Page 68 of Book Club Confidential

Telling her she had to work late. Had to join a team she’d declined twice already. Hello, Marketing was never this type of company. Agents had the freedom to choose their projects and serve their clients as they saw best. Xavier used to brag about the positive climate and culture he’d created. He was proud of it, as he should be.

None of his current behavior made any sense.

The whole thing felt icky, like an abuse of power, and definitely not like the company she’d loved working for.

The way he’d looked at her, spoken to her—

She couldn’t stay now, but she couldn’t walk away either, not without at least telling him first. “Ugh!” she growled, willing herself not to stomp a foot in frustration, then she followed Xavier to the conference room.

Nearly every seat at the large oval table was filled by the team members Peyton had selected. An open laptop sat before each person; their phones, notebooks, and pens were at the ready as well. Each looked as uncomfortable as she felt, no doubt realizing Xavier was furious with them and their lack of progress.

Peyton appeared slightly miserable until he locked eyes with her, then the corner of his mouth rose into a smirk. His scapegoat had arrived.

Tessa took the last available seat and checked the time again, then she did some mental math. She couldn’t stay for a meeting. She had a friend who needed her support far more than this group needed her input. If she left in the next few minutes, she might still get to the ball on time.

“All right,” Xavier began. “We need to make real progress on this and quickly. What do we have so far?”

The team sat silently, and Tessa’s frustration turned to concern. The group of men and the one token woman, who was an intern who’d never handled her own account, looked completely lost. As a whole, the team was young, new, and relatively inexperienced. No wonder things weren’t going well.

“Come on,” Xavier coaxed, clapping his palms together roughly. “You’ve had enough time to prepare multiple pitch concepts on this. Let’s hear what we’ve got.”

Peyton shifted in the seat beside him. “We’re revamping the initial idea of an all-pink color scheme.”

Jenny, the young woman across the table nodded. “Not all women like pink.”

“My girls like teal,” Robert, an older agent said. “But my wife really likes pink.” His gaze swept to Peyton on the latter statement.

“Okay,” Xavier said slowly. “What’s the new color palette?”

“Purple,” Peyton said. “Like lilacs. From the company’s namesake.”

Jenny met Tessa’s eyes for a prolonged moment before looking away.

Xavier ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “Okay, what else?”

“Lace,” Peyton said confidently. “We have sample fonts with lace as the inspiration and some packaging prototypes that lean into the visual. A faux lace overlay,” he continued. “Printed on the boxes, used as frames on website imagery . . .” He trailed off when Xavier didn’t appear excited.

Instead, Xavier looked to Tessa. “Thoughts?”

“Will the lace be purple?” she joked.

Xavier rubbed his right eyebrow, then his temple. “We’re asking for your help,” he said. “Not your condescension.”

Her cheeks heated at the scolding, and her stomach knotted with embarrassment. She probably should have kept her comment to herself, but she’d hoped to lighten the mood. No one could be creative under this level of tension. What was wrong with him? He’d taught her that when she was new and too focused on getting things perfect. Xavier had told her to step back. Breathe. Smile. Then try again.

Also, was he serious with his question? He wanted her thoughts on lilac-colored branding and lace fonts for a company called Lilacs and Lace? Had all these people really spent days coming up with that? Could they have given the project less thought?

“It’s just so on the nose,” she said, finally. She shifted her attention to the newer interns and softened her tone. “Branding should encapsulate the company motto, values, and audience, not just represent the name.”

“How would you suggest we do that?” Xavier demanded, thankfully directing the question to the other team members.

Peyton typed on his laptop, then paused. “We can use unshaven models in the ads.”

“What?” Xavier turned echoing Tessa’s thoughts. “Why?”

Peyton’s expression twisted as he looked from his screen to Xavier. “Empowering feminism?”

Tessa’s thoughts slowed as his words registered. She’d added several nonsensical lines on empowering feminism in the file she suspected Peyton stole from. She’d added free bleeding during monthly cycles and abstinence as well. She assumed he’d see how ridiculous the notions were and realize she knew he was using her ideas. More importantly, he’d realize that she was mocking him and that he’d never get another piece of her intellectual property for free.