The Reluctant Cinderella Read Online Free

himself to let go. “Your company is relatively new, isn’t it?”
    She nodded firmly. “Design Solutions is three years old and growing by leaps and bounds. I have two graphic artists on staff, a Web expert, an office manager, a clerk-receptionist and an intern who helps out wherever we need him. I’m looking at bringing in another artist and possibly even a second designer at the first of the year.” She gestured with one of those soft hands. “Just put the portfolio down anywhere.” With the tips of her fingers, she brushed the back of one of the two chairs that faced his desk. He wished those fingers were brushing him. “Sit here, beside me. I’ll boot up my laptop and we can get started…”
    Sitting beside her.
    Excellent idea. He took the chair she’d indicated and propped her portfolio up on the floor between them, then he sat back and watched as she took a laptop the size of Cleveland from her fat briefcase and opened the thing on the outer edge of his desk.
    â€œI’ll show you some of the work we’ve done.” She sent him another of those captivating smiles as the big screen glowed to life. “Then I want to give you a basic idea of the many ways Design Solutions can bolster and expand on the Banning’s brand. Finally, we’ll take a look at a few things in the portfolio. It’s always good, I think, to get a sense of textures and colors, to see firsthand how the print work is going to translate. We can do so much online and withcomputer programs now, but sometimes digital images simply aren’t the same as holding the finished product in your hands….”
    â€œExcellent,” he said as she started bringing up examples of work her company had done. Each one was different from the last, and each was terrific—clear and well-organized, with colors that popped and graphics that jumped right off the screen.
    As she began explaining how she would work her own particular magic on Banning’s image, Greg realized he was interested—and not only in the lush, peach-scented Ms. Schumacher herself.
    Her ideas for Banning’s were fresh and exciting. And Greg had been thinking lately that the company needed an upgrade on the image front. Their trademark black-and-red graphics had once seemed sophisticated and dramatic.
    Now, though, gazing at the images Megan had prepared for him, the plain black-and-red seemed a little bit tired, didn’t it? A little bit old.
    â€œWe don’t want to go with different colors,” Megan suggested. “We don’t want to lose your brand recognition. We just want to…update your look a little. Instead of midnight black, we’ll make it just a tiny bit silvery. So the black has a certain…luster. No?”
    He was nodding. She continued, “And we’ll go from that slightly blue red to an even brighter, more aggressive true red….”
    â€œI like it.”
    She glanced at him. That dimpled smiledbloomed and her green eyes danced. “I kind of figured you would.”
    She spoke of launching a print campaign to make sure all of Banning’s customers were aware of the fresh styles they carried now. They needed, she said, to showcase the new clothing lines they’d recently introduced, the ones that targeted a younger, trendier consumer. She took apart Bannings.com, said the pages were too slow to load, and navigation could be simpler. Her Web guy, she promised, was a genius. He could get with Banning’s Web people and help them streamline the site while they worked on the various image-brand issues.
    Greg listened and nodded, asked a few questions and liked the answers he got, all the while planning how he was going to get to know her better.
    It might not be easy. She was direct and cheerful and friendly. But she wasn’t coming on to him. Not in the least.
    Still, she had to feel it, didn’t she? The heat of attraction? She was only