Public Relations Read online

  Public Relations

  Brittany Anne

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Public Relations.

  First Edition. November 11, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 Brittany Anne. All Rights Reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or social media post.

  Written by Brittany Anne.

  ASIN: B07Y24H1WY

  To all the brave members of our armed forces, past, present, and future.

  Brittany Anne

  Chapter One

  Doing something to help others shouldn’t have been so nerve-racking.

  Vanessa sunk deeper into the cushioned chair, fidgeting with her hands and looking around the large office. One wall was entirely window, and the view over the small city was fantastic. It almost made the place look… pretty. In a way.

  The office itself was stunning, and certainly didn’t scream “nonprofit.” The light charcoal walls were adorned with abstract paintings, the desk was huge, easily double the size of her own, and the chairs—she leaned just a little further in. Like sitting on a cloud.

  The door opened and Vanessa shot up, straightening her spine and turning to see a lean, clean-cut man strut into the room. He had blonde hair that was pushed back out of his face to reveal warm, brown eyes.

  “Miss Adams. I’m sorry for the wait.” He offered his hand, and she took it, giving a firm shake. “Please, sit down.”

  Vanessa complied as the man walked over to his chair and took a seat behind the large desk.

  “How can I help you?” he asked, smiling.

  Vanessa took a deep breath, and then began. “Mr. Cro-”

  “Please. Call me Gavin.”

  She looked up, brown eyes wide, and nodded, making a mental note of the preference. “Gavin, I know we’ve communicated a few times through email, but I wanted to finalize plans to move forward with our service project.” She thought for a moment, pushing a loose curl behind her ear. “My students are eager to work with your organization.”

  Gavin leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Well then I hope we can come to an agreement on the logistics.”

  Vanessa’s body went stiff. “Agreement? Logistics?” Okay, that was not what Gavin had said in his emails. “I thought we were already in agreement and I was just coming in to sign some papers or something.”

  He simply grinned. “Of course. But you see, we were wondering what kind of involvement you were expecting from us.”

  Involvement? Uh, her and her students made the money, and the organization took it to do as they please. “Your involvement is whatever you’d like it to be. Most organizations just let us set stuff up and take the check at the end.” Well, there was a bit more. “Normally someone comes in to discuss basics with the students, as a sort of education on the cause and the charity.”

  Someone would act as a liaison, checking in with the students and answering questions as they arose, stopping in to a few of the meetings. Nothing too strenuous.

  All of this, of course, Vanessa had explained in her very long, very detailed emails.

  Gavin stood from his chair and walked over to the window. He stared out over the city, leaving his back to Vanessa. “How would you like some extra involvement? Really get a close look at the runnings of our organization?”

  Well, she was certainly listening. “I’m going to need some explanation.”

  She knew a whole lot about the group. The Walker Foundation was one of the largest nonprofit groups in the region that provided help to military members and their families. The group was founded by Jared Walker, a very wealthy, very decorated Navy vet who was famous for his charitable work and infamous for his interactions with the press.

  And he was drop dead sexy. At least, it certainly seemed that way from his photos online.

  Vanessa had done plenty of research.

  “We think that it would be beneficial to both the students and the organization for there to be a more direct involvement on our part. Because of this, we wanted to assign a representative to work with you for the entirety of the project.”

  That was new. “We normally don’t have someone overseeing everything we do…”

  “Not overseeing. Helping. Providing information when needed. Educating. Our representative would be overseen by you, not the other way around.”

  A member of the organization at her beck and call? A person who knew its ins and outs and could talk about those things with the students? “That would be wonderful!”

  “Perfect. Then we’re all set.”

  Really? That was it? “Uh, okay.”

  “Are you available to meet on Saturday for lunch with our representative in order to discuss everything?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll email you the details.” He began sifting through paperwork on his desk, which Vanessa took as her cue to leave.

  She walked out of the building with a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

  Then she crashed full force into a wall of flesh that might as well have been stone.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” She fumbled to pick up the keys she’d knocked out of the man’s hands. As she shot back up to hand them back to him, her breath hitched into her lungs. “M-Mr. Walker. I’m so sorry!”

  He was a thousand times more sexy in person. Holy crap, the online photos did not do the man justice. Hard jaw painted with dark stubble, spiked hair that was dark as night and eyes to match, broad shoulders with his fitted shirt pulling just enough to imply it might just be hiding muscles carved from marble. She couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like beneath that suit…

  “If you wanted to touch, you could’ve just asked.” He winked.

  “I, uh, I’m, I-” Why the heck couldn’t she speak?

  “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m already running pretty late.” His voice was a low rumble. A sexy, masculine- “Hey, you could at least buy me dinner first.”

