“A pity,” Mrs. Pratt said, clicking her tongue.
Jon fidgeted with his burgundy pocket square.
“The point I’m trying to make here is that men fall in love easier than women,” I said. “So, with that in mind, it only makes sense that we use it to our advantage.”
Mrs. Pratt tucked her chair in closer to the table so she could rest her elbows upon it. “And how might we do that?”
I was glad she asked. I’d noted in my cue cards, which I hadn’t needed to use because my entire presentation was committed to memory, that this was the place to pause and wait for her to engage. Moments like this were crucial for me to measure whether or not I was on the right track. If she hadn’t asked the question, it meant I wasn’t close to having her buy in.
I opened my mouth to respond but caught movement out of the corner of my eye. My attention flicked briefly to the glass walls of the conference room. On the other side was the office. From here, I could see the open door of my own private office, as well as Jon’s, and the beginning of the shared office space.
But I wasn’t looking at the office itself.
I was looking at Ethan Collinder, my insufferable colleague and the only competitor I had in this place vying to take partner out from under me.
We locked eyes and he gave me a smug smile as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his suit pants and rocked back on his heels. The bastard wanted me to blow this. He’d wanted the contract for himself but Jon had handed it to me, deciding that a woman would have better chemistry with Mrs. Pratt and her needs. Ethan hadn’t liked the decision but he respected it.
Sort of.
Ethan pulled one hand from his pocket and waggled his fingers at me in a disguised taunt.
I tried to ignore him. This was the exact reason why I’d told Jon a year and a half ago that we needed real walls in the conference room, not transparent ones. He wouldn’t hear it, of course. He liked the open-concept flow of his office and he felt it was more inviting with all the glass and exposed ceilings. I might have agreed with him if Ethan didn’t work here.
I resolved to deal with Ethan later tonight in my dream, where I would inevitably see him again with his smug smile on the other side of the glass. In my dream, I’d be able to take out my earrings, march out into the hall, and beat that irritating smirk right off his lips with my knuckles.
For now, I had to keep my head in the game.
“We take advantage of these stats by sharing them with your clients,” I said confidently. “We take the average amount of days between the two, which would be one hundred and eleven—a marketable, memorable, and visually appealing number, I might add—and we build a dating program around that duration.” I gestured at my board which displayed everything I’d just said. “We market this with the strategy that users of Perfect Pairings will find their soul mates within one hundred and eleven days with the help of your program.”
Mrs. Pratt tried to purse her lips once more. “For some reason, it sounds like a long time when you put it like that.”
“It does,” I acknowledged, “but this isn’t a hookup app. It’s not a meetup app. This is supposed to be for people who are looking to fall in love. For people who genuinely want it. If they’re serious, they’ll be willing to put in the time. And if they put in the time, statistically, they’ll be successful. And the success of your clients is the success of your app, simply put.”
Jon tucked his chin low to hide his grin and I knew I had this in the bag.
Mrs. Pratt began to nod.
I smiled broadly and leaned forward to plant my hands flat on the table. “So, how would you like to begin, Mrs. Pratt?”
Chapter 2
Ethan
Kathryn had her client by the balls. I could tell.
Not that it was anything new. She pretty much always secured a deal after her pitch. It beat the hell out of me how she was so damn successful in that conference room but the facts spoke for themselves. She had a way with clients.
A pushy, cutthroat, take no prisoners way.
After shooting her a wave and a smug smile, she steadfastly ignored me. I lingered outside the conference room, bemused by how much I could irritate her by just standing close by.
One of my colleagues, Mark Sanders, drew up beside me and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s doing well,” he said, nodding pointedly at the client, Mrs. Pratt. “She seems engaged. And Jon looks pleased, too.”
I chuckled. “She’s a shark.”
“Always has been,” Mark said.
“She had this in the bag the minute Mrs. Pratt sat down. I know it. Jon knows it. Kathryn knows it. You can tell. Look at the glint in her eye. Hell, we all know it. And Kathryn knows we know it.”
“Are you having a stroke?”
“You know what I’m trying to say.”
“If you say the word ‘know’ one more time, I’m calling an ambulance.”
I snorted. “Relax, Sanders. I’m in perfectly good health. I mean come on. Look at me. I’m the poster boy for protein and exercise.”
“And inflated egos.”
“The only one with an inflated ego in this office is her,” I said, nodding at Kathryn. “This was supposed to be my pitch.”
Mark didn’t say anything. What was he supposed to say? He knew I’d been the initial point of contact between the agency and Mrs. Pratt. For a solid week and a half, I’d been under the impression that the pitch was mine. I’d even started working on it before Jon pulled me into his office and reassigned me to a smaller contract. Then he’d handed Perfect Pairings to Kathryn on a silver platter. He’d told me not to ask questions, so I’d kept my mouth shut.
For the most part.
“The point is it looks like the office will get the contract,” Mark said, ever the optimist. “Besides, did you really want to work on a dating application?”
I shrugged. “Couldn’t be that bad.”
“With her?” Mark nodded at Mrs. Pratt. “She looks like the kind of woman who would give you headaches on a daily basis and expect you to show up to meetings with a coffee for her.”
“Nothing wrong with showing up to a meeting with coffee for your client.”
Mark rolled his eyes. “You’re missing the point. She’s high maintenance. You dodged a bullet, man. Let Kathryn handle the diva. Something better will fall in your lap. It always does.”
I sighed. “I seriously doubt partner will fall into my lap.”
Mark made an unsure sound in the back of his throat.
I shot a glance at him out of the corner of his eye. “What was that?”
“Just because Kathryn lands Perfect Pairings doesn’t mean she’s a shoo-in for partner. You two couldn’t be more different. Jon has a big decision on his plate but there’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to give you the job, Ethan.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“You’ve been here longer,” Mark said. “And on top of that, you’re better liked among everyone in the office.”
“It’s easy to be favored by the people when your rival is Satan.”
“Easy.” Mark chuckled, shaking his head. “She’s not that bad, but she’s not that nice, either. If it were up to the rest of us, you know you’d have our vote.”