Alluring Tales Hot Holiday Nights:
Billboard Babe
by Myla Jackson
Blurb
A creative ad man's passion
is aroused when he sees his buttoned-up coworker in
a revealing new light—dressed in sizzling red satin
on a giant billboard. . .
Brilliant advertising
executive Angie Jordan (AJ) can capture the attention
of the nation with her stellar advertising campaigns
but she can't garner any notice from her sexy co-worker,
Dan Adams. When her photographer friend convinces her
she could launch her own campaign to win him over, she
decides to do the wild thing and goes along with the
idea. Killing two birds with one stone, she advertises
the agency and hopes to get Daniel Adams's attention
at the same time.
Workaholic Dan
Adams likes advertising and loves when he sees a good
idea. When he stares out his window at the mystery woman,
he has to know her. He corners co-worker AJ for information,
never suspecting the sexy woman on the billboard is
none other than his office mate. The mystery woman haunts
him and every other male in the country. But AJ isn't
talking and the mystery woman remains anonymous. That
night, the mystery woman shows up in his office clad
in her sexy red dress and shows him what he's been missing
as a workaholic.
Excerpt
Bryce sailed through Daniel's door and grabbed A.J.'s
arm. "Here he comes. You sure I can't stay and
see his reaction? I'd give my favorite lens to be here."
"You can't," A.J. said, her voice squeaking
like a teenager's. "He'll suspect something. I'm
not even going to be here."
Bryce tsked. "I'd love to see his face when he
sees your...ahem...assets." With a smirk, Bryce
left. A minute later, Bryce could be heard halfway down
the hall saying, "Oh, hello Daniel. Fabulous day,
isn't it? Almost feels like Christmas."
Fear fluttered in A.J.'s belly like a swarm of honeybees.
What would he think? Would he know? Wasn't that the
point? Didn't she want him to see her, not just the
suit?
At the last minute, A.J. got cold feet and closed the
blinds. Better to break it to him gently. Or better
yet, not at all. Too late, she was trapped in Daniel's
office. One way or another, the cat would escape the
bag.
"Bryce," Daniel nodded to the photographer,
in passing. Fabulous day? He'd yet to come up with a
decent campaign to pull Tate and Westerfield Advertising
out of the red. He and A.J. were supposed to talk this
morning about an idea she'd had. Maybe she'd come through
and both their butts would be saved from starting the
New Year with pink slips.
Vince Mueller stepped out of his office two doors down
from Daniel's. "Dan, my man. I see you and A.J.
have been hard at work. I love the new campaign. It's
freakin' fantastic." He clapped his hand against
Daniel's back, grinning ear to ear. "Old Westerfield
will be giving you two a raise by the end of the week."
He pulled Daniel close. "What I want to know is
where'd you find her? I want her full statistics and
a phone number to go with it. Better yet, can you fit
her in my Christmas stocking?"
Daniel sniffed his friend's breath. "Did you pull
another all-nighter? Are you still high? What the hell
are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me. You and A.J. struck
gold on this one. Mark my words. I'm just jealous I
didn't find her first."
"Find who?" Daniel continued on to his office
and tossed his briefcase onto his desk.
With a frown, Vince followed Daniel into the dark office
and spotted A.J. standing in the corner by the windows.
"Oh, there you are. Daniel's been playing dumb
with me. What's the scoop?"
A.J. blinked, her gaze shooting from Daniel back to
Vince like a shiny orb in a pinball machine.
Daniel's eyes narrowed. "What's Vince talking about?"
Had she done something without running it by him first?
Her rosy cheeks screamed guilt and she reached up to
push her glasses back up her nose. That was the thing
Daniel liked most about A.J. She was a terrible liar,
and she knew it. Okay, so that wasn't all he liked about
A.J. The trim curve of her hips encased in pencil straight
skirts, the full swell of her breasts beneath her business
suit jackets and the long smooth line of her neck had
him panting in sales meetings.
But he'd made a rule a long time ago never to mix business
with pleasure. Although, on more than one occasion in
the past two years, he'd been very tempted to break
a few rules with A.J.. "Did you need me?"
Okay, so that didn't quite come out right.
"I see you and Vince have things to discuss. What
I had to say can wait." She ducked her head and
scurried out of the room. If Daniel wasn't mistaken,
A.J. was hiding something. Something big enough to make
the self-determined young account executive leave the
room as if her tail was on fire.
Vince whistled. "Damn she's got great legs."
"Leave A.J.'s legs alone," Daniel muttered,
his attention on those firm, fabulous calves peeking
from beneath her skirt, the incredibly tiny ankles and
the arch of her feet in the low-heeled pumps.
"What do you want, Vince?"
For a moment Vince didn't answer, his head tipping
thoughtfully to one side. "You've got a thing for
her, don't you?" His focus shifted from the doorway
back to Daniel.
"No, we just work together." His rule. He
lived by it.
"You know if she was to lose the ugly glasses
and let her hair down, I bet she'd be a knockout."
Daniel had no doubt about it. He'd wondered himself
and had dreams about removing the glasses, business
jacket and skirt. Fantasy. Pure fantasy. They lived
and worked in the reality of this office. He dragged
his gaze away from A.J.'s disappearing skirt to his
friend. "What were you talking about when we came
into my office?"
"Don't tell me she didn't tell you." Vince
pounded Daniel's back. "Does our A.J. have a devilish
side hidden beneath that prim and proper business act?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Vince marched straight to the window and tugged at
the cord on the blinds lifting them all the way up.
The cool winter sun shone into Daniel's office. "Her."
Vince poked his finger toward the glass. "I want
her number."
Daniel moved around Vince and stared at a woman staring
back at him from a billboard-a billboard three times
the size of a tour bus, stretching a full city block
on the side of the huge warehouse building directly
across from the Tate and Westerfield Advertising building.
Her slinky red dress displayed more skin than it covered,
the front dipping almost to her belly button, showing
enough cleavage to cause a wreck.
Five stories below, tires shrieked and metal slammed
against metal.
"Damn, did you see that?" Vince stared down
at the street. "That car just stopped in the middle
of the road and the one behind him rear-ended him."
Daniel hadn't seen it. He'd been too busy staring at
her. Despite the cleavage, it was the eyes that had
captured Daniel's interest. Eyes as fathomless as the
galaxy stared back at him, a misty hazel with flecks
of gold, green and blue lending mystery to her overwhelming
beauty. Auburn hair hung over one shoulder in shiny
sleek waves, brushing the sides of her breast. She was
every man's wet dream.
"You feel it, too, don't you?" Vince said,
his voice barely above a whisper. "She makes me
hard just looking at her. And I couldn't have come up
with a better slogan."
For the first time since he'd seen her gazing back
at him, Daniel focused on the words below the beautiful
reclining figure. "GOT YOUR ATTENTION?"
Others Authors Participating in Snippet Saturday:
Rhian Cahill
Anne Rainey
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