  She snapped back to reality. “Excuse me?” Blood rushed to her cheeks as embarrassment heated her expression. “I wasn’t-”

  “No worries, sweetheart.” His smirk made her heart race. He leaned in closer, and she could feel her heart leap up into her throat as his breath teased her ear. “I was imagining ripping your clothes off, too.”

  She pulled away, anger filling her, but just as she opened her mouth to argue, she heard Gavin’s familiar voice. “Walker. In here. Now.”

  She turned and stared at him, his expression filled with frustration and impatience.

  Then she turned back to Jared Walker. He still wore a wicked smile. He lifted a shoulder and raised his brows. “Next time.” Then he moved around her and headed toward the building.

  “There won’t be a next time!” she called out.

  He spun around and lifted his hand, tapping his pointer finger against the top of his head. “There will be in here.”

  Her mouth fell open in shock. Who the hell did he think he was?

  Before she could ask, he’d already turned around and strode into the building, the heavy glass door closing behind him.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Jared leaned back in his chair and brushed his thumb against his lower lip as he stared at the laptop sitting on top of his desk. A video was playing on it.

  “So, tell me Mr. Walker, what drives you to do what you do?”

  “Do I really have to watc
h this? I was kinda there.”

  Gavin rolled his eyes. “Watch the damn thing.”

  He sighed and settled into his seat, tuning in as the blonde news anchor asked her next question.

  “There’s been talk of you running for office. Is there any truth to that rumor?”

  “I will do whatever is necessary to defend the men and women of this country. If that means running for office, I’ll run for office. When it meant leaving behind my Xbox to go overseas and get shot at, I did that, too. You do what you gotta do.”

  Jared grinned.

  “There have been some, well, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding your public relations. Can we expect to see a more refined Jared Walker if you run for office?”

  His smile couldn’t have gotten much wider.

  “Hell, no. Anyone who disagrees with my ‘conduct’ doesn’t have to watch it. And anyone who disagrees with my viewpoints can fuck off.”

  He laughed, and it sure as hell must’ve pissed off Gavin, because he stormed over and slammed the laptop shut. That only amused him more.

  “Do you think this is funny?”

  Jared leaned forward in his seat, laughter still playing on his lips. “Yeah, and as a matter of fact, a few years ago, you would’ve thought it was funny, too.”

  He and Gavin had been buddies since bootcamp. They’d been to Hell and back together, except when they came back, Gavin seemed to get all too serious, and Jared just couldn’t manage to get serious about anything. Except, well, the one thing that mattered most— helping his brothers who were still trapped in Hell.

  “I grew up. War can do that to people.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, unwilling to walk into that conversation another time. “And don’t worry, we both know if anyone is running for office someday, it would definitely be you.”

  The eyeroll told Jared he was onto something. But Gavin gave no response.

  “So what do you need from me? Wash my mouth out with soap? Watch my tongue with the press?”

  “Well, yeah, I’d appreciate the fuck out of that, but that’s not why we’re here.” Gavin strolled over and took a seat across from him. Normal men were more intimidating when they stood, but not Gavin. No, with Gavin? If he sat down, things were about to become serious. Jared straightened his back a bit.

  “If we’re serious about pushing this organization forward to its full potential, we need to recover from the PR nightmare that is… well, you.” Gavin leaned his elbows onto his knees. “There is a local school teacher who runs a charity project each year. This year, she is going to have her students raise money and awareness for our foundation.”

  Jared sat up and leaned onto the desk in front of him. “Well that’s great.”

  “Yes, it is. And I have an idea to make it ever greater.”

  Now he was interested. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. We’re going to send a representative to work with her and her students and ensure that they have an all access pass to the organization. The kids will learn about the cause and how to run a foundation like this one, the fundraisers will be more targeted and connected to what we stand for, and the foundation will have a huge boost in public appeal by being so involved in a high school service learning project.”

  Jared raised an eyebrow now. “It sounds perfect. I’m not sure what needs to be run by me, here, but go for it. Approved. Totally.”

  Gavin smirked and leaned back into his seat. “I’m glad you agree.”

  “Yep.”

  He waited for his friend to leave the office, but he made no move to do so. In fact, he leaned back even further into the chair, and his smile did not wane in the slightest. “Am I missing something?” he finally asked.

  “You’re going to be the representative.”

  He burst into laughter. Okay, he thought, so much for my earlier thought about Gavin losing his sense of humor. That was hilarious.

  Except Gavin wasn’t laughing.

  Jared stood from his chair and walked over to the window, laughter still coming from his mouth but slowly dying down.

  And Gavin was still silent.

  His face slowly went hard. “You’re serious?” he asked as he turned back to his friend. Gavin didn’t say anything. “Hell, no. There is no way I’m-”

  “You go on cable news and you drop f-bombs. You repeatedly get into confrontations with the press. This foundation is going to be damned because your name is attached to it. We can clean up the name or we can lose the foundation. Which do you prefer?”

