Effortless by Lynn Montagano Page B

the room, greeting complete strangers with ease. Her idea of finding Alastair and loosening him up was great one. Making my way through the room I was stopped a few times and congratulated by some of the people. They were mostly employees at Summit and some of them seemed nice enough. Although one woman gave me such a sour look my mouth almost puckered.
    “I know you.”
    I turned toward the unfamiliar voice and found myself face to face with a young guy in jeans and a sweater.
    “Yeah,” he smiled, “we met at some cocktail party last spring. I bought you all those martinis and then you disappeared. Broke my heart.”
    Remembering that night was a bit of struggle thanks to ‘all those martinis’ so I couldn’t for the life of me place this guy.
    “I’m really sorry, I don’t—”
    “Remember,” he finished for me. “That’s understandable. You’ve been swept off your feet by the billionaire playboy. Although I do remember you fancied rubbing my head. Should’ve grabbed you and kissed you when I had the chance.” He sauntered away and started talking to group of guys. I remained frozen in place for a few seconds.
    Rubbed his head? Oh God…Bill-Jack.
    I was stopped by another one of Brent’s employees named Tania who worked in his media relations department. She joked with me about how Brent always hands out his business card to television or radio people when he goes on interviews.
    “It’s his version of recruiting,” she laughed.
    “That’s not a bad way to find new talent. Nobody knows the media like someone who works in it.”
    “Very true. In all seriousness, if you ever get sick of Archer, give us a call. One of our account executives is going on maternity leave at the end of the month. We’re thinking of bringing someone in to handle her accounts and then hire on full time after she returns.”
    “Well, thanks but I’m okay where I am now.”
    Tania regarded me shrewdly. “You know Archer is a right prat. Likes to feel up the ladies when nobody’s looking. You’re a pretty little thing. He’ll have his hands on that hourglass figure of yours in no time. I’d be careful.”
    Great. What started out as a fun conversation had gone downhill fast. I politely excused myself to regroup in a corner. I almost wished I was in a room filled with politicians instead of these people. Not all of them were bad but the staring and the whispers were getting on my nerves. I helped myself to a glass of sparkling wine and scanned the room for Stephanie and Alastair. Both of them had vanished.
    “Fantastic,” I muttered, leaving the empty glass on an end table.
    “Lia.”
    I turned, coming face to face with none other than Sarah Everett, the vice president at Stephanie and Darren’s agency.
    Could this night get any more awesome?
    The blonde with the over-glossed lips grinned at me in the same disingenuous way she’d done at the charity benefit when I bumped into her in the ladies’ room. Images of that picture with her wrapped around Alastair from his grandfather’s retirement party saturated my memory. I clenched my hands so tight my fingernails dug into the skin.
    “You’ve done the impossible. I thought Alastair would remain unattached forever.” She frowned, looking me up and down. “You’ve broken quite a few hearts in this city.”
    I bit back an acrid response for two reasons: she wasn’t worth it and I didn’t want to make a scene in a room where every eye was focused on me.
    Her chin lifted. “Your friend Stephanie speaks very highly of you in the office. I’m sorry you and I haven’t run into one another yet in the building. We should plan to have lunch one day next week. We’re considering partnering with The Archer Hour for some magazine adverts in the coming months. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the direction of the program.”
    I’d rather dance barefoot on hot coal
.
    “Sure. Give me a call on Monday.” I hoped to God that didn’t sound forced.
    “Brilliant.”