The Hang Up (First Impressions) Read Online Free Page B

layoff idea for the first time in a marketing meeting instead of in a private briefing in his own office. Rex Rutherford was either clueless or a total prick. Probably both, which could be a dangerous combination.
    Jason picked up his pen to jot the first words in his new notebook.
    Figure out how to beat corporate assholes at their own game.
    Not the most professional note in the world, but a good thing to have on his to-do list as a new CEO.
    He flipped the notebook closed and turned back to Miriam and laid his hands flat on the table. “You still have the original concepts you worked up for Urban Trax? The ones that represent a dirtier, edgier approach you’re talking about?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Well then, let’s see what you’ve got.”
    Miriam licked her lips. “I’d be happy to show you.”
    …
    It was well after five o’clock, but Miriam and Holly were still hunched over their laptops in the conference room, debriefing over a dish of gummy penises left behind by a client specializing in adult-themed edibles.
    Holly frowned at her screen as she nibbled the tip of a green gummy. “If we shift the Sunstone Lemonade account to Curtis and put Erica in charge of hiring the voice talent for those Visit Portland radio spots—”
    “And maybe we could fast-track things on hiring that new account rep,” Miriam mused. She scrolled through her too-full calendar. She really needed to budget time for things like peeing and sleeping. “Also, we should probably put Sierra or Brandon on the production team for the Rosewood Pianos account.” She grabbed a strawberry-flavored gummy dick, popped it in her mouth, and chewed as she moved her cursor over the page.
    “Right,” Holly said as she glanced up from her laptop. “If we do all that and shuffle the Anderson marketing plan to next month, we might be able to devote the time they need to this new direction on the Urban Trax project.”
    “You mean the new old direction? The one we should have gone with in the first place?”
    “At least they’re considering taking our advice this time,” Holly said.
    “Yeah, thanks to Jason.” Saying his name sent a shiver of pleasure through her body, but she ordered herself to stay focused on work. She started to reach for another gummy dick, but she folded her hands on the table instead. “I still can’t believe Urban Trax is in that much financial trouble.”
    “It makes sense, though, doesn’t it?” Holly said. “I mean with the embezzling thing and with the way they were already in a downslide before they came to us.”
    “Yeah, but to have to lay off that many people?”
    Holly shrugged and grabbed another piece of candy. “I don’t think they remembered to brief the new CEO before today’s meeting. Did you see the look on his face when Rex Rutherford mentioned the layoff?”
    “Yeah,” Miriam mused, remembering Jason Sanders’s stunned expression. “It wasn’t much different from how he looked when my cat barged in on him naked.”
    Holly snort-laughed and nearly knocked over her glass of ice water. “God, what are the odds? Seriously—the hot naked guy in your bathroom turns out to be the new CEO for one of our biggest clients.”
    “Definitely a crazy coincidence. Also, I totally lied. The look on his face in that meeting was way different from the look he had when he caught me staring at his junk.”
    “I can only imagine.”
    Miriam’s brain took a detour down Pervert Lane at the memory of all that glorious man-flesh on display in her bathroom. Jason Sanders looked like he’d been digitally enhanced in all the right places.
    Some places more than others.
    She found herself grinning at the memory, both of the meeting and the encounter in the bathroom. “It was great to see him stand up to those stuffed shirts on day one. I knew before today’s meeting that the guy had huge balls,” she mused. “It was nice to see him prove it in front of everyone.”
    “Thank you.”
    Both women jumped at