all wrapped up in that green fur costume, she wanted to kick him. Gage wasn’t the Grinch, she realized. He was a flat-out shark. A shark standing there in a very expensive suit, looking as though he owned the whole damned world.

“Now, as sweet and appealing as Merry Widow’s lingerie is, let’s face it...there’s nothing that says sex like black leather.” To emphasize his point, Gage lifted a presentation board from his portfolio and continued his pitch. Hailey barely heard him, though; she was too busy focusing on the photo of a leggy redheaded model swathed in leather and holding a microphone, a blatant play to Cherry.

To try to keep from hissing at being dismissed as sweet and appealing, as if those were stupid things, Hailey shifted her gaze toward Rudy and Cherry. Were they as disgusted by the hard sell as she was?

Her stomach sank.

Instead of disagreeing, Rudy was nodding away, his eyes on the leather-clad model’s photos and his tongue practically draped over his tie.

And Cherry... Well, she was staring out the window, her expression as far away and morose as the gray clouds engulfing the bridge.

Gage just kept on pitching, reiterating and reframing the presentation he’d offered ten minutes before. He alternated between numbers that seemed to make Rudy drool and flattery that, thankfully, Cherry wasn’t paying much attention to. Instead, the woman looked pensive as she stared out the window.

Her teeth clenched, Hailey wanted to yell no. They were smart business people, weren’t they? Shouldn’t this decision be based on an overall logic? On what fit best for the line? On the designs that’d appeal to the widest demographic?

As Gage finished his pitch, sliding the cover over his presentation board and taking a seat, Rudy’s decision was clear on his face. Hailey’s heart sank into her very cute shoes. He was clearly a man who’d made his fortune thinking a little south of logic.

“Well, thank you both. This was a very informative morning,” the older man said. “Why don’t we break for lunch now so Cherry and I can discuss this, and we’ll notify you by this afternoon of our decision.”

Her stomach plunged into her adorable shoes fast enough to make Hailey nauseous.

He was going to choose Milano. Despite the fact that Cherry had overruled his preference, Vivo’s shoe designs, he was still going to pick the ugly leather.

And that would mean the end of Merry Widow Lingerie.

Oh, sure, she could eventually get a job doing design elsewhere. Maybe. But what about her employees? Her clients? Her dream?

She took a deep breath, trying to accept that she couldn’t change the man’s mind. She couldn’t jump up, stomp her feet and insist he choose her. She’d tried that a few times over the course of her life, and had always been the one standing there alone with sore toes.

But...

She couldn’t just let it go.

“Wait,” Hailey cried, halting everyone midrise, their butts four inches from their chairs. Rudy and Gage frowned, but Cherry sat right back down, her expression warm and encouraging.

“I think he’s wrong. Gage clearly has a strong grasp of basic marketing. And he’s right. Sex Sells 101 is often an effective advertising ploy.” She paused, letting the emphasis on the word ploy sink in. “But is that really what you want? A ploy? Gimmicks only go so far, don’t they?”

She addressed that question to Cherry, who suddenly looked very tired. As if all this talking had sapped her energy.

“Gimmicks have their place,” Cherry said, her shrug indicating that their place was nowhere near her.

At her words, the men settled back in their chairs. Gage’s expression was guarded, but Rudy was watching his muse like a hawk.

That was her hook, Hailey knew. No matter how much Rudy might want to see women prancing down his runway come February wearing tiny strips of leather and stilettos, he’d defer to what Cherry wanted.

“Sex sells.... In this case, it’d sell to a very specific market. But you want to make this year’s debut extraordinary, don’t you, Mr. Rudolph? This is the first year you’ve ever built a line around a person rather than a theme.”

“That’s true. Although Miss Bella hasn’t signed the agreement yet,” Rudy said with a jovial sort of laugh that did nothing to disguise his concern over that detail.

“Once I know exactly what I’d be representing, I’ll make my decision,” Cherry said, her words friendly but firm, with just a hint of impatience. “My image, and my personal comfort levels, must be in sync with anything I do.”

“Which is why Merry Widow is perfect for you,” Hailey said, leaning forward and clasping both hands on her knees. “It’s a line that focuses on the image of romance, of the ultimate in feminine empowerment, while ensuring you feel so real you can’t be anything but comfortable.”

Out of breath, Hailey forced herself not to grin. She was proud of herself. That’d sounded pretty awesome.

“I beg to differ,” Gage broke in. His tone was smooth-as-silk friendly, but the look in his eyes was diamond hard. And, Hailey noted, just a little surprised. Obviously he really hadn’t expected her to be any sort of competition. Just a bit of fluff, like her lingerie.

He turned to Cherry, charm oozing from every pore. Hailey wanted to hate that he could do that. But who could blame a man for being fabulous at what he did? She just wished he could be fabulous somewhere else.

Like in her bedroom.

“Miss Bella, you’re a very sexy woman. Gorgeous, talented and not one to shy away from using both of those as a platform for your voice. Much like Milano Lingerie, you’re distinctive, strong and bold. If anyone can showcase feminine appeal and edgy allure, you can.”

Gage leaned closer to the torch singer, letting his smile widen, and laid a hand on the arm of her chair. He didn’t touch her; he just suggested an intimacy, a connection.

Hailey had to actually clench her butt to the chair to keep herself seated. She wanted to leap out of her seat and smack his hand away.

You’d think her stomach would be too crowded already with nerves, panic and hurt to have room for one more nasty, balled-up emotion. But there it was, jealousy in all its hairy ugliness. “There is a lot to recommend both lines,” Cherry said slowly, her gaze shifting back and forth between Gage and Hailey. “I’m not sure which I feel best fits my image.”

“Isn’t a better question, what message do you want to send by wearing the line?” Hailey asked before Gage could jump in with another one of those devastatingly effective innuendos. “Do your songs, does your image, equate to sex? Or to romance? Lingerie is about more than the physical act. It’s about intimacy.”

When the redhead’s brows drew together as she considered that, Hailey took a deep breath and, ignoring her natural abhorrence for aggressive pushiness, plunged on.

“That’s what it all comes down to, after all. Sex, which is strictly physical satisfaction. Or romance, which invokes the emotions, the mind and the imagination.”

“There’s plenty of imagination in sex,” Gage said, finally dropping his charming facade to frown at Hailey. “Sex sells for a very good reason. People like it. People want it. Sex, in leather lingerie, will appeal across the board to men and women alike. Fluff might get a few women’s attention, but it won’t get the men’s.”

“Women buy more lingerie,” Hailey pointed out.

“To appeal to men,” he countered.

“Romance sells much better than sex,” she argued. “It sends a more empowering, desirable message and will bring in a wider customer base.”

His hands loosely clasped between his knees, Gage leaned forward. He was still many feet away, but it was as if he’d moved right into her space. As if he were intimately pressing against her. Hailey’s breath caught. Her body heated. She bit her lip, trying not to squirm and damning him for being able to trigger such intense sexual awareness in her body.