PeakExperience (18 page)

The next morning Lena could barely open her eyes and she
pulled the covers over her face when Daniel brought her coffee in bed. He sat
next to her and stroked her arm.

“How can you be up so early?” she asked when she finally
peeked out and sipped the hot liquid. “And your hair is wet. You’ve gone for
your run and showered.”

“Habit mostly. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I had a wonderful dream. A sexy man made love to me.”

“Now that does sound nice. Did you enjoy it?”

“Couldn’t you tell?”

He smiled then bent down to kiss her. She scooted over on
the mattress and he joined her. “So,” he said after a while, “do we head back
to the city today?”

She didn’t answer. They’d accomplished what they’d come out
here to do. Now they needed the rest of the team to create the final product to
show the client. But the idea of leaving didn’t really appeal. Unfortunately,
she couldn’t offer a reason to stay so she nodded.

It was a while before she was ready to get out of bed, eat
something and start the process of packing clothes, cleaning the dark room, and
making certain everything in her art studio was properly stored. They talked
about the campaign and jotted down ideas as they packed, but Lena could feel
herself getting more nervous.

It was one thing to spend a few days away from everyone and
everything. With no intrusions of friends, family and careers and tucked in
their own little haven, everything was simple and wonderful. He made her feel
safe, sexy and loved, but would it change once they were back to their regular
lives?

“Everything will be fine, my love,” Daniel said, breaking
into her thoughts.

She looked at him, not entirely surprised he had an idea
what she was thinking. They were coming to know each other’s thoughts pretty
well, and he knew her fears better than anyone ever had. “I want it to be.
After all that’s happened, I guess I’m feeling a little vulnerable.”

He reached over, brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“I’m here.” His words, as they often did, soothed and reassured her.

They were both in new territory here, so at least if she was
scared she had company. Sexy, supportive, loving company.

Maybe being vulnerable wasn’t too bad.

* * * * *

They arrived back in the city late in the afternoon, parked
Lena’s car at her building then took a cab to the Crane and Fulton office. Most
of the staff was getting ready to leave for the day, but Lena and Daniel
gathered everyone into the conference room to present their ideas. As expected,
they went over beautifully. Michelle was so excited she was dancing around the
room and was ready to order champagne for everyone.

“I think we should wait until after the pitch deadline,”
Lena said. “We’ve only got a few days to make these ideas look as polished and
magazine ready as possible.”

“You know we’ve got this,” Michelle said.

Lena was ready to hope but quite ready to be as positive as
her friend.

The next days were a flurry of activity and little to no
sleep. With Lena and Michelle’s input, Daniel hired and worked with models on
the photo shoot. Michelle arranged for the necessary studio space and helped
Daniel with the set decoration necessary to create central ad images of the men
looking with longing at the lovely women in their lives. When she saw the
proofs at the end of the day, Lena was blown away. Even alone, the pictures
would make buyers crazy for the product. But when Daniel added his art to them,
then the real magic began. He put in long hours creating the fantasy images
based on the faces and poses of the woman, which then framed the final image
and showed the wild and passionate thoughts the lady inspired in her man.

In addition to helping Daniel, Lena wrote long and short
copy ideas, worked with typefaces to create the right impact for the words so
they complemented but didn’t distract from the visuals, and storyboarded short
television commercials. At the end of each day, they spent more hours talking
about what other layouts they needed and to be certain their work was fitting.
The days were long, but they flew by. Most nights they collapsed into bed only
to wake a few hours later and start the process all over again.

And although she knew she was exhausted, Lena hadn’t felt
this energized in years. When she looked in the mirror she saw someone happy
and animated, a far cry from a few weeks ago when she hardly recognized her
reflection.

