No Strings... Read Online Free

favorite type of hard candy he usually grazed on in the afternoon as a sweet treat. He unwrapped the confection and slipped it into his mouth, sucking on the candy for a few seconds before speaking again.
    “Fully immersing yourself in the experience will give you a better idea of what works, what doesn’t and what the resort needs to change or elevate in terms of quality, service and overall customer satisfaction.”
    Aiden rubbed a hand along his tense jaw. “So, you want us to go through the matchmaking process along with everyone else registered at the resort?” he asked their boss.
    “Just go through the motions, Landry,” Perry said with a casual wave of his hand. “You’re not there to find the love of your life, but you can’t create an effective campaign without knowing what you’re up against. In this case, there are millions of dollars on the line. The other firm’s executives will be there, as well, so I trust that you both can handle the situation and what you’re required to do?”
    Perry’s request was more of a subtle challenge than a question, and Chloe wasn’t about to voice her own aversion to mingling with other desperate singles and risk being replaced by another hungry ad executive who’d kill to have the opportunity she was being given. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d stepped into the dirty trenches to get the job done, and if she had to endure organized activities, fend off unwanted advances and make small talk with men who’d been deemed compatible for her, well, then, she was willing to suffer for her career.
    “Absolutely, Mr. Perry,” she said in a tone as unwavering as her commitment to the firm, and the campaign.
    Aiden’s reply was just as resolute. “Yes, sir.”
    “Good.” Richard gave a curt nod, pleased to have them both on board. “You’ll be leaving a week from Monday, so make sure you have all your other accounts covered before you go. Good luck to both of you.”
    With that, Perry let them go, and she and Aiden walked in silence back toward the outer offices. As soon as they stepped through the double glass doors, Chloe came to a stop and so did Aiden, both of them still processing everything that had just happened back in Richard’s office.
    Aiden gave his head a hard shake. “I didn’t see that coming,” he muttered.
    “Me, either,” she agreed. She’d anticipated that one of them would have been celebrating right now, preferably her. Instead, there was another firm involved and she and Aiden were now adversaries of sorts, each one of them motivated to do whatever might be necessary to create the winning campaign and outshine the other, while spending a week together at a matchmaking resort.
    While they’d always had a great working relationship, they’d never been set against one another, and she hated to think that their drive and ambition to secure this client, and the generous bonus, might ruin their friendly rapport.
    She glanced up at Aiden, meeting his vivid gaze, momentarily struck by how mesmerizing those blue orbs could be. “Promise me something?” she blurted out, before she could think better of what she was about to ask. Or why it was so important to her. It just was.
    “Sure,” he said, taking her request very seriously.
    Exhaling a deep breath, she put her concerns out in the open before she changed her mind. “Promise me when everything is said and done, if one of us ultimately gets the St. Raphael account, it won’t change our working relationship. Or our friendship,” she added, because she definitely considered him that, too.
    He tipped his head, a reassuring smile on his lips. “You should know by now that I don’t operate that way, or hold professional grudges.”
    She knew that to be true, but his words relieved her, anyway. “I don’t, either,” she said, and allowed a sassy grin to surface, as well as her competitive nature. “But I hate to see a grown man cry, and I’m sure you’ll be reduced to tears