  Jared stopped. Mulled it over in his head. He sighed.

  The foundation was his baby. When he first started it, the whole bad boy image seemed to help it. Bad press was better than no press, right? He attracted attention, and his foundation blew up. But, maybe Gavin was right… maybe things had changed. Maybe his image was having a negative impact on the foundation’s future.

  The foundation was his baby. And he’d do whatever it took for his baby.

  “You really think it will help the foundation?”

  Gavin stood and took a few steps toward him. “You know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”

  Jared nodded and turned back to the window, looking out over the city. “Okay,” he said finally. “I’ll do it.”

  Chapter Two

  Vanessa brought the coffee mug to her lips, gently blew on it— more so out of habit than necessity— and took a small sip. The warm liquid rolled over her tongue and slid down with ease.

  She was never one for coffee, but once she got into teaching, it became her life fuel.

  Her stomach growled. Vanessa leaned back into the hard cafe chair and looked out through the glass window on her left. There were plenty of people hustling in every direction, but nobody stopped at the cafe.

  Her eyes glanced around the place. It had soft pink walls and a classical feel to it, with patrons sitting on stools while they read their magazines and waitresses wearing matching button-up shirts and white aprons.

  Gavin had given her the name of the place, but never bothered to tell her who she would be meeting with. She thought about asking, but shrugged it off. Now that this mysterious representative was fifteen minutes late, well… now she wished she’d asked.

  Then she’d have someone to complain about.

  She lifted her coffee once more and took another small sip. A bell rang with the opening of the door, and Vanessa had to use all of her power to not choke on her coffee when she saw who walked in.

  Jared Walker.

  He was in an all black suit, hair pushed back and a light stubble darkening his hard jaw. She put down the coffee and stood as he walked toward her.

  “Mr. Walker,” she said quickly. Why the hell was he there? “I’m not sure what-”

  “I’m meeting with you to discuss the service learning project.”

  He was only three feet from her, then, still moving closer. He offered his hand.

  “I don’t understand. I thought there’d be a representative who would-”

  “There is.” His smile was brilliant. Her heart was racing. “Me.”

  She opened her mouth. Shut it again. Crinkled her eyebrows.

  “Listen,” he started, “I wasn’t expecting you either, so how about we sit down and have a chat?”

  Vanessa had no idea what to say. She noticed his hand was still extended, and she finally took it. Heat surged through her body at his touch. “I’m Vanessa,” she finally offered.

  She was used to being calm, cool, collected… what was it about the man in front of her that made her feel like she had no control over herself?

  “Vanessa.” Hearing him say her name sent a chill down her spine. “Now I can place a name to the fantasy.”

  Her breath hitched. He chuckled.

  “Didn’t think I remembered?” His eyes traveled down her body, and slowly came back to her face. “How could I forget?”

  “Mr. Walker, I-”

  “Jared.” He seemed to have a habit of interrupting her. Somet
hing she was going to have to address very quickly if it continued. “And please,” he said, motioning to the small table that she’d been sitting at before he came it, “let’s sit down and get to know each other.”

  He gave her a wink.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Within five minutes of sitting down, Jared had a plate of his favorites in front of him: bacon, sausage, three eggs, scrambled, and a black coffee on the side. The small store was near and dear to his heart, and that was why he’d chosen it. Every employee in the place knew him, and knew him well. And he knew them even better.

  The woman sitting in front of him, however, was different. He knew absolutely nothing about her, but he’d sure as hell thought up a few naughty scenarios in his head after their little run-in days earlier.

  He wondered how close to reality his imagination had been. “So what do you want from me?” he asked as he stuck a fork into his eggs.

  Her eyebrows lifted and lower lip fell just a bit, something she seemed to do every time he spoke. He’d remember that fact.

  “I, uh, well.” She paused and inhaled, her chest rising with the action. He enjoyed the view. “My face is here, Mr. Walker.” His eyes snapped back. “You’re supposed to be representing your organization while my students raise money and awareness for it.”

  “Yeah, okay, job description. But what do you want me to do?”

  She lowered her chin and tucked a loose curl that had escaped her bun back behind her ear. “Gavin said that you would be-”

  “Not what Gavin wants. What you want.” He grinned a wicked grin as she became frustrated.

  “I don’t understand. I want you to do your job. I want you to do what Gavin said you’d be doing.” She raised her brows at him. “Why are you trying to make this so difficult?”

  He chuckled. “I’m not. It just seems like somebody has a problem with saying what they want.”

  Her lips parted again. He fucking loved it. “I’m not here for a therapy session, so can we please talk about the project?” She raised her brows above the frame of her glasses, and while meant to be intimidating, he just thought she was adorable.