* * * * *

On the day of the presentation, Lena, Michelle and Daniel
went to the meeting knowing they brought their best work. Lena and Michelle
made certain to wear Golden Cosmetics, but Lena thought if she glowed it was
love and excitement that did it. Of course, that was what was at the heart of
their campaign. Golden Cosmetics brought out a woman’s inner goddess, inner
passion. Lena gave Daniel’s hand a squeeze as they walked into the conference
room. He’d helped to bring it out in her.

Even knowing the executives had seen several other talented
and well-established firms, Lena was confident that what they were offering was
new and exciting. She’d been to enough of these meetings to know when the
client was interested and from the way people were leaning forward in their
seats and the questions they asked, she could tell they were hooked. Nothing
was certain, but she had no doubt that they’d given their best and whatever
happened, that mattered almost as much as anything.

Still, she didn’t sleep well as they waited to hear Golden’s
final decision. She didn’t do anything well. Patience had never been one of her
virtues. She jumped every time the phone rang and checked her messages
constantly. She tried to concentrate on other accounts, but her mind wandered
and sometimes shut down completely. They went to a movie one day and five
minutes after they left she couldn’t remember what it was about. She was
grateful for every night Daniel distracted her, made her laugh, held her, and
made love to her. She missed having him at the office now that his job was
done, but she didn’t think she could have enjoyed him much anyway.

Every day that passed without word made her lose a little
more hope.

“No news is good news,” Daniel said. “You can’t know what
they are thinking or doing.”

“We’d have heard bad news by now,” Michelle said.

They both tried to keep their spirits up, but Lena knew
Michelle well and could see the cracks start in her friend’s optimism.

She was considering going home early on the Friday nearly
two weeks after their presentation when Michelle called her.

“I’ve got Golden on hold. Get in here quickly.”

Lena kicked off her shoes and ran to Michelle’s office. She
saw a few thumbs-up and hopeful looks from their other employees as they
passed.

“Lena just arrived, Mr. Golden. We’re ready.”

It took all Lena’s strength not to react to the news until
they hung up the phone, but the moment the receiver was in its cradle she
looked at her best friend and smiled broadly before they both screamed at the
top of their lungs. The account was theirs. Every minute of work, sweat and
tears paid off. They had won the biggest job of their careers and the company
was saved.

Michelle ran to the kitchen and brought out two bottles of
champagne she’d kept hidden for the last week. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t
lunch time yet. Cups and mugs were filled and their success was toasted. The
offer was generous and this account alone was going to keep them going for
years, to say nothing of the accounts it was going to attract for them.

Daniel arrived a half hour later and joined the celebration,
picking Lena up, swinging her around and kissing her passionately in front of
the entire staff. She couldn’t have cared less. He was a part of this
achievement and she was thrilled to share it with him.

They ordered lunch in for everyone and when the food and
drink were gone they closed the office for the rest of the day. Lena and Daniel
spent the day walking around Boston, laughing and kissing, too happy to settle
anywhere for long. Needing to indulge herself, she modeled several pairs of
outrageously expensive shoes for Daniel before choosing a pair of nude
open-toed concealed platform stilettos that made his eyes widen when she walked
toward him.

It was a perfect day, the first she hoped, and finally
believed, of many to come.

On Sunday, Lena woke in Daniel’s bed and stretched out to
cover as much of the mattress as possible. If he were next to her, he’d tease
her about not taking up much room at all. Breathing deeply, she smelled coffee
brewing in the other room. Waking and having him take care of her was almost as
lovely as falling asleep with him. And falling asleep in his arms was
wonderful. She closed her eyes and heard his last words from the night before,
I
love you, Lena
.

She was grateful for so many things in her life she could
burst from the happiness. The contracts were being couriered over on Monday and
once they were signed it would be official. Crane and Fulton was going to be in
business for a long time to come. With Daniel’s help, she had done it. Her
company was saved.

And she was completely in love.

Without their days at the camp together, she might never
have gotten close to him or shared so much of herself. Part of her remained
nervous, but no previous relationship ever felt this right, this intimate. She
longed for him when circumstances kept them apart, and couldn’t get enough of
him when they were together. And while she knew the intensity would fade, she
was ready to enjoy whatever came next.

