All the Right Places (RILEY O'BRIEN & CO #1) by Jenna Sutton Page B

for women, further proof the women’s division had been neglected for far too long.
    Using a blue laser pointer, Shelby referred to a slide witha colorful pie chart. “As you can see here, Riley O’Brien & Co. owned the biggest market share of all jean manufacturers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The company dominated the industry.”
    The slide animated to highlight different slices of the pie chart. “Even the collective market share of your two main competitors fell short. For decades, Riley O’Brien & Co. had a jeans monopoly. Rileys are synonymous with jeans just as Coca-Cola is synonymous with soda.”
    Quinn had always thought his dad had done a great job leading Riley O’Brien & Co. The company had flourished during his tenure, with revenue and profit increasing every year. Quinn knew that kind of success couldn’t have been luck alone. At the same time, however, he realized the company had not faced as much competition when his dad had been at the helm.
    Shelby advanced to the next slide, which delved into the numbers. “It’s important to point out here that Rileys dominated the market for men’s jeans by a huge margin, but they’ve never dominated the market for women’s jeans.”
    Quinn’s gaze fell on Amelia, who sat toward the front of the room. Her curly head was bent over a notebook as she took notes studiously.
    She was such an intriguing combination of sass and serious, playful and professional. Her comments were in turn insightful and irreverent, and he wondered what she thought of the information Shelby had shared so far.
    Did she regret her decision to partner with Riley O’Brien & Co.? He gave her one last glance before turning his attention back to the presentation.
    Shelby faced the audience. “I have two words for you: ‘designer denim.’”
    The words flashed on the screen, the individual letters designed to look like denim. They were studded with rhinestones that twinkled at the audience. Shelby had bedazzled her presentation, and if the topic at hand wasn’t so damn disheartening, Quinn would have laughed.
    “Designer denim has
completely
changed the jeans industry,” Shelby announced. “Twenty years ago, no one would have dreamed that the average woman would pay more thanfifty bucks for a pair of jeans. Today, it’s commonplace for her to spend double that amount, even triple. Upscale department stores and trendy boutiques now carry a variety of designer denim brands.”
    Another slide flashed on the screen dotted with hundreds of different logos. “This is just a small sample of the upscale brands that want to steal your customers.”
    Amelia waved her pen to get Shelby’s attention. She said something, but Quinn was too far away to hear it. Whatever it was, Shelby must have agreed because she nodded emphatically, her strawberry blond bob swinging around her jaw.
    “Amelia just pointed out that the impact of designer denim is not just limited to women’s jeans, and she’s right, especially when it comes to Riley O’Brien & Co.,” Shelby said. “Over the past three years, designer denim has pulled male customers away from Rileys. They’ve abandoned their old favorite.”
    That statement clearly didn’t sit well with the audience because several people began to mutter. Shelby held up her hands in supplication. “Look, I’m not saying that men don’t like Rileys anymore.”
    Shelby eyed the people grouped around the table. “You,” she said, pointing at Mateo Morales, the guy in charge of store operations.
    Mateo touched his thumb to his chest and asked, “Are you talking to me?”
    “Yes. You don’t have a girlfriend or a wife,” she stated confidently.
    Mateo’s dark eyebrows crawled up his forehead. “What makes you so sure of that?”
    Shelby smiled sweetly. “If you had a woman in your life, she wouldn’t have let you out of the house in such a hideous sweater.”
    Her snarky comment made the whole room crack up. Mateo grinned, completely unoffended