Unwrapping Mr. Wright. Michele Dunaway
he’d been saying. Knowing Justin, though, she took a stab and gave him a classic PR answer. “I heard you,” Lauren replied, “and I thank you for your opinion.”
She tactfully omitted the word unwelcome, but as if sensing it anyway, Justin narrowed his eyes sharply. Lauren set the merry little pen down. “But as this is my area of expertise, I must respectfully disagree with your assessment of everything.” To avoid Justin’s obvious displeasure, Lauren looked for support to Clint Seaver, her immediate boss and the vice president of Public Relations and Marketing. He had a silly grin on his face, as if watching Justin and Lauren spar was more exciting than the St. Louis Blues hockey games he loved.
“I was hired to make Wright Solutions a prominent player, with growth like that of Microsoft in the 1990s. To do this, Wright Solutions needs to do many things besides the Christmas party. Next year I plan to—”
“Whatever. As you said, Jared gave you control of the Christmas party. Just don’t overspend your budget or you’ll answer to me.” Justin had cut her off as though the conversation had suddenly become irrelevant and now bored him. Lauren’s jaw dropped at his boorishness, though she quickly recovered and closed her mouth. Never had the despicable Mr. Wright been this rude.
This time, though, he didn’t look at her again or explain his actions. He glanced at his watch and turned his attention to Clint. “It’s your budget for next year, Clint. If you think including the projects Lauren is about to tell me about—again—is the way to go, fine. Let her run with them. I’ll expect a full report on my desk in two weeks regarding your plans for the new year. Before I go, are we still on for poker tonight?”
Clint grinned, the grin of someone secure about being in the inner circle, the grin of someone who had been friends with the three Wright brothers ever since high school. “Me miss a Friday-night poker bash? Never. We’re definitely on. My place tonight.”
“Super. I’ll see you at seven.” With that, Justin Wright stood and, without another word or glance in Lauren’s direction, left the conference room.
Good riddance, Lauren thought as he disappeared from sight. Never had she met a man so temperamentally different from his brothers.
Justin’s elder brother, Jared, was kind and gentle, yet steely and strong. Justin’s twin, Jeff, was puppy-dog adorable, the type of guy that a girl just wanted to hug and take care of. He was safe, predictable, the kind of man a girl looked for after being burned once too often by Mr. Wrong. It didn’t hurt that he wasn’t bad looking, either. Not as hot or handsome as his twin brother—few men were like Justin Wright—but Jeff was near enough. And he didn’t have Justin’s attitude, which made Jeff a much better catch.
Lauren knew how safe and wonderful Jeff was because she had lived next to him for the past three years. Her condo shared a wall with Jeff’s and he’d been the one to tell her about the new position at Wright Solutions that his twin had reluctantly created.
Of course, if from the beginning Lauren had realized she would be working this closely with the condescending womanizer, she might not have even considered the job. She picked up her pad of paper, her candy-cane pen and, after everyone else preceded her, left the conference room.
Oh, who was she kidding? Even she had to admit that despite Justin Wright, this job was perfect for her talents and her media communications degree from Webster University.
Instead of being one of twenty PR specialists doing mindless press releases and endless corporate brochures the way she had been at Simons and Simmons Public Relations, here at Wright Solutions she had the chance to really make a difference. She was a hometown girl and she could grow with a hometown company.
Clint aside, Lauren was the PR department, and the future and her private stock options had an unlimited ceiling. And then there was the best perk of all—working with Jeff Wright, man of her dreams. Jeff was the company’s first responder to any computer or software crisis. She made a quick stop in the copy room, picked up a stack of file folders and walked to her small office, with its lovely view of the parking lot and the building next door.
Speak of the devil.
“So how’d it go?” Jeff leaned against her doorjamb. He and Justin were easy to tell apart once you got to know them: Jeff had a softer face, different from the harder edged face that made girls swoon over his twin. Jeff’s chin rounded more than Justin’s more square one, and Jeff’s Roman nose was crooked from being broken in a long-ago hockey game. Although they both had green eyes, Justin’s were a dark emerald shade, whereas Jeff’s were the color of light green cellophane.
Lauren flashed Jeff her best dazzling smile. “Great.”
“Super,” Jeff said. He didn’t notice or mention her fitted red Christmas sweater, which she’d worn just for him. “Hopefully, it wasn’t too bad. Justin really is taking this running-the-show stuff seriously while Jared’s gone. Hey, I’m going to be working late tonight and I need a favor. Could you iron my blue pinstripe?”
Lauren’s gut clenched, but she covered her reaction by simply raising an eyebrow. “Have a date?”
Jeff grinned and Lauren’s heart softened. She recognized that grin. “Sort of. Tomorrow night’s Mom’s birthday. We’re taking her out to Tony’s to celebrate.”
“All of you? Tony’s is fancy. Suit coat, tie—the works. You’re sure?”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, well, it is for Mom. And it’ll be all of us except for Jared. You know, I don’t get my older brother. Who would go on a honeymoon for a month and then extend it by another four weeks?”
“I would if I found the right man,” Lauren said. “Sun, surf and…” She left the word sex unsaid.
Jeff arched a strawberry-blond eyebrow at her. In Lauren’s opinion, Jeff had the most handsome shade of red hair—not too red, nor too orangy blond. It was simply perfect. With his twinkling green eyes, he’d won a St. Patrick’s Day “dress as a leprechaun” contest once. That Justin’s hair was the same gorgeous color was irrelevant.
“Yeah, I guess you girls would want to keep a guy out of commission that long. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could bring my laptop, but Jared doesn’t even turn his on every day. Like I said, I just don’t get him.” Jeff shrugged his broad shoulders for emphasis, indicating exactly how foolish he thought his madly-in-love elder brother was.
“Anyway, just grab the shirt—you know the one—out of my closet. I’ve got some software to finish writing and I doubt I’ll even make it home until well past midnight.”
Lauren adored that Jeff was such a committed computer geek. Not that he looked or acted like it, but given a choice of dating or programming, the computer won hands down every time. Jeff always maintained that computers were a lot simpler to deal with than women. Justin, however, was the opposite.
“Want me to leave you some dinner?” she asked. “Something to microwave? I’ll put it in your refrigerator when I return your shirt.”
Jeff gave her an appreciative smile. “That would be great. You know I always forget to eat when I get caught up in work. What would I do without you? You’re such a pal, Lauren.” He shifted, and she could tell he itched to return to his computer and the program he was writing. “I’ll catch you later, okay?”
“Sure,” Lauren said. She watched a whistling Jeff walk away until he disappeared around a corner. Unlike his annoying brother, Jeff Wright was a dream. In the past three years, he’d become her best friend. They talked constantly and shared things like chores and food. She sighed suddenly and plucked a fuzzy piece of red lint off her sweater. Everyone in the office said red was her color, but Jeff hadn’t even noticed.
She frowned as a sense of disquiet came over her. After three years, one would have expected a little more from their relationship. It should have changed somehow, some way. They were friends; they got along great; they’d each been burned once or twice. That made them perfect for each other—they’d have the kind of relationship