Resting back on the pillows, listening to Daniel in the
kitchen, Lena gave a contented sigh. She loved waking in his bed with the sun
coming down from the ceiling window. Spring in Boston didn’t always have good
weather, but from what she could see, today promised to be a beautiful one.
Maybe she would ask Daniel if she could leave a painting easel in the corner.
The light in here was too wonderful to waste.

“Good morning,” Daniel said, walking into the bedroom
wearing jeans and nothing else. Damn, she loved that look on him. “I brought
you something.”

“Gimme gimme gimme,” she said, reaching out for the mug as
he laughed. She took a gentle sip to avoid a burned tongue. “The first taste is
always so good. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome.”

“Where’s yours?”

“Drank it already. See,” he said and kissed her, letting her
taste the strong, dark coffee on his tongue.

“Now that’s a new way to get a caffeine buzz.”

“Think it works?”

“I think if it doesn’t, it won’t matter.”

As she continued to enjoy her morning fuel he kissed her jaw
and neck, then as he worked his way down to her collarbone he said, “Let’s go
out for brunch.”

“Sounds good, although if you keep doing what you’re doing,
I’m going to say we stay in and make scrambled eggs.”

“If there wasn’t a great place I want to go to on Newbury
Street, I’d be whisking those eggs.”

She smiled. Sunday brunch was her favorite meal of the week,
especially to eat out. She wondered if it was warm enough for the restaurants
to have tables outside. Newbury Street was great for people watching. They
could have a leisurely meal then window shop. Maybe she’d splurge on another
pair of stilettos since she knew her job was secure again.

She climbed out of bed and into the shower. Daniel joined
her and claimed it would be quick, but once he started sucking on her nipples,
they didn’t get out from under the water for a while, not until she enjoyed him
thoroughly and allowed him to do the same. When he entered her from behind, the
combined sensations of the hot water and the cool tile wall were electrifying.

She was glad she left a dress at his place. She always felt
better on Newbury Street when she dressed nicely. As she finished her makeup,
he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She stared in the mirror
at their combined reflection. They looked as happy as she felt. She wanted to
keep this feeling forever—and she wanted to capture it for their next set of
ads for Golden. She put down her brush, took his face in her hands and kissed
him.

“What was that for?”

“Because I wanted to.”

“Best reason ever,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, just need to find my lipstick.”

“Don’t bother. I’m going to kiss it off later.”

“Good point,” she said. Makeup didn’t matter when she felt
as though she glowed from the inside. Maybe “Glow like you’re in love” would be
another campaign. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this joyful.
Probably when she was a child and the world was filled with endless
possibilities. It was that buzz, that promise, she was experiencing all over
again. And as Michelle suggested, her creativity was overflowing as much as her
heart.

The early-afternoon weather was as warm as she hoped, and
they walked arm-in-arm over the bridge and into the heart of Copley Square,
passing Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library on their way over to one
of the ritziest streets in the city. It was nearly noon and the sidewalks were
crowded with Bostonians cooped up for too long during the winter. She glanced
in windows at the new summer fashions and found herself excited about the
coming season. She was so dazzled by the day and her own emotions she didn’t
notice they stopped walking.

“We’re here,” Daniel said.

She looked at the door and was confused by the writing. “I
don’t understand. Why are we at the Wagner Gallery? They don’t serve brunch
here.”

“They do, sort of, when there’s an event.”

“You can’t possibly have managed another show with all
that’s been going on.”

“I can’t, but Alice can—and did. She’s discovered a
brilliant new artist, with a little help from me, of course.”

He opened the door with a flourish and allowed her to walk
in first. They stepped into the gallery and other than the bright light
spilling in through the front wall of glass, the scene reminded her of the
night they met. The crowd, the drinks being passed and the energy. However, the
artist being highlighted was not Daniel. It was—her.