The Play Mate (Roommates, #2)

My cell rang, and I snatched it up without even glancing at the number, happy for another distraction.

“This is Hamilton,” I murmured, thumbing through the file Adam had brought.

“Smith? It’s Arabella Christianson from Château Prive.”

I stiffened and glanced at my desk calendar. Fuck. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Arabella’s boutiques were one of Sophia’s newest, most high-profile retailers. I had a call scheduled with her tomorrow to discuss upping our shipments. Not to mention, she and I had a sordid history.

Just be cool.

“Hello, Arabella, good to hear from you. I hope I didn’t mix my days up?” I was pretty sure that wasn’t the case. Adam kept a tight rein on my schedule, but I couldn’t think of any possible good news that would have her calling me a day early, and I definitely wasn’t in the market for any bad news.

“No, we’re still on for tomorrow, but I wasn’t sure whether to call you or Cullen,” she said, her tone chilly. “I’m having an issue with your social media director.”

Evie.

Shit.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

I cleared my throat and sat up a little straighter, my brain already churning out potential ways to put out whatever fire was smoldering. The good news was Arabella had called me first and not Cullen. The bad news was I didn’t know if I was going to be able to help Evie, and this might have to escalate anyway.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, she was supposed to send me a mock-up for the social media advertising campaign yesterday, and I still haven’t received it. My concern is that if you people can’t meet a simple deadline for some shared advertising, how can I expect you to meet our shipment deadlines once we increase?”

Her voice grew more clipped by the second, and I could tell she was building up a serious head of steam.

“When Cullen told us he was expanding and could push out product more quickly, we took him at his word. I have seventeen stores prepping premium front-of-the-store space for the new line as we speak. If those spaces are empty come delivery time-”

“They won’t be,” I said simply, cutting in before she could lob a threat that would really piss me off.

Our personal shit was set aside. I was here to help Cullen make his company a financial success again, not to let myself get all pissed off and defensive on behalf of Evie. But, damn it, Evie was good at her job. No way she’d just blown off this deadline. I’d seen her bustling around the office all last week, muttering to herself about this very campaign. Something smelled fishy, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

“Arabella, I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I’m going to find out. Evie is the most responsible person I know, so I do believe there is an explanation. Give me fifteen minutes to get it and call you back, all right?”

For a second, I thought she might have hung up, but then she let out an exasperated huff.

“Fine. Fifteen minutes,” she snapped before breaking the connection.

Just fucking dandy. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and made a beeline to the elevator. Thankfully, Sophia’s office was only a seven-minute walk from here.

When I reached the office, Evie was standing with her back to the door, facing a back wall that was covered with images of women in gorgeous lingerie. The splashes of color and the layout of her presentation were so eye-catching, I found myself distracted for an instant by the sheer punch of it.

“Hey, Smith, everything okay?”

She blushed a little as our gazes connected, and for a moment, I was silent as the memory of our kiss passed between us again.

“Uh, yeah. Wait. No.” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw and motioned for the two of us to sit. “Look, I just got a call from Arabella Christianson. She said you were supposed to send her your proposed ad campaign yesterday.”

Evie’s brows drew into a frown as her cheeks drained of color. “No. That’s not correct. I have it here in my notes . . .” She turned and began riffling through a pile of papers on her desk, tugging one out and holding it aloft. “This is due by end of business today. I still have a few hours.”

She slid the page across the desk to me. Sure enough, the time and date were written there in Evie’s graceful script and underlined twice.

That was good, but it would only take me so far. In her mind, Arabella still believed the agreement was for yesterday.

“I figured as much. You’re never late on anything, and I know how hard you’ve been working on this. Did you firm up these plans via e-mail or phone?”

“Shit. I’m pretty sure it was on the phone.” Evie shot a glance over her shoulder and turned back to me, looking as vulnerable as I’d ever seen her. “This would suck if it reflects on us poorly because, to be honest, it’s been done for two days. I’ve just been putting off sending it until the last minute because I’m nervous that she won’t like it.”

“That’s not possible. I know Arabella.”

“Arabella?” Evie paused, her eyes narrowing. “What’s the story? Is there something I should know?”