Free The Hang Up (First Impressions) by Tawna Fenske Page B

this magnitude, but given the last round of financials we were presented, I’m not sure the time is right.”
    Rex’s words hung in the air between them, and Jason filled in the blanks on his own. He knew what the tight-ass accounting director was referring to. They’d both been in the meeting Monday morning, and Jason had fought like hell to convince the board that moving forward with the plan to lay off two hundred employees wasn’t the best course of action. Not yet, anyway.
    Across the table, Miriam opened her mouth to respond, but Jason beat her to it. “Actually, Rex, what I took from Monday’s meeting with the board is that they’re open to hearing creative solutions to the current financial challenges.” He glanced at Miriam, who met his gaze with an unreadable expression. He turned back to Rex and tapped the mock-up of a logo concept he’d found particularly clever. “I think what Ms. Ashley and Ms. Colvin have just shown us here is creativity at its finest.”
    From the corner of his eye, he saw Miriam shift in her seat. He looked back to see her cheeks looked faintly flushed and she was watching him with a guarded expression.
    “Thank you,” she said tightly. “And as we’ve shown you from the case studies we presented from other First Impressions clients, we have a proven track record of helping clients make great financial strides with a few changes in the overall marketing approach.”
    Rex sighed. “Be that as it may, the Urban Trax board of directors is concerned about the bottom line.”
    “I’m concerned about the bottom line as well,” Jason agreed. “But I’m also concerned with the bottom line for our employees. With our commitment to them and their families.”
    “Likewise.” Miriam stared at Jason from across the table. “Few things in the world are more important than commitment and loyalty to family.”
    Jason nodded, surprised by the passion in her voice, but glad they were on the same page. “I couldn’t agree more.”
    Rex frowned but said nothing. Jason watched as Miriam and Holly exchanged a look he couldn’t quite read. The two women seemed to have a shared language all their own, which probably explained why they ran such a successful business together.
    “Well,” Holly said, taking charge of the meeting again. “It sounds like the Urban Trax executive team has a lot to discuss. We’re already over our allotted time, so we won’t keep you any longer.”
    Miriam nodded and closed her laptop. “If you have any questions about what we’ve presented here today, please don’t hesitate to reach out.”
    Again, Jason couldn’t help but notice she was avoiding his eyes. Was it normal post-grope awkwardness? Was she playing it cool? They’d agreed to pretend the kiss never happened, but what was going on here seemed like something more.
    Ellie had told him Miriam stopped by to drop off the gloves, and he’d been bummed to miss her. “She’s pretty,” his kid sister had said, grinning like she had in grade school when she found out he had a crush on a girl. “I tried to get her to come in and hang out until you got back, but she didn’t want to wait around for your sorry ass.”
    So that’s the way it had to be between them. It made sense, but Jason couldn’t pretend to like it. He’d been trying like hell to forget that kiss for the last four days. Maybe Miriam had had better luck with that than he had.
    Around the table, the other executives were beginning to stand up and stuff papers into briefcases. Rex seemed intent on ignoring Jason, but the marketing director, Pete Marshall, gave him a nod. “Do you need a ride back to the office?”
    “Nah, I biked here,” Jason said. “You go on ahead. I want to stay a minute longer to go over some of the ad concepts with Holly and Miriam.”
    “Actually, Holly has another meeting scheduled in here,” Miriam said with a glance at her business partner. Holly gave what looked like a sympathetic head tilt before