Free The Perfect Proposal by Rhonda Nelson

she concurred with his
thoughts.
    “ No, thanks, Ed,” Mitch told
him. “I think we’ve got everything we need to give this campaign a
real informative hook. We appreciate your time.”
    “ Glad I could be of
service,” Ed told them. “Let me know if I can help you anymore.”
With that, the pro-wiener Ed relieved them of the hard hats and
took his leave.
    As soon as Ed was out of earshot, Annie
breathed a theatrical sigh of relief. “Ick!” she shuddered. “That’s
it. As of now, I’m officially a vegetarian.” She fluffed her hair,
then pivoted on her heel and made a beeline to the car Les had lent
them.
    Mitch watched her heart-shaped derriere sway
fetchingly away. Her better side, he thought grimly, but grinned
anyway. Mitch opened Annie’s door, then rounded the hood and slid
behind the wheel. “I don’t suppose you’re hungry, then?”
    “ Actually, I am. I missed
breakfast this morning,” she said dryly, and shot him a pointed
look. Mitch shook his head and smiled to himself.
    The packing plant was only a few miles out of
town, so they settled on a diner near the city limits. To his vast
relief, Annie kept her grumbling to a minimum and seemed to perk up
as they ate their meal. The vegetarian declaration lasted only as
long as the drive, Mitch noted, as he watched Annie
enthusiastically devour a cheeseburger.
    “ Who would have ever thought
that much planning went into a wiener?” she mused, munching
thoughtfully.
    Mitch grunted his agreement as he gulped a
drink of iced tea. “I know. I’ll never look at a hot dog the same
way.”
    “ Humph.” Annie rolled her
eyes. “I’ll never look at a hot dog again, period.”
    Mitch chuckled, relieved that they seemed to
be getting along for the moment. “Les does take his meat seriously,
doesn’t he?”
    She nodded, her lips tilting into a wry
smile. She steepled her fingers and rested her chin on them. “One
might say that. Les doesn’t believe in doing anything halfway…as
I’m sure you’ve noticed with his choice of wardrobe,” she added
with a mischievous grin.
    Oh, yes, Mitch knew. After dinner last night,
Les had mentioned designing a new suit just for him. Wanted to give
him a makeover. Quite frankly, though Mitch admired the little
cowboy, he had no intention of taking any fashion tips from him.
Les’s sartorial style could only be described as Boss Hogg meets
late Elvis. Mitch winced. He’d sooner have a root canal.
    Annie laughed, a sexy, throaty chuckle that
momentarily distracted Mitch from his clothing dilemma. “I take it
you’re not enamored of his Lycra-satin-rhinestones creations?”
    He returned her grin. “I prefer Armani.”
    Annie considered him for a moment. Her gaze
tangled with his. “Funny,” she mused. “I would have taken you for a
jeans and T-shirt kind of guy. Preppy, yet…not. She shrugged and
snagged a French fry off her plate.
    Mitch felt his smile slip and hoped she
didn’t notice. For whatever reason, that Annie pegged him so
readily made him uncomfortable. It was true he much preferred jeans
to slacks; however, denim wasn’t exactly part of the corporate
look. And, since he had to fit in, Mitch had made it a priority to
get the right uniform. If only it wasn’t so—
    “ Oh!” Annie said abruptly,
as if sudden inspiration had seized her. She dove into her purse
and pulled out a small notebook and pen, then began to scribble
frantically.
    Mitch frowned, suspicious. “Oh, what?”
    Annie looked up and smiled mysteriously. “I
just had an idea.”
    Great, Mitch thought, perturbed. While he’d
been mourning the loss of his Levis, Annie’d been continuing to
work. To get ahead of him. To win this stupid contest.
    Annie clicked her pen, flipped the notebook
closed, then to his further irritation, heaved a satisfied sigh.
“You know, Mitch, Les might have been onto something with these
tours. What next on the agenda?”
    Mitch’s first inclination was to grab his own
notebook and feign sudden